Chapter Thirty-Seven: Decisive Battle
During halftime, the atmosphere in Yosen High School's rest area felt somewhat tense.
Aside from Murasakibara Atsushi's interior dominance remaining unchanged, other players hadn't performed at the level expected before the game.
Most critically, because Ryonan proved more difficult than anticipated, Murasakibara had been forced to participate in full-court offense and defense far earlier than planned. The massive exertion left him breathing heavily now, sweat soaking through his jersey, his stamina clearly in the red zone.
Araki Masako's gaze swept across everyone before settling on Himuro Tatsuya.
"Himuro," her voice was clear and calm, "Yosen's ace has never been Murasakibara alone. Don't forget you're one of them too."
"Yeah, I understand." Himuro raised his head, the one visible eye radiating icy coldness.
He hadn't returned to Japan to play basketball games. Before his showdown with Kagami Taiga, he didn't want to lose to anyone!
After the first half, stamina consumption far exceeding normal wasn't limited to Murasakibara. Intense boxing out, frequent physical contact—Okamura Kenichi wasn't in much better condition. Even point guard Fukui Kensuke appeared exhausted from constantly chasing Aida Hikoichi's off-ball movement.
Hard to imagine Yosen being pushed this desperately.
"Leave the offense to me," Himuro said seriously. "My shot won't be stopped that easily."
"Mm." Araki nodded slightly.
"Don't be too tense either. Ryonan's stamina consumption won't be any less than ours."
"While Murasakibara rests," Araki turned to Okamura and Liu Wei, her tone brooking no argument, "you two must jointly defend our paint! Even with Atsushi off the court, our interior average height still doesn't lose to theirs! Show your real strength!"
"Yes!"
"Masako." Just then, Murasakibara, who'd been panting with a towel over his head, suddenly spoke, his voice muffled. "I want to play."
"Murasakibara!" Araki's brow furrowed tightly. "Having you rest the third quarter ensures you have enough stamina to seal victory in the final period! That's the tactical arrangement!"
"No." Murasakibara pulled off the towel, speaking stubbornly. "They're really annoying... I want to crush them with my own hands!"
Araki stared directly at Murasakibara, then looked aside. "Okamura, bring me my wooden sword!"
"Masako!" Murasakibara's tone remained willful yet rarely showed a trace of restraint. "I'll manage my own stamina properly."
"Call me Coach!"
"Masako... Coach."
Araki fell silent for a moment, her gaze lingering several seconds on Murasakibara's exhausted yet defiant face.
Considering the fifteen-minute halftime could indeed restore some of his energy, Araki finally sighed lightly, saying helplessly: "Absolutely no more dangerous moves that could hurt yourself or opponents, understand?"
"Mm." Murasakibara obediently agreed.
Intermission ended. Play resumed.
Ryonan changed lineups again!
As Araki anticipated, Ryonan's players were equally exhausted from the first-half battle.
The player with the best stamina preservation was actually Yagami Sorato, who carried massive responsibilities. Though defending Himuro wasn't easy, relying on excellent court-reading ability, organizing offense from the top of the key was far easier than Sendoh actually executing drives.
"Number 6 Koshino Hiroaki in, number 12 Aida Hikoichi out."
"Number 13 Fukuda Kicchou in, number 5 Ikegami Ryoji out."
Having scored 3 points and run the entire quarter, Aida's mission was accomplished. After confirming his body was fine, Fukuda, who'd only scored 1 point on free throws in the second quarter, returned to the court.
"That guy really didn't sit out as Yagami predicted." Coach Taoka had originally planned to substitute Uozumi as well. As long as Murasakibara wasn't on court, crushing Yosen's interior with Yagami, Sendoh, and Fukuda's offense absolutely wouldn't be a problem.
However, it seemed the opponent intended to compete with Ryonan on perseverance.
"Perfect. Perseverance is the one thing Ryonan doesn't lack!"
"Tweet!"
Yosen's possession.
Fukui brought the ball across halfcourt, then unhesitatingly passed to Himuro positioned at the 45-degree angle beyond the three-point line on the wing.
"Your name's Yagami, right?" After catching the ball, Himuro instantly assumed a standard triple-threat stance, his gaze sharply locked on Yagami before him. "I can tell we're the same type of player. Your eyes are good, your defense is solid."
"But this game's victory is destined for Yosen!"
Throughout the entire first half, under Yagami's tight defense, Himuro had shot 3-for-8, scoring only 8 points.
For him, this was undoubtedly an unacceptable performance.
Though Yagami didn't know what they'd experienced during halftime, he could clearly feel the aura Himuro radiated now was completely different from the first half—a more refined, more dangerous focus.
"Ready for a serious showdown?"
