Both teams returned to the court.
Seirin had possession.
Shun Izuki brought the ball forward, then found Tatsuya Himuro and passed it to him.
The moment Tatsuya Himuro caught the ball, Kotaro Hayama moved in.
The yellow leopard behind him bared its fierce fangs, staring fixedly at Tatsuya Himuro.
Kotaro Hayama also watched Tatsuya Himuro like he was prey.
Tatsuya Himuro took a deep breath, and the fox behind him also shifted into an attacking posture.
Then Tatsuya Himuro moved.
He used one fake after another, constantly pulling Kotaro Hayama's center of gravity off balance.
Kotaro Hayama was clearly not used to fakes, and he was shaken off several times.
But he forcefully made up for it with his speed, keeping himself from losing position.
Tatsuya Himuro did not get discouraged by this. Bit by bit, he attacked toward the inside.
When he reached the area near the left side of the free-throw line, he suddenly jumped.
The fox behind him jumped with him, constantly shifting in midair.
Seeing this, Kotaro Hayama immediately jumped too, stretching his arm across Tatsuya Himuro's shooting path.
Then, under Kotaro Hayama's gaze, the basketball slipped through between his hands.
It dropped cleanly into the basket.
Swish!
The three-pointer counted!
After landing, Kotaro Hayama looked at Tatsuya Himuro with an excited expression and said:
"That was awesome!"
On the next possession, Kotaro Hayama caught the pass at the three-point line and said, one word at a time:
"You scored one on me just now. Next, I'm scoring three on you!"
With that, Kotaro Hayama began dribbling hard.
Thud! Thud!!! Thud!!!!!
As the sound of the basketball striking the floor grew louder and louder, Kotaro Hayama's momentum reached its peak.
The yellow leopard behind him also shifted into an attacking posture at that moment.
"Five Fingers!!!"
Kotaro Hayama shouted, then turned into a bolt of lightning, breaking past Tatsuya Himuro's side like an arrow loosed from the string.
Tatsuya Himuro gritted his teeth, but he still could not react in time and let him break through.
Just as Kotaro Hayama was still feeling pleased, a figure suddenly appeared and reached out a hand.
Smack!!!
The sound of the ball being knocked away rang out sharply.
Kotaro Hayama's expression changed from delight to shock.
"Wha... what?!"
Kotaro Hayama looked down in shock and saw Tetsuya Kuroko still holding the motion of a steal.
And the basketball had rolled into Tatsuya Himuro's hands.
After picking up the ball, Tatsuya Himuro charged forward at once.
Seeing this, Kotaro Hayama immediately turned and sprinted back toward the backcourt. As he chased, he cursed inwardly:
'Damn it. He actually caught that instant when my wrist stiffened after the breakthrough!'
Kotaro Hayama felt utterly frustrated. Now he finally understood just how annoying the on-court Phantom Sixth Man could be!
Kotaro Hayama soon caught up to Tatsuya Himuro.
But Tatsuya Himuro did not panic. Without slowing down at all, he began dribbling while mixing in fakes.
When running at high speed, once you get shaken by even a single fake, it becomes extremely difficult to recover your defensive position.
Kotaro Hayama was the same. After being shaken off by Tatsuya Himuro's double behind-the-back dribble, he completely lost the ability to chase him down.
Tatsuya Himuro took the layup and scored.
After the basket.
Kotaro Hayama's expression clearly became a little unnatural. Reo Mibuchi ran over and said:
"Kotaro, pass the ball more."
Kotaro Hayama still wanted to say something, but in the next second, he saw Seijuro Akashi's icy gaze and immediately behaved himself.
"I got it."
Seijuro Akashi looked coldly at everyone, then said to Chihiro Mayuzumi beside him:
"Mayuzumi-senpai, you should help out too."
Chihiro Mayuzumi nodded without any emotion, then ran toward the frontcourt.
Over the next few possessions.
Kotaro Hayama stopped playing selfishly and began moving the ball.
To be precise, he passed to Chihiro Mayuzumi and let Chihiro Mayuzumi organize the offense.
Although Tetsuya Kuroko and Chihiro Mayuzumi were both shadows, Chihiro Mayuzumi's physical ability was higher than Tetsuya Kuroko's.
Because of that, Tetsuya Kuroko could not limit Chihiro Mayuzumi very well.
There were even times when Chihiro Mayuzumi sprinted, and Tetsuya Kuroko had trouble keeping up.
With Chihiro Mayuzumi moving the ball, Rakuzan High School's offense became completely smooth.
Reo Mibuchi's three-pointers, Kotaro Hayama's finishing power inside, and Eikichi Nebuya's attacks under the basket.
The three of them brought their strengths fully into play and once again put together a string of consecutive scores.
Seirin, meanwhile, could only rely on Tatsuya Himuro to hold on with difficulty.
Just as the third quarter was about to end, Seirin had instead fallen two points behind Rakuzan High School.
Tetsuya Kuroko looked at the score, and it seemed as though he had made a decision.
He came beside Tatsuya Himuro and said:
"Himuro-kun, could you pass the ball to me later?"
Tatsuya Himuro was gasping for breath. His repeated attacks had also drained his stamina rapidly.
After hearing Tetsuya Kuroko's request, he said:
"Like before, with a pass right on the limit?"
Tetsuya Kuroko shook his head with a serious expression and said:
"No. I mean, pass it directly to me!"
Tatsuya Himuro froze for a moment and asked:
"You want to take the ball?!"
Tetsuya Kuroko nodded, his expression extremely determined.
"Yes. I'll take the ball!"
Tatsuya Himuro looked into Tetsuya Kuroko's resolute eyes and fell into thought for a moment.
In the end, he still chose to trust this shadow.
"I understand. I'll pass it to you later."
Tetsuya Kuroko nodded and thanked him:
"Thank you."
Tatsuya Himuro paused, then smiled gently and said:
"What are you thanking me for? We're a team now, after all."
...
There were fourteen seconds left in the third quarter.
Seirin High School trailed Rakuzan High School by two points.
Seirin High School had possession.
Since only fourteen seconds remained, the players from Rakuzan High School also chose to apply a full-court press.
Teppei Kiyoshi stood out of bounds, ready to inbound the ball.
Eikichi Nebuya stood in front of him, constantly waving both hands to interfere.
Teppei Kiyoshi caught the basketball passed to him by the referee and took a deep breath.
Then he focused completely and passed it out.
Tatsuya Himuro ran into position and caught Teppei Kiyoshi's inbound pass.
After that, Tatsuya Himuro immediately turned and rushed toward the frontcourt.
Kotaro Hayama stuck tightly beside him.
Tatsuya Himuro kept using fakes as he broke through.
Finally, Tatsuya Himuro reached the three-point line in the frontcourt.
At that moment, Reo Mibuchi also came up to help defend, creating a two-on-one situation.
Suddenly...
...
...
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