The instant Aoi Kunisaku's fingertips touched the ball, his arm shot out with force and crushed Moroboshi Dai's shot like a steel clamp.
The moment the ball bounced to the ground, he snatched it one-handed. His red jersey trailed behind him in a sharp arc as he turned into a streak of light, blasting toward Aichi's half.
"Damn it, stop right there!" Moroboshi Dai staggered to turn and chase, his sneakers screeching across the court.
But after just two steps, his pupils shrank sharply.
That red blur in his memory overlapped with the figure ahead. It was like time had rewound to the National Tournament.
That back he'd chased with all his might was pulling away again in the exact same way. No matter how hard he pushed his legs or pumped his arms, Aoi Kunisaku's stride stayed ahead. The red edge of his jersey flickered into a blur, like a blade hanging above his head, stinging his eyes with frustration.
That crushing sense of helplessness crawled from his soles up his spine. Moroboshi Dai's steps grew heavier, like he had sandbags strapped to his legs.
By the time he grit his teeth and reached half-court, he looked up to see Aoi Kunisaku had already stepped into Aichi's paint. Under the spotlight, his outline gleamed cold and hard. It carried even more pressure than what lived in his memories.
Under the basket, Morishige Hiroshi's pupils contracted, his muscles instantly tensing.
Since the National Tournament, this was their first head-on clash.
The tension between the two of them seemed to crackle with static. The entire crowd held their breath, eyes locked on the confrontation.
Everyone knew this was a head-on collision between two titans.
"No-spirit ghost! Pass it to me!" Sakuragi Hanamichi shouted from the right, waving his arms toward Aoi Kunisaku. "I'm gonna slam it right over this big guy's head!"
Aoi Kunisaku gave him a sidelong glance. His brow twitched slightly, but his face remained calm as ever.
The next second, his wrist snapped. The ball slammed toward the floor like a falling meteor.
Thud…
The ball struck the hardwood with a dull thump. Its rebound path curved sharply—straight toward Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Everyone watching gasped in surprise.
Over at Kanagawa's bench, the substitutes' eyes bulged. Their jaws nearly hit the floor.
After all, the word "pass" didn't even exist in Aoi Kunisaku's dictionary.
Since the day he showed up, there hadn't been a single recorded pass from him.
Now, seeing him pass the ball with their own eyes made everything feel dreamlike.
Sakuragi Hanamichi grinned wide, baring his teeth with joy as he reached for the ball.
But just as it was about to reach his fingertips, a red blur streaked past his left side.
Aoi Kunisaku had appeared beside him like a ghost. His long arm lashed out like a striking snake, fingers spread like steel claws.
Pop!
A crisp slap echoed.
The ball hit the floor again with a heavy bounce, shooting toward the baseline. Sakuragi Hanamichi's hand froze mid-air, still curled to catch. His joyous expression turned to frozen confusion.
Thump…
The ball slammed between Sakuragi Hanamichi's feet. It rebounded off the floor with a trajectory so strange it seemed alive.
It scraped his inner knee, threaded through his legs, then slipped between Morishige Hiroshi's wide stance, forming a low arc beneath their stunned gazes.
Just as it passed between them, Aoi Kunisaku ghosted around Sakuragi Hanamichi's left side. His toes skidded across the floor as he slipped behind Morishige Hiroshi.
His long arm stretched out. When the ball bounced for a second time, his fingers clutched it right on the dot.
Only then did Morishige Hiroshi realize he'd been tricked. He spun around just in time to see Aoi Kunisaku's back rising into the air.
His red jersey lifted in the wind like a battle flag.
Aoi Kunisaku's lips curled into a cold smirk. In his pupils, Morishige Hiroshi's shocked expression loomed larger.
The moment Morishige Hiroshi jumped, Aoi Kunisaku twisted his waist sharply, leaning backward in midair at an impossible angle. His back slammed hard into Morishige Hiroshi's chest.
Tweet—
Boom!
The referee's whistle and the thud of the collision exploded at once.
Morishige Hiroshi was rattled like he'd taken a thunderstrike. His massive body lost balance midair, while Aoi Kunisaku used the recoil to spin hard right, his arm swinging in a silvery arc.
Clang—
The ball slammed into the rim with a roar.
The net spun wildly.
The ball sank cleanly through.
The scoreboard digits changed immediately.
Kanagawa 48 – 58 Aichi.
Step.
Step.
Their landing footsteps hadn't even faded when the ref blew his whistle again.
The referee raised his arm and pointed at Morishige Hiroshi. The call rang out clearly: "Aichi number 15, defensive foul! Basket counts, and-one!"
"Huh? I fouled?" Morishige Hiroshi looked at the ref, puzzled.
