Chapter 98: Could This Even Be the Same Person I Saw Last Time?!

Takefusa jumped the tip and won it over Touetsudou's center.

Yukimiya Kazuma got the ball and began pushing it up the court.

Long Tian Zhang shifted from shooting guard to point guard to guard Yukimiya Kazuma.

Under normal circumstances, Yukimiya Kazuma would call for a pick-and-roll, or simply use his master-class ball-handling to draw a double-team and kick it out.

But this was a Head-to-Head Showdown against Long Tian Zhang, who had been trash-talking in the weekly magazine, so Yukimiya Kazuma immediately flashed a 1-on-1 signal, and the whole arena erupted.

Of course.

The ones erupting were mainly the Touetsudou student fans who had come to cheer.

"Damn it! Who does this kid think he is? He's actually trying to iso Long Tian!"

"That's Long Tian Zhang!"

"……"

"That guy is really good…"

The Touetsudou fans in the stands began jeering, but there were also those who had seen Yukimiya Kazuma's ability with their own eyes, nervously sweating for Long Tian Zhang.

This was actually not surprising. Just like in a pro league home game, the vast majority of Touetsudou students would naturally only watch Touetsudou. Moreover, they had come with a certain cheering duty to fulfill, needing to prepare and rehearse in advance, so they had even less reason to specifically go watch Bai Shuiguan's games.

Yukimiya Kazuma made a small jab at the three-point arc, lightly probing Long Tian Zhang's level.

Hmm…

The defense is very cautious.

The positioning is also good — he didn't lose his stance as I moved.

But that's all it amounts to.

Yukimiya Kazuma skillfully leaned his body into Long Tian Zhang, then suddenly threw in a Crawford-style back-shimmy slide. Long Tian Zhang came off worse in the contact, got faked once more, and abruptly fell back step by step.

Touetsudou's help-defense awareness was almost nonexistent. This was clearly unusual — perhaps the two sides had reached some kind of pre-game consensus to 'let loose and play 1-on-1.'

Yukimiya reached the free-throw line area with complete ease, left hand shielding in front of him, body slightly angled, right hand raised for a hook.

Facing this sudden hook shot, by the time Long Tian Zhang tried to contest it, it was already impossible. Yukimiya Kazuma stands 186 cm tall — his height and wingspan at the guard position are, without question, overwhelming.

Short players, unless they're like Akashi — where a glare steals the ball through sheer unreasonable rule-power — anyone else who reacts a beat slow, doesn't step up to give contact, or gets faked out of their shooting space can only watch helplessly as the ball goes in.

Swish!

The hook shot is good!

"Huh?"

"He actually…"

"He actually used a hook shot…?"

The hook shot was Yukimiya Kazuma's go-to offensive move in the final rounds of the round-robin. As for the pull-up jumper — a high-level skill essential for scoring — now that he had 'Monster Immersion · Flying Bird,' Yukimiya no longer needed to bother studying it. After all, that skill looks simple but is actually incredibly difficult to truly master.

Between the two unpolished offensive techniques, Yukimiya still preferred the hook shot a bit more, simply because against shorter defenders, its efficiency is very good.

When he played Teikou in the round-robin, of course he didn't dare use it. This offensive method puts you too close to the rim — whether it was Murasakibara, Facing Qingfeng, or Midori, any of them could easily swat away his half-baked hook.

Touetsudou's fans didn't really know Yukimiya Kazuma that well. Middle school perimeter players using a hook shot isn't very common — even at the pro level it's not that common.

At this moment, on the Touetsudou-side spectator stands, two middle-aged men were doing an enthusiastic commentary.

These two were the very same fans who had asked Yukimiya for an autograph outside the gym earlier — clearly big fans of middle school basketball.

"Whoa!"

"Yukimiya Kazuma comes on and immediately hits a hook shot — this kind of offense isn't very common, but it suits Yukimiya Kazuma perfectly."

"Indeed…"

"I've never seen a middle school point guard this tall. Teikou does have a few who could pull it off, but they have Akashi there…"

"It's great — with that height, having monster-like agility and ball-handling lets him frequently win the physical battle at the point guard spot."

"He really knows how to use his advantages. Attacking with the hook shot is indeed very comfortable for him."

"However…"

"The problem is still Teikou. Offense at this level won't break through Teikou."

Touetsudou's possession.

After Long Tian Zhang brought the ball up, he likewise chose to iso Yukimiya Kazuma.

At this moment, the entire gymnasium was whipped into a frenzy by Touetsudou's cheering squad.

The fans cheered and shouted for Long Tian Zhang.

"Long Tian, take him down!"

"Long Tian Zhang, score on him — show him what Touetsudou's made of!"

"Go!"

Buoyed by his school's cheers, Long Tian Zhang felt power surge through his whole body. He worked a crossover in front of his body, trying to shift Yukimiya Kazuma's center of gravity and seize the offensive initiative.

But he had clearly miscalculated. Yukimiya Kazuma's on-ball defensive reads are terrifyingly strong — he can handle even Akashi and Facing Qingfeng for stretches, let alone Long Tian Zhang.

Moreover, Long Tian Zhang's dribbling is a rhythm-based style. Playing the body would be better for him — playing technique?