Chapter 026
Aomine watched this explosive speed with slight surprise. Kotaro Hayama's burst power was genuinely impressive—that thunderous dribbling impact and acceleration were formidable. But this was also exactly what Aomine excelled at.
In an instant, Aomine immediately recovered defensively, blocking Hayama's path. Hanamiya's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought: 'So he stopped Kotaro's Lightning Dribble. Impressive!'
Kotaro Hayama gritted his teeth internally, attempting Lightning Dribble breakthroughs left and right, seeking to get past Aomine. But aside from his initial move, every subsequent breakthrough attempt was successfully defended.
Aomine moved to steal with his right hand, shocking Hayama. Facing his own speed, this guy could still react fast enough to attempt a steal. Hayama used a hook motion to pull the ball back, stepped back half a step, and looked at Aomine with surprised admiration: "You really are something!"
'Tch, so he's blocking me. What about this then!' Lightning Dribble—Level 4!
With that thought, Hayama once again increased his power, moving so fast that he managed to blow past Aomine initially.
The next moment, Aomine struck with his left hand from behind and cleanly stole the basketball.
Seeing this, Hayama felt shock register internally: 'This guy—did he deliberately let me pass just now?'
Haizaki secured the basketball and quickly advanced up court, grinning: "Nice work, Aomine!"
Susa immediately converged on him, and Haizaki feinted left before quickly breaking past Susa's defense. But the next defender to step into his path was Hanamiya.
"Oh, so you want to take me on, Hanamiya?" Haizaki looked at his opponent and grinned, immediately pulling up for a standard jump shot.
Seeing this, Hanamiya immediately jumped to contest. Haizaki quickly passed to Tohō on the wing instead. Hanamiya's abilities were similar to his own—getting past him would be difficult, and any hesitation would allow their entire defense to recover, making scoring much more challenging.
"Thanks for the help." Imayoshi had anticipated Haizaki's play and immediately intercepted the pass.
'Damn!' Seeing the steal, Haizaki immediately sprinted back on defense.
"Over here!" Nebuya roared from his position under the basket.
Shoichi Imayoshi frowned slightly upon hearing this but still passed the basketball to Nebuya.
After receiving the ball, Nebuya immediately tried to power through Murasakibara, but this time he discovered something completely different from before—he couldn't budge Murasakibara at all.
'His strength is incredible! This Muscle guy.' Murasakibara felt Nebuya's force, frowned slightly, and said: "You want to go one-on-one with me? I won't give you that opportunity."
"Hmph, you think you can stop me?" Nebuya shouted, his body's strength surging as he roared: "Watch this—Muscle Dunk!"
'Tch, you dare underestimate me? Trying to dunk right in front of my face under my own basket.'
SMACK!
Murasakibara swatted the basketball away with authority, and the force of his block also pushed Nebuya back several steps. Nebuya looked up at Murasakibara in disbelief.
That block reminded him of Kiyoshi Teppei, who had shut him down in exactly the same manner.
The basketball bounced several times on the court before rolling to the sideline. The referee immediately blew his whistle: "MiracleCreator out of bounds—Black team possession."
Murasakibara looked at Nebuya's incredulous expression and said with contempt: "Your strength is impressive, but mine is superior. That earlier rebound happened because I underestimated you. From now on, I'll completely crush you."
"Tch." Nebuya gritted his teeth and snorted coldly in response.
Meanwhile, spectators sitting on the surrounding steps looked on with excitement: "This is incredible! Are they really all middle school students?"
"The game's been going for almost two minutes, and nobody's scored yet. Such powerful offensive and defensive play—these kids have real potential, don't they, Tiger?" said a middle-aged man sitting toward the back with obvious admiration.
The middle-aged man called Tiger replied with concern: "I'm not so sure, Aren. Kids this young displaying these kinds of athletic movements—their bodies probably can't support this intensity for long. Extended play like this could be counterproductive."
On the court, Shoichi Imayoshi addressed his teammates: "Our opponents are stronger than expected, especially Atsushi Murasakibara and Daiki Aomine. Since neither Nebuya nor Hayama can beat them in one-on-one situations, we need to change our current tactics."
"Tch, only those three are particularly strong on their side—the other two aren't much. Nebuya, you can handle Murasakibara alone, right?" Hanamiya looked at Nebuya. While he hadn't seen Murasakibara attack yet, just witnessing his defensive power suggested he was no simple opponent.
"Leave him to me! I'll guard against him," Nebuya said with confidence.
"Imayoshi, you defend Haizaki. That guy's a bit tricky, but if it's you, there shouldn't be any problem," Hanamiya said with a grin.
Imayoshi smiled slightly: "I'll definitely stop him, but whether our side can score depends on you two."
Passing the ball to Kotaro Hayama, Aomine once again faced off against him. Hayama looked at him and grinned: "This time, I absolutely must get past you."
"You said that before, but I'll shut you down again," Aomine replied with confident smile, though he didn't relax his guard against Hayama at all. He'd observed the pattern—first three fingers, then four fingers. Adding one finger increased both speed and power by a full level.
'Is he going to use five fingers next?'
"Lightning Dribble—Level 4!"
The thunderous dribble hit the ground as Hayama quickly broke left. Aomine's brow furrowed with displeasure: 'Still the same as before? Is he looking down on me?'
He moved to steal from behind but was suddenly blocked by Hanamiya. Aomine looked shocked at this unexpected interference.
....
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