Chapter 004
Even though Aomine was confident in his dribbling skills, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could take on three defenders by himself. This was his first official basketball game since entering middle school, and he absolutely couldn't afford to mess up.
Without hesitation, Aomine fired a pass behind his back to Midorima, who was positioned beyond the three-point line. The moment the ball reached his hands, Midorima immediately set up in his shooting stance and began muttering to himself: "Today's morning horoscope showed Cancer in first place for luck. When I woke up, I put my glasses on with my right hand, tied my right shoelace first when leaving, stepped out with my left foot, and brought today's lucky item—a Pikachu mousepad. I've done everything possible..."
The basketball arced through the air in a perfect trajectory, swishing cleanly through the net for three points. Score: 5-0.
Midorima adjusted his glasses with his left hand and said matter-of-factly: "Therefore, my shots today absolutely will not miss."
"Nice shot, Midorima!" Aomine jogged over and playfully smacked the back of his teammate's head, throwing an arm around his shoulders with a huge grin. "That was incredible! You were already heading back on defense before the ball even went through the hoop!"
"Hmph, how annoying." Midorima rolled his eyes and shrugged off Aomine's arm with obvious irritation. "Of course it went in. Cancer's luck is number one today—there's no way my shot could fail."
Captain Nijimura approached with a serious but pleased expression. "Excellent work, but don't let up now. We've got momentum on our side, so let's keep building on it."
Ryuka's center, Kaede Kutaro, spoke through gritted teeth: "These Teiko first-years are no joke. Damn it, we can't treat them like typical rookies anymore. That center jumps higher than I do, and the rest of them aren't pushovers either."
Point guard Kensuke Fukui passed the ball to Hara and called out urgently: "Don't panic! We just underestimated them because they're first-years. Let's focus up and get these points back!"
Since this game was primarily meant to evaluate the first-years' abilities, Nijimura decided to limit his own offensive involvement while remaining aggressive on defense.
When Hara came at him with the ball, Nijimura immediately stepped up to challenge him, wearing that familiar confident smile. "I'm not letting you through, Hara."
"You think you can use the same tricks as before? I'll admit your first-year brats have some skill, but aren't you getting a little overconfident, Nijimura?" Hara sneered and attacked with a quick left-handed drive.
Nijimura wasn't about to let him have his way, but Hara suddenly spun around and continued his dribble drive from the opposite direction, managing to get a step past his defender. Nijimura looked genuinely surprised—Hara's speed had noticeably improved since their last meeting.
However, surprise was all Nijimura allowed himself before immediately recovering to contest the drive. Seeing his former clear path to the basket cut off, Hara gritted his teeth in frustration and abandoned his one-on-one attack, instead passing the ball to center Kaede Kutaro.
The moment Kutaro received the ball, Murasakibara stepped up to defend. Kutaro knew the first-year had impressive jumping ability, but he was confident his quickness would be superior.
He faked left, then immediately cut right, managing to get past Murasakibara for what looked like an open layup opportunity. A slight smile crossed Kutaro's face as he went up for the hook shot.
Suddenly, a massive figure appeared from nowhere and swatted the basketball away with authority.
Kutaro stared in shock at Murasakibara, who had recovered with impossible speed. 'This guy... how is he that fast? He was able to catch up and block me?'
The referee's whistle pierced the air: "Out of bounds, black ball possession."
Murasakibara's eyes turned cold as he stared down at Kutaro. "You really thought you could just waltz in for an easy layup right in front of me? Are you trying to disrespect me or something?"
"I'm going to destroy you."
The game resumed with Hara bringing the ball up court. Nijimura matched up with him again, but this time Hara wisely passed to Fukui instead of forcing another difficult one-on-one situation. However, Akashi suddenly materialized between the two players like a ghost, cleanly intercepting the pass.
'Oh no, damn it!' Hara's face showed his shock.
Aomine grabbed the steal and immediately pushed the pace, leaving Ryuka scrambling to get back on defense. This was still the opening minutes of the game, and Teiko was already up by two possessions—if this fast break succeeded, it would be a devastating blow to Ryuka's morale.
"Get back! Stop this ball!" Fukui shouted desperately.
"Yo, Mine-chin, over here!" Murasakibara had already positioned himself under the basket, and Aomine delivered a perfect pass without hesitation.
As Murasakibara caught the ball, Kutaro's face twisted with desperate determination. "You're not scoring on me!" he roared.
"Eh? What was that?" Murasakibara's voice carried unmistakable contempt. "Let me show you what real basketball looks like—not like that weak layup you just tried. If you can stop this, go ahead and try!"
Murasakibara exploded upward with violent force, and Kutaro jumped as well, but when he saw Murasakibara's body positioning, his eyes widened in disbelief: 'That posture... no way, you're not seriously about to...'
SLAM! Murasakibara's one-handed dunk thundered through the rim as the basketball crashed to the floor below. His body hung momentarily in the air before he released the rim.
The dunk sent shockwaves through players on both teams. A first-year middle school student who could dunk? It seemed almost impossible!
After landing, Murasakibara glanced at Kutaro's stunned face, said nothing, and simply walked away.
Aomine ran over with pure excitement radiating from his face. "That was absolutely incredible! I knew you were good when we first met, but a dunk? You really caught me off guard there!"
"Eh, it's nothing special," Murasakibara replied with typical nonchalance. "When you're as tall as me, I think anyone should be able to dunk." Aomine's mouth twitched at the casual response.