When Shuzo Nijimura realized Shogo Haizaki did not seem especially interested in attacking, he decided to take it himself.
He reached a spot one step inside the free throw line, gathered the ball, took two steps, and jumped for a dunk.
But in the next second, Shogo Haizaki's shout rang out.
"Nijimura-senpai! Watch out!"
The moment Shuzo Nijimura heard him, he felt a sudden, tremendous force hit the basketball in his hands.
That force instantly knocked the ball out of Shuzo Nijimura's control and sent it flying from his hands.
Shuzo Nijimura looked over in shock and saw Daiki Aomine beside him, his hand still held in the motion of the block he had just made.
Daiki Aomine had slapped the basketball out of bounds with one hand.
The referee blew the whistle.
"Beep! Out of bounds! Kirisaki Daiichi ball!"
After landing, Daiki Aomine looked at his hand, shook his head with some regret, and said, "It actually went out of bounds. I rushed it too much and didn't control my strength. What a shame."
Shuzo Nijimura stared at Daiki Aomine with a serious expression, his heart filled with shock.
'His speed has gotten this fast?'
Shuzo Nijimura had already run such a long distance ahead of him, yet even then, Daiki Aomine had still caught up!
That alone showed just how absurd Daiki Aomine's speed was now.
Shogo Haizaki also froze in place, his face full of shock.
He had not expected Daiki Aomine's speed to become so monstrous either.
During the fast break just now, he really had been observing the situation on the court.
Only a moment earlier, he had clearly seen Daiki Aomine behind Dicky Anthony, but the instant his attention shifted, Daiki Aomine had already rushed ahead of him!
It completely stunned him.
Miyamoto Tokima slowly stopped near the center line, a trace of surprise on his face.
'Aomine can run that fast now?'
Miyamoto Tokima calculated Daiki Aomine's speed from that moment and realized something.
Daiki Aomine's current speed was already close to Miyamoto Tokima's full power burst when he first entered seventh grade!
Of course, that was only speed.
Miyamoto Tokima suddenly smiled and muttered, "His speed improved, but what about his strength? Heh heh heh..."
A strange idea suddenly appeared in Miyamoto Tokima's mind.
Aomine, you're amazing, but I'm still going to... ... Because Daiki Aomine's block had gone out of bounds, possession still belonged to Kirisaki Daiichi.
And it was a frontcourt inbound.
Since it was a frontcourt inbound, they obviously would not let Atsushi Murasakibara throw it in.
Atsushi Murasakibara could stay obediently in the paint!
"Haizaki! You inbound it!"
Miyamoto Tokima arranged for Shogo Haizaki to take the inbound.
In this game, Shogo Haizaki was the point guard!
Shogo Haizaki obediently ran to the outside line to inbound the ball.
Everyone on the court began moving.
Tōō High clearly had no intention of letting Atsushi Murasakibara catch the ball in the paint.
After all, on a frontcourt inbound, if the center caught the ball inside, they would be in serious danger.
So Shoichi Imayoshi immediately ran over to Atsushi Murasakibara and double teamed him.
But clearly, they had underestimated Atsushi Murasakibara's strength.
Atsushi Murasakibara simply turned and sealed his position, forcibly pinning both of them in place for one second.
And that one second was enough for Shogo Haizaki to pass the basketball into Atsushi Murasakibara's hands.
Shoichi Imayoshi gritted his teeth, his narrow eyes quietly shut. Clearly, Atsushi Murasakibara's strength had left him both surprised and uncomfortable.
"Damn it, how is he this strong?"
Kosuke Wakamatsu's face twisted. Hearing Shoichi Imayoshi's words, he shouted, "Damn it, Imayoshi! Now you know how miserable I was before, right?!"
Shoichi Imayoshi nodded helplessly and gritted his teeth.
"Damn it, this giant isn't someone one person can hold back. Wakamatsu! You've had it rough!"
Kosuke Wakamatsu felt like crying. Finally! Finally, someone understood his pain!
Imayoshi! Now you know how much I've suffered, right? So hurry up and send someone to help me defend him!
Just as Kosuke Wakamatsu was imagining that beautiful future, Shoichi Imayoshi spoke.
"Wakamatsu, you really have had it rough, but for now, you still have to handle this freak by yourself!"
Kosuke Wakamatsu was laughing and crying at the same time as he shouted, "Great, Imayoshi, you finally arranged someone to... Wait! What did you just say?!"
Kosuke Wakamatsu's expression changed instantly, and the way he looked at Shoichi Imayoshi became full of disbelief.
Damn it!
You know he's a freak!
And you still want me to handle him alone!
Do you think I'm Superman?!
Shoichi Imayoshi laughed bitterly and said, "There's no helping it, Wakamatsu. Right now, no one can come help you defend him. The pressure on the perimeter is even worse than the pressure inside!"
Indeed, Kirisaki Daiichi's perimeter firepower was even more intense than their inside scoring.
Aside from Atsushi Murasakibara, everyone else on Kirisaki Daiichi could be considered perimeter firepower.
If he sent someone to help Kosuke Wakamatsu defend, then it would inevitably free up one of Kirisaki Daiichi's perimeter threats.
A three pointer versus a two pointer. Shoichi Imayoshi could tell which was worse.
After all, Kaijō High, a frequent victim of being slowly boiled alive, had already sounded the alarm for them!
Bang!!!
Suddenly, Atsushi Murasakibara backed them down, crashing heavily into both of them with overwhelming force.
Shoichi Imayoshi and Kosuke Wakamatsu let out muffled grunts and were both forced backward in a hurry.
Seeing that, Atsushi Murasakibara casually turned around, jumped lightly, and dunked the ball in with one hand.
No overwhelming force! No violent dunk!
Just a gentle press!
Shoichi Imayoshi kept rubbing his chest, the corner of his mouth twitching in pain.
"Hoo! That really hurts!"
Kosuke Wakamatsu was better off, since he was used to getting hit. He rubbed his chest a couple of times too, then walked silently out of bounds to prepare for the inbound.
Shoichi Imayoshi sighed helplessly.
There was nothing they could do. For now, Kosuke Wakamatsu would just have to suffer. ... Possession changed.
Tōō High had the ball.
Shoichi Imayoshi slowly dribbled past half court, bouncing the ball with his right hand while rubbing his chest with his left.
He had just been slammed by Atsushi Murasakibara, and his chest was still faintly aching.
Shoichi Imayoshi was already starting to regret going over to double team him.
A point guard double teaming a huge center. Wasn't that just asking to get run over?
It was like Chris Paul double teaming Shaq, "Big Shark," and then eating a full power brute force collision from him.
That was just pure self inflicted suffering!
At that moment, Shoichi Imayoshi made up his mind.
He could double team anyone else, but he absolutely would not double team Atsushi Murasakibara!
Since Daiki Aomine had failed to score on the previous possession, he wanted to try again this time.
So he immediately ran over to receive the ball.
After getting possession, Daiki Aomine once again accelerated from zero to max speed!
He tried to blow past Shuzo Nijimura in one step again.
But this time, Shuzo Nijimura was ready!
The instant Daiki Aomine moved, he intercepted him on the path he had to take!
But Daiki Aomine reacted just as quickly!
Only to see Daiki Aomine... ...