Chapter 126 Awakening and Fierce Fight

“Beep, beep!” Just when everyone was shocked by the goal in front of them and fell into silence, Akagi Takenori blew the whistle.

“Foul? Who?” Players from both teams looked at Takenori Akagi, waiting for his next decision.

“No. 10 of the black team committed a defensive foul, No. 10 of the white team counts as a goal, and one free throw is added!” Akagi Takenori’s subsequent words were like drops of water falling into a frying pan, and the Shonan players present were instantly detonated.

“Oh oh oh oh!”

“Well done, Sakuragi!”

“Basketball genius! Sakuragi Hanamichi!”

“Huh…Huh…Huh…” Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at the people who were cheering for him with empty eyes, his mind was extremely clear, “That feeling just now…I can’t be wrong…Although it was only a moment, but I felt that I could do anything!”

“Hmm?” Sakuragi Hanamichi didn’t understand what was going on, but Kaneki Ken knew it clearly. At this moment, a golden system reminder popped up in Kaneki Ken’s mind: “Sakuragi Hanamichi has obtained the skill: zone (S-level, currently cannot be activated autonomously).”

“Unconsciously, Sakuragi has grown to this point…” Kaneki Ken smacked his lips as he looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi’s skill list, and exclaimed with a sense of accomplishment, “Basketball basics (B-level), support under the basket (B-level), force overpowering (B-level), shot fakes (B-level), with Sakuragi’s talent, these few skills alone are enough to make him the second in command of a weak team… Not to mention that Sakuragi has now awakened the zone…”

Looking at Sakuragi Hanamichi with an expression of enlightenment on his face, Kaneki Ken inexplicably thought of Akashi Seijuro who was far away in Rakusan.

“Akashi, Akashi, I really can’t wait to meet you…” Kaneki Ken shook his head and continued his shooting training.

“Haha, I beat you, red-haired monkey.” Sakuragi Hanamichi gradually left the zone and returned to his previous jumping appearance.

“Tsk…” Kagami Daigo looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi in front of him and sneered with disdain, but a drop of cold sweat dripped on his forehead.

“Hey… Midorima…” Kise Ryota stared at Sakuragi Hanamichi who was cheering and celebrating with his teammates on the field, his expression became more serious than ever before, “Did you hear any sound just now?”

Midorima Shintaro didn’t say anything, but just took a deep breath and stared at Sakuragi Hanamichi who had just completed a dunk.

The sound that Kise Ryouta heard was not an illusion. Not only the two of them, but also the moment Sakuragi Hanamichi awakened, the members of the Generation of Miracles, no matter what they were busy with, all looked up at the sky as if they had sensed something. This group of geniuses, who were praised by people as rare once in a decade, clearly heard the sound of the door called “talent” being violently kicked open.

At the free throw line, Sakuragi Hanamichi easily made the free throw, and the ball possession was changed again. Izuki Shun took over the serve from Kagami Taiga and ran across half court with the ball like flying. Hinata Junpei and others also quickened their pace.

“Captain!” Izuki Shun made a fake breakthrough to shake Miyagi Ryouta’s center of gravity, and then a fake shot and a real pass attracted Izawa Shuji’s backup defense and passed the ball to Hinata Junpei.

“Throw it in! Captain!” Mitsuki Furihata and others on the sidelines cheered for Junpei Hinata at the top of their lungs.

“Ah? Of course!” After receiving the ball, Hinata Junpei took a decisive shot and scored the first goal of the game.

“Hey, first-years!” Hinata Junpei said to the newcomers with a scary smile in his eyes, “When I make a move, all you have to do is cheer!”

“Ugh… so scary…”

“The captain’s second personality has appeared again…”

“Hmm… the second personality that the captain mentioned?” Izawa Shuji looked at the back of Hinata Junpei who was returning to defense with a bad look in his eyes, waved his hand at Miyagi and said, “Miyagi-senpai, pass me more penalty kicks later.”

“Oh, are you getting motivated?” Miyagi Ryouta said with his hands on his hips, looking at Izawa Shuji and smiling.

“Yeah.” Izawa Shuji moved his shoulders slightly, shook his right hand like Faiz, and said in a deep voice, “Speaking of three-point shots, I will not lose to anyone except my old teammate!” After that, Izawa Shuji ran towards the frontcourt with a serious face.

