Minami Tsuyoshi was carried off the court with blood covering his head, but the game did not stop.
The referee's sharp whistle cut through Hiroshima Sports Arena as play continued.
On the court, Shohoku's offense kept moving.
Outside the three-point line, Miyagi Ryota lowered his center of gravity, and with a flick of his ankle, he suddenly changed direction.
Toyotama's defense had already been torn apart.
He quickly spotted an opening in the corner and snapped his wrist, sending the basketball streaking like an orange bolt of lightning straight to Mitsui Hisashi.
"Three! Shoot it!" Miyagi roared.
Mitsui caught the ball, his legs heavy as lead, sweat pouring down his face.
But he didn't hesitate for even half a second.
Relying entirely on muscle memory, he rose and fired.
The basketball traced an extremely high arc, drawing the eyes of thousands of spectators across the arena.
"CLANG!"
The ball struck the front rim with a crisp metallic sound and bounced high into the air.
"Rebound!"
Akagi Takenori unleashed a beast-like roar from inside the paint, his massive frame fighting desperately for position.
On the other side, two figures were already locked in a brutal physical battle.
Kishimoto Minori gritted his teeth, the muscles in his jaw bulging.
He threw his entire weight against the red-haired figure behind him, his thighs twitching violently from exhaustion.
Sweat poured from his face and splattered onto the floor.
"Get the hell out of here, you amateur monkey!"
Kishimoto screamed inwardly, both arms desperately pushing backward as he tried to force Sakuragi Hanamichi out of the best rebounding position.
But in the next instant, what he felt wasn't resistance giving way.
It was an unstoppable, terrifying force.
"Get out of my way!"
"This rebound belongs to this genius!"
Sakuragi's eyes were bloodshot as a deafening roar exploded from his throat.
The muscles in his calves suddenly tightened.
The tremendous force of his push-off made the wooden floor groan beneath his feet.
Kishimoto's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
Sakuragi's towering frame simply ignored his physical battle for position.
Like a tree shooting straight out of dry ground, he launched himself skyward!
Too high!
Kishimoto tilted his head back.
All he could see were Sakuragi's knees.
This guy was practically ignoring gravity.
Sakuragi's long arm shot upward.
Above the fingertips of Toyotama's center, Iwata Mitsuaki, he snatched the ball out of the air with one hand!
"BOOM!"
Sakuragi landed heavily on both feet, the tremendous impact forcing the nearby Toyotama players to instinctively take half a step backward.
The entire arena exploded.
"Holy shit! He got it again!"
"How many offensive rebounds has that red-haired monster grabbed this half?! He's gone completely berserk!"
"Does this guy even need rest?! Even iron knees should've gone soft by now!"
The Shohoku bench erupted.
"Beautiful, Sakuragi!" Kogure Kiminobu shouted, waving his towel excitedly.
"That's incredible! The Rebound King is all yours!" Ayako cried, enthusiastically smacking the tactics board.
Makino Juro slumped against the back of his chair, chewing on a mint candy.
Seeing Sakuragi's red-haired back, he couldn't help but laugh.
"All that toilet-defense training wasn't for nothing. His lower body is ridiculously stable."
"Toyotama's already completely out of gas. What the hell are they supposed to use to fight him for rebounds?"
Kishimoto Minori was panting heavily, his lungs wheezing like a bellows.
He stared at Sakuragi Hanamichi in front of him, his pupils trembling violently.
"What the hell is this guy made of?"
A wave of helplessness washed over Kishimoto.
"He's been running back and forth with our run-and-gun pace for nearly forty minutes. Why can he still jump?"
"And more importantly…"
"How the hell can he still jump this high?!"
Sakuragi didn't pause for even a second after securing the rebound.
He protected the ball tightly with both hands.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Kishimoto charging toward him like a starving tiger, trying to steal it immediately.
Sakuragi suddenly straightened up and glanced sharply toward Mitsui outside the three-point line.
