"Kazuto actually intercepted the Captain's ball!"
Ayako's eyes widened in disbelief as she watched Kazuto hurl the full-court pass to Rukawa.
Even with all the praise she had been showering on him, she truly hadn't expected the freshman to pick Akagi clean.
Observing the flawless execution of the fast break, Coach Anzai adjusted his glasses.
"Kazuto's perception of the game seems to have become an innate instinct," he remarked softly.
"This type of talent is practically born for the court."
Coach Anzai's assessment sent a tremor through Ayako's heart.
If the legendary coach's evaluation was accurate, Shohoku had just stumbled upon a generational talent!
Just then, Rukawa caught the pass, drove hard to the basket and scored an easy uncontested layup, further widening the gap.
First-Years: 13 | Upperclassmen: 2
"The gap has reached double digits," Coach Anzai observed, his gaze shifting back to Kazuto, who was already setting up the defense.
"It's going to be incredibly tough for the upperclassmen to catch up now. If Akagi doesn't come up with a way to neutralize Kazuto's relentless pressure, this practice match will be over before we know it."
Ayako nodded in solemn agreement.
Given the current situation, the upperclassmen's position could only be described as utterly dire.
The consecutive turnovers and missed shots had completely crushed their morale, leaving the sophomores looking stiff and uncoordinated.
At that moment, as everyone worried about the seniors, a young man with a pierced ear and a curly punk hairstyle swaggered into the basketball gym.
As soon as he entered, he noticed the scrimmage on the main court and glanced at the flip-scoreboard.
"13 to 2?"
Seeing the score, the young man aggressively rubbed his eyes, thinking he must be hallucinating.
"What the hell is going on with Akagi and the others?!" he exclaimed. "The seniors are getting crushed by the freshmen?! Even with that hotshot Rukawa joining this year, they shouldn't be getting beaten this badly."
After muttering a few more complaints, the young man spotted the manager's bench and approached.
"Ayako-chan, I'm back! Did you miss me?"
"Miyagi, you're out of the hospital early," Ayako greeted him casually, not taking her eyes off the game.
"You look good. Seems like you had a pretty relaxing time during your stay."
"N-no, not at all! I was training my mind the whole time!" Ryota Miyagi quickly shook his head in flustered denial, rubbing the back of his neck.
Watching Miyagi and Ayako chatting, Sakuragi who was fuming on the sidelines, nudged the newcomer irritably.
"Hey, curly hair," he grumbled, "sucking up to Ayako won't get you on the court any faster. You'll have to wait your turn—behind me."
"Is that so?" Miyagi replied with a provocative, playful grin.
He turned away from the redhead and shouted at the court, "Hey, Akagi! You guys are getting trashed by a bunch of rookies?! Looks like you really can't handle things without me running the point! Need me to step in and save your dignity?!"
"He's already out of the hospital?!" Kogure exclaimed, his tense face lighting up with genuine relief as he spotted Miyagi.
"Akagi, let Miyagi guard Kazuto! Having a real point guard will make things much easier for us."
Akagi nodded, his expression stern but visibly relieved. "Miyagi! Enough talk. Get changed and get on the court right now."
Miyagi paid no attention to Akagi's gruffness.
He winked at Sakuragi. "Looks like I'm going in first, redhead."
"Ah...!"
Seeing Miyagi casually bypass him and enter the game, Sakuragi instantly crumbled, looking as if he had just been struck by a critical hit of 100,000 damage.
Losing all composure, Sakuragi rushed over to Coach Anzai, grabbing the old man's shoulders and shaking him while begging and pleading relentlessly for playing time.
Sakuragi's embarrassing antics left Ayako utterly humiliated.
She facepalmed, completely defeated.
Soon, Miyagi emerged from the locker room in his practice uniform and jogged onto the court to join Akagi and the others.
"Alright, what's going on here? How could you let the first-years beat you like this? Is that Rukawa kid really that good?"
Kogure shook his head grimly. "Rukawa is only part of the problem. The main issue is the other first-year, Kazuto. Even though he's a total beginner, his learning ability and defensive instincts are terrifying."
