Boom...
The entire crowd exploded again.
"That shot was so cool! Is that what they call a fadeaway jumper?"
"God! He was almost parallel to the ground—how do you even defend that?"
"Too strong. He still shot so calmly even with Morishige Hiroshi in front of him. That's insane."
"Looks like Meihou High's in trouble. Nobody can stop Aoi Kunisaku."
...
Kiyota Nobunaga watched the scene, his mouth twitching uncontrollably. He muttered, "That guy… actually used his opponent as a screen. So sneaky."
Takato Riki looked just as amazed, eyes shining as he said, "I have to admit, that was unexpected. His ability to adapt on the fly is incredible."
Maki Shinichi stared at the court with a touch of emotion in his eyes, silently impressed by Aoi Kunisaku's basketball IQ and skills.
Meihou High's bench.
Nomoto Reizou frowned deeply, concern written all over his face.
He sensed that the momentum on the court was starting to turn against Meihou High.
Their offense was gradually getting shut down.
Meanwhile, Shohoku kept playing with steady rhythm.
He glanced at the scoreboard.
Shohoku 39, Meihou High 29.
The gap was growing.
Nomoto Reizou let out a soft sigh, then stood up and walked toward the referee's table.
It was time to call a timeout.
Bzzt—
Soon, the sharp whistle pierced through the gym.
Meihou High had called for a timeout.
Both teams' players left the court and returned to their benches.
Morishige Hiroshi walked back in silence and dropped into his seat.
His face was unreadable—no emotion at all. Just calm.
But the sweat on his forehead and his slightly heavy breathing showed he wasn't as composed as he looked.
Nomoto Reizou swept his gaze over the team, then said seriously, "Shohoku's momentum is picking up fast. This timeout is to break their rhythm."
He paused, then continued with firm eyes, "We need to switch strategies. From now on, feed the ball to Hiroshi every time. Use his advantage in the paint to score. Everyone must support him. Don't let their number 9 anywhere near him. If we keep that guy away from Hiroshi, we still have a shot at tying the score."
The Meihou players all nodded. No one disagreed.
They were in a tough spot. Scoring had become really hard.
At this point, they could only rely on Morishige Hiroshi's slam dunks to turn things around.
...
Shohoku bench.
Ayako walked up with a cheerful smile, handing out towels and water bottles. "Great work, everyone! Have some water first."
Kogure Kiminobu looked over at Aoi Kunisaku and the others, smiling with satisfaction. "Things are going smoothly! If we keep this up, the win's ours."
At that moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi stood with his hands on his hips, clearly unhappy. He grumbled, "I haven't scored yet! Stop giving the ball to that ghost-boy every time. Pass it to me too!"
Mitsui Hisashi rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Passing to you won't get us any points. Even Akagi got wrecked by their number 15. You'd just waste the opportunity."
Sakuragi Hanamichi immediately snapped back, annoyed, "Hey! You're totally looking down on me! Who says I'd lose to that big guy? I'll definitely score on him!"
Akagi Takenori stood nearby, a vein popping on his forehead. He glared at Mitsui. "I won't let that guy keep doing whatever he wants."
...
Aoi Kunisaku sat quietly, tuning out all the noise, sipping water calmly.
Just a bit of sweat on his forehead. For him, the game so far had been easy.
Except for Morishige Hiroshi, the rest of Meihou's players weren't even worth mentioning. Beating them took barely any effort.
Morishige Hiroshi's physical strength was impressive, but in Aoi's eyes, he was still too immature.
In terms of game experience, Morishige didn't even compare to Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Sure, his physical ability was way ahead. But his lack of experience was a huge weak point.
Just then, Shimizu Kanon walked up lightly with a meaningful smile. She said softly, "I knew you'd find a way to stop Morishige Hiroshi's dunks, Saku-chan."
Aoi Kunisaku gave her a glance and said flatly, "He's just a little strong. Nothing impressive."
"I see!" Shimizu Kanon smiled brightly, a hint of mystery in her eyes. "That Morishige Hiroshi might be inexperienced, but he's got a stubborn streak. If my guess is right, under this kind of pressure, he might level up fast. If that happens, no one may be able to stop his dunks."
