"Steady and sharp, lock in this shot!"
Shoichi brought the ball across half-court, but instead of attacking right away, he focused on calming his teammates.
His voice was deep and full of strength. Just hearing it helped Kuwata and the others settle down.
From the sidelines, Ayako's eyes sparkled with surprise. A bright smile curved her lips as she murmured, "I didn't expect this… Shoichi got real leadership. Looks like the first-years are rallying around him, not Rukawa Kaede."
"In terms of leadership," Coach Anzai nodded thoughtfully, "Shoichi is indeed much stronger than Rukawa."
After a pause, he added, "Right now, he even reminds me a bit of Fujima from Shohoku's rival, Shoyo High."
Ayako's eyes fluttered in surprise. She hadn't expected such high praise from Coach Anzai, especially not comparing a first-year to someone like Fujima.
Of course, Shoichi was completely unaware of this.
At that moment, the voice of the system echoed in his mind:
[Ding! Random Mission Triggered: Complete five successful dribble-breaks during the practice match. Reward: Skill "Switch-Hand Layup." Current progress: 3/5]
"So even the earlier drives counted… That definitely lowers the difficulty."
Seeing the task progress, Shoichi felt a flicker of pleasant surprise.
Only two more to go and the skill would be his.
"But Deceiver's Eye is about to wear off. I need to move fast."
Without hesitation, Shoichi kicked it into gear.
Without the ability active, getting past defenders would be significantly harder. He had to complete the mission now.
His dribbling rhythm suddenly picked up pace.
Noticing this, Kogure's expression tightened. He knew exactly what that meant—Shoichi was about to drive.
"Senpai, here I come!"
With a shout, Shoichi exploded to the right at lightning speed.
Seeing the move, Kogure instinctively shifted right to block.
But at that exact moment—Shoichi spun to the left.
"He's going left?!"
Kogure's eyes widened. He shifted left, trying to catch up.
But before he could plant his feet
Shoichi spun right again.
Kogure's brain screamed to reverse course, but his legs were stuck in momentum.
And then, his knees buckled.
Thud.
Kogure collapsed backward, landing squarely on his rear.
In the same breath, Shoichi blew past him like a phantom, slicing through from the right.
"Whoa! That was insane!"
Shiozaki, stunned by Shoichi's clean break, abandoned his mark on Ishii and sprinted to intercept.
Compared to Ishii, Shoichi was the much bigger threat now.
But Shoichi didn't slow down for even a second—charging straight at the rim.
"Deceiver's Eye!"
Activated again, Shiozaki's eyes glazed over, just for a second.
But that was all it took.
Shoichi slipped past him like a ghost, stepping smoothly into the paint.
[Ding! Mission Complete — Five dribble-breaks achieved. You've acquired the skill: "Switch-Hand Layup."]
"Bring it on, Shoichi!"
Seeing Shoichi beat two defenders in a row, Akagi's expression hardened. He rushed to the hoop and planted himself firmly under the basket.
Rukawa, who had originally been stationed nearby, found himself boxed out behind Akagi—completely cut off from any pass.
No chance to dish it to Rukawa… Looks like I'll have to finish this myself.
Shoichi made the split-second decision and darted under the rim, then leapt into the air with full force, ready to force a layup.
"Hah! No more Rukawa to bail you out? You're just throwing wild shots now."
Akagi sneered, convinced Shoichi had run out of options.
To him, this kind of reckless attempt was basically an open invitation—for a rejection.
With a grunt, Akagi leapt, swinging his massive hand toward Shoichi's shooting arm.
"Trying to score on me? You've got a lot to learn!"
But right as Akagi's palm was about to swat the ball
Shoichi's right hand tucked inward, and in one fluid motion, he switched the ball to his left.
Then, with a soft flick of his fingertips, Shoichi hooked the ball off the glass and into the net.
Swish.
The gym went silent for half a second—before exploding.
"Oba! That exchange student just scored over the Gorilla!"
"Unreal. Even Rukawa Kaede's been totally overshadowed."
"Feels like the gap between Sakuragi and him just keeps growing…"
Takamiya and the others were floored. They didn't even fully understand the technical difficulty of Shoichi's shot—but they could still tell how insane it was.
Which is why, oddly, they stayed the calmest.
"Wow! Shoichi-kun actually scored against the captain! What a play!"
"And it wasn't just any layup—it was a switch-hand finish! That's seriously high-level stuff!"
"There's no way he's a beginner. He's gotta be like Rukawa, already a top-tier player in middle school."
"Shoichi! You tricked us! We were worried for nothing!"
Kuwata, Yasuda, and Noma were nearly jumping with excitement—their admiration for Shoichi skyrocketing.
Compared to them, Rukawa was much calmer. He simply gave Shoichi a subtle nod of respect.
While the first-years celebrated, the upperclassmen were visibly frustrated.
Shoichi, supposedly a beginner, had just blown past two defenders and scored on Akagi himself with a clutch switch-hand layup.
"Shoichi! You're way out of line. You were totally faking being a beginner!"
"Yeah! Pretending to be new just to surprise us? That's messed up!"
"You owe us an apology!"
Yasuda and the others were fuming.
Shoichi looked at them with a completely innocent face.
"I swear, I really am a beginner. It's not exactly something to brag about, why would I lie?"
His sincerity made Kogure hesitate. Scratching his head, he asked with a puzzled tone:
"Then… how could a total beginner pull off a switch-hand layup like that?"
"Oh, that?"
Shoichi blinked, as if just realizing what they were so shocked about.
"It's actually pretty simple. Once you're in the air, you just hang a bit—then switch hands before releasing."
Hang a bit?!
Kogure nearly coughed up blood.
That… that's not something normal people can do!
Even in the NBA, players who can truly "hang in the air" are rare enough to count on one hand.
After that, Kogure just closed his mouth and looked away.
Yeah, no thanks. Not getting into it with this freak.