Chapter 123

Muscles.

The players of Zhengbang High School had outstanding physical builds, with every single one of them extremely well-developed muscles. From center to guard, the only difference in their muscles was whether they were developed or even more developed.

Perhaps this was also why most of the Zhengbang players looked older than they really were.

Kasuga Ryuhei was the only one among them who looked relatively clean-cut and most like a student, but his muscles also far surpassed those of an ordinary high schooler.

"Masaki."

Yukimiya Kazuma's voice and a hand signal saved Takefusa Masaki from his precarious situation.

The latter handed Iwamura Tsutomu over to Yukimiya Kazuma without the slightest hesitation, then switched his defense to power forward himself. Instantly, the area under the basket became a one-on-one scene between Yukimiya Kazuma and Iwamura Tsutomu.

"Oh~ it's Number 5 and Iwamura!"

On one side was the nationally famous high school center Iwamura Tsutomu, on the other was the ace of a middle school team. A Showdown Between Men between the two naturally drew everyone's attention.

"Not planning to step up?"

Iwamura curled his lip. "Be patient, kid! I'm just getting ready!"

Once those words were out.

Iwamura Tsutomu sidestepped, turning smoothly to the left as if he meant to drive past on the left side for the basket. But just as Yukimiya Kazuma began to move, Iwamura Tsutomu suddenly pulled back, then launched himself into the air, gripping the basketball with both hands and slamming it toward the hoop.

Yukimiya Kazuma's expression didn't change; no trace of any emotion could be seen.

In fact…

You might as well just take a jump shot~

'I Love Blocking Dunks' suddenly lit up!

Iwamura Tsutomu had reached the peak of his jump, ready for a thunderous dunk, when Yukimiya Kazuma's leaping figure arrived to block his path.

"I already guessed you'd do that, which is why I didn't want to compete with you on who jumps higher!"

A Kasuga Ryuhei-style cunning flashed across Iwamura Tsutomu's rugged face. Just as Yukimiya Kazuma was about to block the ball, Iwamura yanked it back, somehow pulling off a nimble scoop shot in midair.

Yukimiya Kazuma was speechless.

This was just damn unreasonable. How is it that in this world, any random middle school player can pull off a scoop shot?

Look at all those muscles on him, and he can still pull off this kind of fancy move?!

In the match against Teikou Middle School, it was one thing that any random member of the 'Generation of Miracles' could pull off a scoop shot—after all, they were all running on cheats, so they couldn't be used for comparison. But you, Iwamura Tsutomu, a muscle-bound brute, are also sticking your nose into this area of finesse?

The scoop shot dodged Yukimiya Kazuma's block, and it looked as though Iwamura Tsutomu was about to sink this ball. But the very next second, a large hand swatted down mercilessly, slapping the ball right out of his hands.

Because 'I Love Blocking Dunks' had already triggered, Yukimiya Kazuma's blocking height was higher than the peak of his normal jump.

And Iwamura Tsutomu, a center, had indeed pulled off a scoop shot, but the horizontal distance he covered wasn't enough.

Smack~

Smack~ smack~

Smack~

Smack~ smack~

The sound of the basketball rolling on the floor was especially loud in everyone's ears at this moment.

Down on the sidelines, Matsumoto Ikuken stared at the scene dumbfounded, speechless for a long time.

Obviously, he could never have anticipated that Yukimiya Kazuma would be able to block that move.

"This kid's reaction speed is basically a rocket! Way too fast!"

Yukimiya Kazuma picked up the ball and tossed it to Iwamura. "Iwamura-senpai, no need for these little tricks. Bring out Zhengbang's real skills!"

"They haven't shown their full strength yet?"

The moment Yukimiya Kazuma's words fell, before the Zhengbang players could respond, the Bai Shui side was the first to be taken aback.

"Zhengbang, one of the 'Three Kings of Tokyo'! If this is their strength, then the high school national level is way too off the mark!"

Iwamura Tsutomu stared at the ball in his hands, slightly stunned, then burst into loud laughter.

"In that case."

Iwamura Tsutomu shrugged, the smile on his face gradually fading. "Then we won't hold back. Everyone, let's go all out on these middle schoolers and show them what the king of Zhengbang really is!"

The Zhengbang players launched another offensive. This time, the entire team had undergone an obvious change.

"Their movements seem to have undergone some kind of change."

