Chapter 005
Captain Nijimura, who had been watching Murasakibara closely, was genuinely shocked by the dunk. The strength displayed by all four first-years had far exceeded his expectations—their abilities easily matched those of second and third-year players.
Looking around Teiko's roster, Nijimura realized that aside from himself, very few players could actually beat these rookies in one-on-one situations. A slight smile crossed his face as he thought: 'This is getting interesting. I never expected Teiko to recruit such monsters, and their potential for growth is still enormous. I wonder just how strong they'll become.'
Meanwhile, Ryuka Middle School was reeling. Three different first-years had scored on them while they hadn't managed a single basket in response. Their morale had hit rock bottom—it would have been one thing to get scored on by players their own age, but losing to a bunch of rookies was genuinely humiliating. What made it worse was that aside from playing defense, Nijimura had barely participated in the offense, leaving the four first-years to carry the entire attack.
Something felt different about this year's Teiko team. Their strength seemed on another level entirely.
"It's only been two minutes—pull yourselves together! Don't let a bunch of first-year kids steamroll us!" Kensuke Fukui shouted, immediately passing to Hara Kazuya. "Stop standing around looking shocked! If we keep underestimating them just because they're rookies, we're going to lose badly."
"Right, I got it." Hara took a deep breath, his previous contempt for the first-years completely gone. After getting burned by them repeatedly, he finally understood their true ability. They might be first-years, but they were legitimate geniuses whose skills rivaled Teiko's upperclassmen.
By halftime, the score stood at 52-44, with Teiko holding an eight-point lead.
Beyond those early seven points, Ryuka had fought back with everything they had, making it significantly harder for Aomine and the others to score. The game had turned into a genuine battle.
In the locker room, the four first-years sat down heavily, sweat dripping from their faces. They had played almost the entire first half while Nijimura had focused mainly on assists and defense.
Coach Shirogane approached the group. "Alright, let me discuss the second half strategy. While we do have a lead right now, asking you first-years to handle Ryuka alone is still quite challenging. Nijimura, you'll join the offense in the second half."
"Yes, Coach."
Murasakibara noticed that Nijimura had barely broken a sweat since he'd spent most of the half facilitating. "Hey, Captain Nijimura, how come you didn't attack much in the first half? If you had helped out, we wouldn't have gotten so tired."
Nijimura smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that, Atsushi. I actually wanted to attack several times, but Coach asked me to give you guys more opportunities."
"The plan was to let you play however you wanted in the first half as long as the deficit didn't reach fifteen points. But honestly, I never imagined you'd perform this well!"
"You kids have been incredible—holding your own against Ryuka like this. Aomine, that Hara guy is a really skilled power forward, and you've been defending him beautifully. To be completely honest, you've all shocked me." Nijimura looked at the four of them with genuine appreciation.
Aomine grinned widely, showing his bright teeth. "Haha, no problem! Thanks for all those great passes, Captain!"
"You're too kind, Captain Nijimura," Akashi replied with characteristic modesty.
Coach Shirogane continued: "In any case, keep up the momentum from the first half in the second. The advantage is still ours."
"Yes, sir!"
The third quarter began with renewed energy.
Akashi immediately passed to Nijimura as they took the court—since their captain was finally going to show his offensive skills, Akashi wanted to see exactly how strong their leader really was.
The moment Nijimura touched the ball, his entire presence transformed. With lightning-quick dribbling, he blew past Hara Kazuya so cleanly that his defender barely had time to react before finding Nijimura already behind him.
"He's fast," Aomine muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly. During the first half when Nijimura was facilitating, his true speed had been completely hidden. Now that he was attacking, he felt like a completely different player—in the first half, he'd been the perfect point guard, but this was his real strength as a power forward.
After two quarters of watching Nijimura pass the ball whenever he got it, Ryuka had grown accustomed to that pattern. Even though they suspected he might start shooting in the second half, Teiko's lead had made them slightly complacent.
Nijimura's sudden aggressive attack caught them completely off-guard. Before they could adjust, he was already driving toward the basket.
The opposing center and shooting guard immediately rotated over to help, forming a double team, but Nijimura's quick hands and superior ball-handling allowed him to slice through both defenders with ease.
"His speed is incredible!" Fukui gasped in amazement.
"You're not scoring!" Hara, who had been beaten on the initial drive, sprinted back and jumped in front of Nijimura just as he prepared to shoot.
But Nijimura had anticipated the help defense. He adjusted mid-air and released a smooth hook shot that found nothing but net, giving Teiko the first two points of the third quarter.
54-44. The lead was back in double digits.
Aomine ran over with pure excitement. "That was amazing! Captain Nijimura, I had no idea you were this good!"
"How else do you think I earned the right to lead you guys?" Nijimura replied with a slight smile.
Murasakibara pouted with mild dissatisfaction. "I could make that shot too."
"Yeah right!" Aomine immediately shot back.
Regarding Nijimura's strength, both Akashi and Midorima remained silent. This level of skill was exactly what they'd expected—after all, you couldn't become captain of Teiko's basketball program without serious ability.
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