Chapter 160 - 161
Chapter 160: The Fake!
Makoto Hanamiya mocked him as he picked up the ball that had been slapped loose.
Seeing this, Shogo Haizaki immediately took off down the court.
Without the slightest hesitation, Hanamiya fired a pass straight to Haizaki.
In the stands.
Junpei Hyuga frowned in confusion.
“Why would he force it like that? That’s not Kasamatsu’s style at all!”
Riko Aida looked equally puzzled.
“Yukio Kasamatsu isn’t the kind of player who goes one-on-one like that.”
Taiga Kagami spoke up from the side.
“Could it be because of something that guy on the court did?”
Riko Aida thought about it for a moment and nodded.
“That’s… possible.”
“Look! Kise caught up!”
Shinji Koganei shouted.
Everyone from Seirin turned their attention back to the court.
On the court.
Shogo Haizaki dribbled hard, charging straight toward the frontcourt.
Just as he reached the three-point line, a figure stepped into his path.
“I’m not letting you through!”
Ryota Kise spread his arms wide, his expression serious.
Haizaki slowed his fast break and stared straight at Kise.
“Heh.”
A cold sneer crossed his face, followed by a wide grin.
“Then let’s see if you can actually do it!”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of the ball pounding against the floor rang out rapidly.
Haizaki dribbled at an insane pace, the ball constantly shifting in his hands, leaving no opening at all.
The moment Kise saw it, cold sweat quietly formed on his forehead.
‘So fast!’
Haizaki kept up the rapid dribble—then suddenly!
Thud!
He drove off his left foot and exploded forward, the ball controlled in his right hand.
Kise’s eyes widened.
‘Crap!’
Boom!
By the time Kise reacted, Haizaki had already slammed the ball through the hoop.
Tap… tap… tap…
“Heh. Is that really all you’ve got, Kise?”
Haizaki tilted his head back as he landed, mocking him openly.
Kise looked straight at him, his voice low and steady.
“So you really didn’t waste these years training.”
Haizaki’s eyes narrowed as he locked onto Kise.
“I’m not as useless as you think.”
With that, he turned and ran back on defense.
Kise’s expression grew heavier as he muttered,
“This is getting worse and worse…”
Yukio Kasamatsu finally arrived, his face full of guilt.
“Sorry. I acted on impulse.”
After getting stripped, Kasamatsu had already calmed down.
He knew he’d been provoked by Hanamiya on purpose—the goal had been to make him lose the ball.
Now that he was composed again, Kasamatsu made up his mind.
No matter what Hanamiya said next, he would ignore it completely!
Possession changed—Kaijo ball.
Kasamatsu took the inbound and slowly brought it up the court.
The moment he crossed half court, Hanamiya pressed in close and immediately switched on the trash talk.
“Oh ho ho, our captain—what, about to start passing again?”
Kasamatsu frowned, doing his best to tune out the nonsense.
He quickly found Ryota Kise and passed the ball.
Hanamiya didn’t move at all. He simply shook his head, his expression full of disappointment.
“Honestly, I thought our captain had something to show. Turns out you’re just a little passing accessory.”
Kasamatsu snapped back, clearly irritated.
“And you’re not a passing accessory yourself?”
Hanamiya answered without missing a beat.
“I am.”
“Hah, figures… you—wait, what?”
Kasamatsu had already prepared his comeback, expecting Hanamiya to argue.
Instead, Hanamiya admitted it outright, leaving him stunned.
Hanamiya shrugged casually.
“What’s so hard to admit? I can’t beat guys like Miyamoto, so being an accessory suits me just fine.”
Then his expression shifted, turning playful.
“But what about you, Captain? Will you admit you’re just an accessory too?”
“You are the captain, after all…”
Kasamatsu clenched his teeth, forcing down the anger boiling inside him.
“I thought you might have changed. Looks like I was wrong.”
“You’ve just moved your dirty tricks from your hands to your mouth!”
Hanamiya grinned.
“Getting mad?”
Kasamatsu’s face flushed as he shouted,
“You—!”
“Getting mad?”
Hanamiya repeated calmly.
“I’ll get mad at your—!”
“Getting mad?”
“You—!”
The referee heard the argument and immediately stepped in.
“One more word and I’m giving you a T!”
