Miyamoto Tokima stepping up to defend Shintaro Midorima left many people stunned.
Off the court, Daiki Aomine watched what was happening and smiled.
"Already? Are we getting ace versus ace this soon?"
In the next second, Daiki Aomine's expression shifted.
"No, that's not right. It should be the hero facing the Demon King."
"Midorima the hero, facing Miyamoto the Demon King!"
...
On the court, Miyamoto Tokima spread his arms and smiled at Shintaro Midorima.
Shintaro Midorima was not surprised either. He pushed up his glasses and said,
"I didn't expect you to defend me this soon."
Miyamoto Tokima raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"You don't sound all that surprised either."
Shintaro Midorima replied,
"I've been prepared to face you for a long time. Anytime, anywhere."
Hearing this, Miyamoto Tokima smiled.
"Then, Midori, have you figured out how you're going to play from here?"
Shintaro Midorima answered calmly,
"Of course. Right now, we have five players."
With that, Shintaro Midorima began moving off the ball.
Shinsuke Kimura and Kiyoshi Miyaji quickly ran over to set screens for Shintaro Midorima.
The two of them could not stop Miyamoto Tokima, but they could create enough space for Shintaro Midorima to receive the basketball.
After catching the ball, Shintaro Midorima did not shoot right away, because Miyamoto Tokima's jumping ability was too terrifying.
Even he was not confident he could simply ignore Miyamoto Tokima and jump straight into a shot.
So Shintaro Midorima took the basketball and drove toward the frontcourt.
Seeing this, Miyamoto Tokima immediately followed, but he soon realized that Kiyoshi Miyaji and Shinsuke Kimura had come to screen him again.
And that was not all. Even Taisuke Otsubo, who had just inbounded the ball, came over.
With three people setting screens in succession, even Miyamoto Tokima could not dodge them all.
Shintaro Midorima seized the chance and gathered the ball to shoot from near the half-court line.
The basketball left Shintaro Midorima's hands and dropped steadily into the hoop.
Seeing this, Miyamoto Tokima smiled helplessly.
"I got careless. Almost the whole team came over to screen for you."
Shintaro Midorima pushed up his glasses and said nothing. He slowly walked to Miyamoto Tokima's side, clearly preparing to stick to him completely.
It was obvious that Shintaro Midorima had chosen to lock down Miyamoto Tokima as well.
Seeing this, Miyamoto Tokima smiled and shouted to Shogo Haizaki,
"Haizaki, you play point guard. Anthony, move to small forward."
Miyamoto Tokima immediately changed positions on the court.
Hearing this, Shogo Haizaki agreed at once.
Because Shogo Haizaki could activate the limit of Blossoming Talent, his court vision had also become excellent.
He was more than capable of handling the point guard position.
Possession changed.
Kirisaki Daiichi had the ball.
Shogo Haizaki received the pass and slowly advanced with the ball.
Meanwhile, Miyamoto Tokima took Shintaro Midorima with him and wandered leisurely around the frontcourt.
Sometimes he drifted into the paint, and sometimes he stayed on the perimeter.
That made Shintaro Midorima grow wary.
Because Shintaro Midorima was afraid that the moment he relaxed, Miyamoto Tokima would suddenly seize the chance to shake him off.
With Miyamoto Tokima's terrifying shooting speed, Shintaro Midorima did not dare give him even the slightest bit of space.
If he gave him any, it was basically over.
Seeing Miyamoto Tokima's state, Shogo Haizaki could not figure out what he wanted to do for the time being, so he simply decided to handle it himself.
After all, before the match, Makoto Hanamiya had told him to take good care of this Kazunari Takao.
Of course, by "take care," he meant...
"Hey, you little bastard. Look at your ugly face. You look like a damn toad. If I were you, I wouldn't even dare go outside."
Shogo Haizaki let loose with a string of curses, leaving Kazunari Takao stunned.
Kazunari Takao had never expected Shogo Haizaki to start tearing into him the moment he came up, and with such filthy insults too.
He was the complete opposite of Makoto Hanamiya.
Makoto Hanamiya liked insulting people without using dirty words, while Shogo Haizaki simply cursed at random.
Kazunari Takao was stunned, but Shogo Haizaki was not, because he was still going.
"*******."
Shogo Haizaki fired off another censored barrage, and Kazunari Takao almost failed to hold back.
After all, random trash talk was still trash talk.
Kazunari Takao forced himself to steady his mindset and shot back,
"You done spewing shit out of your mouth? Feel better now?"
Shogo Haizaki did not respond. He only continued.
"********."
Kazunari Takao was starting to get irritated from being cursed at and snapped,
"Is that all you know how to do? Just curse randomly?"
Shogo Haizaki suddenly stopped and asked,
"Mad?"
Kazunari Takao's face flushed red as he shouted,
"Bullshit!"
Hearing this, Shogo Haizaki asked back in confusion,
"You smelled it?"
That made Kazunari Takao freeze.
Seeing this, Shogo Haizaki directly chose to break through, because there was not much time left on the shot clock.
"Dumbass. Just like Hanamiya said, you really are the kind of teammate who drags everyone down."
After breaking past Kazunari Takao, Shogo Haizaki immediately jumped and used [Formless] to shoot.
Shintaro Midorima did not dare help defend, because even if Shogo Haizaki made it, it would only be worth two points.
But if he helped and allowed Miyamoto Tokima to shoot from beyond the three-point line, it would not be worth it.
Just as Shogo Haizaki was about to flick the ball out, he suddenly remembered.
They could not take a two.
So he threw the basketball out in midair, sending it into Dicky Anthony's hands.
After catching the ball, Dicky Anthony shot without the slightest hesitation.
Although Kiyoshi Miyaji had been prepared, when he saw that terrifying release point, he fell silent.
It was not that he did not want to block it. He really could not reach it.
Dicky Anthony did not disappoint either. The basketball dropped steadily into the hoop.
After the basket, none of the Kirisaki Daiichi players went back on defense. Instead, each of them stayed with the person they were supposed to guard.
Clearly, Kirisaki Daiichi had no intention of letting the scene Miyamoto Tokima had just faced happen a second time.
Seeing this, Shintaro Midorima did not seem panicked. He only pushed up his glasses and prepared to receive the ball.
This time, Kazunari Takao went to inbound.
Taisuke Otsubo stayed on the court, seemingly ready to keep screening for Shintaro Midorima.
And that was exactly what happened.
Taisuke Otsubo, Kiyoshi Miyaji, and Shinsuke Kimura all came together to set screens for Shintaro Midorima.
They did not need to truly stop Miyamoto Tokima. They only needed to make him pause for a moment and create enough space for Shintaro Midorima to catch the ball.
After all, even if the other Kirisaki Daiichi players came to help defend, they could not possibly apply the same pressure as Miyamoto Tokima.
Sure enough, after Shintaro Midorima ran free, Kazunari Takao immediately passed the basketball out.
After receiving the ball, Shintaro Midorima completely ignored Shuzo Nijimura and Dicky Anthony, jumping straight up into a shot from where he stood.
Because Shuzo Nijimura and Dicky Anthony had already stepped up to defend, Miyamoto Tokima had no space to block the shot.
In the end, he could only watch as Shintaro Midorima shot over the two defenders and sent the basketball into the hoop.
...
...
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