He remembered clearly—he had jumped with his arms straight up. But that pressure when his chest hit Aoi Kunisaku's back had felt all too real.
Seeing the referee's firm gesture, he pressed his lips together and raised his hand in acceptance, though his face showed nothing but frustration.
Aoi Kunisaku's lips still carried that devilish smile. His eyes sparkled with wild confidence.
He calmly took the basketball from the referee's hand, walked to the free-throw line, and stood still. He gently bounced the ball with his wrist and looked at the rim with a calm gaze.
The next moment—
Whoosh...
As soon as the ball left his hand, it drew a beautiful arc and dropped cleanly into the hoop.
Swish...
The net fluttered.
The ball went in.
The scoreboard changed again.
Kanagawa 49 to 58 Aichi.
Everything happened too fast. It felt unreal.
Aichi had crushed Kanagawa in the first half. But as soon as the second half began, Aoi Kunisaku tore open their defense.
He scored like no one was there. He even forced a defensive foul right over Morishige Hiroshi's head.
Waves of gasps rolled through the stands. All eyes locked on that red figure.
Voices of awe and chatter quickly spread across the audience.
"That's Aoi Kunisaku! Damn strong. Morishige Hiroshi and Moroboshi Dai looked like kids being played with."
"God, the second half just started and the whole game flipped!"
"So this is the strength of the 'Strongest High School Player'? I thought Aichi was rising, but Kanagawa hadn't even gotten serious!"
"Did you see it? That breakthrough by number 9—so slick!"
...
The crowd was completely shaken by Aoi Kunisaku's performance.
On the court—
The game continued.
Feeling the pressure from Aoi Kunisaku, Aichi quickly regrouped and came up with a focused strategy. All of them started shifting their defense toward him.
But Aoi Kunisaku didn't care at all.
The air inside the gym felt like it had been set on fire.
Aichi's combined inside-and-outside defense kept shifting and morphing in front of him. But no matter how they changed it, they still couldn't catch that ghostlike figure.
Before they knew it, five minutes had passed.
Morishige Hiroshi stood like a tower under the rim. His arms spread so wide they almost covered the entire key. Sweat dripped off his sharp jawline and hit the floor, leaving dark splotches.
Aoi Kunisaku pushed the ball again. His sneakers screeched against the floor.
His body twisted into a bizarre S-shape. The ultra-high-speed dribbling left a trail of ghost images behind the ball.
Three Aichi defenders lunged at the same time. But then his knees bent, and he suddenly changed direction at an inhuman angle. With several sharp turns, he sliced right through all three defenders like a dream.
Under the basket—
Aoi Kunisaku faced Morishige Hiroshi once again.
From zero to max speed, he exploded in a blink. When he started, it was like the air split apart.
His figure blurred into a red afterimage and dashed out from Morishige Hiroshi's blind spot.
The ball thudded against the floor like war drums. He kept low and swept past the dangling fingertips of Morishige Hiroshi. He could even feel the warmth of his skin.
Morishige Hiroshi's pupils contracted. He turned just in time to see Aoi Kunisaku leap into the air. One hand gripped the ball as he charged the rim. The tail of his jersey flared in the wind, exposing the tight lines of his waist and abs.
Looked like he was about to dunk right over his head.
Morishige Hiroshi roared and jumped. His arms clamped together like iron gates.
But just as they were about to collide in midair, Aoi Kunisaku's body bent in an impossible way.
His waist snapped backward like a spring. His elbow almost touched the back of his head. He twisted in midair like a human bow pulled to its limit.
The hand that was going to dunk suddenly switched. The ball spun off his fingertips, skimmed past Morishige Hiroshi's ear, and shot toward the rim.
That shot—against all rules of biomechanics—made the whole stadium hold its breath.
Whoosh...
The ball sliced through the air like a glowing comet and dropped through the net as everyone stared in disbelief.
That impossible arc made the whole place go dead silent.
Then came an explosion of cheers and shouts loud enough to shake the roof.
Aichi's players stood frozen. Their faces full of shock.
That was messy as hell. But somehow, it still went in.
His body was twisted like that. How the hell did he still make the shot?
They didn't get it.
In the next plays, Aoi Kunisaku completely took control of the court's rhythm.
He once again became the main attacker.
This time, Moroboshi Dai stepped up to defend him directly. He wanted to use some dirty tricks to teach Aoi Kunisaku a lesson.
Aoi Kunisaku smirked coldly.
His dribbling rhythm suddenly turned chaotic, like a heartbeat gone wild.
Sometimes the ball tapped softly against the floor—"tap tap"—other times it bounced high, flashing silver under the lights, splitting into countless shadows.
