When did Teiko get this strong?
On that matter, even Shirogane Kozo himself wasn’t sure.
Kainan’s coach now felt that Teiko’s defense was more than a level above what it had been last year.
An outer wall in Aizen, an inner wall in Murasakibara—neither of those two had the athleticism or physicality of an ordinary first-year junior high student.
Even Maki, after using a screen to get into the paint, had to worry about being pincered from both sides.
It was even worse for everyone else.
By the end of the third quarter, Teiko—who had been trailing by 18 points at halftime—had completely erased the deficit in just one 10-minute period.
They held last year’s national Round of 16 team Kainan to just 6 points in that quarter, while scoring 24 points themselves.
Such a lopsided scoring margin made it hard to believe this was the same Kainan that had battered Teiko’s starting five silly in the first half.
The reporters on the sidelines furiously recorded everything.
Their notebooks were filled with data on Teiko’s rookies.
One headline they’d written read: “Shocking!
Teiko First-Year Genius Publicly Demolishes Kainan’s Ace ‘Emperor’ Maki Shinichi!”
Although the headline had a strong clickbait vibe, the third quarter had indeed been a case of Maki getting destroyed by Aizen.
Not only had Aizen successfully defended Maki one-on-one twice early on, but he’d held Maki to just 2 points in the entire quarter—one lucky mid-range jumper, which wasn’t even Maki’s strength.
It was safe to say he had completely neutralized Maki Shinichi.
BANG!
After coming off the court, Takasago slammed his fist against the bench.
Losing wasn’t even the main issue—after all, this was just a practice game.
But losing while also getting trash-talked by a first-year brat was a completely different story.
Throughout the entire third quarter, Kainan had been completely stifled by Teiko, and even Takasago had been verbally dismantled by Aizen, the keyboard warrior, unable to talk back.
That bastard used crude yet creative vocabulary to tear Kainan and everyone on it to shreds.
“Your shooting is a steaming pile of garbage!”
“Good grief, stop shooting already!
You trying to break the rim so the game ends in a draw?”
“Say something, Takasago!
Say something!
I love that rebellious look on your face!”
Kainan’s players were suffering from both psychological and physical torment.
No wonder Takasago, a blue-collar player who specialized in dirty work, was so enraged.
Couldn’t out-talk him, couldn’t out-play him—he was going to get stroke at this rate.
Aizen didn’t care.
Nothing was going to stop him from winning this game and securing a spot in Teiko’s main rotation for the upcoming national tournament.
The fourth quarter quickly began.
Shirogane Kozo also put Akashi on the court, while Nijimura Shuzo, who’d played all three quarters, rested on the bench.
Now Teiko’s lineup was entirely composed of first-years: Akashi, Midorima, Aizen, Aomine, and Murasakibara.
Akashi brought the ball across half-court without any rush to show off. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
His playing style was remarkably rational—so much so that it made you wonder if he was really just a junior high student.
That probably had something to do with his family upbringing.
Aizen had only recently learned that this guy was actually Japan’s number one rich kid.
The Akashi Conglomerate behind him was one of the largest in the country, standing alongside the Shinomiya, Suzuki, and Sanzenin Conglomerates as the ‘Big Four’.
According to reports, the Akashi Group’s market value was estimated at who-knows-how-many trillions of yen.
Money so abundant you had to count it in trillions.
Unbelievable!
No wonder Akashi always wore that same elegant smile, unfazed and composed no matter the situation, more polished than any debutante.
The ball came to Aizen.
His overwhelming physicality made every matchup against Kainan players other than Takasago and Maki a mismatch.
Maki immediately abandoned Akashi and switched onto Aizen.
Kainan had executed a perfect defensive switch!
They weren’t stupid enough to give Aizen a mismatch in such a critical moment.
Aizen and Maki clashed physically a few times, but Aizen didn’t force it.
In the middle of his drive, he delivered a no-look pass to Murasakibara inside.
The pass caught everyone off guard—Takasago hadn’t been prepared at all.
Murasakibara caught the ball, took two long strides, and was about to explode for a dunk.
If Teiko scored this possession, they’d officially complete the comeback.
Takasago threw caution to the wind.
He’d already lost position for the block, but he leaped anyway and pulled the airborne Murasakibara down.
Murasakibara crashed to the floor.
The referee blew the whistle for a foul.
Just a common foul!
Because this was Kainan’s home court, the temporary referees were also Kainan basketball club’s members.
Aizen rushed over, shoved Takasago aside, and pulled up a scowling Murasakibara.
Takasago was still running his mouth: “How was that a foul?
I just used a little force.”
Then he said to Murasakibara, “Kid, if you want to go back to Teiko in one piece, you’d better watch yourself.”
‘Gorilla!’
Murasakibara was furious.
He wasn’t the type to stay quiet when wronged.
Fortunately, Akashi quickly came over and calmed him down—otherwise, Takasago might have been bleeding on the spot.
Murasakibara’s combat ability was something even Aizen had to respect.
He stepped up to the free-throw line. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
The game was tied.
If Murasakibara made the free throw, Teiko would take the lead.
Murasakibara took a deep breath, held back his anger, bounced the ball a few times with practiced form, then—
Clang!
‘Damn it!
If you can’t make the free throw, why are you bothering with all that rhythm nonsense?
You made it look so professional!’
Murasakibara was equally speechless, ‘Why did free throws even exist?
Couldn’t we just use dunks instead?
This rule made no sense!’
Muttering to himself, he missed the second free throw just as consistently—the ball clanked off the rim.
His free throw shooting was so reliable that even the misses came from the exact same spot.
Aizen really wanted to complain, but then he thought of that fat guy Shaq.
Takasago was ready to jump for the rebound, but then he felt someone grab his arm, followed by a massive force yanking him forward!
BANG!
A loud thud echoed through the court.
Then everyone saw Takasago lying on the floor, wincing in pain.
‘What just happened?’
Everyone was completely stunned.
The referee also blew the whistle at that moment!
Aizen stood right beside Takasago, and said, “How was that a foul?
I just used a little force.”
The exact same words, returned to Takasago word for word.
These guys had bad memories.
They’d forgotten what they’d just said earlier.
Murasakibara was Aizen’s underling.
When an underling gets bullied, how could the boss not step up?
Murasakibara: ???
Aomine swallowed hard.
That smooth over-the-shoulder throw—compared to how he’d been thrown, you couldn’t say it was similar.
You could only say it was clearly from the same person.
Authentic 5th Dan black belt!
All the reporters were dumbfounded, ‘Were kids these days really this bold?’
Takasago was famously one of Kainan’s tough guys—a big mouth with plenty of dirty tricks, despised by many players.
Now he’d been taken down in one move by Aizen.
This young man was no ordinary player!