“Haha, what’s up!” Miyagi Ryouta took over Sakuragi Hanamichi’s serve and slowly passed the ball to the front court, “It really makes my blood boil! Then it’s up to you to perform, Ize!”

As the words fell, Miyagi Ryouta passed the ball from Izuki Shun’s crotch to Izawa Shuji with a bang.

“Thank you, Miyagi~” After receiving the ball, Izawa Shuji was not panicked at all in the face of the close defense of Hinata Junpei. Instead, he raised a confident smile and said softly, “As a return gift for the goal just now, let me show you this!”

Izawa Shuji lightly pushed his feet, leaned back slightly, and quickly took a step back. This movement was as smooth as flowing water, sudden and clever, and instantly widened the distance between him and Hinata Junpei.

“This is fake, right? Is this the ability a pitcher should have to coordinate with the ball?” Hinata Junpei was obviously caught off guard by this sudden step back. He staggered and could only watch Izawa Shuji calmly adjust his body posture, gently hold up the basketball with both hands, and lock his eyes on the basket.

“Let me show you the true skills I learned from Captain Kaneki!” Izawa Shuji flicked his fingers lightly, and the basketball drew a perfect arc in the air and went straight to the basket.

“You dare to attack from that position…” Hinata Junpei looked at the center line less than half a meter away from Izawa Shuji’s heels, his eyes full of disbelief.

“Kise, you only know that you learned your first shooting from Izawa, but do you know who he learned shooting from?” Midorima Shintaro looked at Izawa Shuji who shot the ball steadily, and recalled the past again.

“Izawa told me that he often asks Kaneki to teach him a few moves after class.” Huang Lai Ryota said with a smile, “To be honest, the red-haired boy in Shonan even calls Izawa “senior brother.”

“Naive, do you really think Kaneki’s shooting is that easy to learn?” Midorima Shintaro rolled his eyes at Kise Ryota, “If my three-pointer is an extreme range that covers the entire court, and Mibuchi Reo’s three-pointer is unpredictable and mysterious, then Izawa’s three-pointer is a fleeting, super-fast shot that covers the entire half court.”

“Isn’t that exactly the same as you before awakening?” Kise Ryota asked curiously.

“He’s different from me…” Midorima Shintaro looked at Izawa Shuji on the court with emotion, “His superb shooting confidence and his determination to reduce his hit rate in exchange for faster shooting are in the same vein as Kaneki… If his talent was not enough, and he didn’t truly integrate what Kaneki taught him until the third year of junior high school, and his hit rate was not as stable as mine, maybe he would be the starting guard for the Generation of Miracles…”

“Swish!” The basketball fell accurately into the basket under Hinata Junpei’s incredulous gaze, as if a stone thrown into a lake splashed water.

“Don’t underestimate me, Hyuga-senpai! After all, I am also the three-time champion defender of Teiko!” Izawa Shuji clenched his right hand, his eyes filled with a burning fighting spirit that could burn people, “When I played, I never lost to anyone!”

“Oh? Is this a declaration of war?” Hinata Junpei, the second personality, showed a happy smile, “Then come on, let’s have a true duel between shooters!”

……

As the shooters of both teams officially started the battle, and Seirin deliberately accelerated the tempo of the game, the scores of both sides rose steadily. Although Junpei Hyuga was not as physically fit as Shuji Izawa, he made up for this to a great extent with his active off-ball running. In addition, Junpei Hyuga’s style was indeed good, and the score between the two sides was not further widened.

“The game is a little strange right now…” Aida Reiko watched the game nervously, “The run-and-gun play we’ve been waiting for was actually played, and Hinata didn’t lose to Izawa Shuji… but why… why do I always have this bad feeling…”

“Swoosh~Snap~Bang!”

Just as Reiko Aida continued to ponder, a pass from Kuroko Tetsuya was poked by Miyagi Ryouta, and the basketball changed its route and flew out of the court and hit the wall.

“How could this happen…” Aida Reiko’s expression became even more serious. “Although the ball was not taken away by Shonan, if it was just a pass, it shouldn’t have been discovered so quickly… Could it be that!”

As if she had thought of something, Reiko Aida was startled and quickly stood up and shouted loudly: “Seirin High School requests a timeout!”

(End of this chapter)