Chapter 201: Growing Up

Completely unstoppable!

Masako Araki on the sidelines felt a bit powerless.

The advantage of the lineup’s height couldn't be utilized; they let Kirisaki Daichi shoot a terrifying 80% from the field.

Rebounds, blocks, interior scoring—all these advantages that were once easily obtained were not realized by Yosen in this game today.

Even worse was their own offense, which couldn't get going, blocked by Kirisaki Daichi until they couldn't move an inch.

She looked toward the Kirisaki Daichi player standing motionless near the paint again.

Even though he did nothing, that invisible aura shrouded the entire court.

Yosen offense.

They were once again forced to operate only outside the three-point line.

Tiandao guarded the interior alone; despite being only one person, he was like a great mountain pressing down on their hearts.

Tatsuya Himuro took the ball from his teammate.

He didn't want to give up so easily, constantly trying to break through the double-team.

However, Hiroshi Yamazaki and Kojiro Furuhashi were a double-team, and they would occasionally play dirty.

Under the premise of being unable to cross the three-point line, he played very passively.

"Tatsuya..." Seeing Seeing Kagami could clearly feel his brother’s predicament.

Because he had been the same way back then, beaten until he was almost in despair.

Alexandra Garcia was also helpless.

She truly hoped to see her two disciples succeed.

"For Tatsuya, Tiandao is still too difficult as a target for a challenge."

Tatsuya Himuro wasn't weak; it was just that his opponent was too strong.

The opponent was a heaven-favored child on the same level as Nash, a top-tier genius even on a global scale, destined to be a basketball star in the future.

Seeing that there was little time left on the shot clock, he simply pulled up for a jumper on the spot.

Kojiro Furuhashi saw it and jumped to follow immediately, and then Hiroshi Yamazaki completed his jump in the second instance.

The Mirage Shot was a god-tier move for one-on-one, but its weakness was also very obvious; if there were two defenders, the Mirage Shot would no longer be a threat.

"Sure enough, it’s much easier than Tiandao."

Hiroshi Yamazaki easily swatted Tatsuya Himuro’s shot down.

Tatsuya Himuro’s eyes stung, and his heart grew colder.

"Breaking the Mirage Shot on the first attempt; Kirisaki Daichi’s preparations are truly sufficient."

"That’s right; whether it’s Tiandao switching to play the 5-spot or the double-team on Tatsuya Himuro, their reactions have been too swift."

They had completely seen through Yosen.

The ball hit the ground; Kirisaki Daichi counterattacked.

The effect of replacing Kentaro Seto with Kojiro Furuhashi was obvious.

Tiandao dribbled and rushed; there were 4 passing routes in front of him, meaning he had 4 passing options.

Although Kentaro Seto wasn't some heavy-duty center, he was, after all, a proper number 5, and his speed couldn't keep up with the team.

And having more choices meant more opportunities to score.

*Whoosh!*

Tiandao flung the ball out sharply; the ball traveled across the court like a laser, breaking through the air, and finally landed in Kojiro Furuhashi’s hands.

Murasakibara had to watch Tiandao, and Yosen’s two big men were a beat slow.

Relying only on Kensuke Fukui and Tatsuya Himuro, they couldn't construct a very good defensive line.

Kojiro Furuhashi caught the ball, took a step to adjust, and hit the open mid-range jumper.

The game’s tempo fell back into Kirisaki Daichi’s hands.

Yosen seemed very unaccustomed to Kirisaki Daichi’s lineup change, and they were successfully hit by two effective counterattacks as soon as the second quarter started.

*Beep~*

The game was blown to a stop; Masako Araki called a timeout.

Now the point difference had been stretched to double digits; if it couldn't be stopped in time, they would likely be killed off by a single wave from Kirisaki Daichi.

But what to do?

She felt that if the team lost today, she had to take responsibility.

As a proper basketball head coach, her preparation was actually not as good as two teenage brats from Kirisaki Daichi.

Leading the team into a predicament, she couldn't make a timely reaction.

"I'm sorry, Coach."

"It’s not your fault; it’s that my preparation wasn't sufficient. The responsibility is mine."

Masako Araki told Tatsuya Himuro not to blame himself.

But saying that was one thing; how to get out of the current predicament was another problem.

Especially this big kid, Murasakibara.

Based on her understanding of Murasakibara, he was probably already wanting to give up at this time.

After all, his catchphrase had always been something like, "Basketball is a sport of who has more talent; if you can't win now, you never will."

But surprisingly, Murasakibara didn't give up on himself.

He lay on the bench, covering his face with a towel.

Images from the past surged into his mind.

For what reason did he play basketball?

In his memory, it seemed like when he was in elementary school, an uncle saw him and ran over very excitedly, not asking for his opinion at all, and took him to the basketball club.

He seemed to have done quite well at the time, blowing out his opponents on his first appearance.

Even though he was still a beginner at the time, those who had practiced for a long time were so vulnerable.

But since boredom was boredom, Murasakibara simply kept playing.

Then came middle school, and Teiko.

It was completely different from elementary school; there were many guys here who even he felt were very strong.

Tiandao, Aomine, Akashi, Midorima, Kise, Haizaki, and even Kuroko—they were all very strong.

Playing with such people, success became easy to obtain.

He was very comfortable at Teiko.

Because he didn't like to use his brain, nor was he good at using his brain.

But there were many people in the team who were good at using their brains; following behind them, he lived very comfortably and freely.

At first, it was Tiandao; he had been playing with him the longest.

Every game, he could blow out the opponent and solve many troubles; as a result, when it was his turn to play, things would become very simple.

He had just mixed along behind them for three years like this.

No matter what situation arose, Tiandao and the others could handle it.

Even though they weren't as tall and big as him, it should have been him protecting them instead.

"It’s about time you grew up, Atsushi."

In a daze, Tiandao’s words echoed in his mind again.

Grow up?

Could it be that he hadn't grown big enough?

When Murasakibara first heard Tiandao’s words, he thought of his 2-meter height and 99-kilogram weight.

He was bigger than anyone!

Thinking of this, he pulled the towel down and looked at the low-morale bench, feeling very uncomfortable inside.

It seemed like he had returned to that time in the second year of middle school, when the once lively rebounds suddenly became deserted.

The people were still there, and they were still the same people, but the feeling had changed.

He hated this kind of atmosphere.