Atsushi Murasakibara instantly slipped past the screen and rushed straight to the basket.
It should be noted that Atsushi Murasakibara's mobility is also incredibly terrifying.
After all, in the original story it was stated that everything inside the three-point line falls within Atsushi Murasakibara's defensive range!
That alone shows just how frightening his defensive mobility is.
Atsushi Murasakibara leaped up from behind Kenichi Okamura and smacked the ball away with a single palm.
"Beep! Out of bounds! Yōsen High School ball."
Thud!!!
Kenichi Okamura crashed heavily onto the floor, his face full of shock.
After landing, Atsushi Murasakibara extended a hand and said blankly:
"Here."
Kenichi Okamura clenched his teeth, turned his head away, ignored the offered hand, and stood up on his own.
Then he jogged to the sideline to prepare for the inbound.
Atsushi Murasakibara scratched his head, completely confused. Even now, he still didn't understand why Kenichi Okamura was treating him like this.
Tatsuya Himuro, on the other hand, had known the reason all along—but there was nothing anyone could do about it.
After all... you can't stop someone from moving to a better place, right?
The game continued.
Kenichi Okamura tossed the ball to Wei Liu, then immediately charged into the paint.
Wei Liu turned and jumped as if to shoot.
Atsushi Murasakibara immediately lunged forward to block.
Seeing this, Wei Liu suddenly pulled the shot back and fired a bounce pass to Kenichi Okamura.
Kenichi Okamura caught the ball and jumped on the spot, preparing for a two-handed dunk.
But to his shock—
Atsushi Murasakibara had already rushed over!!!
And in midair, he forcefully stuffed the dunk attempt right back down!
Kenichi Okamura was completely stunned.
Are you some kind of flying human?!
After gaining possession, Atsushi Murasakibara passed the ball to the nearest player—Shuzo Nijimura.
Nijimura had originally been watching from the side, curious to see how Murasakibara would deal with his "former team."
But he hadn't expected Murasakibara to show absolutely no mercy—blocking two shots in a row.
Feeling a bit mischievous, Nijimura suddenly passed the ball to Tatsuya Himuro.
Then he looked at Himuro with a teasing smile.
Tatsuya Himuro felt like crying.
Nijimura, you set me up!!!
(Dicky Anthony: Why does this feel familiar?!)
Still, after receiving the ball, Himuro didn't hesitate and immediately sprinted toward the frontcourt.
Shogo Haizaki sprinted alongside him.
The two of them charged forward together.
Behind them, Miyamoto and Shuzo Nijimura watched the scene with smiles and started chatting casually.
"Youth really is nice."
"Nijimura-senpai, you're only a year older though, right?"
"Older is older!"
Frontcourt.
Yōsen's small forward managed to keep up with Tatsuya Himuro's pace.
But the player farthest ahead was Shogo Haizaki.
Haizaki's speed surpassed both of them, putting him in the lead.
Naturally, Himuro wasn't going to waste such a scoring opportunity and passed the ball forward.
Haizaki caught it and prepared to go for the layup.
The Yōsen small forward knew he couldn't catch up, so he slowed down and gave up the chase.
But just as the Yōsen defender gave up and Himuro relaxed his guard—
Something unexpected happened...
Haizaki, who should have been finishing the layup, suddenly flung the ball backward.
The pass smacked straight into Himuro's chest and bounced directly into the Yōsen small forward's hands.
For a moment, the entire court fell silent.
Tatsuya Himuro stood there completely stunned, eyes wide.
The Yōsen small forward was just as confused.
Who am I?
Where am I?
Why is the ball back here?
Oh—damn! The ball!
In the next second, the Yōsen small forward snapped out of it and charged toward Kirisaki Daiichi's basket.
Even Miyamoto and Nijimura, who had been casually watching, were stunned.
What the hell?
He passed instead of taking a wide-open layup?!
Nijimura cursed.
"What the hell, did that idiot Haizaki leave his brain at home?"
"And Himuro too—he actually spaced out!"
Miyamoto rubbed his forehead helplessly.
"Unbelievable… the two idiots are right on my team."
On the other side, Himuro was still stunned. Instead of running back on defense, he demanded:
"Haizaki, why didn't you take the layup?!"
Haizaki scratched his head awkwardly.
His original intention had been to pass the ball back so Himuro could take a three-pointer, but he hadn't expected Himuro to be spacing out.
"I was trying to pass it to you for a three! Why were you zoning out?"
"You—!"
Himuro started to argue, but swallowed the words.
Because the truth was, both of them shared the blame.
One assumed the other was focused and tried to set up a three-point assist.
The other assumed the play would be finished with a layup and was already getting ready to celebrate.
Honestly, if even one of them had been thinking straight, that possession would never have been lost.
On the court.
Yōsen's small forward pushed the fast break.
He quickly reached the three-point line. Facing Nijimura's defense, he immediately passed to the wide-open Kensuke Fukui.
Fukui caught the ball and jumped to shoot.
But Miyamoto suddenly appeared.
He leaped high into the air, completely sealing off Fukui's shooting lane.
Fukui gritted his teeth and hurriedly dumped the ball downward.
Wei Liu barely managed to grab the pass and immediately jumped for a shot.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Atsushi Murasakibara appeared instantly, completely blocking Wei Liu's shooting angle.
With no other choice, Wei Liu passed to Kenichi Okamura.
Okamura immediately jumped for a dunk.
Murasakibara was about to go for the block again, but Yōsen's small forward stepped in.
He moved in early and held Murasakibara back.
Nijimura tried to rotate over to help defend but was stopped by Yōsen's point guard.
In the end, Kenichi Okamura slammed the ball through the hoop for two points.
When Haizaki and Himuro returned, Murasakibara looked displeased.
"What were you two just—"
Before he could finish, Haizaki raised one finger.
"A big meal."
Murasakibara instantly closed his mouth.
One sentence for a meal—what a bargain.
Just as Haizaki breathed a sigh of relief, Nijimura's voice rang out again.
"Murasakibara can be bought off with food. What about me?"
Nijimura looked at Haizaki with a teasing smile that made his skin crawl.
With no other choice, Haizaki accepted his fate.
In the end, both Haizaki and Himuro received their "reward"—ten laps after the game.
Only then was the matter settled.
Possession changed.
Kirisaki Daiichi ball.
Miyamoto slowly dribbled the ball forward, step by step toward the frontcourt.
With each step he took, his presence grew stronger.
Every step. Every dribble.
It felt like a hammer striking the hearts of the Yōsen players.
The pressure was overwhelming.
Kenichi Okamura was drenched in sweat. He had never felt such terrifying pressure from a single player before.
This feeling...
was truly...
so cool—no, so terrifying!
...