The entire right side of the gymnasium was unusually quiet.
Sawakita Eiji looked at Aoi Kunisaku with a helpless expression and gave a wry smile. "You really got me that time."
Ichinokura Satoshi and Nobe Masahiro stood to the side, faces full of awkwardness and guilt.
If they hadn't rushed in to block earlier, that ball wouldn't have been lost.
The two quickly apologized to Sawakita Eiji.
Sawakita casually waved them off. "Don't worry, it's not your fault. He's just too cunning. I didn't expect him to use you two to block me."
After speaking, Sawakita wiped the sweat off his cheek with his jersey and muttered in his mind, "What a terrifying guy."
He remembered how tense his nerves had been that whole time.
If he had relaxed even a little, Aoi would've blown past him.
Offense to defense.
Sannoh launched a fast counterattack.
Charging ahead with the ball was still Fukatsu Kazunari.
And guarding him, naturally, was still Miyagi Ryota.
Same basketball. Same opponent. It seemed the previous scene was about to repeat.
Fukatsu moved like a gust of wind. With two quick direction changes, he once again shook off Miyagi.
But this time, Miyagi had been ready. He turned and chased.
Fortunately, Fukatsu wasn't Aoi Kunisaku. Miyagi managed to catch up before the three-point line.
"I'm not letting you through," Miyagi glared, locking onto Fukatsu's every move.
Fukatsu smirked lightly and said, "I don't need to go through. Don't tell me you've already forgotten the lesson from earlier?"
Hearing that, Miyagi's heart skipped a beat. "Damn it."
Was he going to pull the same move again and shoot right over his head?
No way. I won't let him get away with it.
Miyagi knew that if Fukatsu got the ball over his head, he'd be helpless.
So if he wanted to stop him, he had to act before that happened.
With that thought, Miyagi seized the timing and went for the steal.
Hm?
Fukatsu noticed the motion. His shooting movement stopped instantly.
He shifted the ball behind him, striking a classic triple-threat stance. He looked at Miyagi in surprise.
If he hadn't reacted in time, that ball might really have been stolen.
This little guy—aside from height—had some serious skills.
The ones he hated facing the most were fast, small guards like this.
He scanned the court quickly, then flicked his wrist and passed the ball toward Ichinokura Satoshi on the side.
Miyagi wanted to block it but couldn't reach.
Ichinokura caught the pass and immediately raised his hand to shoot.
Mitsui Hisashi jumped up fast to contest the shot.
But midair, Ichinokura suddenly changed the shot into a bounce pass, slamming the ball to the ground.
The basketball hit the floor and bounced high—right into the hands of Fukatsu, who had slipped into the paint behind Miyagi.
Ichinokura jumped again without hesitation and went for a shot.
Crap.
The Shohoku players collectively tensed up.
The ball traced an arc in the air, floating slowly toward the rim.
Wait—that height…
Akagi Takenori sensed something.
But by the time he reacted, it was too late.
Somehow, a figure had already risen beside him.
It was none other than Sawakita Eiji.
Sawakita caught the airborne ball steadily, then exploded with power, aiming a fierce dunk at Shohoku's basket.
But just as the ball was about to be slammed in, a hand flashed out in front of him like lightning.
"That guy again." Sawakita saw it was Aoi Kunisaku.
A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, but he wasn't too shocked.
He had guessed Aoi might chase him down. But even so, seeing him appear in that exact moment still made his heart jolt.
He'd pulled off a surprise move, yet Aoi not only caught up but had also seen through the whole Sannoh play.
Only now did he truly realize just how troublesome Aoi Kunisaku was.
But—
Sawakita curled his lips into a confident grin. "Doesn't have to be me scoring this time."
As soon as he spoke, he flicked his wrist and sent the ball flying toward Shohoku's backboard.
The ball skimmed past Aoi's hand and slammed hard against the glass.
Huh?
Aoi's eyes widened. First confusion, then sudden realization.
He immediately looked behind Sawakita.
There, a massive figure leapt like a mountain rising—blocking the light.
It was Sannoh's center, wearing jersey #7, Kawata Masashi.
