As Kazuto pondered whether to switch with Sakuragi, a System notification appeared in his mind.
[Ding! Random mission triggered: Accumulate ten minutes of practice game time to unlock the 'One-Handed Dunk' technique.]
[Current mission progress: 8/10 minutes.]
'A one-handed dunk?' Kazuto's expression froze for a moment before his eyes lit up.
He made his decision instantly.
'No need to consider it any further. I'll wait until I complete the mission before switching with Sakuragi.'
With two incredible rewards right in front of him, Kazuto had no intention of giving up his spot on the court.
The 'One-Handed Dunk' technique held particular allure.
Every basketball enthusiast dreams of flying through the air and slamming the ball down.
At a modest 177 centimeters tall, pulling off a clean dunk in an actual game would be absolutely spectacular!
Having made his decision, Kazuto turned to the sidelines.
"Sakuragi, please wait a few more minutes. I want to widen our lead a bit more, then I'll let you play."
Kazuto's casual words not only displeased the eager Sakuragi but also deeply irked Akagi and the upperclassmen.
"This kid's arrogance is growing by the minute," Akagi muttered, his displeasure evident.
Though the captain admired Kazuto's talent and knew his growing strength would immensely benefit Shohoku, the fact that a rookie kouhai spoke so casually about dominating his senpais left a very sour taste in his mouth!
"Akagi, don't take it too personally," Kogure said, ever the peacemaker, trying to smooth things over when he saw the captain's irritation.
"I think Kazuto is just gradually developing his own rhythm in this practice match. His confidence to speak like that is actually a good sign for his future as a player."
Though Akagi knew Kogure's words held truth, he remained scowling.
"Kogure, whose side are you really on?"
"Don't worry, Captain," Kogure assured him with a strained smile. "I'll mark him tighter from now on. He won't get another easy chance."
Hearing their exchange, Miyagi smirked mischievously.
He bounced the ball, his gaze challenging as he stared at Kazuto. "Let's see if you can back up that talk, rookie."
Kazuto, currently preoccupied with calming down Sakuragi on the sidelines, didn't notice Miyagi's taunting look.
Seeing Kazuto still making him wait, Sakuragi immediately protested wildly waving his arms.
"No way! I want to get in there right now! I won't let you and that fox Rukawa steal all of Haruko's—I mean, all of the spotlight!"
Akagi, unable to tolerate Sakuragi's selfish attitude any longer, snapped.
"Sakuragi! Basketball is a team sport, not a personal show to pick up girls! If you only see it as a way to show off, I suggest you stop wasting your time and quit the club! Think about it carefully. Once you understand what it means to be part of a team, I'll let you switch with Kazuto."
Akagi's genuinely stern rebuke sobered Sakuragi.
His frantic, playful demeanor was instantly replaced by a rare hint of frustrated seriousness.
He fell silent, gripping his fists.
Seeing this change, Akagi said nothing more.
He turned back to Kazuto and the others. "Let's continue the match."
The players returned to their positions, and the seniors began the possession with Miyagi leading the offense.
As Miyagi dribbled toward the three-point line, Kazuto moved up to intercept him, aiming to apply pressure and prevent a drive to the basket or an easy entry pass to Akagi.
However, as Kazuto charged forward, his legs suddenly felt heavy, weighed down by an overwhelming sinking fatigue.
'My stamina is reaching its absolute limit,' he realized with a heavy sigh, sensing the deep exhaustion settling into his muscles.
His physical body is average and he had only recovered from a heatstroke mere hours ago.
Even with the 'Perfect Posture' buff halving his stamina consumption, he simply couldn't sustain high-intensity, two-way basketball for much longer against trained athletes.
'These two missions are nearly complete.'
'Just two more minutes, once I finish them, I'll sub Sakuragi in.'
Lost in thought and fighting through the physical wall, Kazuto's lead foot slipped slightly on the hardwood, causing him to stumble forward toward Miyagi.
'He's going for another steal!' Miyagi thought in sudden alarm as he saw Kazuto lunge forward out of the corner of his eye.