Hanamiya instantly raised his hands and nodded.
“Hey, ref, I’m innocent. I wasn’t arguing at all.”
“It’s this Kaijo captain who keeps running his mouth.”
Kasamatsu stared at him in disbelief.
He never imagined Hanamiya could be this shameless.
On the other side.
Kise caught the ball and faced Haizaki head-on.
He stared at that all-too-familiar face, then took a deep breath.
Bang!
He slammed the ball hard into the floor.
Switching it from right to left, Kise made a big crossover.
Haizaki reacted immediately, stepping into Kise’s path.
Kise had already anticipated it.
He planted his right foot and spun.
Haizaki instantly shifted his center of gravity and rushed in to contest.
Coming out of the spin, Kise locked his eyes on the rim and brought both hands up as if to shoot.
Haizaki, eager for the block, jumped.
But the moment he was in the air, he realized—
Kise hadn’t jumped at all!
‘Damn it! A fake!’
Kise had used a perfect pump fake, completely lifting Haizaki off his feet.
Seizing the opening, he drove straight into the paint.
Nijimura was just about to rotate over when he saw Kise rise and release the ball.
He could only stop helplessly.
‘Choosing a mid-range shot… guess he’s not that dumb.’
The ball flew cleanly through the air.
Swish!
Kaijo scored two points.
In the stands, Kagami immediately shouted excitedly when he saw Kise score.
“Nice! That Haizaki guy isn’t all that, huh? Kise totally shook him!”
For those unfamiliar with Miyamoto and the others, Kagami naturally wanted Kise to win this match.
“No… I don’t think it’s that simple.”
Hyuga’s expression changed as he stared intently at the court.
On the court, Haizaki showed no sign of frustration.
Instead, a faint, unsettling smile appeared on his face.
Kise didn’t celebrate the basket.
After all, it was only two points—celebrations could wait until after a win.
Though, realistically, there probably wouldn’t be much to celebrate.
Haizaki looked at Kise with that strange smile, his thoughts impossible to read…
...
Chapter 161: Must Avenge My Teammate!
Possession changed.
After crossing half court, Makoto Hanamiya didn’t hesitate for even a second and immediately passed the ball to Shogo Haizaki.
Miyamoto Tokima’s instructions for this game were extremely simple.
Let Shogo Haizaki play to his heart’s content!
He’d gone on a trip to the United States, only to come back and find his little brother’s spot taken by some newcomer.
How could he not get revenge for his little brother?
And then there was Seijuro Akashi’s second personality.
He was definitely going to beat him until he started questioning his own existence!
After receiving the pass, Shogo Haizaki sneered coldly at Ryota Kise.
“No need to be so careful. You already know how I’m going to attack, don’t you?”
Ryota Kise guarded Haizaki with a serious expression.
Of course he knew.
Given Haizaki’s personality, this possession was one hundred percent going to use the same move as before.
All he needed to do was—
“Idiot. You still can’t get rid of that habit of spacing out on the court!”
Thud, thud, thud…
Haizaki’s voice and the sound of the ball pounding the floor suddenly came from behind Ryota Kise.
It turned out that Haizaki had seized the instant Kise lost focus, exploded forward, and blew right past him.
Kise snapped his head around and shouted,
“Help defense!”
Kōji Kobori immediately stepped up to cover.
Haizaki burst into wild laughter.
“What are you going to use to stop me?!”
As he spoke, he dribbled hard with his right hand, switched the ball to his left, and threw out a huge change of direction.
Kobori reacted a beat too slow, already thinking he’d been beaten.
But then he suddenly saw Haizaki turn back again!
Kobori’s heart leapt with joy as he immediately stepped forward to contest.
After spinning back, Haizaki glanced at the rim, bringing both hands together as if to shoot.
Sensing danger, Kobori instantly jumped.
“Kobori-senpai, don’t!”
Kise shouted.
But it was already too late.
Kobori had left the ground, and only then did he realize something was wrong.
Fake… a fake!
Haizaki looked at the airborne Kobori with a cold, mocking smile.
In the next moment, under Kobori’s shocked gaze, Haizaki took a light step forward and flicked the ball up with his right hand, gently hooking it into the basket.
Swish!
The ball bounced on the rim a few times before falling cleanly through.
