The opponent had clearly heard Hibari’s complaint, and immediately felt as though his face had been scorched by fire.
In the stands.
The students of Yokohama International had been ready to cheer, only for their hands to freeze awkwardly in midair.
One second, that incredibly handsome guy had looked like a rookie, shaken so badly he couldn’t tell north from south, pitiful and helpless.
The next second, he descended like a god and delivered a savage block.
Their player’s layup had looked guaranteed to go in.
Now the ball had flown out of bounds.
Momoi sat up straight, wanting to figure out Hibari’s ability.
Hibari himself had also realized that he seemed to have overestimated the people here somewhat.
Perhaps geniuses like the Generation of Miracles and the Uncrowned Kings truly were very strong.
But the level of most other players was not up to par.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be scenes of players breaking down after being crushed by the Generation of Miracles.
Yokohama International inbounded from the sideline, continuing their possession.
This time, the opponent was clearly more active and more cautious than before.
Blocks didn’t just stop the opponent from scoring.
They could also damage the opponent’s morale.
Hibari’s opponent was now clearly still shaken.
Although he was fiercely determined in his heart to teach Hibari a lesson, in reality, he played timidly and hesitantly.
Seeing this, Hibari didn’t waste words with him and directly activated his ability.
“King Crimson!” He shouted in his heart with full momentum.
Then.
The instant the opponent used footwork for a low-post isolation and spun around…
Hibari appeared as if flickering through space and stripped the ball away.
“Fast break!” Eikichi Nebuya roared from the bench.
Only then did Yokohama International’s players snap awake as though from a dream.
They chased back at full speed, while Hibari silently used Rapid Dribble and charged forward.
Before long, he had crossed the three-point line, taken two steps, and launched himself into the air.
“Don’t get carried away, brat!” At that moment, an opposing player got back on defense and charged in from the wing, his palm swinging toward the ball in Hibari’s hand.
However.
In the stands, Momoi’s pupils suddenly widened.
That strange feeling appeared again, striking her mind.
Hibari, who had clearly gone into the air for a dunk, abruptly completed a double-clutch at the moment the dunk was about to finish, dodging the block and scoring with a finger roll.
She looked down at her stopwatch.
“0.5 seconds!” “In 0.5 seconds, he jumped from a dunk motion into a double-clutch layup!” This was not simply moving quickly.
It was more like he had predicted the opponent’s actions, reacted within an extremely short period of time, and even made his body respond.
“Hibari-kun is stronger than before.” Momoi flipped through her old notes.
She discovered that the previous Hibari still hadn’t been able to do this, or at least hadn’t been able to do it this easily.
Following her intuition and continuing to pay attention to Chiba Middle School had indeed been correct.
This rate of improvement…
This year’s Chiba Middle School would definitely become one of the favorites to win the championship.
Possession changed.
After being blocked and stripped in succession, the player matched up against Hibari was clearly lacking confidence.
Judging from his expression, he wouldn’t recover for at least a few days.
Seeing this, the opposing third-year guard could only take matters into his own hands and try to find balance against the other Chiba Middle School players.
Chiba Middle School’s number 5 currently had 2 blocks and 1 steal on defense.
At a glance, he was not someone to provoke.
But surely the rest of Chiba Middle School’s players couldn’t all be that sharp, right?
Once again, the attack began through a pick-and-roll.
This offensive tactic could be called a cure-all.
It could be simple or complicated, and it had many variations.
Chiba Middle School did not have the kind of perimeter defender who was especially good at fighting over screens.
The opponent used the screen to get past his man in one step.
At that moment, what appeared in front of him was a clear path straight to the basket.
He did not hesitate at all and accelerated toward the rim.
The opponent’s number 5 had already had his attention pulled away by his teammate.
This was an excellent scoring opportunity.
However…
“Bang!” The moment he jumped and raised the basketball, an arm came flying in from the wing.
The basketball was struck with such force that it made a terrifying sound, and once again, it flew out of bounds.
Yokohama International’s students were stunned.
No, seriously.
Were they not allowed to cheer even once?
A whole group of people had their arms frozen awkwardly in the air, unsure whether they should curse their own basketball club for being useless or praise the other team’s handsome and talented player.
“Can a player’s reaction speed really be that fast?” Momoi’s eyes widened.
From the stands, she had seen everything clearly.
Although Hibari’s defense this time still carried that same disharmonious feeling, Momoi had seen Hibari move in advance.
Extremely strong reflexes, combined with a certain ability to read the game, made Hibari’s defense airtight.
“But his fundamentals are really poor.
On defense, he’s relying entirely on blocks and steals.” Momoi felt that since Hibari possessed this kind of ability, he could do much better.
He was somewhat similar to Atsushi Murasakibara in their basketball club.
Both possessed extraordinary talent, yet only knew how to rely on that talent to play.
However, in the eyes of the other spectators, Hibari’s performance was a completely different matter.
“That’s his third block!
Oh my god, he’s amazing!” “His name is Hibari, right?
Is he really a first-year?” “No, why do we look so weak?
Didn’t the basketball club say we were going to dominate the nation this year?
This is it?” Yokohama International’s students discussed among themselves, growing restless.
When Eikichi Nebuya had been on the court earlier, Hibari hadn’t had many chances to show himself.
He had simply run back and forth with the team, like a transparent side character.
Now, with Eikichi Nebuya off the court, Hibari played like Jordan, flying through the air and burrowing through the ground, seemingly capable of anything.
Yukino noticed the changes in the spectators’ expressions inside the gym and felt happy for Hibari.
Only, the screams from some of the girls sounded especially grating to her.
After Yokohama International inbounded again, they had already begun to feel afraid and did not dare enter Chiba Middle School’s restricted area easily.
They felt that number 5 was somewhat uncanny.
His fundamentals clearly looked poor, yet his blocks were more accurate than the last, making people afraid to challenge his defense lightly.
They chose to fire away from outside the three-point line, but the basketball clanked off the rim.
Chiba Middle School’s backup center protected the rebound and handed it to the team’s point guard.
Kai Ito dribbled past half court and passed the ball to Hibari.
He understood ball far too well and always knew who should handle it.
Hibari accelerated into a headlong drive, charging forward at full speed without the slightest intention of braking.
Seeing this, the opponent gritted his teeth, stood in place, and crossed his arms in front of himself, clearly trying to draw an offensive foul.
As a result.
“King Crimson!” Just as Hibari was about to crash into the opponent, he suddenly flickered and appeared on the opponent’s right side.
The feeling was as if someone had moved a building block.
The accelerated drive had not changed at all, yet the player had appeared strangely on the other side, moved onto an empty lane.
Right now, Satsuki Momoi had the illusion that Hibari seemed exempt from the laws of time.
Hibari drove all the way to the basket, used his body to squeeze the opponent, and finished through contact for 2 points while drawing the foul, earning an extra free throw.
“So strong!” …
Please add this book to your library!