Huh?!
Aoi Kunisaku was caught off guard. He glanced at Shimizu Kanon, a flash of surprise in his eyes.
For her to say that meant she saw Morishige Hiroshi's potential to grow.
But Aoi Kunisaku still didn't take him seriously.
In his mind, no matter how much Morishige Hiroshi improved, he could never reach the level of a miracle.
Aoi Kunisaku was sure—if someone truly shared his level of talent, he would feel it. But with Morishige Hiroshi, there was no such feeling.
Morishige's talent stood out among regular people, but it was still far from miracle-tier.
Ninety-nine and one hundred might look close, but the gap was massive.
And Morishige Hiroshi hadn't even hit ninety-nine.
The timeout ended quickly.
Bzzt—
At the whistle, both teams returned to the court.
Meihou High wasted no time launching into offense.
Just as their coach had laid out during the timeout.
The entire team started playing around Morishige Hiroshi.
He charged into Shohoku's paint like a tank. Meihou's players tossed the ball high above the key without hesitation.
They had full faith in both their passing and Morishige's abilities. Not a single one of them worried Shohoku might intercept it.
And they were right.
The ball soared far above anyone's reach on the Shohoku side.
Inside the paint, Morishige Hiroshi planted his feet, eyes locked on the ball descending from the sky. With Akagi Takenori and Sakuragi Hanamichi trying to box him out, he leapt straight up.
They tried to block him, but Morishige's raw strength knocked both off balance, losing their footing.
He rose high into the air.
His vertical was insane. Combined with explosive power and his nearly two-meter height, he easily grabbed the ball in midair.
Thud—
Landing firmly, he didn't pause.
He spun and barreled straight toward the basket.
Akagi Takenori and Sakuragi Hanamichi steadied themselves and rushed back in to stop him.
But Morishige Hiroshi was like a wild beast. He ignored them completely.
Clutching the ball tightly, he jumped again. His sheer presence seemed to shake the air.
Akagi and Sakuragi jumped too, trying to block his dunk.
But as they got close, their bodies bumped into his.
Morishige went for a powerful two-handed slam dunk and hammered the ball into the rim.
Clang—
The rim rattled violently.
The ball swished into the net.
Akagi and Sakuragi were thrown backward by the sheer force of the dunk.
They both felt a sharp pain in their chests as they were pushed back about an inch.
Thud—
Thud—
Thump, thump, thump...
Thump, thump, thump...
Landing hard, they staggered back several steps. Then both looked up, stunned, at Morishige Hiroshi hanging from the rim.
'What the hell is this monster?'
The two of them got blown away by pure power.
'He's way too strong!'
Akagi Takenori frowned, shocked deep down.
This guy's power was beyond anything he'd expected.
Sakuragi Hanamichi was furious.
He stared at Morishige hanging on the rim and growled through gritted teeth, "Damn giant!"
"His power got stronger." Aoi Kunisaku's eyes stayed fixed on Morishige Hiroshi, comparing him now to earlier.
Then he smirked and muttered, "Now this is getting interesting."
The game went on.
Since Sakuragi kept yelling for the ball, Mitsui Hisashi finally gave in and passed it to him.
As soon as Sakuragi caught the ball, his eyes lit up. Determined not to lose, he charged into Meihou's paint and faced off with Morishige.
Next second.
Sakuragi jumped up with all he had, raising the ball high, aiming to dunk right over Morishige Hiroshi.
But Morishige didn't hold back.
His massive hand shot out like a steel fan, smacking the ball hard out of Sakuragi's hands.
Smack—
A sharp, echoing slap rang out.
The ball flew off from the impact.
Sakuragi, hit by the powerful block, crashed to the ground from midair.
Thud—
He landed hard.
Sakuragi Hanamichi's butt hit the floor with a painful thump.
The scene shocked everyone into silence.
Getting dunk-blocked and slammed like that—it was too much.
Gasp...
A wave of gasps swept through the stands.
For a moment, the entire gym went dead silent. You could hear a pin drop.