The Bai Shui players immediately noticed the change in the Zhengbang players. If their previous performance had made them feel strong, then now it was a crushing pressure.

"Damn it, what's going on? They suddenly got even faster!"

The Zhengbang players had already been fast before, but now they were even faster. Though their movements looked uncoordinated, they were also more crisp.

Liang Huayin stepped up to defend, but in an instant, his opponent had used their speed to appear behind him.

Kasuga Yuji immediately rushed up to provide support.

Seeing this, Kasuga Ryuhei passed the ball without the slightest hesitation. The pass was so fast that Kasuga Yuji didn't even get a Qiudeji Society to touch the ball.

"So fast, and the movements are clean and sharp."

Kasuga Yuji's eyes went wide.

After receiving the ball, the Zhengbang power forward went straight up for a shot. Yukimiya Kazuma didn't try to block it—nor could he, because his current defensive range, compared to the ultra-wide defensive coverage Midorima High had once displayed, was probably only about half of Midorima's coverage area.

And when the shot went up, Iwamura Tsutomu deliberately got in Yukimiya Kazuma's way.

Swish!

The ball went through the hoop, and Zhengbang finally scored their first basket of the game.

Bai Shui vs. Zhengbang, 6:2.

Then, Yukimiya Kazuma called a timeout.

Beeee~

The players of both teams left the court.

The Seihō side didn't understand why Yukimiya Kazuma had called this timeout, because the timing was far too early, and it was Hakusui-kan that held the score advantage. No matter how you looked at it, this didn't seem like a good moment to call a timeout.

It wasn't just Seihō who couldn't figure it out—the Hakusui-kan players couldn't either. But everyone on Hakusui-kan had come this far trusting Yukimiya Kazuma completely, so even without understanding, they would do as he said.

The moment Yukimiya Kazuma stepped off the court, he said at once: "I'll get straight to the point. Seihō's movements are a form of Ancient Martial Arts."

"Ancient Martial Arts?"

"Ada~! That kind…?"

"No, they don't kick people, and it's not that kind of martial art either. To be precise, they've absorbed movements from Ancient Martial Arts. One such technique is called 'Namba Running.' When ordinary people run, their opposite-side arm and leg swing together, but in 'Namba Running,' the same-side arm and leg move together."

"Isn't that just swinging the same side?!"

Yukimiya Kazuma could only nod, dumbfounded—god knew what kind of setting this was. "Besides 'Namba Running,' there's also things like not stomping hard when exerting force, moving quickly without gathering power, and so on. They've applied Ancient Martial Arts to all sorts of basic movements. In short, they rely on these techniques to greatly reduce the strain on their bodies."

"Which lets Seihō's players move faster while using less energy."

"That's why other schools, when facing Seihō, often end up running out of stamina—they're simply dragged down in a war of attrition."

"Eh? Isn't that totally cheating?!" The moment Yukimiya Kazuma finished speaking, Kasuga Yūji couldn't help but blurt out.

And on top of that…

That bastard older brother hadn't breathed a word of it to him!

"Next, I'll explain to everyone how to counter this move. There's only one key point: focus your attention on your opponent's feet—to be precise, the tips of their toes."

"An ordinary person's center of gravity is at the waist, but theirs is concentrated on both feet. That means when they move, their feet go first. If we can catch the direction their toes shift, then we can predict their next move. Understand?"

"Understood!"

Everyone nodded in turn.

And Shin-matsuharu, who had been silent at the side the whole time, wore an expression as if he'd seen a ghost. He simply couldn't fathom how Yukimiya Kazuma could know such critical intel on Seihō High!

How Yukimiya Kazuma knew was obviously thanks to his cheat-like memory from his previous life.

If his memory wasn't wrong, in the manga, Seihō had been defeated by Seirin exploiting exactly this weakness. Since he needed to beat Seihō to Get Badge, he naturally had to make use of this opening in advance.

That's why Yukimiya Kazuma had called the timeout so early—the earlier the warning, the better his teammates could adapt, and the faster they adapted, the more time they'd have to counterattack!

Beeeeep~~

The referee's whistle sounded.

Players from both sides returned to the court.

After tip-off, Hakusui-kan attacked first. Kasuga Yūji passed the ball on the perimeter to Yukimiya Kazuma, who instantly entered 'Zone: Bird' under the basket, beat two defenders, and scored two points.

Immediately after, Seihō took possession.