"However..."
Maki Shinichi clenched his fists, battle intent surging in his eyes.
"No matter what..."
"This year's National Tournament has Shohoku."
"And it has Makino Juro."
"The real show has only just begun."
...
On the Court
The game continued.
Although Makino Juro had left the court, Shohoku's momentum had already reached its peak.
Every player had received a full team-wide buff.
Toyotama had been shattered by that previous 25–0 run.
They still hadn't recovered.
Especially in the paint.
Akagi Takenori was like a Tyrannosaurus rex that had suddenly charged into a flock of sheep.
He was wreaking havoc in the restricted area, doing whatever he pleased.
Iwata Mitsuaki had already begun questioning his entire existence.
He was practically considering calling the police.
And then there was that bald guy...
Sakuragi Hanamichi's technique was still somewhat rough, and his movements were comical enough to belong in a slapstick comedy.
But his absurd rebounding ability was simply despair-inducing.
Whenever the basketball bounced off the rim...
That red-haired figure always appeared at the highest point first, as if he had springs installed in his legs.
"Lord Sakuragi Hanamichi, the Rebound King, has arrived!!"
Smack!
Another offensive rebound.
Sakuragi landed with the ball.
Two defenders immediately closed in on him.
Yet instead of forcing his way through, he performed an incredibly clumsy fake.
It was so awkward that both defenders completely lost track of what he was doing.
Then he passed the ball out to the open man on the perimeter.
Mitsui Hisashi was waiting there.
The Man of Fire.
Mitsui caught the ball.
Set his feet.
Released.
His form was beautiful, textbook-perfect.
Swish!
A three-pointer.
30–11.
The gap continued to widen.
There was no sign of it stopping.
Toyotama's coach slumped in his chair, his face ashen.
He looked as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
It's over.
Everything is over.
How the hell is this a C-level team?
This is obviously a super-monster army wearing sheep's clothing!
Every single one of them is a villain!
And the most terrifying monster of them all...
Was currently lying on the bench, letting out faint snores.
He was sleeping like a baby.
At this moment...
Everyone inside the Hiroshima Sports Arena realized something.
This summer...
The winds of Kanagawa were going to sweep across the entire country.
And not like a gentle breeze.
Like a freaking typhoon!
...
"Double-team him!"
"Keep that center locked down!!"
Toyotama's coach was jumping up and down on the sidelines in desperation.
His tie had slipped all the way up toward his armpit.
Where was the dignity of a famous coach now?
He looked like a gambler who had lost everything and was desperately trying to win it back.
He understood the situation.
Even though that No. 16 monster had left the court.
Not a single member of Shohoku was harmless.
If they couldn't contain Akagi, the beast in the paint, then Toyotama would leave Hiroshima with its dignity completely destroyed.
And there wouldn't be enough pieces left to pick it up.
On the court.
Toyotama's players wore savage expressions.
They looked like a pack of wild dogs driven into a corner.
Akagi Takenori had just established position in the low post and received the ball.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three figures instantly converged on him.
Iwata Mitsuaki defended from behind.
Kishimoto Minori and another wing player locked down both sides.
It looked as though they were trying to squeeze Akagi into a meatball.
"Don't even think about moving!!"
Kishimoto roared, spraying spit everywhere as he wildly waved his arms to block Akagi's vision.
In the past, this suffocating three-man double-team might have made Akagi panic.
He might have forced up a shot, only to get stuffed into the stands.
But now?
A cold smile appeared on Akagi's face.
That's it?
During his training in America, he had already endured the non-human meat tank known as Shaquille O'Neal.
Compared to that...
These guys were child's play.
Akagi didn't try to force his way through.
He simply raised the ball above his head with both hands.
His bell-like eyes swept across the entire court.
Sakuragi, the red-haired idiot, was shouting for the ball from the corner.
Mitsui was being stuck to like chewing gum at the 45-degree angle.
