Seishirō made the perfect choice in that moment. Though he rarely paid attention to the videos, he had quietly memorized all of Kira Ryōsuke's technical characteristics.
Ultra-fast speed — and powerful straight shots!
These shots possessed tremendous power and range, but had one weakness: like cannonballs, they followed straight paths. Anyone who could intercept along that line could defend against them.
However, he had still underestimated Ryōsuke's abilities!
❖ Total Concentration ➠ Thunder Breathing! ❖
❖ Thunder Swarm ➠ Curve Shot! ❖
Ryōsuke struck out, but this time it wasn't straight!
He hit the ball's side, making it spin rapidly! The ball curved through the air like a living thing, soaring past Nagi Seishiro!
The curve aimed perfectly for the corner of Team V's goal!
The goalkeeper dove but couldn't reach it! The ball struck the upper right corner of the net!
"Banana shot!" Rensuke shouted excitedly.
{T/N: A banana shot is a forehand shot style that makes the ball curve from outside to inside the court. Roberto Carlos on June 3rd, 1997, Tournament of France: Brazil vs France. Google it and appreciate the art.}
[ Scoreboard ]
[ 3:1 ]
The advantage continued to grow!
"No..." Reo stared at the scoreboard, devastated.
He had never trailed at halftime before, never allowed three goals in a single half. Never felt this close to defeat.
That Ryōsuke guy was simply toying with him.
The halftime whistle blew, and both teams headed to their locker rooms for rest.
❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Reo slumped in his chair, shouting in frustration.
At first, he hadn't taken Ryōsuke and Team Z seriously at all. Now they had pushed him this far. The threat of defeat was driving him mad.
"Hey Reo... it's okay if we lose, right? Both teams have already qualified..." A teammate ventured.
"Okay? OKAY?! Do you have any idea how humiliating defeat is? I've never faced such shame before! Unlike you worthless lot who don't care about any of this!" Reo lost control, jabbing his finger at his teammates.
"That's enough, Reo. Let's focus on how to handle the rest of the game." Unlike the Richie Rich, Seishirō remained calm and more engaged than usual.
Everyone's attention turned to him.
In this match, he had shown unprecedented initiative, actively participating in both offense and defense — things he'd never done before.
"We can't lose." Seishirō spoke with grave seriousness, and the others noticed that for the first time in any match, he was sweating.
"Yeah, we absolutely cannot lose." Zantetsu pushed up his glasses.
Though drenched in sweat, his face showed no signs of fatigue — instead, he appeared even more spirited.
"We need to win this match with a perfect record. We're two goals behind, but we still have a chance. We just need to turn the score around in one go."
"Mm." Reo finally calmed down, took a deep breath, and shook his head, "Right, we still have a chance. We absolutely cannot suffer a humiliating defeat..."
His mind raced, thinking about how to break through this situation.
"From here on, Nagi, the offense is completely up to you, and stupid Zantetsu, you'll need to handle the dirty work."
"Hey, don't call me stupid — just tell me what I need to do."
"Contain Kira, using any means necessary — you must restrict him on both offense and defense." Reo said, "He connects the entire team. We cannot let him play freely. Stupid Zantetsu, on defense you must use your speed and reflexes to harass him, don't let him get comfortable. And on offense, screen for Nagi, block Kira, don't let him defend easily. You must lock down his position. In terms of physique, you should have a slight advantage, right?"
"Mm." Zantetsu nodded.
"In short, it's up to you to wear down Kira's stamina. I don't believe he still has the energy to handle both offense and defense! Everyone else, same goes for you, got it?!"
While Reo was speaking, Seishirō was also thinking, recalling Ryōsuke's recent movements. Just like memorizing a boss's attack patterns in a game.
❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
On the other side, in Team Z's locker room, everyone's morale was at an all-time high.
"That was awesome, Kira! Did you see how frustrated Mikage looked?!"
"Even though Nagi is strong, our Kira is even stronger!"
"If we just play steady in the second half, victory will be ours!"
Ryōsuke looked at everyone's fighting spirit and nodded with a smile.
They who had seemed like just a ragtag group had now pushed Team V into a corner.
However, he knew Team V wouldn't surrender easily. They too were hungry for victory and would fight until the very end. He couldn't let his guard down.
After all, Seishirō was also someone capable of creating miracles.
But even so, Ryōsuke absolutely wouldn't hand victory over to anyone else. After all, he had made a promise to Riko.
❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
At Seirin High School, Riko was leading the basketball club members in their final sprint training.
They would soon participate in the qualifying matches. Only by breaking through the qualifiers would Seirin have a chance to enter the next round of league matches.
She picked up her phone. She had sent Ryōsuke a message of encouragement this morning but hadn't sent anything else since then.
The night before, he had told her about their final match today against the team with the strongest overall ability.
Although Riko desperately wanted to know how Ryōsuke was doing, she resisted her curiosity and didn't send any messages.
These past few days she had rarely disturbed him, letting him focus fully on training for the final match. She didn't want to affect his game condition, and she knew that if they won, Ryōsuke would definitely contact her first thing.
'You have to win, Ryōsuke!' Riko unconsciously clenched her fist.
❖❖❖
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