Kawata caught the rebounded ball clean and threw down a vicious dunk without hesitation.
Boom!
A deafening crash echoed through the court.
The ball swished through the net.
Shohoku 2, Sannoh Kogyo 2.
The score was tied.
Thud…
Thud...
Aoi Kunisaku and Sawakita Eiji landed one after the other.
They locked eyes, and sparks of fire flared between their gazes.
Sawakita said, "That was close! Didn't think you'd actually catch up."
Tch...
Aoi clicked his tongue and said with disdain, "You passed the ball?"
Sawakita didn't mind Aoi's scornful look. He shrugged and said helplessly, "I wanted to dunk, but I couldn't help it."
Hmph...
Aoi snorted and turned away.
Offense and defense switched again.
It was Shohoku's ball.
Aoi raised his hand, asking for it. But the pass didn't go to him—it went to Rukawa Kaede.
To be fair, Akagi Takenori had intended to pass to Aoi. But with Sawakita standing in between, he changed his mind at the last second and aimed for safety.
Rukawa caught the ball and took off like a gust of wind, a black bolt racing toward Sannoh's half-court.
But halfway through, Ichinokura Satoshi blocked him like a solid shield.
Rukawa stayed calm and tried to break through.
Yet after a few attempts, Ichinokura stuck to him like glue. Each time, he shut Rukawa down.
Rukawa frowned. He changed direction—again, and again—then faked a move to throw Ichinokura off.
But to his surprise, not only did he fail to break through, he was even pushed a step back.
Everyone on Shohoku's bench was stunned.
Rukawa couldn't break past?
Shimizu Kanon wasn't surprised.
Ichinokura might be a shooting guard, but his defense was his real specialty.
His defensive skills were top-tier—easily on par with a specialist.
Rukawa saw he couldn't break through and gritted his teeth. He decided to pass.
But before he could even release the ball—
Ichinokura reacted fast and lunged forward with a sudden "tiger claw," poking the ball cleanly away.
Slap...
Rukawa's eyes widened. Shock flooded his face.
He'd been stripped.
No one saw that coming.
The ball bounced to open space.
Players from both teams rushed in like starving wolves, all diving to get there first.
Then, a shadow appeared like a ghost—calmly catching the flying ball.
Everyone stared. It was Aoi Kunisaku.
Sannoh's players all tensed up.
For some reason, every time Aoi got the ball, they instinctively felt nervous.
Sawakita reacted instantly and moved to block him.
But Aoi played unpredictably. Using Akagi Takenori as cover, he slipped around Sawakita with ease.
Sannoh's others rushed in to close the gap, trying to stop Aoi.
But he moved like a phantom—several quick direction changes, smooth and seamless.
He darted right past them.
So fast.
Everyone on Sannoh was shaken.
By the time they turned, Aoi had already pulled away.
Only Sawakita reacted fast enough. He took off after him in big strides.
The two dashed across the court—one charging forward, the other chasing hard.
From Shohoku's half to Sannoh's, it was like a fierce race.
"This guy's speed... is this a joke?" Sawakita grew more stunned the more he chased.
He didn't even have the ball, but still struggled to catch up.
Still, by the time Aoi reached the paint, Sawakita had closed in.
Aoi didn't stop. He jumped and went for a layup.
Sawakita leapt right after, reaching to block.
Both were airborne—one attacking, one defending. For a second, time seemed to freeze.
Then, Aoi suddenly switched from right to left hand.
He pulled his left arm across in a quick hook shot.
His body leaned. His arm didn't swing wide—he used only his wrist to flick the ball.
The quick shift stunned Sawakita.
He was on Aoi's right, but Aoi had already extended his left. From that angle, Sawakita couldn't even reach.
But… could that shot really go in?
The form was off. The angle was tough. It was just a wrist flick.
Sawakita stared at the ball, puzzled.
Under the gaze of everyone in the gym, the ball hit the backboard.
Then it bounced—into the hoop.
Swish...
The clean sound of net echoed.
Shohoku 4, Sannoh Kogyo 2.