Sannoh's offense continued on the court. Zawa Kita Eiji elegantly dribbled behind his back, passing Morohoshi Dai, and easily scored a layup.
The score on the scoreboard had already become 31:12. Aiwa Academy's players moved slower and slower, as if all their strength had been drained.
In the stands, Gu Jin's brows were tightly furrowed.
When he first left the court, he was still relaxed from the big victory, but now, looking at the almost crushing composure of Sannoh's players on the court, his fingertips unconsciously scratched the plastic seat of the stands.
"It's too exaggerated..." he murmured in a low voice.
Sendoh Akira next to him heard it and turned his head to look at him: "What's wrong? Do you think Sannoh is stronger than you imagined?"
"It's not strong, it's... different." Gu Jin's gaze swept over Kazunari Fukatsu's rock-solid ball handling, Masashi Kawata's court-covering defense, and finally landed on Zawa Kita Eiji—that guy had just completed a fast break dunk, and when he landed, he was even joking with his teammates, as if the current game was just a warm-up.
"How on earth did Shohoku manage to win in the original manga?" Gu Jin muttered to himself, out of the blue.
Sendoh Akira was stunned for a moment and didn't respond—he didn't understand what "manga" meant, only thinking that Gu Jin was lamenting Sannoh's formidable power.
But the more Gu Jin thought about it, the more absurd he found it.
He clearly remembered Shohoku's lineup in the original plot: Akagi Takenori was tough enough, but he lacked flexibility compared to Masashi Kawata;
Rukawa Kaede was great at one-on-one, but Zawa Kita Eiji's offense and defense just now were on a completely different level of confrontation;
Mitsui Hisashi's three-pointers depended on his touch, Miyagi Ryota's speed might not have an advantage in front of Fukatsu, and Sakuragi Hanamichi's talent was amazing, but his experience was too far behind... "This isn't something that can be described by a single magnitude; it's a dimension."
Gu Jin's Adam's apple bobbed. "Sannoh playing Shohoku, in this current state, it's not an exaggeration to say it's like college students playing kindergarteners."
He used to think that Shohoku's victory was hard-fought, but after witnessing Sannoh's dominance firsthand, he realized belatedly—perhaps the "plot kill" was too terrifying?
But there was no plot kill this year.
Just then, Taoka Moichi suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears: "If we faced Sannoh, we would never be like Aiwa Academy."
These words stunned everyone in Ryonan.
Aida Hikoichi had just pulled out his small notebook to jot something down, and upon hearing this, he immediately looked up and asked, "Coach Taoka? Why is that?"
Taoka didn't look at him, his gaze fixed on Gu Jin, his eyes shining astonishingly: "To defeat Sannoh, there must be a game-changer, and we have Gu Jin."
He paused, then said word by word: "An existence that can go one-on-one with Zawa Kita Eiji and not lose at all."
But Taoka didn't stop, adding another sentence with an undeniable certainty in his voice: "Even... stronger."
The stands were silent for a few seconds.
Fukuda Kiccho opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back—he had just witnessed Zawa Kita's prowess firsthand, but remembering Gu Jin's insane 74 points in a single game, he felt that the coach's words might not be an exaggeration.
Uozumi Jun looked at Gu Jin, and there was something more in his eyes—before, he always thought of Gu Jin as a "talented junior," but at this moment, he suddenly realized that perhaps this person could truly become Ryonan's "game-changer."
On the court, Sannoh once again stole the ball for a fast break. Zawa Kita Eiji dodged two blocks in the air and reverse-dunked the ball.
33:12.
Taoka snorted, "Aiwa Academy lost because Morohoshi Dai, even fighting to the end, couldn't find anyone who could match him, and even more, couldn't find anyone who could withstand Zawa Kita. But we have him." He patted Gu Jin's shoulder, "You don't have to struggle like Morohoshi Dai. You have Sendoh helping you control the game, and Uozumi helping you with rebounds. You just focus on battling Zawa Kita—if you win, we'll have a chance."
Gu Jin looked at the spirited Zawa Kita Eiji on the court, then at Sendoh, Uozumi beside him, and the eager Fukuda, Sakuragi.
Perhaps Coach Taoka was right.
Sannoh without a plot kill was indeed terrifying, but Ryonan was even stronger!!!
Whistles on the court rang continuously. Aiwa Academy's offense was like a punctured balloon, barely able to maintain its composure.
Morohoshi Dai gritted his teeth, holding the ball outside the three-point line. Zawa Kita Eiji stood lazily in front of him, not even fully extending his arms—it was a defensive posture that was almost condescending.
"Don't be so arrogant!" Morohoshi Dai yelled, charging forward. This time, he didn't use fancy dribbling; he just relied on brute force to collide into Zawa Kita, hoping to find a breakthrough through physical contact.
Zawa Kita seemed not to have expected this move and was knocked back half a step.
But just as Morohoshi Dai thought he could take the opportunity to break through, Zawa Kita suddenly reached out, his fingertips precisely pressing on the basketball.
The two instantly became entangled, the basketball clutched tightly between them.
Before the referee's whistle blew, Zawa Kita suddenly flicked his wrist, trying to snatch the ball.
Morohoshi Dai refused to let go, pulling the ball back with all his might—the force of the struggle was uncontrolled, and both lost their balance simultaneously, falling to the floor with a "bang."
Beep—! "Foul on White No. 9!"
Zawa Kita quickly stood up, brushed the dust off his jersey, his brows furrowed as if annoyed by the trouble.
But Morohoshi Dai fell harder, his knee hitting the ground first, making him let out a muffled groan of pain. It took him a while to prop himself up on the floor.
A low gasp came from Aiwa Academy's fans in the stands.
Coach Sato stomped his feet anxiously on the sideline but didn't dare call a timeout—that collision just now looked serious, but he still held a last glimmer of hope.
Morohoshi Dai sat on the ground, a stabbing pain radiating from his knee. Sweat mixed with dust from the floor dripped down his forehead.
He looked up at Zawa Kita, who was facing away from him, talking to Fukatsu, not even turning his head.
A surge of anger, mixed with unwillingness and humiliation, suddenly rose from his heart—he was the "Star of Aichi," the second-best high school student in Japan, why was he being treated with such disdain?
"Hey!" Morohoshi Dai suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse but with a fierce edge, "Zawa Kita! I haven't lost yet!"
Zawa Kita finally turned around, raising an eyebrow: "Oh? Then you'll have to prove it to me!"
Morohoshi Dai didn't speak, propping himself up on the floor and standing up abruptly.
His knee still hurt, but he acted as if he didn't notice, staring intently at Zawa Kita: "One more time."
After the tip-off, Morohoshi Dai practically snatched the ball from Fukumori Suzuki's hands.
His dribbling was much harder than before, the basketball hitting the floor with a "thump-thump" sound, like drumming.
This time, Zawa Kita put away his nonchalance, his center of gravity low, blocking him tightly.
Morohoshi Dai suddenly did a crossover dribble, the ball switching from his right hand to his left, while his left foot pushed off the ground, his body twisting like a pretzel to the left—this was his signature spin move for a breakthrough, a move he had scored countless points with before.
Zawa Kita was indeed faked out, his lateral movement a half-step slower!
Morohoshi Dai seized this half-second gap, accelerating fiercely and charging past! He could even see the hoop, and Zawa Kita's surprised expression after he dunked for a score—but just as he was about to jump, a gust of wind suddenly came from behind him.
It was Zawa Kita!
No one knew how he caught up, even though he had just been passed by half a body length.