As the shot went in, applause broke out among the spectators.
In the stands, Taiga Kagami was stunned.
“Why… that move was exactly the same as Kise’s just now!”
Junpei Hyuga’s eyes flickered, betraying the turmoil in his heart.
Shinji Koganei had cold sweat forming on his forehead as he turned toward Tetsuya Kuroko beside him.
“Kuroko, do you know what’s going on?”
All of Seirin’s gazes immediately focused on Kuroko.
Under everyone’s attention, Kuroko spoke calmly,
“Because Haizaki-kun’s talent is very similar to Kise-kun’s.”
Hiroshi Fukuda asked,
“Then does that mean he also has [Copying], just like Kise?”
Kuroko shook his head.
“No. Haizaki-kun’s talent is [Pillage].”
…
On Tōō’s side.
“[Pillage]?!”
Kosuke Wakamatsu exclaimed,
“Aomine, are you saying that Haizaki can [pillage] other people’s basketball skills?”
Daiki Aomine nodded calmly.
“Yeah. That’s Haizaki’s ability.”
Shoichi Imayoshi wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed.
“That’s a terrifying ability.”
Aomine leaned back with his hands behind his head and said casually,
“But it’s not without flaws. If we’re talking pure talent, Kise definitely surpasses Haizaki.”
…
On Seirin’s side.
“What flaw?”
Shun Izuki asked.
Kuroko thought for a moment before answering,
“Although Haizaki-kun can [pillage] the techniques he sees, he can’t [pillage] techniques with a strong personal style.”
“For example, he can’t [pillage] the skills of the five members of the Generation of Miracles.”
“Because their techniques are all extremely individual.”
“To put it simply, Haizaki-kun can only [pillage] movements, not style.”
Junpei Hyuga seemed to catch on.
“So what you’re saying is that every skill Haizaki [pillages] gets mixed with his own style, which throws off the opponent’s rhythm. Then, when they try to use the same move again, they subconsciously fall into Haizaki’s rhythm, achieving the [Pillage] effect?”
Kuroko nodded.
“In theory, yes.”
Hyuga nodded as well, looking enlightened.
“So that’s how it works. Doesn’t sound that hard—”
“Like hell it doesn’t!”
“Just copying someone else’s moves is already difficult. Now he has to turn them into his own style.”
“And on top of that, he has to disrupt the opponent’s rhythm. Anyone who can do that is anything but simple!”
Bang!
Riko Aida slammed a fist down on Hyuga’s head and said sharply,
“Stop yelling and watch the game quietly!”
Hyuga clutched his head and nodded in pain.
…
On the court.
Kaijō had already begun their offensive.
This time, Ryota Kise didn’t choose to use the same move as before.
He knew very well that once Haizaki used that technique, he would subconsciously start mimicking Haizaki’s playing style.
That was why his previous few attacks had felt so awkward.
Although Kise could imitate Haizaki’s style, doing so would only make his movements easy for Haizaki to read.
After all, Haizaki understood that rhythm better than anyone.
As a result, the game on the court fell into a stalemate.
Miyamoto Tokima and Shuzo Nijimura effectively turned into spectators, doing little beyond passing and defending.
They completely handed the battlefield over.
Over to their little brother.
This frustration had to be vented by him!
With Miyamoto Tokima and Shuzo Nijimura no longer attacking, the ball naturally went entirely to Shogo Haizaki.
The same was true on Kaijō’s side.
Almost all possessions ran through Ryota Kise.
Though it was frustrating, the reality was that right now, only Kise could reliably score.
Yukio Kasamatsu was being relentlessly nagged by Makoto Hanamiya, to the point where he looked ready to draw a sword on the spot.
Kōji Kobori couldn’t get a single pass.
Kentaro Seto stuck to Kobori like glue every time, never giving him a clean catch.
Mitsuhiro Hayakawa gave up on attacking altogether after getting blocked twice in a row by Shuzo Nijimura.
He knew he couldn’t break through. Forcing it would only make things worse, so he handed the ball off instead.
As for Yoshitaka Moriyama, after getting blocked three straight times by Miyamoto Tokima, he finally behaved himself.
From that moment on, Ryota Kise became Kaijō’s last remaining spark…
Author's Note
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.