The first half was halfway through. While Sakuragi was busy messing with Uozumi's head, Rukawa had been playing like a silent assassin. He had already scored 12 points, moving through Ryonan's defense as if they were ghosts.
"Hey, Fox-face!" Sakuragi yelled, catching his breath. "Stop hogging all the glory! The genius needs some points too!"
Rukawa didn't even look at him. He just wiped a drop of sweat and muttered, "Then do something besides talking, do'aho."
[Ding! Rivalry Alert: The Shadow vs. The Light.]
[Quest: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!]
[Objective: Score a basket using a move similar to Rukawa's last play.]
[Reward: 100 System Points & Skill: 'Ghost Step' (Level 1).]
The crowd roared as Rukawa took the ball again, executed a perfect fadeaway jumper, and sank it. 14 points.
Sakuragi's eyes were like fire. On the next possession, he demanded the ball. "Give it to me, Akagi-san!"
Akagi, surprisingly, passed it. Sakuragi was at the top of the key. He looked at Rukawa, then at the basket.
'System, calculate the trajectory of Rukawa's last move!'
[Analyzing... Matching body mechanics... Imitation Buff Activated!]
Sakuragi drove right, stopped suddenly, and leaned back just like Rukawa did. It was clumsy, and his form was a bit wild, but the Gravity Shoes gave him the height he needed.
The ball hit the rim, bounced once, twice... and fell in!
The whole Shohoku bench jumped up. "He did a fadeaway?! Sakuragi?!"
[Quest Completed! Reward: 100 System Points.]
[Skill Learned: 'Ghost Step' - Increases agility by 10% during a drive.]
Sakuragi landed and looked at Rukawa with a smug grin. "See that? Anything you can do, a genius can do in one try!"
Rukawa's eyes narrowed. For the first time, he didn't call Sakuragi an idiot. He just turned back to the court, his aura becoming even more intense.