Chapter 34: Saw the Shadow of Akashi Seijuro in Him!

The round at Yuan Cheng Temple.

The previous round made Mizunose Yukio realize the opponent's defensive intensity.

After calming down, he chose to pass the ball to a teammate; Yuan Cheng Temple's power forward caught it and immediately jumped for a shot, facing Liang Huayin's defense as the basketball traced an arc.

Clang~!

Swish~!

The basketball hit the rim, bounced once, and still fell into the hoop.

Mizunose Yukio pouted at Yukimiya Kazuma, "It's just a pass; I can do it too!"

Seeing no reaction from Yukimiya Kazuma, Mizunose Yukio raised an eyebrow, about to say something more, when he saw Yukimiya Kazuma catch the baseline pass, turn, swing his long arm, and fling the ball far out.

The ball soared over Mizunose Yukio's head, tracing a high arc as it raced toward Yuan Cheng Temple's backcourt.

"What?"

The basketball nearly crossed the entire court, finally landing in Haru no Yuji's hands.

All of Yuan Cheng Temple's players stood frozen in place; no one was near Haru no Yuji.

"Swish!"

Haru no Yuji easily scored with a layup.

"Wow!"

"Beautiful!"

"Such a fast offense!"

"The pass was too accurate!"

The crowd in the arena cheered for Haru no Yuji, who seized the opportunity and sped away, and also for Yukimiya Kazuma, who completed the precise guided pass.

On the court.

Haru no Yuji jumped excitedly in place, turned back, and pumped his fist toward Yukimiya Kazuma; his extremely short crew cut, under the bright lights, looked like a small braised egg.

It is worth mentioning that, besides Haru no Yuji, the one in the team who changed his style to welcome the National Middle School Tournament was also the captain, Takehane Masaki, who always pretended to be 'calm'.

A black, spiky hairdo was replaced by a wild, wind-swept pompadour in the style of a birdman, looking quite explosive.

Of course...

Compared to "welcoming the National Middle School Tournament with a brand-new look," Yukimiya felt it was more likely that Takehane had changed his hairstyle because he was provoked by his words.

Haru no Yuji ran back quickly and high-fived Yukimiya Kazuma; he knew very well that the vast majority of credit for this play belonged to Yukimiya Kazuma, who delivered the brilliant assist.

This American football quarterback-style pass would absolutely not be secured or delivered accurately without outstanding vision, judgment, and passing ability.

The audience watched with great satisfaction, the noise unceasing, while Yuan Cheng Temple's coach began to sweat profusely.

The next round.

Mizunose Yukio used a pick-and-roll to penetrate the interior of Bai Shui Hall.

With past precedents in mind, after drawing Bai Shui Hall's defensive attention, Mizunose Yukio passed the ball to his own perimeter teammate.

However, unfortunately, the shot clanged off the iron.

The game continued.

Yukimiya Kazuma's coordination with his teammates was extremely seamless.

Moreover, Yukimiya intentionally used the previous rounds to mesh more with his teammates, trying out combinations with different players, all achieving quite good results.

Under his superb vision, he could always find teammates in good positions; combined with the 'Passing Control Master' badge, teammates receiving Yukimiya Kazuma's passes felt very comfortable.

Even the shooting percentage rose to varying degrees.

This made Yukimiya Kazuma, who was gradually confirming his inner guess, break from his usual demeanor and loudly praise the System.

On the teammates' side, Liang Huayin was the first to notice this; after receiving Yukimiya Kazuma's pass, he felt he was shooting better and better; for some reason, sometimes it seemed the basketball only passed through Yukimiya's hands, yet became much easier to shoot.

Those who felt the same as Liang Huayin were not few; in fact, every player on the court for Bai Shui Hall had this feeling.

This created a magical phenomenon: after Bai Shui Hall's players gained possession, including rebounds and steals, their first instinct was always to find Yukimiya Kazuma.

No choice.

Whether it was psychological or not, the ball coming from Yukimiya Kazuma's hands was truly delicious.

In the stunned gaze of the audience, Yukimiya Kazuma's orchestration made an unknown team execute fluid offense like mercury pouring out!

Moreover, Yukimiya Kazuma himself was different from the ace players of other teams, whose strength was merely individual strength.

Under his assists, Bai Shui Hall actually felt like everyone was a star player?

Was such an offense really woven single-handedly by a middle school student?

Indeed.

When a center like Takehane Masaki, who was still practicing mid-range jump shots,

could consistently and smoothly make mid-to-long-range shots from open positions, Yuan Cheng Temple's coach could only helplessly shake his head and sigh.

As the third quarter ended, with Takehane Masaki receiving a brilliant pass from Yukimiya Kazuma and turning for a jump shot that went in, Bai Shui Hall Middle School had posted an exaggerated 80 to 36 score through three quarters.

Undoubtedly, a super-powerhouse-style point differential.

The entire gymnasium boiled over; no one expected such a dark horse to appear right at the start of the Tokyo District Preliminaries.

Bai Shui Hall was in scorching form, while the Yuan Cheng Temple coach on the sidelines felt something was sinister.

Watching Yukimiya Kazuma's figure, the coach of Yuan Cheng Temple Middle School was somewhat dazed; he saw the shadow of Teiko's captain, Akashi Seijuro, in Yukimiya Kazuma.

However...

It was Akashi from before last year.

Until last year, he was still a regular in the National Middle School Tournament's main matches, an assistant coach at Uesaki Middle School.

Although last year's Uesaki Middle School was driven to collapse by the suddenly terrifyingly powerful Aomine Daiki, that Teiko captain's ability was equally not to be underestimated.

However, he, who was also watching Teiko this year, found that Seijuro Akashi's playing style had suddenly become completely opposite to what it once was.

Their strength was naturally formidable; just like Facing Qingfeng last year, everyone else of the Generation of Miracles, including Akashi, had also undergone a series of exaggerated, giant-leap evolutions.

Yet, recalling Akashi's former playing style still left him reluctant to let go.

It was something that, once seen, could never be forgotten.