Panicked by Kazuto's previous lightning-fast strips, Miyagi reacted purely on instinct.
He picked up his dribble and desperately whipped a two-handed pass toward Akagi without properly checking the lane.
There was no choice.
Kazuto's aggressive steals had already left Miyagi with a lingering psychological shadow.
But the moment Miyagi released the panicked pass, Rukawa surged forward from the wing, easily intercepting the telegraphed ball intended for Akagi.
"Nice pass," Rukawa taunted Miyagi in his usual deadpan tone as he secured the ball and immediately launched a fast break.
Seeing the interception, Akagi's face contorted with fury.
"Idiot! What are you doing?!" he roared at his point guard, even as he immediately turned to give chase after Rukawa.
Meanwhile, Kazuto braced himself with his hands on the ground, barely maintaining his balance and avoiding a complete faceplant.
Kogure, who happened to be rotating past, noticed Kazuto's struggle and stopped, asking him with genuine concern.
"Kazuto, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Kazuto replied, panting heavily but offering a faint smile.
He shook his head reassuringly as he stood up. "Just slipped a little on a wet spot. Let's keep going."
Hearing this exchange, Miyagi felt utterly mortified.
His face burned hot.
Kazuto had merely slipped, yet Miyagi had completely panicked and thrown a wild, unforced turnover directly to the opponent.
As Miyagi stewed in intense frustration, Kogure tried to comfort him.
"Miyagi, relax. Even though Kazuto is great at stealing the ball, I'm sure you can handle him if you just slow down."
"..."
Miyagi's face remained incredibly gloomy.
'Kogure, we're on the same team.'
'Is pointing out that I panicked really the right thing to say right now?'
Kogure's well-meaning words only reminded Akagi of Miyagi's errant pass.
Kazuto just slipped and Miyagi panicked and threw a wild pass.
'He's clearly under immense pressure from the rookie.'
To ease his point guard's tension, Akagi jogged back and clapped Miyagi hard on the shoulder.
"Relax, Ryota. Kazuto may be playing well right now, but remember, he's still just a beginner. Don't let him get in your head."
Seeing Akagi's gesture, Miyagi nearly choked on his own spit.
His resentment meter instantly maxed out.
'Akagi, you're going too far! Are you indirectly saying I was scared by a total beginner?! Even if it's true, you can't just say it so bluntly!'
...
First-Years: 15 | Upperclassmen: 2
"Focus, they're coming," Akagi warned, dropping back into the paint after Rukawa's easy fast-break layup.
Under Akagi and the upperclassmen's watchful eyes, Kazuto slowly dribbled the ball up to the three-point line, beginning to orchestrate the half-court attack.
Perhaps stung by his earlier embarrassment, Miyagi's focus was now razor-sharp.
He lowered his stance, his quick hands mirroring Kazuto's every move.
Kazuto quickly found himself completely shut down by Miyagi's airtight, aggressive perimeter defense.
The pressure was mounting rapidly.
Without his 'Eye of Deception' active, and with his stamina nearing its absolute limit, outmaneuvering an experienced point guard like Miyagi through sheer dribbling skill was proving impossible.
'Continuing to isolate like this will only waste my remaining energy.'
'I'd be better off conserving stamina and looking for an opportunity to distribute.'
After a moment's calculation, Kazuto weighed the pros and cons and abandoned his attempts to shake Miyagi off the dribble.
Seizing a brief opening when Miyagi reached for the ball, Kazuto whipped a sharp pass to Rukawa on the wing.
Rukawa caught the pass and instantly transformed into a blur, utilizing a lightning-fast first step to effortlessly blow past Senior Kogure's block and reach the mid-range area.
With no one left guarding him, Rukawa pulled up and easily sank the crisp jump shot, scoring another 2 points.
First-Years: 17 | Upperclassmen: 2
The score widened the gap into an absolute blowout!
After scoring, Rukawa jogged over to Kazuto instead of retreating immediately.
