Chapter 55

"Holy crap, he's this handsome?!"

The barrage teachers exclaimed one after another, forgetting even to type their comments for a moment.

The other players on the opposing team reacted, collapsing their defense toward him from all directions.

A suffocating defense, like a shield, blocked every path forward for Tendō.

"Where are you going?"

"So that's how it is, is it there!"

Tendō Keien muttered to himself; no one knew what his words meant.

They only knew that the moment Seihō's collapse was about to be completed, he swung his right arm and hurled the ball out at extreme speed.

With a "whoosh," the basketball turned into a streak of light, weaving through Seihō's dense defense and forcibly tearing a hole in their iron-wall defense.

Murasakibara in the paint didn't even know what had happened; he just felt something flying toward him and instinctively opened his hands to catch the ball.

It was a ball!

Looking around, he realized there wasn't a single defender near him.

"Bang!"

Without hesitation, he turned, jumped, and delivered a two-handed slam dunk.

".........."

The arena was silent; everyone, from Teikō to Seihō, was stunned.

"Is this... the true face of Tendō?" Shirogane Gōzō widened his eyes.

In a trance, he actually saw a terrifying monster burning with black flames behind Tendō Keien.

That ferocious expression formed a sharp contrast with Tendō's impossibly handsome appearance.

Like a god and a demon!

Like Shirogane Gōzō, Akashi and the others also saw the monster in that instant.

The intense visual impact brought them huge shock.

At this moment, in their eyes, the court seemed to be surrounded and burned by black flames.

Only Tendō Keien and that monster stood at the center.

"Is this... the true face of Tendō?"

Shirogane Gōzō was shocked in his heart.

In all his years of coaching, this was the first time he had encountered such a player.

But...

"No, Tendō's speed and other aspects haven't improved; the only thing that has improved is..."

Sense of smell?

Could it be wildness?

An old hand like Shirogane Gōzō naturally knew that there was an invisible talent hidden within the human body.

A biological instinct known as "wildness."

This talent could greatly enhance a player's instincts, making their movements sharper.

Depending on the type of wildness, the ability boost it brought to a player varied.

Reaction, speed, strength, body coordination, and so on.

Shirogane Gōzō quickly shook his head.

What was coiled around Tendō at this moment was not wildness; it was something he had never seen before.

"It's more like an extreme manifestation of basketball IQ!"

Tendō's two offensive moves just now were almost identical, and the rate of speed had no abnormalities.

Yet, on his second attack, he pierced through Tsugawa Tomoki's defense with extreme ease.

It felt as if he had already seen through the opponent's moves, and his brain had issued commands to his body in time after calculating.

No!

It wasn't the result of calculation!

Breaking through Tsugawa Tomoki's defense could be explained by anticipation, but the pass that tore through Seihō's entire defensive line afterward was absolutely a stroke of genius.

That was not something anticipation could explain.

It was more like a timely reaction made after observation, using a transcendent basketball IQ to dismantle the opponent's defensive formation.

No need for calculation; by observing the opponent's positioning and movements, he naturally read their defensive intentions.

"Plus that pass, confident to the point of being unreserved..."

Unstoppable!

At this moment, Shirogane Gōzō couldn't imagine how to stop Tendō's offensive.

As long as his teammates could keep up with his rhythm, he could truly pierce through Seihō, known for its iron-wall defense, all by himself!

Thinking of this, he shouted directly to the players on the court, "Give the ball to Tendō, everyone else be ready to receive the ball at any time!"

With such terrifying basketball IQ, why the hell play off-ball!

Of course, leave all the ball handling to Tendō!

'Something's wrong, brothers, this show is starting to get weird!'

'I knew it last week; after Haizaki appeared, this show started heading in the direction of superpowers.'

'Perverted, this is taking on an entire team's defense alone!'

'Is this really something a human can do?'

'Don't make a fuss, many people can do it; as long as there is systematic practice and tactical coordination, running to an open spot and passing the ball, isn't it easy?'

'Quick, go to Gotham and tell Batman I found the Joker, he's upstairs!'

"......"

The silly netizens started their daily routine again.

However, this kind of thing is something real-life players can actually do.

For example, Tendō's idol, the 40-year-old rookie James, always manages to deliver assists on the court that pierce through enemy defenses like a stroke of genius.

This is a necessity for becoming a primary ball-handling core.

Why are primary ball-handling cores so precious in the league later on?

Players with high basketball IQ are too hard to find.

In the NBA, geniuses with well-developed limbs are everywhere; you can find a bunch just by pointing at the draft.

But finding a player with both well-developed limbs and outstanding basketball IQ is too difficult.

People say James's talent is historical-level, and they aren't joking.

Besides having a monster-level body, this guy also possesses the league's strongest brain.

This is the reason he can still score 40+ consecutively after the age of 40.

In this regard, Jordan and Kobe have to bow down.

Of course, Jordan and Kobe aren't that type of player; they are the best finishers, and their task isn't to help teammates score, but to end the game with their own scoring.

There is no distinction between high and low; winning is the hard truth.

On the court, Tendō's performance wasn't over yet.

Returning to the defensive end, the monster continued to exert force.

Since Tsugawa Tomoki was a player with almost no offensive ability, Tendō could almost ignore him when defending him.

"Stay calm, we'll pay them back immediately."

Kasuga Ryūhei dribbled to the half-court, directing the team's offense.

That first-year's performance was indeed surprising, but not enough to leave them, Seihō, helpless.

What they needed to deal with first was the team's offense.

Tsugawa Tomoki's strengths and weaknesses were very obvious: outstanding defense, but too weak offensive ability.

Teikō seemed to have known this for a long time, and that freak named Tendō treated Tsugawa like air.

At this moment, the defensive pressure Teikō was giving them was huge.

"We have to play hard."