Chapter 57

But...

There’s simply no catching up!

"It’s useless, seniors. I saw through your tricks a long time ago."

While in 'Monster Immersion', the arrogant Yukimiya Kazuma suddenly stopped moving, waiting on the spot for his opponent to return to a defensive stance. Then, after the opponent moved up to guard him, he broke through, suddenly pulled back, and followed up with another change-of-direction breakthrough to the right.

It was a simple, unadorned combo, and the speed wasn't particularly fast, but Ryuuhei Kasuga's body seemed as if it had been frozen; he couldn't move at all, and could only watch helplessly as his opponent charged into the restricted area to dunk and score.

Clang!

51:33.

"Well done!"

"The flaws Yukimiya-senpai mentioned earlier really were true."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh~~~ That’s amazing! It seems we really can take down a high school national-level team!"

On the Baishuiguan bench, after a brief silence, a frenzy of wild cheering suddenly erupted.

"What exactly is going on?"

"I didn't see clearly, but when we entered the second quarter, I already had a bad feeling. Kasuga, what exactly happened just now?" Nu Iwamura asked.

Ryuuhei Kasuga gave a bitter smile, looked at his Zenbon teammates, and said, "It looks like we're really in trouble. I think they've already seen right through us."

"I take back what I said before. This year's middle schoolers aren't just good, they're terrifying!" Off the court, Ikuhiro Matsumoto scratched his head, not knowing what else to say.

"Coach, what is going on?"

"What's going on? In fact, nothing particularly magical happened. It's just... we were seen through by the opponent."

Having said that, Ikuhiro Matsumoto couldn't help but curse under his breath: "Damn it, what is wrong with this guy? Is he so bored that he has nothing better to do than study us?"

Ikuhiro Matsumoto glanced at Yukimiya Kazuma on the court. Judging by his performance just now, it was nine times out of ten this person's doing. He had to admit that his previous judgment of this middle schooler was a complete underestimate—and a massive one at that!

This is a 'monster' through and through!

Whether it's physical ability, basketball technique, or even his basketball IQ, everything is extremely high; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to deliver so many brilliant passes.

However...

It feels a bit bad psychologically.

It’s not because of his sudden change in style, but because it’s hard to believe that a middle school player would study their ancient martial arts so deeply.

If it were an opponent, that would be understandable.

But the most important thing is that Yukimiya Kazuma is still a middle schooler! Go study the Generation of Miracles! What is your problem analyzing Zenbon's weak points so clearly?

"Looks like I'll be losing more hair during this period!" Since Zenbon's weaknesses have been discovered, it means this technique is already outdated. An outdated technique cannot support Zenbon being called 'King'.

At this moment, the Zenbon manager also realized this. After confirming with Coach Ikuhiro Matsumoto, he couldn't help but be surprised: "In that case, won't Iwamura and the others be in trouble?"

"Trouble is an understatement. Now we can only pray that the monster on the other side shows mercy and doesn't hit too hard."

Ikuhiro Matsumoto was very clear about this. The techniques Zenbon developed by incorporating ancient martial arts are strong, but these techniques require instinctive habits. Once someone discovers the flaws and targets them, it becomes very dangerous because it's difficult to avoid them on the fly.

Besides that, Yukimiya Kazuma is also a very important factor.

This person is the most dangerous one.

A group of middle schoolers, even if they can see Zenbon's weaknesses, still have a large gap in physical fitness compared to the two sides. If Zenbon wants to score, they can still take it by force.

But Yukimiya's strength is simply too great; all of Zenbon's plans have been disrupted. It's clear that even if Yukimiya didn't know Zenbon's weaknesses, he could still suppress Zenbon with pure strength.

From the first half, where Yukimiya Kazuma was cooperating with Shinmatsu-senpai's training intentions and suppressing his desire to attack, it can be seen that this person, as well as Shinmatsu-senpai, has absolute confidence. Even without going all out in the first half, they still have the confidence to win the game.

Wait...

Come to think of it.

If it weren't for Shinmatsu-senpai's training intentions, would Yukimiya Kazuma have exposed the weaknesses of Zenbon's ancient martial arts?

After all, he could suppress Zenbon if he played with full effort.

So...

Was it just because he couldn't go all out in the first half that he revealed the flaws in Zenbon's ancient martial arts to help his teammates solidify their defense?!

Clang!

On the court.

Yukimiya jumped up against both Nu Iwamura and the Zenbon power forward, and while dunking the ball into the hoop, he also knocked both of them to the ground.

"..."

"Too terrifying!"

"Is this guy really a middle schooler? Are you kidding me!"

Beep~~~

This violent dunk by Yukimiya Kazuma also brought the entire game to a close.

By the time the final whistle blew, the score between the two sides was fixed at 89:63.

Baishuiguan won this practice match in a way no one had expected.

The entire game.

Yukimiya Kazuma scored 39 points, 11 assists, 15 rebounds, 8 blocks, and 4 steals alone.

Almost single-handedly sweeping the entire court.

"Sorry!"

Yukimiya Kazuma reached out his hands toward the two who had fallen. The two hesitated for a moment, but eventually chose to grab them.

"Ah, seriously! This year's middle schoolers are really something. Come to think of it, are you really not a member of the 'Generation of Miracles'?" Ryuuhei Kasuga put his hands on his hips, walked up to Yukimiya Kazuma, patted him on the shoulder, and said.

Yukimiya Kazuma shook his head, "No, we lost to the Generation of Miracles by a three-fold point difference."

"Really? Even someone like you isn't an opponent of the 'Generation of Miracles'?"

"Yeah, and compared to the 'Generation of Miracles', I still have a long way to go. I have a bit of talent for basketball, but those guys are all geniuses."

Yukimiya Kazuma meant every word he said, because apart from his physical fitness, this body is indeed not good at playing basketball.

That is, provided there is no 'system'.

Thinking of this, the system arrived right on cue; the rewards for the game just now began to settle.

[Badge Mission: Defeat Zenbon High School, chance to obtain a badge]

[Achievement Reward: Zenbon-related badge 663]

[Automatically loading badge reward...]

[Badge loading complete...]

[Obtained Badge: Jie-Hua-Fa]

[Jie-Hua-Fa (Purple): An ancient martial arts move from the mysterious East. It can 'Receive + Neutralize + Launch', or 'Take Orders + Cremate + Hold Funeral'. When the move is triggered, it is a union of man and nature, pleasing to the eye.]

Yukimiya Kazuma: "..."

Huh?!

What the hell is Jie-Hua-Fa!

Where is the Zenbon ancient martial arts I wanted!?

Facing Yukimiya Kazuma, whose expression had suddenly changed, Ryuuhei Kasuga's mouth twitched. He glanced at the score on the scoreboard not far away and suddenly had the urge to hit someone.

"A bit of talent?"

If even you can only be considered 'a bit of talent'?

Then what are we?

Yukimiya Kazuma: "Senpai, don't say any more, I want to be alone for a while..."

After playing a practice match, the Zenbon people went back to hold a meeting.

Carrying the defeat.

After the game, it was already past six in the evening. The group packed up their equipment and returned to the hotel.

Along the way, everyone from Baishuiguan, except for Shinmatsu Osamu and Yukimiya Kazuma, seemed a bit preoccupied, as if they were considering something important.