"How are you holding up?" he asked quietly. "Can you keep going for a bit longer?"
Even with his stoic demeanor, Rukawa's sharp eyes could tell Kazuto's stamina was running out.
The freshman point guard was pale and sweating profusely.
"I'll try to hold out," Kazuto replied simply, chest heaving.
Hearing this, Rukawa gave a nod and returned to the defensive end with him.
"Akagi, Kazuto looks like he's completely out of energy. His movements are getting sluggish. Should we suggest they sub Sakuragi in?" Kogure asked, watching Kazuto's heavy-footed retreat.
Akagi glanced at Kazuto a few times before answering gruffly.
"Kazuto has his own judgment on the court. If he's truly exhausted and feels he's a liability, he'll signal for a substitution himself."
Hearing Akagi's assessment, Kogure nodded in agreement, respecting the captain's decision to let the players manage themselves.
Putting Kazuto's fatigue out of his mind, Kogure took the inbound pass and handed it to Miyagi to initiate the offense once again.
As Miyagi dribbled closer to half-court, Kazuto's expression grew serious.
'My stamina is almost completely gone,' he thought, forcing his legs to move into a defensive stance. I have to make this next play count.
Sensing Kazuto's heavy breathing and slower reaction time, Miyagi began to unconsciously relax his guard, underestimating the exhausted rookie.
"Miyagi is getting careless," Kogure observed with a frown from the wing.
Seeing Miyagi's slightly relaxed posture, Kazuto's lips curled into a faint, exhausted smile.
A subtle sense of satisfaction rose within him.
Miyagi's overconfidence was working perfectly to his advantage!
However, Kazuto didn't rush to act.
In his current physical condition, lunging for a forced steal would leave him completely off-balance with a very low chance of success.
He needed to patiently wait for the absolute perfect opportunity—until Miyagi's guard was at its weakest—before attempting his final interception.
"Miyagi, don't hold the ball too long! Make a play! Pass it quickly!" Akagi called out aggressively as he fought for deep post position against Kuwata and Sasaoka.
Hearing Akagi's urgent shouting, Miyagi frowned slightly.
He stopped his dribble and glanced at Kogure, who was positioned on the wing.
'A direct entry pass to Akagi right now would be too obvious and easily tipped,' Miyagi calculated.
'I'll use Kogure as an intermediary to swing the ball and change the angle.'
"..."
'He's going to pass to Kogure-senpai!'
Relying on his system-granted court vision, Kazuto instantly read Miyagi's subtle eye movement and body mechanics.
He preemptively shifted his weight toward Kogure's passing lane.
Just as Kazuto had predicted, Miyagi snapped a chest pass toward the vice-captain.
"H-how is this possible?! He saw right through my play!" Miyagi's eyes widened in sheer disbelief as Kazuto seemingly teleported into the passing lane, his hand shooting up to cleanly deflect and intercept the pass intended for Kogure.
Kazuto's perfectly timed steal had completely caught the experienced point guard off guard.
"Get back on defense!" Akagi shouted in utter exasperation, immediately turning and sprinting heavily toward their own basket after seeing Kazuto intercept the ball again.
Following Akagi's lead, Miyagi and the rest of the upperclassmen quickly retreated in a panic, desperate to form a defensive wall before another fast break could materialize.
Just then, two beautiful notification tones chimed simultaneously in Kazuto's mind.
[Ding! Random Mission Complete: 5 Steals Accumulated. Acquired the 'V-Drag' Behind-the-Back Dribble technique.]
[Ding! Random Mission Complete: 10 minutes of team practice accumulated. Acquired the 'One-Handed Dunk' technique.]
[V-Drag Dribble] When performing a behind-the-back crossover, the ball enters a state of supercharged inertia, instantaneously increasing your dribbling speed by 50% during the transition, making it virtually impossible to intercept.
[One-Handed Dunk] While in the gather state for a dunk, leaping ability temporarily increases by +20, and upper body strength increases by +20. The dunk is guaranteed to succeed and finish at the rim unless the opponent commits a hard foul.