"Kazuto?" Miyagi glanced at the freshmen, following Kogure's gaze to find the player in question.
After sizing Kazuto up, Miyagi looked puzzled. "He doesn't look like much. Kind of skinny too ngl, don't worry, I'll take care of him."
Seeing Miyagi confidently volunteer to guard the freshman terror, Akagi, Kogure, and the sophomores exchanged knowing glances, their forced smiles carrying a much deeper, darker meaning.
While Miyagi was observing Kazuto, Kazuto was also silently sizing up the new arrival.
[Character Information: Ryota Miyagi]
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 59 kg
Strength: 76
Speed: 85
Stamina: 81
Vertical Leap: 83
'Except for his slightly weaker strength due to his size, his other attributes are quite impressive,' Kazuto thought, his brow furrowing slightly.
'With Miyagi joining the senior team, it's highly unlikely we can defeat them in one fell swoop now.'
Despite having the System, Kazuto wasn't arrogant enough to be confident in a direct drawn-out confrontation with Miyagi.
Whether it was fundamental dribbling skills, passing vision, or experience controlling the tempo of the court, Miyagi currently far surpassed him.
'Our only option now is to catch him off guard right away and widen our lead before he realizes what's happening.'
Having analyzed the situation, Kazuto knew exactly what he needed to do.
"Alright, first-year Kouhai, the real game starts now," Miyagi announced.
Taking the inbound pass, he dribbled past the half-court line, his eyes mocking as he glanced at Kazuto.
As he spoke, Miyagi's dribbling rhythm noticeably quickened, the ball becoming a blur between his hands.
Seeing the lightning-fast point guard advance, Kazuto immediately moved up to press him, showing no hesitation.
...
Shohoku High School, Classroom Building.
"Haruko, I heard the basketball team is having an intra-squad practice match right now. Should we go watch?"
"I heard the freshmen this year are amazing! Apparently, the upperclassmen don't even stand a chance."
"Let's go! We can cheer on your brother too."
Three girls chatted excitedly as they walked down the hallway toward the gym.
Among them was a girl with shoulder-length hair and lively kind eyes—Akagi Haruko, Akagi's younger sister.
The short-haired girl and the one with the prominent lips were Haruko's close friends, Matsui and Fujii.
"My brother?" Haruko nodded, easily distracted from her thoughts by her friends' chatter.
"Okay, let's go take a look then."
Soon, the three girls arrived at the open doors of the basketball gym while laughing and talking.
At that exact moment on the court, Miyagi dribbled past the midcourt line, approaching the three-point arc.
Kazuto quickly moved up to intercept him.
Surprised to see the supposedly terrifying Kazuto guarding him so closely, Miyagi didn't take him too seriously.
Having never faced Kazuto before, he completely underestimated the freshman's unusual skills.
Glancing at Kazuto's defensive stance, Miyagi smirked confidently.
"Hey, Kazuto, was it? Kogure said you're really good at stealing the ball. Why don't you try stealing it from me?"
Before Miyagi could even finish his taunt, Kazuto leaned forward, his right hand darting out like a striking viper.
Snap!
In an instant, Kazuto cleanly snatched the ball right out of Miyagi's incredibly low dribble.
"Rukawa, fast break!"
With the ball secured, Kazuto didn't even bother dribbling.
He immediately launched a two-handed chest pass to Rukawa, who had already leaked out in anticipation.
After firing the pass, Kazuto brushed right past the frozen Miyagi, sprinting down the court to join Rukawa on the break.
"So fast...!"
Miyagi's cocky expression morphed into absolute shock.
He watched Kazuto's seamless steal and pass with wide eyes, his feet literally rooted to the hardwood.
Seeing was believing.
Witnessing Kazuto's reaction time firsthand, Miyagi instantly realized he had severely underestimated his opponent.
"Idiot! What the hell are you daydreaming about?! Get back on defense!" Akagi roared, his voice filled with familiar fury.
Akagi's reprimand snapped Miyagi out of his daze, and he frantically sprinted after Rukawa.
