Chapter 105

"Because I hate him~"

"Heard that Hanamiya Makoto used some means this year, and after Kirisaki Daichi's supervisor quit, he served as the team's supervisor himself."

Come to think of it...

This should have happened in the Winter Cup...

This has also been advanced.

But it doesn't matter, since we finally ran into each other, I'm just afraid you wouldn't be there~

Oguchi Ryuji thought for a moment. "Indeed, with the strength of the Five Kings, they shouldn't be unable to even make it to the national tournament; just look at those three guys from Rakuzan."

"I was still wondering why I didn't hear any news about the other two Five Kings last year; so that's why."

Just then, Yukimiya Kazuma met eyes with Hanamiya Makoto, who had just stepped onto the court, and then 'obediently' showed a smile to the other party.

'If you don't make a move, fine; if you dare to harbor any bad intentions toward us, then just kill him.'

Hanamiya Makoto, who joined the school known as the 'Young Master's School', also smiled with full etiquette.

'Yukimiya Kazuma? No matter how you look at it, he doesn't look like an obedient good child; interesting~'

Senzinkan left the court.

Crossed paths with Kirisaki Daichi, who was stepping onto the court.

And when these two teams would truly face each other, they would have to wait for another round, because there was another poor little thing in the next round, shivering.

Sanbinishi High School.

In the round of 16 game, Sanbinishi High School also won and advanced to the next round.

However, they had no joy at all, because in the next game, they would face the Kings of the West, Senzinkan.

"Senzinkan again..."

A third-year player from Sanbinishi suddenly remembered the scenes of the team losing to Senzinkan consecutively last year and the year before, and suddenly, feelings of resentment surged in his heart.

The coach of Sanbinishi High School knew very well the mentality of his players now; after all, anyone who had been eliminated by the same team in the qualifiers for two consecutive years, and now ran into them for the third time, would find it hard to stabilize their mentality.

But...

Thinking of Senzinkan's situation this year, and that terrifying Yukimiya Kazuma, the coach of Sanbinishi High School didn't even know how to tell his players now.

He was afraid that what he said would cause everyone's resolve to collapse before they even fought.

"Not only that..."

The Sanbinishi High School players' hearts skipped a beat upon hearing this. "Coach, is there any other bad news?"

Coach: "..."

"But don't underestimate the opponent; there is a reason they did this."

"..."

"Do you know what the score between Senzinkan and Meijo Academy was?"

"How..."

"How much?"

"135:31."

"Among them..."

"The first-year ace Yukimiya Kazuma, wearing the No. 4 jersey, almost single-handedly defended Meijo to zero points in the first quarter."

"Until he destroyed the backboard with a dunk and left the court..."

"The score of the first quarter was a terrifying..."

"35:0."

"If he played the whole game at full strength, it's hard to imagine what kind of terrifying result it would be."

The coach of Sanbinishi said this with an extremely solemn expression.

And all the Sanbinishi players were shocked by this score.

The coach of Sanbinxi continued:

"I have a recording of Quanzhen Hall's first match in my hands."

"Actually, I..."

The coach of Sanbinxi hesitated for a long time at this point.

Just then, the team captain suddenly raised his hand: "Coach, it's okay, we can take it. Through the recording, we can at least be mentally prepared."

The coach was silent for a moment, then nodded, and turned on the video player. The game footage immediately appeared on the big screen; it was Quanzhen Hall's opening match against Mingchang Academy.

As time passed, the discussions in the room grew quieter, while the gasps grew more frequent. Everyone's expression turned serious, and the atmosphere became as heavy as if shrouded in dark clouds.

We can't win...

We absolutely can't win!

Even the Sanbinxi captain, who had been quite firm in his belief at the start, thought so now.

Not to mention the familiar faces from Quanzhen Hall who came on after the second quarter, just these five first-years alone were enough to make one's scalp tingle.

Number 10, 196 cm, a power forward with solid footwork and a jump shot; Number 11, 189 cm, a small forward with lightning-fast penetration speed; plus Number 12 and Number 13, two high-caliber tall guards.

And finally...

Number 4, Yukimiya Kazuma!

A defensive monster capable of shattering the backboard!

No...

From the opponent's occasionally leisurely offense in the recording, it was clear that defense was definitely not their only specialty.

