In the back rows of the stands, several people were crowded in the Hainan Team's spectator section.
Maki Shinichi clenched his fist against his knee—when Ryonan's 'Triangle' plus 'Figure-Eight Convergence' tactic was executed, his Adam's apple unconsciously bobbed.
"So... that's how it's used," Jin Soichiro muttered, gripping the railing of the stands.
When Hainan and Ryonan played each other before, Coach Taoka hadn't revealed this move at all. At the time, they thought they lost because Gu Jin was too extraordinary, but now, watching Rikawa being spun around like a headless fly, they broke out in a cold sweat with belated realization—if Ryonan had played like this then, even without Gu Jin, Hainan probably wouldn't have been able to hold on.
Muto Tadashi glanced at the court. Takagi Yuta of Rikawa was still chasing Sakuragi Hanamichi, but Sakuragi never played by the rules, sometimes jumping under the basket a couple of times, then suddenly circling outside the three-point line to set a screen, making Takagi run in circles.
"Their coordination... is even more refined than before," he said in a low voice, tinged with a muffled sense of powerlessness.
Maki Shinichi didn't respond, his gaze fixed on Sendoh Akira.
When Sendoh passed the ball just now, that slight flick of his wrist, the ball grazed Watanabe Kenji's fingertips and flew to Gu Jin, the timing was perfect—that wasn't just good technique, it was having a complete understanding of every Rikawa player's defensive habits.
He suddenly remembered Coach Takato earnestly saying before the National Tournament practice, "Coach Taoka's tactics are rigid; Hainan will win it back in the National Tournament."
Now it seems... "It's 12:0," Kosha Kazuma suddenly exclaimed in a low voice.
On the court, Gu Jin, again using Uozumi's screen, sank another three-pointer. When the ball swished through the net, someone on Rikawa's bench slammed a towel to the ground.
No one from the Hainan Team spoke.
Before, they always felt that losing to Ryonan was due to a bit of bad luck, that Gu Jin was too extraordinary. But now, looking at the situation in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium—Ryonan's five players on the court ran as if they were twisted into one rope, even Sakuragi Hanamichi's wild antics became part of the tactic. They suddenly realized: from the very beginning, they and Ryonan were not on the same level.
"Beep!" The whistle blew again, and Rikawa called another timeout.
Both timeouts for the first half had been called. If there was no solution, the first half could very likely collapse!
Coach Sato's face was flushed red, and his voice was hoarse from yelling at the players on the court, but Rikawa's players had their heads down, almost out of strength to even look up.
On the Ryonan bench, Taoka Moichi was patting Gu Jin's shoulder and joking. Sakuragi Hanamichi was jumping around with a towel, and Sendoh Akira was leaning against the backboard drinking water, without a hint of tension in his eyes.
Maki Shinichi slowly unclenched his fist, his palm sticky with sweat.
He remembered the unwillingness of losing to Sannoh in the National Tournament last year, always feeling that another year of practice would allow them to catch up. But now, looking at Ryonan like this—it was an overwhelming dominance from the inside out, not just in technique, or tactics, but the combined force of five people twisted together, even the cheers from the stands seemed to carry weight, pressing down on people, making it hard to breathe.
"So... the gap is already this big," Kosha Kazuma's voice was low, tinged with a hint of bewilderment.
Maki Shinichi looked at the flickering scoreboard on the court and softly hummed in affirmation.
The sunlight streamed through the dome of the gymnasium, falling on the Ryonan players' number 17, number 7, and number 4 jerseys, shining somewhat dazzlingly.
He suddenly felt a little envious—envious that they could execute their tactics so perfectly, envious of the certainty in their eyes that showed they didn't even consider their opponents.
Meanwhile, off the court, Rikawa's timeout wasn't over yet. Coach Sato was still shouting tactics at the top of his lungs, but the tactical board in his hand was shaking so much that even a straight line he drew was crooked.
Everyone could see that this championship battle, from the aerial switch-hand scoop shot at the start, was already Ryonan's solo performance.
In Rikawa's bench area, Coach Sato's tactical board almost poked through a chair. "Watanabe!" He suddenly pulled over Watanabe Kenji, who was still breathing heavily, and his finger drew a fierce arc on the board, "Next, you don't worry about Sendoh anymore, go guard Gu Jin! Stick to him!"