Moroboshi Dai's eyes twitched with the ball's motion. All he could see in his peripheral vision were red illusions. His feet lost their rhythm without him realizing, frozen in place like under a spell.
The next second—
Aoi Kunisaku's toes slammed into the floor. A red afterimage slipped through the gap in Moroboshi Dai's defense and stopped hard just inside the three-point line.
The sharp screech of sneakers scraped against the floor. Before the defenders could close in, he had already leapt into the air.
His body twisted midair into an unbelievable pretzel. One hand flung the ball toward the backboard like a whip.
The crisp crack of the ball hitting the backboard's side edge made hearts skip. But it bounced off and cut through a tricky angle, dropping straight into the hoop.
Aichi's turn to attack.
Moroboshi Dai lowered his body and dribbled, weaving past Kanagawa's first line of defense like a snake.
He suddenly rose from the crowd, flicked his wrist, and the ball trailed light as it floated past the defenders' fingertips. It dropped perfectly into Morishige Hiroshi's waiting hands.
The pass's arc was spot-on. It avoided the block and gave Morishige Hiroshi the perfect setup to power through.
Sakuragi Hanamichi roared and lunged in, trying to lock down Morishige Hiroshi's lower body with his own.
But when the latter spun, that mountain of a body surged forward with force. The impact made Sakuragi Hanamichi's feet drag white streaks across the court. He stumbled back three full steps, nearly toppling.
Next moment—
Morishige Hiroshi let out a deafening roar from deep in his chest. Both hands clenched the basketball like iron clamps. Muscles coiled tight, and he sprang upward. His massive frame carved a dark arc in the air, looking like he was about to tear the hoop apart.
The gym lights cast deep shadows across his bulging lats, like a raging war god had descended.
But just as his knees were about to straighten, a red afterimage suddenly sliced in from the side like a thunderbolt.
No one knew when Aoi Kunisaku had shot out of the corner like a ghost.
His body leaned sharply forward. One long arm lashed out like a drawn blade, and his palm smacked cleanly against the ball in Morishige Hiroshi's hands.
Smack—
The crisp slap sliced through the air like a knife. Just as Morishige Hiroshi jumped, he felt the ball vanish from his grip. It tumbled away like a kite with a cut string.
He stared wide-eyed at that red flash, pupils reflecting Aoi Kunisaku's dive for the ball.
As soon as his fingertips brushed it, Aoi Kunisaku sprang forward. His red jersey streaked across the court, leaving a blur like a bolt of lightning splitting the sky, heading straight for Aichi's basket.
Two defenders were already braced under the rim, blocking every path like twin towers.
Aoi Kunisaku's eyes were cold as ice. No hesitation. Just as the double team closed in, he slammed on the brakes. His sneakers screamed against the court.
Right in their faces, he pulled an abrupt stop, then jumped again. In midair, he changed his shooting posture three times.
The first lift looked like a layup, but when they moved to block, he switched hands midair.
The second motion feinted a reverse layup. When they shifted their weight, he twisted his wrist again.
The third move, his coiled body suddenly stretched out. At the flick of his fingers, the ball slipped through, brushing past both defenders' hands and heading for the backboard.
The shot cut through their defense at a wicked angle. It looked like the ball was magnetized—drawn straight into the basket.
The crowd fell silent, like someone had hit pause.
That string of Aoi Kunisaku's moves looked like something out of a video game, replaying in slow motion on everyone's retinas.
The sparks from high-speed dribbling. The insane angles of his Formless Shot. The fingertips brushing the net after every score. It all carved deep into the audience's nerves like a blade.
On the sideline, Nomoto Reizou flailed madly with hand signals. Aichi's players tightened their defense like they were facing a monster. They even started using double-teams and tugging jerseys—any dirty tactic to slow this red beast down.
But they had forgotten one thing—Kanagawa didn't just have Aoi Kunisaku.
As soon as three defenders sealed him up tight, the still-untouched Sendoh finally unleashed his power.
Kanagawa's turn to attack.
Maki Shinichi's pinpoint pass flew through the air. Sendoh caught it cleanly with both hands.
The next second, he shot forward like a rocket. His steps thundered against the court as he barreled straight toward Aichi's basket.
The wooden court echoed with his pounding strides. His figure looked like a red whirlwind, slicing through what had seemed like a solid Aichi defense.
At that moment, most of Aichi's players had all their focus locked on Aoi Kunisaku. His overwhelming presence and strength had them too scared to blink.
So when Sendoh came charging in like a phantom, panic exploded across their faces.
They scrambled to retreat, but Sendoh was way too fast. His raw drive cut through everything like a blade. The Aichi players threw everything into the chase, but they couldn't catch up.