This meant that Yukimiya Kazuma hadn't even used his full strength in this match!

Everyone fell silent.

After a long while.

Since they had already come this far, everyone ultimately chose to analyze the recording as best they could, hoping to find a way to break through.

At least...

Don't lose too miserably.

Group D Quarterfinals, Quanzhen Hall versus Sanbinxi.

Maintaining a cautious attitude, Yukimiya Kazuma took a brief look at the game footage and concluded that Sanbinxi should be slightly stronger than Mingchang Academy, but only by a limited margin.

Number 4, C, Yukimiya Kazuma.

Number 10, Pf, Tsuchiya Daiga.

Number 11, Sf, Oguchi Ryuji.

Number 12, Sg, Long Tianzhang.

Number 13, Pg, Naga Shuyang.

As the game began, Sanbinxi's defense showed a clear change compared to their previous matches; their perimeter help-defense speed was very fast, and even their center would frequently rush out.

It was obvious.

Sanbinxi's main defensive focus for this game was against jump shots.

And...

Perhaps because Yukimiya Kazuma had fewer individual offensive plays in the previous game, Sanbinxi's defensive focus was not on him.

This was a disaster...

For the entire quarter, Yukimiya Kazuma played to his heart's content.

But Yukimiya Kazuma clearly misunderstood Sanbinxi.

Sanbinxi had analyzed the footage very carefully, and they had watched Yukimiya Kazuma's few individual offensive plays over and over again.

They finally concluded...

Defending the others from Quanzhen Hall was possible, but defending Yukimiya Kazuma was very difficult.

Immediately...

The Sanbinxi coach made a bold decision.

Relax the defense on Yukimiya Kazuma, strictly guard the others from Quanzhen Hall, and force Yukimiya Kazuma into continuous one-on-one plays to exhaust his stamina, because he didn't believe any high school player could maintain full-court offensive and defensive output.

The defense and offense of an ace player always have to have a focus.

And...

If one person keeps attacking, their shooting percentage will inevitably fluctuate.

Then...

The Sanbinxi coach was completely stunned by Yukimiya Kazuma!

The first quarter ended.

The score between the two sides.

42:8.

The good news was that Sanbinxi wasn't shut out, but the bad news was that Yukimiya Kazuma exploded for a full 40 points in the first quarter!

For the entire quarter, it was practically a shooting exhibition by Yukimiya Kazuma!

Once this trend started, Sanbinxi didn't dare to stick to their original strategy.

The defensive focus was hurriedly shifted over.

However...

The initial defensive strategy seemed to have made Yukimiya Kazuma go on a shooting frenzy.

All kinds of pull-up jumpers!

Big men would come out to defend and get pulled up on because they couldn't keep up with his footwork; small men would come out to defend and get shot over right in their faces!

The most terrifying part was when they couldn't hold back and started double-teaming!

Yukimiya Kazuma suddenly used a jump shot with extreme speed and height, and on top of that, there was even a variant fadeaway!

"Yukimiya Kazuma, that monster..."

"Damn it!"

"How are we supposed to play against this?!"

The Sanbinxi captain looked toward the Quanzhen Hall bench while drinking water, looking visibly shaken.

As the small forward, he was primarily responsible for defending Yukimiya Kazuma in the first quarter.

Because as a small forward, he had enough height and fast enough footwork.

However, in front of Yukimiya Kazuma...

He wasn't tall enough.

He wasn't fast enough.

When Yukimiya Kazuma faced others, he would use his speed to penetrate the interior and create space for a pull-up, or shoot right over the guards; but with him, he was both outpaced and shot over!

As soon as they double-teamed, he would unleash a terrifying 'super jump shot,' and he had been on the receiving end of that plenty of times!

For the entire quarter, he had been made to look like a complete fool!

The most critical thing was...

"Coach..."

"The strategy failed completely..."

"If Yukimiya Kazuma keeps attacking like this, his stamina seems to be depleting at a completely normal rate."

And...

Even when the defense provided limited interference, he was just too accurate!

The Sanbinxi coach glanced in the direction of Quanzhen Hall and sighed helplessly. Facing the absolute crushing force of raw talent, he was completely out of strategies. The only thing he could do was cheer his players on.