"Beep!"
The referee blew the substitution whistle.
A commotion immediately broke out in front of Toyotama High's bench.
Minami Tsuyoshi shoved the team doctor aside and staggered to his feet.
His chest was wrapped in thick elastic bandages, but even the ice pack could barely suppress the tearing pain.
Minami gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse.
"I'm going back in."
Kishimoto Minori grabbed him by the arm.
"Are you crazy? What if you've broken a rib?!"
Minami shook off his hand and fixed his eyes on Rukawa Kaede on the court.
"I don't want to lose. Toyotama can't fall here!"
He grabbed a clean jersey, pulled it over himself, and strode toward the scorer's table.
At Shohoku's bench, Makino Juro was leaning back in his chair and drinking water when he caught sight of Minami at the scorer's table.
He stopped drinking and immediately burst out laughing.
"Those bones of yours are pretty tough. Looks like I still went too easy on you."
Ayako, sitting beside him, felt her heart jump.
"Please, ancestor, don't cause any more trouble."
Makino Juro shrugged and casually tossed his towel onto the chair.
"He's just putting on a brave face. He won't last long."
On the court, Minami returned to the game.
Toyotama's morale seemed to experience a brief resurgence.
"The captain's back!"
"Take Shohoku down!"
The Toyotama supporters in the stands started making noise again.
Minami walked up to Rukawa Kaede, his voice venomous.
"You've already lost one eye. You should obediently get off the court. I'll cripple your other eye too."
Rukawa gave him a cold glance.
"You talk too much. Spare me."
Miyagi Ryota immediately caught Rukawa's signal for the ball and fired the pass toward him like a cannonball.
Rukawa caught it one-handed, his center of gravity suddenly dropping low.
Minami tensed as if facing a great enemy, spreading his arms with his knees slightly bent.
He had already planned it out.
The moment Rukawa tried to drive past him, he would use a concealed knee strike to cripple his leg.
That dirty trick had worked countless times before.
But Rukawa had no intention of playing by his rules.
The instant the basketball hit the floor, Rukawa's body strangely relaxed.
His dribble slowed to an extreme crawl, carrying a deadly sense of temptation.
Minami's breathing unconsciously slowed with it.
And just as he was preparing to search for an opening, Rukawa disappeared.
All that remained before Minami's eyes was a blur.
The entire image of Rukawa's drive seemed to have been forcibly cut out of his brain.
"What?!"
Minami's eyes widened in terror, and he instinctively swung his elbow.
He hit nothing but air.
He didn't even graze the edge of Rukawa's jersey.
A gust of wind swept past his ear.
Rukawa had already risen near the free-throw line and effortlessly leaped into the air.
"Swish!"
The basketball dropped cleanly through the net.
"Damn it!"
Minami clutched his aching chest, cold sweat instantly soaking through his jersey.
What the hell was this?
This was a dimensional beatdown, wasn't it?!
He couldn't even lock onto his target. How was he supposed to pull off a dirty trick?!
"Damn fox!"
Under the basket, Sakuragi Hanamichi was hopping around in frustration, frantically grabbing at his red hair.
"Obviously, this genius is the protagonist!"
"How the hell does this damn fox get to use hacks?!"
"If even this fox has entered the Zone, doesn't that mean he's almost caught up to this genius?!"
Sakuragi gritted his teeth and glared at Rukawa's back.
Toyotama inbounded the ball from the baseline.
Kishimoto Minori had barely dribbled across half court when Miyagi Ryota locked onto him like glue.
"Give me the ball!"
Minami shouted and forced his way past the defense to call for the pass.
He had to strike back.
But the moment the ball left Kishimoto's hands, a streak of red lightning suddenly shot out from the side.
Rukawa had perfectly anticipated the passing lane.
He stretched out his long arm and intercepted the ball cleanly.
"Get back on defense!"
The Toyotama coach shouted anxiously from the sideline.
Minami ran back with everything he had and finally cut Rukawa off beyond the three-point line.
"You're not getting past me!"
Minami spread his arms wide, the agony in his chest twisting his face.
Rukawa stopped and held the ball in both hands.
He didn't drive.
Instead, he made a move that sent chills down everyone's spine.