'These skills are absolutely broken,' Kazuto muttered, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten as excitement surged through his veins.
'A 20-point massive boost to my vertical leap just for attempting a dunk? With that kind of system buff, even an average guy like me could fly!'
'My stamina is totally depleted.'
'Before I sub out and collapse, I might as well experience the thrill of flying just once.'
Gritting his teeth and pushing past his physical limits, Kazuto dribbled the ball furiously, racing toward the three-point line where Miyagi stood ready, determined to stop him this time.
Seeing Kazuto approach with ferocious speed, Rukawa subtly raised his hand from the wing signaling for a pass to spread the floor.
Miyagi, desperate not to be fooled again, immediately noticed Rukawa's gesture out of his peripheral vision.
Fearing another highlight-reel assist, he slightly shifted his defensive stance to cover the passing lane.
"Perfect!"
Kazuto's expression sharpened as he saw Miyagi's weight shift.
He planted his foot and swiftly drove hard past Miyagi's right side.
Startled by Kazuto's sudden, aggressive drive instead of a pass, Miyagi scrambled to recover and block his path.
But just as Miyagi threw his body to the right to cut him off, Kazuto executed a lightning-fast "C-cut" crossover in front of his body, violently spinning his momentum around to drive past Miyagi's left side instead.
"I won't let you through!" Miyagi roared.
Fighting against his own momentum with incredible agility, Miyagi shifted back to his left, managing to cut off Kazuto's driving lane just in time.
A playful, exhausted smirk tugged at Kazuto's lips.
He didn't stop.
Without breaking stride, Kazuto slammed the ball behind his back, executing the newly acquired [V-Drag Dribble].
The ball whipped around his waist with terrifying, supercharged inertia, instantly boosting his speed by 50%.
He completely vanished from Miyagi's field of vision, effortlessly breaking past the point guard's right side before Miyagi could even blink.
"Incredible speed! And flawless ball handling too!" Miyagi gasped, his eyes widening in total astonishment as he watched Kazuto's fluid movements.
Caught completely off balance and leaning heavily to the left, Miyagi could only watch helplessly as Kazuto surged past him and straight into the paint.
Having shattered the perimeter defense, Kazuto charged into the restricted area.
He gathered his steps and leaped aggressively toward the basket, going directly at the towering Akagi.
'Is he going for another acrobatic layup? Or will he drop it off to Rukawa again?!'
Seeing Kazuto launch himself into the air, Akagi's expression turned incredibly grave, utterly unsure of the freshman's true intentions.
Throughout the game, Kazuto and Rukawa had used the drive-and-dish tactic repeatedly, making it impossible to predict who would take the shot.
"You won't score on me again!"
After a split-second of hesitation, Akagi roared and leaped into the air with all his might, his massive arms reaching out like a wall to completely block Kazuto's path to the rim.
But to Akagi's absolute shock, as he reached the apex of his jump, Kazuto was still rising.
'How is this physically possible?! He's jumping as high as me! He's only 177 centimeters!'
Akagi's heart pounded with pure astonishment as Kazuto's incredible, system-buffed vertical leap carried him higher and higher, until they were practically eye-to-eye at the rim.
At the very peak of his jump, Kazuto violently cocked his right arm back, gripping the ball tightly like a baseball.
He slipped right past Akagi's outstretched, attempting block.
Then, with all his remaining strength, Kazuto viciously slammed the ball down through the hoop.
BOOM!
A thunderous, rim-rattling one-handed tomahawk dunk!
The entire court fell dead silent.
Everyone stared in absolute, paralyzing disbelief, their eyes wide and mouths hanging completely agape.
Under normal circumstances, someone of Kazuto's average height and build would struggle to even graze the bottom of the net.
Yet, he had not only dunked over the monstrous captain of Shohoku, but he had executed a vicious, high-flying tomahawk that practically tore the rim off the backboard, leaving the entire gym utterly stunned into silence.
Kazuto's final play was simply extraordinary!