They could only watch as Sendoh pulled farther and farther ahead, out of reach.
He blazed through the court like an unstoppable storm.
Moroboshi Dai was going to step up and block him, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Mitsui Hisashi crouched low. His eyes were glowing with danger, ready to pounce and throw the whole scene into chaos.
Moroboshi Dai's steps halted. His brows knitted tightly as he fell into a tough dilemma.
On one side was Sendoh charging in fiercely toward the basket. On the other was Mitsui Hisashi, lurking with danger, waiting to strike. He couldn't afford to let either go. He clenched his teeth, eyes full of hesitation, not knowing what to do.
Under the basket, Morishige Hiroshi stood tall like a steel tower.
Seeing Sendoh coming in with the ball, all the muscles in his body instantly tensed. Veins bulged. He looked like a beast provoked and ready to pounce.
His eyes locked onto Sendoh, brimming with caution and fighting spirit. Both arms raised high, ready to deliver a crushing blow to the invader.
But to everyone's surprise, when Sendoh reached the inside, he didn't go straight into Morishige Hiroshi for a power play like they expected.
Instead, just two steps before the paint, he stopped suddenly. Feet planted firm on the floor, he rose directly with the ball in hand.
His body stretched in midair. Eyes focused, aiming at the rim. He looked like he was about to end the play with a shot from that far out.
Shooting from such distance—it looked reckless to most.
Morishige Hiroshi couldn't hold back anymore. Like a tiger charging down the mountain, he leapt forward in giant strides and instantly stood in front of Sendoh. His huge body blocked out the rim completely. His outstretched arms spread like double gates, ready to shut down the shot.
But just then, Sendoh looked at the towering Morishige Hiroshi and gave a confident smile.
He flicked his wrist slightly. The basketball, originally aimed at the rim, suddenly changed direction like a missile and flew hard toward the side.
Seeing this, Morishige Hiroshi's heart jolted. Instinct screamed danger. A wave of unease surged through him.
Next moment—
A dark figure shot out from the flank like an arrow, carved a sharp arc in the air, and caught Sendoh's pass cleanly.
It was none other than Maki Shinichi.
The instant he landed, his knees bent slightly to absorb the impact. Then, like a hunting hound locking onto its prey, he charged into Aichi's paint.
Maki Shinichi's eyes gleamed with a chilling intensity. While dribbling fast, he scanned the court sharply for defense movement.
Inside the key, Aichi's defenders tightened up, scrambling to cut off his drive.
But Maki Shinichi didn't hesitate. He slipped through a gap, suddenly accelerated into a jump. His body stretched fully in the air, arm holding the ball like a spear, and stabbed it cleanly into the hoop.
Swish—
A crisp snap of the net rang out.
The ball dropped clean into the net.
Aichi wasn't about to sit still. They immediately launched a counterattack.
Their small forward pushed forward with a determined look. Quick-footed and agile, he rushed toward Kanagawa's half.
But just as he was about to cross midcourt, a tall silhouette suddenly blocked his path.
It was Sendoh.
Using sharp defensive instinct and lightning reflexes, he successfully stole the ball.
With no hesitation, Sendoh sped off toward Aichi's basket.
Though his overall power didn't quite match Aoi Kunisaku, his name still echoed loud across the national high school basketball scene. He stood firmly among the top.
At that moment, the basketball in his hands seemed alive, flickering up and down, dizzying to the eye.
It looked like a standard dribble, but every motion hid danger, luring Aichi's defenders like bait.
Every time a defender approached, Sendoh would execute a perfect feint or suddenly switch his rhythm.
His steps followed some silent drumbeat, now fast, now slow—impossible to predict.
Sometimes he faked a breakthrough to shift their balance, other times he stopped short without warning.
In just a few breaths, with exquisite skill, Sendoh once again reached Aichi's basket.
This time, Morishige Hiroshi dared not be careless. He poured all focus into Sendoh.
He stood like a mountain under the rim. Eyes sharp with alertness. Both arms lifted high, ready for anything.
But Sendoh wasn't intimidated by his pressure. He calmly observed his positioning, waiting for the moment to break through.
Just as they were about to collide, Sendoh suddenly shifted. His body flashed past Morishige Hiroshi's side like a phantom and then soared into the air.
Morishige Hiroshi reacted fast.
But just as he moved in for the block—
Sendoh twisted midair. A switch-handed layup. The ball slipped past Morishige Hiroshi's reach. A gentle flick of the wrist sent the ball into the basket.
Swish—
The ball went in.
The crowd erupted.
Everyone was stunned by Sendoh's sudden explosion.