Chapter 72

...my ass!

Yukimiya Kazuma, who had fallen on his butt, widened his eyes and looked at Murasakibara Atsushi!

He knew too well what the power of the 'Receive, Transform, Strike' badge was!

When playing against Tohata Middle School, he just used it casually, and it broke someone’s leg. Borrowing force, transforming, and striking back—a set of using force against force; the greater the opponent’s force, the more fierce the borrowed force returned!

However...

He had never heard that there was a limit!

'Receive, Transform, Strike' (Purple) + 'I Love Blocking Dunks' (Purple) + 86.6 Strength—two purple defensive badges + high strength attribute—and he still couldn't handle the middle school Murasakibara. How fierce would Murasakibara be a year later when his body grew to 208 cm and he got even bigger?

And...

What about that safety line?

Does it already exist now?

"Tsk~" Murasakibara stood up, glanced at Yukimiya, and the corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly, "How about it? Yuki-cchi!"

Yukimiya Kazuma: "..."

Yukimiya Kazuma: "You..."

Awesome!

With this strength, you deserve to be the second most arrogant after Akashi in high school!

"Uh... looks like Murasakibara-cchi and Yuki-cchi are having a lot of fun!" Kise Ryota’s mouth twitched slightly, and he said helplessly.

Midorima Shintaro snorted coldly and adjusted his glasses: "A dunk that even a monkey could complete; I really don't know what there is to be proud of. That guy Murasakibara, is he treating this like a dunk contest performance?"

Although Midorima said so, his gaze behind his glasses, like the others in the Generation of Miracles, was fixed heavily on Yukimiya Kazuma.

Too fast...

The growth of this guy!

It’s just like the Generation of Miracles!

Score on the court, 14:18.

Yukimiya Kazuma finally managed to close the gap to 2 points with his footwork, only to be smashed back by Murasakibara Atsushi’s Thor’s Hammer in the blink of an eye.

Hakusuikan launched another attack.

Kasuga Yuji turned slightly on the perimeter, controlling his 'Namba Step' and dribbling cautiously. Yukimiya Kazuma rushed inside without the ball. With his build and strength, Akashi couldn't stop him without the ball.

Murasakibara Atsushi rushed up to defend Yukimiya Kazuma. Hakusuikan did the same, passing the ball steadily into Yukimiya’s hands, and then opened up the space.

"Don't even think about shooting, Yuki-cchi!"

The moment Yukimiya caught the ball, he had already set up his shooting posture, so Murasakibara Atsushi immediately jumped to block after chasing him.

But the next second, Yukimiya Kazuma below smiled lightly. He didn't jump; he just lifted one foot off the ground, pointed the other foot, and held the ball with both hands, faking a shot in front of him!

Murasakibara Atsushi took off on the spot!

"Hey~"

Turn!

He crossed paths with Murasakibara’s tall, leaping body.

However...

He still didn't choose to shoot.

Because he knew very well that Murasakibara’s monster-like body would chase and defend after landing.

Smack~

Yukimiya Kazuma gathered the ball, actively putting himself into a dead-ball attack state. He pulled the ball to the right, away from Murasakibara’s chase, blocked with his left hand, and hooked!

Murasakibara’s eyes tightened.

Step~!

He pushed off the ground fiercely, and his massive body suddenly accelerated like a rocket, his terrifying height completely obscuring Yukimiya Kazuma’s hook shot vision!

However...

Yukimiya Kazuma was waiting for this.

Murasakibara’s block this time was afraid of being faked, so he didn't jump until the ball was shot from Yukimiya Kazuma’s hand. But Yukimiya’s hook shot was ridiculously high and ridiculously crooked, bypassing Murasakibara’s block and 'smacking' against the backboard at a 45-degree angle.

Yukimiya’s hook shot, while standing on one leg, saw the other foot land and push off the moment the shot was released, turning like a compass.

The hook shot, which had almost no jump, had a sufficient first-move advantage, bypassing the flying Murasakibara, while his left arm reached back to keep a considerable distance from Murasakibara, who was still flying backward.

Then...

He jumped, caught the ball rebounding off the backboard, leaped to the other side of the basket, and swung his right arm in a circle, banking it into the basket!

Hakusuikan vs Teiko.

16:18.

It was another interior attack that drew gasps from the scene, and the point gap between Hakusuikan and Teiko came to 2 points again.

Although they were still leading, a point gap of only 2 points was completely unacceptable in the eyes of the Teiko group.

Since the National Tournament, Teiko had gone all the way from the qualifiers to the main draw, or rather, since they entered their third year, the Generation of Miracles had never let anyone score so easily.

16 points.

That was often the score of the opponent for the entire game.

And now, they had scored these points in the first quarter, and were only trailing Teiko by 2 points.

From Yukimiya Kazuma’s super jump shot at the start to his shooting technique being cracked by the Emperor Eye, and then immediately switching to an interior offensive mode, Yukimiya Kazuma had felt too relaxed from start to finish.

Off the court.

The Teiko coach, who existed in name only.

The eyes behind his glasses narrowed slightly.

It was his first time encountering such an opponent. Although it was only two shots, Murasakibara’s defense seemed to have no effect on him at all.

But...

Just as he was thinking this.

Yukimiya Kazuma, who was retreating along the sideline, muttered while panting:

"Too dangerous. The hook shot I raised so high was almost blocked, and the moment I finished the layup, I was almost chased down. What kind of middle school monster..."

"Shameless Teiko!"

Soon, several more possessions passed.

On the court.

Murasakibara and Yukimiya were going at it—one frantically smashing the rim, the other spinning under the basket, showing off footwork and fakes. The two were locked in a wild offensive duel, and the crowd had become somewhat numb to it all.

"How many baskets has it been since the start? Little Murasakibara has only managed to block one shot. For him, this is probably the first time since showing his talent that he's been pushed like this, aside from Akashi!"

Kise Ryota said in surprise.

Midorima Shintaro didn't seem surprised. He said calmly, "Murasakibara has always relied solely on his physical talent under the basket and has never been willing to learn technique. Back when Captain Haizaki was here, there were people urging him to learn from Senior Hanashiro, but later..."

"He never encountered an opponent stronger than himself, so his body alone was enough to keep him invincible under the rim."

"But now, he is facing Yukimiya, whose physical ability is weaker than his but not to the point where he can't compete, and whose technique is far superior. In a sense, Murasakibara has finally met his match."

No matter how good the talent, there are weaknesses. Murasakibara's weakness is that his gifted physique allowed him to reach heights many centers never reach in a lifetime without needing much technique, so he truly lacks any strong skills.

"Yukimiya~!"

Being scored on repeatedly was certainly annoying, but what annoyed him even more was that in the previous offensive possession, his 'Hammer of Destruction' had been swatted away under the interference of Yukimiya's block!

"Ohhhhhhh~~~"

"That was... a block, right? He actually blocked it."

"Murasakibara blocked him earlier too, so you could say it's back to a draw."

"Yukimiya Kazuma's various techniques are really super amazing..."

"From the start until now, he's been doing all the scoring and defending himself. Come to think of it, when the Generation of Miracles attacks, they also do it all by themselves."

"Teiko has been like this all year. Akashi controls the ball and sets up the offense, and once the ball is passed out, the person who receives it basically takes it all the way."

...