Seiho held a certain advantage in height, but basketball was never a sport purely about height.
Seirin sent Taiga Kagami for the jump ball; the intention to snatch the opening attack couldn't be more obvious.
In the game against Shinkyo, Kagami's astonishing jumping talent had already shown its first signs.
He even completed a block on Papa Mbaye Siki, who was 10 cm taller than him, during the game.
Tsutomu Iwamura already valued this opponent very much.
However.
When the referee tossed the ball into the air and Kagami leaped, Iwamura was still shocked by the opponent's amazing explosive power.
This explosiveness was concentrated in the speed of the jump; he had just taken off when Kagami's hand almost touched the basketball.
The gap was so glaring.
Slap!
Kagami won, tapping the ball to teammate Izuki Shun.
Simultaneously.
After landing, he sprinted straight toward Seiho's paint immediately.
Seiho was guarded, but was still caught off guard by Seirin's opening fast break.
Ryuhei Kasuga attempted to step up and delay Izuki Shun so Seiho could settle into positional defense.
But in the next second.
Izuki Shun casually threw the ball out; the basketball actually flew toward out of bounds.
"Turnover?"
"No, it's that Number 11!"
Seiho's people reacted quickly.
Sure enough.
On the flight path of the basketball, Kuroko's figure suddenly appeared.
He assumed a charging stance, then pushed heavily. The basketball immediately smashed forcefully toward Seiho's paint. The speed was so fast that Seiho players along the way couldn't recover in time.
"Ignite Pass! Kuroko, you really always bring me surprises!"
Riko Aida smiled.
This was a move Kuroko told her about not long ago; she used it to snatch the opening.
After all.
Facing Seiho, who defeated them by a large margin last year, Seirin's players actually had a lot of pressure in their hearts.
The opening rush was to seize the rhythm and also to bring out the confidence the players lacked.
She wanted to use a powerful offense to tell the team members that Seiho wasn't that big a deal.
Snap!
Kagami sprinted all the way.
At the free-throw line, man and ball arrived almost simultaneously; Kuroko's pass handling was excellent as always.
In the world of Kuroko no Basket, in terms of passing, besides Akashi, Kuroko could almost be said to be the second person.
Because he always watched every teammate on the court.
Observing their weaknesses and strengths.
"This kind of pass really hurts!" Kagami felt the throbbing pain from his palm, involuntarily sighing that Kuroko's small body contained strong energy.
Without hesitation.
This pass was just right, allowing him to complete the gathering step the moment he caught the ball, immediately facing the basket and jumping into the air.
But just then.
Beside him, a black shadow also threw his body into mid-air. He stretched his body to the fullest, precisely slamming his single palm onto the side of the basketball.
"Yuuto?! When?" Kagami discovered that Yuuto had caught up without him knowing at all, and he hadn't noticed.
BANG!
Yuuto exerted force, swatting Kagami's dunk out of bounds.
"Beautiful!"
"Yuuto!"
"He stopped a Seirin fast break! Excellent defensive prediction; he moved immediately."
"He looked as if he saw through Seirin's tactics, stopping this almost certain dunk..."
The Tokyo commentators quickly entered the state.
As an opening, this iron-blooded block was absolutely explosive enough.
"This... guessed it?"
Riko Aida's pupils trembled, then she habitually bit her thumb.
Didn't gain an advantage at the start, but suffered a silent loss instead.
"However, this feeling is really uncomfortable."
Looking like he didn't do anything earth-shattering.
No ever-changing attack modes like Kise, nor brutal dunks like Kagami.
But Yuuto.
He could just use this most ordinary defensive reading and other methods to block your offense.
This situation made people feel unlucky, and also made people feel that with just a little more effort, they could cross over.
Thud~
Kagami landed, somewhat dazed.
How long had it been since someone slapped his dunk away head-on?
Even that guy Kise couldn't do it!
After surprise came excitement.
"This is our second meeting today, right? I am Taiga Kagami!"
"You don't need to tell me your name deliberately. If you are strong enough, others will automatically know all your information."
Implication: you are not qualified yet.
Kagami heard it, grinned, and said, "I will make you remember."
...
Seirin's ball continued.
Junpei Hyuga passed the sideline ball to Izuki Shun.
At this time.
Yuuto looked at Seirin's positioning from a bird's-eye view of the court, seeing they formed a "V" shape.
Two inside players stood on both sides of the free-throw line, Junpei Hyuga ambushed in the corner, Kuroko waited for an opportunity.
After an exchange of glances, Seirin began to act.
The moment Mitobe pulled to the high post for a screen, Izuki Shun immediately started, breaking into Seiho's two-point line.
Almost simultaneously.
Kagami and Kuroko also moved in unison.
The former created threats to Seiho through off-ball movement, tearing the defense.
The latter observed silently, making the next move according to the defense adopted by the opponent.
Then.
Izuki Shun threw the ball casually. Kuroko found the weak link in Seiho's defense, passing straight to the cutting Mitobe.
This surprise attack caught Seiho off guard again.
Kuroko's existence accelerated Seirin's ball movement, and the routes became strange.
Seiho hadn't adapted to this kind of suddenly changing pass yet; Mitobe scored with a hook shot.
"A very standard V-formation pick-and-roll."
Yuuto watched the entire process of Seirin's tactical operation, feeling incomparably familiar.
This was a tactic the Suns were very good at back then, relying on MVP-level player Nash's overall view and individual ability.
Under the needle-threading of the Son of the Wind, the Suns played extremely "beautiful" basketball.
Seirin didn't have Nash; Izuki Shun didn't possess that ability, but they had a weirder Tetsuya Kuroko.
2:0.
Seirin got off to a good start. On the sidelines, Riko Aida's furrowed brows finally relaxed.
She guessed right; Seirin's blitzkrieg was enough to pierce Seiho's iron wall.
But.
[Weakness]
[Correction]
Yuuto silently activated the Weakness Correction talent once.
...
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