Today, Kanagawa Gymnasium felt like it had been cursed.
The entire basketball court was shrouded in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
All kinds of sounds—chatter, cheers, players calling out, coaches shouting instructions—were strangely smothered. It was as if some invisible force had silenced everything, turning it into a vacuum of dead stillness.
Only the sound of sneakers scraping the floor and the rhythmic thump of the ball bouncing echoed clearly across the court.
Everyone stared blankly at the figure racing across the court with the ball.
Bang...
Bang...
Bang...
Swish...
The ball dropped cleanly through Kouhata's rim.
Aoi Kunisaku landed smoothly under the stunned gazes of everyone watching.
The whole gym went dead silent.
Spectators gulped. Their eyes bulged as if about to pop out.
They stared in disbelief at what had just happened on the court.
"Hey, how many points is that already?"
"That No. 9 is insane!"
"He's crushing all five of them by himself!"
"Is he really a high schooler? Even pros don't look that strong."
"If we had to play against someone like him… how would we even win?"
...
Fifteen minutes had passed in the first half.
By now, everyone from every school in the stands had sweat soaking through their backs and cold sweat running down their foreheads. They all looked like they'd just seen a ghost.
In those fifteen minutes, Aoi Kunisaku had completely shut everyone up with his 1-on-5 domination.
At first, people were just watching normally.
But as the minutes ticked by, their expressions slowly changed.
When Aoi scored his first basket, they were indifferent.
When he made a steal and scored again, they started watching more closely.
When he charged in with the ball, Kouhata's players gave chase with everything they had. But not only did they fail to catch him, they kept falling further behind.
At that point, everyone's faces were filled with shock.
Then Aoi made a steal, broke through four defenders, and slammed it in.
The crowd was completely floored.
But what really sent chills down everyone's spines was his speed in getting back on defense—and his defense itself.
It was absurd.
He blocked every single shot Kouhata tried to take.
All of them.
How could that even be possible?
Even if Kouhata's players weren't that strong, getting completely shut down by one guy was beyond reason.
Aoi Kunisaku had already far exceeded what anyone had expected.
Shohoku's No. 9 was way more dangerous than anyone thought.
Watching Aoi's blistering dribbling speed, players from all the other schools felt chills run down their spines.
Can a human even move that fast?
You've got to be kidding.
He was faster with the ball than most people were without it.
Is this guy even human?
Tension started spreading across the other schools.
What if they had to face Shohoku next?
This one guy was already that overwhelming. What if the whole team went all out?
In this game, Aoi Kunisaku had only used basic shots and dribbles.
He hadn't even brought out the Formless Shot or the Super High-Speed Dribble.
Because, well—he didn't need to.
He just used his speed to completely tear through Kouhata.
Even after the first half ended, many people in the stands were still stunned.
Ssss...
As they recalled what they'd just witnessed, hissing sounds of people sucking in cold air spread throughout the gym.
It took a while before anyone thought to check the score.
Everyone turned to the scoreboard overhead.
Shohoku 74, Kouhata 14.
Ssss...
Another wave of gasps.
Out of those 74 points, 65 had come from Aoi Kunisaku alone.
As he walked off the court, calm and relaxed, a few weaker-hearted spectators were already trembling, fear showing on their faces.
...
Over in a corner, Kiyota Nobunaga and Jin Soichiro were no longer looking nearly as calm as they had at the start.
Their expressions were tense.
Aoi Kunisaku's strength had already surpassed their expectations.
He wasn't just strong—he was abnormally strong.
But when they thought of their own team captain, they relaxed a little.
They still had Maki Shinichi.
Even though Aoi Kunisaku's performance was shocking, their captain wasn't someone ordinary either.
"Didn't expect him to be this strong. Looks like we'll need to keep a closer eye on Shohoku now," said Jin Soichiro.
Kiyota Nobunaga grumbled jealously, "Where the hell did that guy come from? Why haven't I heard of him before? Damn it! I should've been the best rookie!"
Jin glanced at him and said, "With what he just showed, do you really think you can beat him?"
Kiyota opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.
Even though the Kouhata team's players weren't strong, handling a 1-on-5 situation would still be hard for him. And even if he could, he wouldn't have been as relaxed and smooth as Aoi Kunisaku.
…
In another section of the stands—
Hanagata Toru stood silently.
Uozumi Jun, standing next to him, teased with a mix of amusement, curiosity, and sarcasm, "So? Feeling the pressure now, Hanagata?"
Tch…
Hanagata snorted coldly. It was unclear if he was just being stubborn or really didn't care.
He replied flatly, "I'll admit he's got some skills, but that's it. Anyone can 1-on-5 against a team as weak as Kouhata."
After a pause, he added, "Shoyo is Shoyo. Shohoku is Shohoku. The winner will be us."
With that, Hanagata ignored Uozumi and turned to leave.
Watching him disappear into the tunnel, Uozumi smirked and thought, "What a tsundere…"
…
At Shohoku's bench—
When Aoi Kunisaku returned, he saw Sakuragi Hanamichi and Mitsui Hisashi sitting on the bench.
Mitsui's face was covered in bruises, like he'd been beaten up.
Sakuragi looked the same as always—loud and carefree—still pestering Coach Anzai to let him play.
"Good job," Shimizu Kanon said, handing Aoi a bottle of water.
Aoi took the water and said, "I'm done with this match. Since they're here, let them take over."
Shimizu turned to look at Mitsui and Sakuragi, then nodded. "Alright."
This game was already decided. It was better to give others a chance to play.
Sakuragi still needed more game experience to grow.
Coach Anzai naturally agreed with the suggestion.
He could clearly see that Aoi didn't need any more time to adjust to game flow.
Leading Kouhata by 60 points at halftime, the Shohoku bench was thrilled.
Kouhata, on the other hand, looked drained and defeated, like a team running on empty.
Even their coach knew the match was beyond saving.
He sighed, offered a few words to encourage his players, and decided to treat the rest of the game as a training session for the younger guys.
Second half began.
Kouhata swapped out all their starters.
Shohoku also noticed the surrender.
So they eased up on the offensive end too.
In the end, Shohoku beat Kouhata 133 to 26.
But by then, no one was really looking at the score.
That day, Aoi Kunisaku's name echoed through all of Kanagawa.
Every basketball magazine featured him on the cover.
[Kanagawa's Super Rookie Drops 60 in One Half]
[1-on-5 Domination of Kouhata—Shohoku's Mysterious #9]
[The Man Stirring Up Kanagawa—Is This the Year Kainan Falls?]
…
Though the headlines were eye-catching, most high school teams were focused on another article:
[Shohoku's Next Match: Top 8 Team, Tsukubu!!!]
Until now, Shohoku had only faced weak teams.
But Tsukubu was a real threat, a team that made the top 8 in last year's prefectural tournament.
Everyone wanted to know—could Shohoku keep their winning streak, or would they crash and burn?