But it was far too late.
By the time Miyagi crossed half-court, Rukawa had already leaped into the air, ball firmly in hand.
Slam!
A resounding dunk echoed through the gym as Rukawa effortlessly slammed the ball through the hoop, adding another two points to the freshmen's staggering lead.
After landing, Rukawa jogged back and gave Kazuto a rare, respectful nod.
"Nice steal."
"Just luck," Kazuto replied calmly, showing absolutely no hint of arrogance.
"The only reason I got that so easily was because Miyagi-senpai completely underestimated me. Now that he's taking me seriously, getting the ball from him is going to be much harder."
Rukawa nodded in silent agreement, his eyes locking onto the furious Miyagi.
Outside the court:
"Those two freshmen are amazing!"
"The tall one who dunked—that's Rukawa Kaede, right?"
"Yeah, but the guy who stole the ball is so fast! The opponent didn't even have time to react!"
"I heard he's a transfer student! Everyone in class is talking about him, and so many girls are already asking about his background."
Fujii and Matsui whispered excitedly to each other near the gym entrance.
Hearing their conversation, Haruko glanced curiously at the court and spotted Kazuto.
"My brother mentioned a transfer student joining the basketball team the other day," she murmured to herself.
"So that's him. His skills seem really impressive."
Haruko's attention was now completely focused on Kazuto's calm demeanor on the court.
Noticing the girls at the door, Ayako waved and greeted them warmly.
"Haruko, you're here! Are you here to cheer for Akagi-senpai?"
Haruko blinked blankly, pulling her gaze away from Kazuto, before shaking her head with a polite smile.
Seeing Haruko's distracted reaction, Ayako chuckled and said nothing more.
Meanwhile, Sakuragi had finally stopped shaking the coach.
His eyes were practically glowing in the shape of hearts as he stared at Haruko, drool literally threatening to spill from his mouth!
Desperate to impress his crush, Sakuragi frantically grabbed Coach Anzai's shoulders again, shaking the poor man violently.
"Old Man! I'm on the basketball team too! Everyone else is getting to play and show off in front of Haruko—you can't treat me like this! I want to play too! Put me in!"
The surrounding spectators gasped at Sakuragi's outrageous behavior.
How dare a freshman physically shake the legendary coach like a ragdoll?!
Noticing Sakuragi's completely disrespectful antics, Akagi couldn't stand it any longer.
With a face as dark as a thundercloud, he abandoned the inbound pass and strode over to the sidelines.
Whack!
Akagi slammed his fist down on Sakuragi's head. "Quiet down, you idiot!"
Dragging Sakuragi away from the dizzy coach, Akagi addressed Anzai respectfully.
"Coach, I apologize. This guy is a complete beginner and has serious issues with his attitude. I have absolutely no intention of letting him play in this scrimmage."
Hearing Akagi dismiss him in front of Haruko, Sakuragi immediately grabbed a loose ball from the rack and began dribbling it rapidly between his legs to prove his worth.
"Ho ho... not bad," Coach Anzai remarked, observing Sakuragi's surprisingly fluid, albeit frantic, basic dribbling.
But his tone shifted to one of gentle authority as he added.
"However, Sakuragi-kun, since Akagi-kun has made his decision regarding the roster today, you must follow his instructions."
He looked at the dejected redhead. "Use this time to study the game and practice diligently. I hope to see your skills and performance in the actual practice match against Ryonan."
Hearing Coach Anzai's final ruling, Sakuragi's fighting spirit instantly vanished, leaving him utterly depressed.
But when Sakuragi's eyes drifted back to the court and spotted Kazuto, his excitement surged anew.
He ran to the sideline, waving his arms.
"KAZUTOOO! I'm all warmed up! Hurry up and switch with me!"
Kazuto's brow furrowed slightly at Sakuragi's shouting, showing genuine hesitation.
They had indeed agreed earlier that Kazuto would only play for a little bit to get a feel for the game before switching with Sakuragi.
But his System task to complete five steals wasn't finished yet.
He couldn't possibly switch out now!