Watanabe suddenly looked up, his eyes still burning with the anger from being stolen from just now.
"He can shoot, can't he?" Sato gritted his teeth, his knuckles knocking loudly on the tactical board, "You go give him physical confrontation! Bump him every time he dribbles! Stick to him every time he jumps! Even if you can't draw a foul, make him uncomfortable when he shoots!" He paused, his voice dropping even lower, "Don't be too obvious, but you must make him feel the pain!"
Watanabe's Adam's apple bobbed, and the hand gripping his jersey suddenly loosened, a shadow flashing across his eyes.
As the whistle blew and Rikawa's players rushed back onto the court, Watanabe immediately stood directly in front of Gu Jin.
When Gu Jin looked up, his gaze met Watanabe's fierce eyes, and he imperceptibly frowned.
After the tip-off, Kawaguchi finally didn't make another mistake, dribbling past half-court and then throwing the ball to Watanabe on the baseline.
Sendoh was about to stick to him, but he saw Watanabe suddenly drop his shoulder and charge inside—this time he ignored defense, forcefully shouldering Sakuragi Hanamichi's arm to squeeze under the basket, and using the momentum of the body contact, he suddenly jumped, flipping his wrist violently to shove the ball into the hoop.
"Bang!" The ball hit the backboard and bounced into the hoop, and the whistle blew simultaneously.
"Charging?" Sakuragi immediately jumped up and yelled, but the referee shook his head, pointing to the free-throw line—it was a defensive foul on Sakuragi.
Watanabe was breathing heavily when he landed, his elbow still pressed against Sakuragi's chest. He glanced up at the scoreboard—12:0.
He gritted his teeth and walked to the free-throw line, flicking his wrist to send the ball out, and with a "swish," it went through the net. 12:1.
Cheers finally erupted from Rikawa's cheering section in the stands, and Coach Sato forcefully pumped a fist in front of the bench.
The second shot also went in steadily, 12:2.
When Ryonan served, just as Gu Jin received the ball, Watanabe stuck to him. "Enjoy your shooting just now?" He lowered his voice, and deliberately elbowed Gu Jin's waist, the movement very subtle!
"Are you starting to play dirty?"
Gu Jin's eyes turned cold.
Watanabe suddenly lunged forward, his knee almost touching Gu Jin's knee.
Gu Jin reacted extremely quickly.
Half a second before Watanabe's knee grazed his, he suddenly lowered his center of gravity, took half a step back with his left foot, and at the same time, the force of his right-hand dribble suddenly intensified—the basketball hit the floor with a "thump," and using the rebound's momentum, he pulled it to his left.
This step-back was both quick and clever. Watanabe lunged into empty space, and the moment his center of gravity stumbled forward, Gu Jin had already closed in, using the momentum of his dribble.
"Want to play?" Gu Jin's voice was very low, tinged with coldness, hitting Watanabe's ears perfectly.
Before he finished speaking, Gu Jin's left shoulder dropped slightly, seemingly intending to drive inside, but in reality, his elbow lightly bumped Watanabe's elbow—the force wasn't heavy, but it hit exactly on the point where Watanabe was exerting force to maintain balance.
Watanabe was already stumbling and unsteady, and this bump completely threw him off balance, causing him to stagger back two steps, almost colliding with the trailing Kawaguchi.
"You!" Watanabe was both shocked and enraged. Just as he was about to raise his hand to push, Gu Jin had already dribbled around to his side.
This time, Gu Jin didn't hold back.
As he dribbled back outside the three-point line, he deliberately leaned his shoulder against Watanabe—it wasn't a malicious collision, but a normal physical confrontation on a basketball court. However, his timing was incredibly precise, exactly at the moment Watanabe had just regained his footing and was reaching out to steal the ball.
With a dull "thump," Watanabe was bumped and swayed to the side again.
The referee signaled no foul!
He could no longer keep up with Gu Jin's pace, and could only watch helplessly as his three-point shot arced through the air—"Swish!" It swished through the net.
15:2.
The cheers from the stands almost blew the roof off. Taoka Moichi smiled and nodded in front of the bench, and Aida Hikoichi even jumped up and shouted, "Gu Jin! Great job! That's how you deal with him!"