He raised the ball with both hands, clearly preparing for a powerful long pass.
"Catch it, Three!" Sakuragi bellowed.
Kishimoto's heart clenched.
If that pass got through, the gap would widen again!
"Not a chance!"
Kishimoto roared and leaped with everything he had, his long arm stretching high to intercept.
The moment Kishimoto's feet left the floor...
A wildly arrogant grin appeared on Sakuragi's feral face.
His hands, which had been about to launch the ball, abruptly stopped in midair.
He quickly pulled it back against his chest.
"It was a fake?!"
"That's the ugliest fake I've ever seen!"
Kishimoto stared in despair as he hung helplessly in midair, with nothing left to do but descend.
"Heh heh, fooled you, Osaka ponytail!"
Sakuragi grinned mockingly.
Then he bent his knees slightly and rose straight up into a textbook jump shot.
With a smooth flick of his wrist, the basketball rolled beautifully off his fingertips, spinning backward through the air.
Twenty thousand monotonous shooting drills had transformed into the sharpest weapon at this very moment.
"Swish!"
Nothing but net.
104–74!
The lead had ballooned to a full thirty points!
They were absolutely rolling!
"BEEEEEP!"
A piercing buzzer sounded from the scorer's table.
The referee raised his right hand.
"Toyotama High School, substitution!"
The entire arena's attention immediately shifted away from Sakuragi and toward the sideline.
Standing in front of the scorer's table was a thin figure.
His head was wrapped in thick white bandages, his face pale, yet his back remained perfectly straight.
Minami Tsuyoshi, captain of Toyotama High School, the once-feared "Ace Killer," was returning to the court.
Kishimoto stared at that familiar figure, his eyes suddenly burning with emotion.
Even his voice trembled.
"Minami!"
Not far away, Rukawa Kaede wiped the sweat from his chin with one hand.
His right eye carried a cold, scrutinizing gaze as it locked onto Minami stepping back onto the court.
Rukawa frowned slightly.
That venomous, sinister aura from before, that murderous determination to win by any means necessary, had completely disappeared.
The Minami standing before him now had eyes so clear that it was almost unbelievable.
Did this guy get possessed?
Rukawa wondered silently, but his defensive stance didn't loosen in the slightest.
Sakuragi Hanamichi couldn't care less about the change in atmosphere.
He planted his hands on his hips and threw his head back laughing.
Pointing at Minami, he mercilessly entered full taunt mode.
"Hahahaha! Too late! Way too late!"
"You fake ace who only knows how to play dirty! Coming back is just volunteering to get your head handed to you!"
"This genius is the true god controlling the entire court! Hurry up and buy your tickets back to Osaka!"
"BAM!"
Akagi delivered a perfectly placed punch to the back of Sakuragi's head, cutting off his laughter.
"Idiot! Stop popping champagne at halftime!"
Akagi turned around, standing like an iron tower in the middle of the court.
His expression was stern, his eyes wide as he unleashed a thunderous roar at the entire Shohoku team.
"There are only two minutes left in the game! Don't look at the scoreboard!"
"Even with a thirty-point lead, not one second of slacking off is allowed!"
"Give me everything you've got! Squeeze every last drop of energy out of your bodies on this court!"
"YEAH!"
The entire Shohoku team erupted in a deafening battle cry, their momentum surging like a tidal wave.
They were like a pack of hungry wolves that had caught the scent of blood, preparing for one final hunt.
On the Toyotama half of the court, Kishimoto hurried over to Minami.
Looking at the bandages around his head, he spoke anxiously.
"Minami, your head… are you really okay? You don't have to force yourself. The game's already…"
"Kishimoto."
Minami suddenly spoke.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it was extraordinarily calm.
So calm that Kishimoto found it unfamiliar.
Minami turned his head and looked at Kishimoto's exhausted face.
Then he suddenly smiled.
"Coach Kitano is here."
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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