Himuro's eyes glanced at the rim before his form suddenly rose as if to shoot.
Yagami's instinct told him this was extremely likely a fake, but judging purely from the opponent's posture and shooting preparation, there was no way to distinguish truth from deception.
Just as he shifted his weight slightly upward, Himuro suddenly dropped his center of gravity, accelerating like lightning into the paint!
"Knew it!"
Yagami reacted quickly, immediately stepping laterally to press tight against his opponent, not giving Himuro easy space to start his drive.
"That earlier move... was actually a fake?" Sendoh, waiting to help on the side, was secretly surprised. Himuro's shooting motion and explosive momentum were so convincing they showed no flaws.
"I told you, we're the same type."
Himuro pulled the ball back. He didn't hesitate—stopping, jumping, shooting!
Yagami jumped almost simultaneously at full strength, his long arms extending maximally trying to block the shooting angle.
"Even if you see through my intentions, it's meaningless." Himuro's voice carried calm pride. "Against my shot, true defense doesn't exist!"
Himuro again displayed his incredible core strength and terrifying hang time. He seemed to pause briefly in the air, calmly reading Yagami's blocking position before composedly releasing the ball.
The basketball traced an extremely high arc, clearing Yagami's fingertips and precisely dropping through the net.
Two points, good!
Ryonan 52 - Yosen 50
"Beautiful shot!"
"Himuro! Himuro!"
"That's the real you, Himuro." Araki's eyes filled with appreciation.
Everything Himuro did consisted of fundamental moves without anything exceptional. But the quality of each motion was extraordinarily high, like graceful dance movements...
Full of beauty!
"What a troublesome team. They have an ace on the perimeter too?" Coach Taoka leaned forward slightly.
This kind of battle-tested orthodox superstar had an indescribable difficulty to handle.
"Don't space out." Yagami's calm voice rang out. Though he'd experienced that shot most closely, his face showed no trace of wavering. "We'll return one to them."
Ryonan's players snapped back to attention. Sendoh glanced at Yagami with slight surprise, then the corner of his mouth curved into a playful arc. "You stole what I was going to say."
Offensive transition. Ryonan's ball.
The entire second quarter had mostly featured Sendoh isolations. Even Yagami felt somewhat embarrassed about it.
He raised his hand in a simple gesture. Ryonan's formation immediately flowed into motion—Sendoh, Koshino, and Fukuda crisscrossed, pulling Yosen's defensive alignment.
"Swoosh!" The basketball's cutting sound was subtle yet sharp.
Himuro only felt his vision blur. He hadn't seen the motion clearly before the ball vanished from Yagami's hands, appearing comfortably in Fukuda's hands cutting right the next second!
On the other side, Murasakibara started sliding to help, but a thick wall had already blocked his path. Uozumi used his broad back to pin him firmly, his low voice carrying undeniable force: "Kid, tired already?"
Fukuda seized this momentary opening, exploding along the baseline like a cheetah into the paint, rising into the air.
A clean, decisive one-handed dunk hammered the ball through the rim!
Ryonan 54 - Yosen 50
"Beautiful dunk, Fukuda!" Sendoh shouted with a laugh.
"Yeah!" Fukuda responded briefly, his face filled with the satisfaction of scoring.
Yosen's offense.
Himuro isolated against Yagami again, no hesitation, pulling up directly against the defense.
Yagami jumped quickly to contest. He deliberately controlled his body in the air. Though descending first, like when defending Aomine Daiki, he tried keeping his palm covering Himuro's line of sight, attempting to maximally disrupt the shooting rhythm.
However—
"Ahh!!"
The clear sound of the ball swishing through rang out.
Himuro's shot seemed completely unaffected by any interference!
This time, a three-pointer!
Ryonan 54 - Yosen 53
Ryonan's offense.
Yagami organized, finding space through screens and delivering the ball to Koshino cutting into mid-range.
Unfortunately, the just-subbed Koshino's touch was cold. He couldn't capitalize on this excellent open opportunity.
With Murasakibara boxing out Uozumi under the basket, Okamura steadily secured the defensive rebound.
Yosen counterattacked. Himuro isolated against Yagami consecutively!
"Clang!"
This time, Yagami's defense was more determined, pressing tighter, successfully disrupting Himuro's shot.
However, before Ryonan could celebrate, a massive purple figure explosively rose from under the basket!
Murasakibara, relying on terrifying explosiveness and incredible height plus wingspan, snatched the bouncing basketball one-handed above everyone's heads. Without any pause, he forcefully slammed it back through the rim!
Putback score! Yosen's momentum surged again!
Ryonan 54 - Yosen 55
"You're still far from enough." Himuro wagged his finger while retreating. "Atsushi and I are invincible!"
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