As Hibari’s fundamentals continued to improve, he also became increasingly proficient with King Crimson’s ability.
His level of basketball improved rapidly along with it.
His driving ability was now the best at Chiba Middle School, without exception.
His teammates in the basketball club said his drives resembled the Flying Raijin.
Even when they blocked his path in advance, Hibari would appear on the other side with a whoosh in the next instant.
It was impossible to guard against.
This also greatly improved his finishing at the basket.
Because Hibari had discovered that King Crimson’s ability could be activated at any moment.
Once, Eikichi Nebuya had sealed every possible path for him to release the ball, timing it flawlessly.
Yet in the next second, everyone saw Hibari switch from a dunk to a finger roll in midair, placing the ball into the basket.
They could tell it was a double-clutch layup.
But no one in the basketball club understood how he had done it.
This discovery raised Hibari’s success rate at the basket to 60% in one leap.
His performance delighted Hayato Takahashi beyond measure.
He had never expected Hibari’s talent to be so great that he could break through the paint guarded by Eikichi Nebuya this quickly.
“Did you get a clear look at his offensive pattern?
The only person who can stop him from scoring is himself.” Hayato Takahashi absolutely adored Hibari.
“His reactions are fast, and his balance and coordination are monstrous.
He can perform many moves we can’t even imagine.” The basketball club’s vice-captain was an experienced third-year player.
Over the past few days, even he had begun to be won over by Hibari’s play.
Because no matter how they defended him, Hibari could always seize the briefest opening.
And Hibari’s performance wasn’t impressive only on offense.
He was also highly eye-catching on defense.
He had directly ruined many excellent scoring opportunities for Eikichi Nebuya.
All right.
Hibari’s defensive ability actually wasn’t that good.
Defense relied heavily on experience.
Without years of basketball behind you, it was difficult to do the job well.
Boxing out, anticipation, and other things that couldn’t be reflected in statistics were all completely foreign to Hibari.
But when it came to the things statistics could show, he was rather fierce.
In a twenty-minute intrasquad scrimmage, he could rack up 3 blocks and 4 steals.
It was astonishing.
Hibari finally understood why that fraud Marcus Camby had managed to become Defensive Player of the Year.
It was because the man’s statistics were genuinely beautiful and left a deep impression.
He was always willing to take risks during games, jumping for a block whenever he saw the opportunity.
Although constantly leaving his feet meant he was frequently faked out, giving up two points at the basket or even an and-one.
But the more often he jumped, the more opportunities he had to block shots.
He averaged 3.6 blocks per game in his peak season.
Who could see that and not call it impressive?
Hibari was the same now.
His damn statistics looked even better than Eikichi Nebuya’s.
“He’s improving very quickly.
His fundamentals may have been poor because he hadn’t been playing basketball for long.” “He’s like a sponge, rapidly absorbing every bit of knowledge.” “Of course, he’s also one of our hardest-working players.
Hard work always brings good results!” Hayato Takahashi didn’t say anything about talent or genius.
That would be an insult to Hibari.
Hayato Takahashi had seen all the effort he put in.
By now, he had grown accustomed to hearing the sound of a basketball striking the floor during every lunch break.
While they were speaking, Hibari had already charged into the paint once again.
“Not a chance!” Eikichi Nebuya leaped up in front of him, forming a wall with both hands between Hibari and the basket.
Hibari moved as if he intended to dunk, and Eikichi Nebuya naturally wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen against him.
He roared loudly, swinging his arm and swatting forcefully at the basketball.
Then.
“King Crimson!” Hibari shouted inwardly, activating King Crimson’s ability and erasing his own actions over the next 0.5 seconds.
At that moment, time seemed to slow.
The team members stared without blinking at the two people about to collide in midair.
“Can he dunk it?” No!
Because in the next second, the instant time seemed to return to its normal flow, Hibari’s body had already moved around to the other side of the basket.
He erased his attempt to dunk over Nebuya and instead performed a double-clutch layup.
At least, that was what Hibari’s attack looked like in everyone else’s eyes.
It was like Minato Namikaze flashing past for the kill with the Flying Raijin and striking Obito Uchiha with a Rasengan.
The whole process was simply a whoosh, followed by a boom.
“Swish!” The ball went in, and Hibari landed steadily.
The club members watching from the side whispered among themselves.
“That’s amazing.
He beat the captain’s defense head-on again!” “That’s already Hibari’s twelfth point in this game, right?” “Yeah.
He’s currently six-for-eight, all of it scored at the basket.
He also had two and-ones, though he bricked both free throws.” A 75% shooting rate, against Eikichi Nebuya no less.
That kind of scoring ability absolutely made him one of Chiba Middle School’s strongest scorers.
Under the basket, Eikichi Nebuya panted heavily, his head covered in sweat.
This kid was improving far too quickly.
He was already capable of challenging Nebuya’s defense and achieving excellent results.
Logically, against this kind of first-year rookie, Nebuya should have been able to handle him however he liked and win easily.
Yet now, he had fallen into a hard battle.
“So this is a genius!” Eikichi Nebuya’s feelings weren’t as complicated as Hayato Takahashi’s.
He simply thought Hibari was strong and highly talented.
Possession changed.
The guard on Eikichi Nebuya’s team ignored his opponent and accelerated straight to the free-throw line.
In the past, Nebuya could have scored however he pleased in this situation, but now he didn’t dare relax.
Because between him and the basket stood Hibari.
Over the past week, the paint guarded by Hibari had left a deep impression on everyone.
Entering it felt like asking to get your shot sent back.
After hesitating for a moment, the guard on Eikichi Nebuya’s team still drove into the restricted area.
“In your dreams!” Seeing this, Hibari immediately stepped forward, preparing to block the opponent as he went for the layup.
“That’s exactly what I was waiting for!” The opponent’s eyes lit up the moment Hibari moved out.
Smack.
With a sudden bounce pass, the ball was delivered into Eikichi Nebuya’s hands.
They were far too skilled at this tactic.
It was precisely this strategy that had carried them into the national top sixteen last year.
As long as Eikichi Nebuya received the ball in the paint without a double-team nearby, it was basically a guaranteed power dunk.
That was exactly what Eikichi Nebuya did.
With a casual exertion of strength, he knocked aside the center on Hibari’s team, immediately turned and jumped, then raised the ball high in both hands and slammed it toward the rim.
“He’s still too young and inexperienced.
Hibari was tricked.” “He doesn’t understand our tactics well enough yet.” The vice-captain acknowledged Hibari’s ability, but they weren’t weak either.
They had reached the national top sixteen, after all.
“Not necessarily.
Don’t underestimate Hibari.” The moment Hayato Takahashi finished speaking, an arm appeared behind Eikichi Nebuya.
In the next second, Hibari came crashing in from behind and slapped the basketball out of Eikichi Nebuya’s hands.
“Bang!” Nebuya’s hands struck the rim, but he had nothing to show for it.
…
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