Miyagi was being harassed closely by Itakura at the top of the arc.
There was only one person.
The guy who was usually as solitary as a lone wolf, but became the sharpest weapon when it mattered most.
Rukawa Kaede.
On the weak side.
Wide open!
"Catch!"
Akagi shouted and gave his wrist an incredibly soft flick.
The basketball shot out like a cannon shell.
It pierced perfectly through the gap in the three-man defense and flew straight toward Rukawa's hands.
"Nani?!"
Kishimoto's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
Since when did that big gorilla learn how to make such a delicate pass?!
That makes no sense!
...
One step beyond the three-point line.
Rukawa Kaede caught the ball.
His knees bent slightly.
He didn't make even the slightest adjustment.
He simply pulled up and jumped.
At that exact moment...
A dark figure rushed toward him like a shark that had smelled blood.
Minami Tsuyoshi.
Toyotama's captain.
The infamous "Ace Killer."
"That No. 16 is off the court!"
"Akagi is being double-teamed!"
"You're the only one who can shoot!"
Minami's eyes were dark and vicious.
His entire body rose high into the air.
His long arms spread out like a canopy, sealing off every possible shooting angle.
"Get down!!"
He had bet all of his remaining dignity on this shot.
However...
Rukawa's ice-cold face remained completely expressionless.
Against the face-up defense, he didn't lean backward.
He didn't use a hanging shot.
Instead...
He accelerated.
Fast.
Unreasonably fast.
His entire shooting motion looked as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button.
A movement that should have taken one second was forcibly compressed into a fraction of that time.
This was...
The rapid-release shooting rhythm Minami was so proud of?
No.
It wasn't merely fast.
The instant the ball left Rukawa's hands, his wrist was held extremely low.
The ball launched at a frighteningly high angle.
That was...
Makino Juro's ultra-high arc?!
Minami's pupils contracted violently.
His fingertips were only one centimeter away from the basketball.
But that seemingly insignificant centimeter was an insurmountable chasm.
"What... what the hell was that?!"
Minami's mentality collapsed.
Wasn't that my release speed combined with that No. 16 monster's high-trajectory cannonball?!
Did he just learn it on the spot and use it immediately?!
The entire crowd tilted their heads back.
They watched as the orange basketball traced an incredibly high rainbow arc through the air.
Time seemed to freeze.
The only sound left was the sharp whistle of the rapidly spinning ball cutting through the air.
Swish!
The crisp sound was like heavenly music.
The ball dropped cleanly through the net, sending the white mesh rippling like waves.
33–11.
...
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Half a second later...
BOOOOOOM!!!
The Hiroshima Sports Arena exploded.
The roar of the crowd was so loud that it seemed capable of shattering the glass.
"Holy crap!! It went in!!"
"Another three-pointer! Does Shohoku mass-produce cheat-level three-point shooters?!"
"That release was way too fast! I couldn't even see it!"
"Copy Ninja Rukawa Kaede?!"
The spectators went completely insane.
Everyone had assumed that the game would become boring once Makino Juro left the court.
Instead, this cold, handsome guy had immediately thrown out another trump card.
Beside him, Sakuragi Hanamichi's mouth was wide enough to fit an entire egg.
"That damn fox..."
Sakuragi's pupils shook violently.
As a "genius" who had just endured hellish special training, he understood better than anyone how valuable that shot had been.
That release speed.
That control over the trajectory.
That stability while under defensive pressure.
It was too strong.
Strong enough to make someone despair.
He had practiced for so long just to touch the threshold.
But that damn fox had learned it after seeing it only once?
Could he be a genius too?
Sakuragi clenched his fists.
His fingernails dug deeply into his palms.
No!
This genius is supposed to be the savior!
Why is that damn fox always one step ahead, showing off like he owns the place?!
"Damn it!!"
Sakuragi gritted his teeth.
A raging fire burned in his eyes.
"This genius absolutely will not lose to you!"
"Absolutely!!"
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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