Chapter 165: The Match Ends

Bai Shui versus Teiko, the score on the court is 28:30.

"Ah~"

Sasame Akira looked down at the court and said, "It seems Yukimiya has truly come up with a way to stop Akashi's ankle destruction, but if that's all, it's not enough; it won't solve the problem White Water is currently facing."

"In this quarter, only Akashi and Mibuchi are on the offense; the next quarter, the attackers coming up will likely be the most aggressive, Aomine and Midorima."

"And..."

"Although Akashi's personality has changed drastically, and his passing purpose subtly feels like treating others as tools, in Teiko where victory is everything, Akashi, who has carried this through to the end..."

"He is not one who refuses to pass."

"With the score this close, Akashi in the next quarter may not be bound to the pattern of handing the 'six-seven-zero' ball to only one person for offense within a fixed time."

"Even if other members of the Generation of Miracles don't pass after getting the ball, as long as Akashi interleaves passes to different players when distributing ball possession, Bai Shui, which has relied solely on Yukimiya Kazuma's single defense to last until now, will likely be exhausted."

"And this Bai Shui team, relying solely on Yukimiya Kazuma, how much longer can they hold on? This is a very serious problem."

Bai Shui's bench.

First-year Hiyoshi Shinnosuke, holding a towel in one hand and a water bottle in the other, bustled around in front of Yukimiya Kazuma; seeing Yukimiya Kazuma panting incessantly, Hiyoshi Shinnosuke's eyes held some worry.

"Senior Yukimiya, are you okay?"

"Ah..."

"No problem."

Although Yukimiya Kazuma's words were like that, sweat beads were on his forehead, rolling down his cheeks incessantly.

"Too... too strong. This is the first time I've seen Senior Yukimiya exhaust his stamina to this extent after playing just one quarter."

Several first- and second-year substitute players looked at Yukimiya Kazuma's condition, their eyes revealing expressions of disbelief.

You see.

Besides Yukimiya Kazuma's superhuman strength on the court, what everyone at Bai Shui envied most was his stamina; this was especially enviable during the Training Camp Period.

Whenever everyone was exhausted to the point of collapse, they could still see Yukimiya Kazuma running vigorously; at such times, besides cursing him as a monster in their hearts, everyone was also dying of envy.

But this time.

Senior Yukimiya has only played one quarter, yet the amount of sweat is this great.

"Is Teiko really that strong?"

"Of course, you have to know, that's a team composed of the five strongest middle schoolers; just thinking about such a lineup is terrifying, isn't it?"

"That's right; rather, the fact that the senior has managed to reach this point is already very strong."

Several lower-year substitutes whispered among themselves.

Arisaka Shinji looked at Yukimiya Kazuma's situation and similarly frowned tightly.

It must be said that Teiko's strength is indeed stronger than he imagined; at least last time, he hadn't seen Mibuchi's basket attack so exaggerated.

In his and Yukimiya's plan, the teammates' probing at the start would lower Teiko's guard, then immediately rely on Yukimiya's unreserved full-force offense and defense to catch the opponent off guard, which should secure a lead.

However, the plan failed in the first quarter; this had nothing to do with tactics, it was simply that the opponent's strength was strong enough.

"Relying on Yukimiya's individual strength, although the score has been barely kept up, this is far from enough; continuing like this, Bai Shui still cannot narrow the score gap, and Yukimiya's stamina cannot possibly sustain this level of offense and defense for a whole game."

Arisaka Shinji stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Yukimiya, the thing you mentioned before, should we bring it forward?"

Hearing Arisaka Shinji's words, everyone turned their gaze to Yukimiya Kazuma.

"..."

Yukimiya hesitated for a moment.

"No."

"It cannot be now."

"Even if Aomine and Midorima attack in the second quarter, we must hold on like this."

"Only by withstanding this quarter is there a chance; during the halftime break at the end of the second quarter, I can recover a lot of stamina; the ability I plan to use in the third quarter has very low consumption..."

"There will be enough stamina left for the fourth quarter to decide the winner."

Arisaka Shinji nodded silently, looked deeply at Yukimiya Kazuma, and although the words telling him not to force himself were almost on his lips, in the end, he couldn't say them.