The third quarter began.
Rakuzan High School's lineup had not changed.
Seirin, however, had made a change.
Taiga Kagami came off to rest, and Rinnosuke Mitobe took his place.
Rakuzan had possession.
The moment Seijuro Akashi caught the ball, Tatsuya Himuro pressed up on him.
At the same time, a figure gradually appeared behind him.
As that figure emerged, a sly laugh followed.
"Heh heh heh..."
A handsome fox suddenly appeared behind Tatsuya Himuro.
Tatsuya Himuro spread his arms, his gentle smile making him seem especially warm.
"I don't want to put too much pressure on my younger brother."
Seijuro Akashi frowned slightly and said coldly:
"Move."
Tatsuya Himuro shook his head gently and said:
"I'm afraid I can't."
A cold glint suddenly flashed through Seijuro Akashi's eyes.
"You overestimate yourself. I won't forgive anyone who defies me, not even my own parents!"
"Move."
"That's an order."
Seijuro Akashi spoke coldly, then dribbled several times in rapid succession.
The next moment.
Tatsuya Himuro collapsed to the floor, the disbelief still frozen on his face.
He could not believe it. In just one exchange, he had fallen to the floor completely beyond his own control.
Seijuro Akashi dribbled the basketball and slowly walked past Tatsuya Himuro, saying indifferently:
"My orders are absolute."
In the next second, Seijuro Akashi suddenly switched the ball from his right hand to his left, as if avoiding something.
Tetsuya Kuroko's figure appeared at that moment.
His hand was still held in the motion of a steal, but he had failed.
Seijuro Akashi frowned and was just about to speak when he immediately sensed something and switched the ball back to his right hand.
Then he looked at Tatsuya Himuro with anger in his eyes.
Tatsuya Himuro smiled and said:
"Ah, what a shame. You still noticed."
Seijuro Akashi felt a fire burning in his chest.
Being schemed against by the two of them like this had made him angry.
"You two are far too arrogant!"
Then Seijuro Akashi suddenly rushed toward the frontcourt.
Tatsuya Himuro and Tetsuya Kuroko's expressions changed, and they hurried after him.
Seijuro Akashi remained completely calm under their chase.
He dribbled rapidly several times in a row, instantly shaking both of them to the floor.
Looking at the two of them collapsed on the court, Seijuro Akashi said indifferently:
"The weak should fulfill their duties as the weak."
Then Seijuro Akashi jumped from the three-point line and shot the ball.
The basketball dropped cleanly into the net with a crisp sound.
Swish!
The three-pointer counted!
After scoring, Seijuro Akashi looked at the two who had already gotten back up and warned them coldly:
"Don't get too cocky."
With that, Seijuro Akashi slowly turned and went back on defense.
Tatsuya Himuro gave a bitter smile and said:
"Kuroko, your plan failed this time."
Tetsuya Kuroko's expression did not change at all.
"Akashi-kun is still as strong as ever. But we did confirm one thing. Akashi-kun doesn't have much desire to attack in the third quarter."
Tatsuya Himuro smiled at that and said gently:
"Yeah. At least that's good news."
...
Possession changed.
Seirin High School had the ball.
Tatsuya Himuro slowly brought the ball up, then immediately passed it toward Tetsuya Kuroko.
Tetsuya Kuroko appeared in an instant and was just about to strike the ball when Chihiro Mayuzumi suddenly emerged and intercepted the pass.
But that steal had been pushed to the absolute limit. Chihiro Mayuzumi had only managed to touch the ball with everything he had.
Because of that, he did not secure possession at all. Instead, he knocked the ball away.
The basketball rolled toward the outside, and just as Chihiro Mayuzumi was about to steady it.
Junpei Hyuga suddenly appeared in front of the ball and got to it first.
A hint of surprise flashed through Chihiro Mayuzumi's eyes, but he quickly returned to calm.
But in the next second, he froze.
Because after Junpei Hyuga caught the ball, he did not hesitate at all. He passed it straight past Chihiro Mayuzumi's face.
Chihiro Mayuzumi snapped his head around and saw that Tetsuya Kuroko was still in his original position, already prepared to strike the ball.
Smack!!!
Tetsuya Kuroko struck the basketball hard, sending it flying toward the paint.
At that moment, Rinnosuke Mitobe suddenly appeared, caught the ball, and dunked it in.
Bang!!!
Eikichi Nebuya was firmly boxed out by Teppei Kiyoshi and could not rotate over to help in time.
Eikichi Nebuya immediately shouted angrily:
"Kotaro! What are you doing?!"
Kotaro Hayama looked like he had swallowed something bitter.
Because that really had been his mistake.
When he saw Chihiro Mayuzumi intercept the ball, he had immediately prepared to launch an attack.
But who could have known that Chihiro Mayuzumi's steal had been so close to the limit that he failed to control the ball?
Not only did they fail to start a fast break, but Kotaro Hayama himself ended up out of position.
Kotaro Hayama raised both hands and said:
"Sorry. My bad."
Seijuro Akashi only looked at him coldly, a trace of impatience on his face.
Possession changed.
Rakuzan High School had the ball.
After Seijuro Akashi crossed half court, he passed the ball toward Kotaro Hayama.
Kotaro Hayama caught it and immediately began dribbling hard.
Thud! Thud!!! Thud!!!!!
Clearly, Kotaro Hayama wanted to use this possession to make up for his earlier mistake.
He roared:
"Five Fingers!"
Crack!
In the next second, Kotaro Hayama turned into a streak of yellow lightning, instantly breaking through from Rinnosuke Mitobe's right side.
Rinnosuke Mitobe did not even have time to react before he was beaten cleanly.
After entering the paint, Kotaro Hayama did not slow down at all. He went up against Teppei Kiyoshi's defense and forced the shot in.
Possession changed.
Tatsuya Himuro used the same trick again, passing the ball to Tetsuya Kuroko while sending it right to the edge of Chihiro Mayuzumi's reach.
Chihiro Mayuzumi cut the pass off again, but once more, he failed to control possession.
The basketball quickly rolled to the side, and Reo Mibuchi and Junpei Hyuga moved at the same time.
In the end, Junpei Hyuga reached the ball first and passed it to Teppei Kiyoshi inside.
After turning several times in a row, Teppei Kiyoshi sank the ball with a hook shot.
At that moment, Seijuro Akashi's expression grew even colder.
On the next possession.
Reo Mibuchi caught the pass.
He looked at Junpei Hyuga, who was guarding him, then looked at Seijuro Akashi, whose face had already turned extremely cold. Finally, he sighed and said:
"Looks like this won't be settled easily."
...