He slowly closed his eyes.
"Has he gone crazy?!" Kiyota Nobunaga suddenly jumped to his feet in the stands.
"He's shooting with his eyes closed?!" Maki Shinichi also wore an expression as if he had just seen a ghost.
Minami froze for a second before his anger exploded.
"You dare look down on me!"
He leaped desperately to block the shot, even secretly extending a dirty leg in midair, trying to trip Rukawa.
But in the darkness, Rukawa felt the movement of the air.
The squeak of sneakers.
Minami's ragged breathing.
Even the change in airflow caused by that dirty leg.
Everything was under his control.
Rukawa leaned back slightly and effortlessly avoided the foul.
The position of the basket had long since been carved into his muscle memory.
Jump.
Hang in the air.
Flick the wrist.
Even within the dust, sparks can hide.
Even in the ordinary, legends can be born.
The basketball traced a perfect arc through the air.
"Swish!"
The crisp sound of the net echoed like heavenly music.
The entire arena fell completely silent for two full seconds.
Then the crowd erupted like a tsunami.
"A shot with his eyes closed?!"
"What the hell?! Can a carbon-based life-form actually do that?!"
"Shohoku's No. 11 has gone completely insane!"
Minami landed in a daze.
His legs gave out beneath him, and he dropped straight to his knees.
His psychological defenses had completely shattered.
He couldn't even defend against a guy shooting with his eyes closed.
What the hell was he supposed to do?!
"All the attention has been stolen by that damn fox!"
Sakuragi exploded beneath the basket.
"This genius is going to show off the results of his training too!"
Toyotama's counterattack had already fallen into chaos.
Itakura Daijiro's three-pointer hit the rim and bounced away.
"The rebound is mine!"
Sakuragi soared into the air like a giant roc, violently knocking Iwata Mitsuaki aside.
He clamped the ball firmly in one hand.
"Beautiful! Pass it to Miyagi!" Ayako shouted from the sideline.
But Sakuragi wasn't listening.
There was only one thought in his head.
Score.
And wipe that damn fox's smug face off.
Sakuragi landed and didn't even look toward the guards.
He immediately started dribbling toward the frontcourt at full speed.
"Stop him!"
Kishimoto Minori was horrified and quickly called for everyone to get back on defense.
Sakuragi's dribbling was rough and wild, but his speed was terrifying.
He was like a runaway bulldozer, and in the blink of an eye, he had charged into the mid-range.
"This is it!"
Sakuragi slammed to a stop and gathered the ball.
Four Toyotama players immediately collapsed around him like an iron cage.
Four pairs of hands reached toward him at once.
"You idiot! Pass the ball!" Miyagi shouted desperately from wide open space.
Sakuragi ignored him completely.
He forced his way into the air against all four defenders and launched the shot.
"Bang!"
Iwata Mitsuaki swatted the ball away with one vicious slap.
A crushing volleyball-style rejection!
The stands immediately erupted in laughter.
"What's that red-haired monkey doing?! Is he trying to give them free points?"
"If you can't shoot, then don't shoot! That was hilarious!"
The Sakuragi Army in the stands collectively covered their faces.
Mito Yohei let out a long sigh.
"This idiot…"
Takamiya Nozomi crunched loudly on his potato chips.
"That's way too embarrassing. I'm choosing not to know him during this possession."
Kishimoto inbounded from the sideline with a long pass, and Itakura easily finished the fast break with a layup.
"What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!"
Mitsui Hisashi stormed over and kicked Sakuragi straight in the butt.
"You tried to shoot over four guys! Are you brain-dead, or are you trying to fly to heaven?!"
Sakuragi took the kick but didn't react at all.
He stood there like a wooden statue, staring blankly at his own hands and muttering under his breath.
"A shot starts from the knees…"
"The wrist has to be soft…"
Mitsui leaned closer and nearly fainted from anger when he heard him.
Sakuragi was completely lost in his own world.
He had gone completely berserk.
"Hey! Snap out of it!"
Mitsui grabbed Sakuragi by the shoulders and shook him violently.
Sakuragi suddenly raised his head.
His eyes were bloodshot.
"Give me one more chance."
"I can definitely make it."
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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