Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 391 Lightning flash
Although the basketball was dirty, Mitsui's touch was still as excellent as ever.

Without the two-year hiatus, Mitsui's three-point shooting percentage is definitely no less than Ajin's.

Besides his three-point shooting, Mitsui is also quite well-rounded, enough to be a star player on any team.

Well, except for Xiangbei!

Even if he were in Sannoh Industrial, Mitsui would have had the opportunity to replace Sawakita as the team's ace.

Soon, Ryonan made a comeback.

With a calm and unhurried demeanor, Sendoh slowly dribbled the ball past the halfway line.

His gaze swept across the field seemingly casually, searching for the best opportunity to attack.

The power of the immortal path put immense pressure on the palace guarding him.

The key issue is the significant height difference between the two.

In this situation, Miyagi had no choice but to press close to him to avoid being shot in the face by Sendoh as much as possible.

While Miyagi was locked in a fierce battle with Sendoh, the Ryonan players sprang into action.

They quickly searched for openings, and every movement and cover was purposeful.

Soon, Ah Shen seized the opportunity.

Using his positioning and teammates' screens, he gained a one-body-length advantage over Yohei and charged towards the right corner three-point line.

Due to Miyagi's height, Sendoh's visual advantage was significantly amplified, allowing him to spot Ajin's location immediately.

Without hesitation, Sendoh passed the ball straight to Jin.

As soon as he reached the three-point line, A Shen received the basketball and made a perfect pass.

Without the slightest hesitation, Ah Shen stretched out his body and jumped to shoot.

His movements were fluid and natural, as if he had practiced them countless times.

To improve his three-point shooting ability, Ah Shen practices 500 shots every day.

Over a year of accumulation has made Ah Shen's three-point shot both fast and accurate.

Yohei was completely helpless against this!
While not quite the 'cutest height difference' like that between Miyagi and Sendoh, it's not much better.

sigh~
The basketball traced a beautiful parabola through the air, piercing straight through the rim, causing the net to sway gently.

Hua Hua Hua~
A burst of enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted from the stands, celebrating the brilliant goal.

After making his first three-pointer, A Shen waved to the audience and gave them a warm smile.

On the Shohoku bench, Ayako rested her chin on her hand and muttered to herself, "A beautiful shooting form, but it looks kind of familiar?"

Ayako looked at Ajin with a mixture of admiration and doubt.

Beside him, Coach Anzai calmly took a sip of tea and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, he should have imitated Mitsui!"

When it comes to three-pointers, Mitsui is undoubtedly one of the best.

Of course, Kogure is in no way inferior to Mitsui, after all, his three-point shooting is already at its maximum level.

Furthermore, his step-back three-pointer is also above Mitsui's level.

The difference is that, in order to achieve a faster release speed, his shooting posture is somewhat different from Mitsui's.

It was Shohoku's turn to attack again, and Miyagi wanted to win back a game.

He didn't want to lose face in front of Ayako!
Even though Ayako explicitly rejected him, he still didn't want to lose face in front of her.

The next moment, Miyagi lowered his body and broke through.

Even though Sendoh was well prepared, Miyagi's speed still exceeded his expectations.

Sendoh's defense, well, he can't contain players of the same level, or some special role players.

Without a doubt, the palace belongs to this category.

The palace was like lightning, breaking through the immortal's defenses in the blink of an eye.

After making the breakthrough, Miyagi finished the battle with a small throw at the edge of the paint zone.

sigh~
This was one of Miyagi's rare standout performances in this match.

After making the throw, Miyagi subconsciously looked at Ayako.

Unfortunately, Ayako was chatting enthusiastically with Kogure, her beautiful eyes fixed on him, and she didn't look in their direction.

Miyagi was very disappointed, but there was nothing she could do.

In every aspect, he was inferior to Kogure, even in his greatest strength, speed.

Kogure's speed and explosiveness are also at their maximum, and with the added bonus of the 'Little Fairy' title, even though he is much taller and heavier than Miyagi, his speed is still not inferior.

Miyagi racked his brains but couldn't figure out in any way that he was better than Kogure.

Niu Zi is also included!
Before Miyagi could think further, Ryonan launched another attack.

As soon as Sendoh entered the front area, Miyagi immediately followed.

Facing Miyagi's tight defense, Sendoh handled it with ease. The height and weight difference between the two was too great, and he only needed to guard against the opponent's steals.

Since the two sides were not evenly matched, Sendoh easily broke through Miyagi and completed his breakthrough.

As best friends who are inseparable, Sakuragi had no choice but to clean up Miyagi's mess and quickly rushed towards Sendoh.

After drawing Sakuragi's help defense, Sendoh did not choose to force his way in, but instead made a brilliant pass to Nango for a dunk.

Bang~

Seeing Nango hanging from the basket, Sakuragi couldn't help but complain to Miyagi, "Miyagi, are you even capable?"

"Sakuragi, mind your own business first."

Miyagi was already in a bad mood, so his tone was inevitably a bit harsh.

"You said it yourself, I don't want to clean up your mess."

Sakuragi naturally wouldn't give him a friendly look, especially since he didn't want to be overshadowed by Nango, who was also a monkey.

Miyagi didn't say anything. After receiving a pass from his teammate, he dribbled the ball and ran towards the frontcourt.

Just like in the previous round, Miyagi once again broke through with the ball.

This time, however, Sendoh was smarter and deliberately kept two steps away from Miyagi.

He was 22 centimeters taller than Miyagi, and even though they were two steps apart, he was enough to interfere with Miyagi's shot.

This also gave Sendoh enough time to react.

He immediately shifted his feet to the side, blocking Miyagi's path of breakthrough and putting up a counterattack.

During the time he trained with Kogure, Sendoh naturally also gained something.

This is exactly the defensive style he learned from Kogure.

In the confrontation, Miyagi was clearly at a disadvantage.

However, he still found an opportunity.

The next moment, Sendoh felt a chill in his groin.

As he instinctively squeezed his legs together, the basketball had already easily passed through his defenses.

Miyagi swiftly bypassed the Sendoh and broke through using a split-pass technique.

This is the disadvantage of being tall; because their legs are so long, they often have their front doors wide open.

After making the breakthrough, Miyagi threw the ball again.

However, this time, it was Fukuda, who was closest, who interfered with Miyagi.

bang~
Due to Fukuda's interference, the basketball bounced off the rim.

Uozumi positioned himself first, intending to secure the rebound.

"Rebounds are my domain!"

Suddenly, Sakuragi roared and jumped from Uozumi's side, swatting the basketball first.

Mitsui caught the basketball and began his performance again.

Faced with Mitsui's breakthrough, Fukuda appeared powerless.

Although his defense is better than in the storyline year, it's still not considered good.

Fukuda's focus remains on offense!
After shaking off Fukuda, Mitsui attacked the basket while calmly observing the situation on the court.

As Mitsui broke through, the Ryonan players instinctively focused their defensive attention on him.

In particular, he drew Nango's defensive attention, immediately leaving Sakuragi to help defend Mitsui. With his excellent playmaking ability, Mitsui casually tossed the ball toward the basket before Nango could get close.

Bang~

As Sakuragi jumped to catch the ball, he delivered a powerful two-handed dunk.

"What a great rumor about a mistress!"

Sakuragi, basking in the cheers of the crowd, then gave Mitsui a thumbs-up.

"You bastard, don't call me a mistress!"

Mitsui protested vehemently; he has no pride.

Sakuragi scratched the back of his head, a sudden inspiration striking him, and suggested, "How about calling him Suzu?"

"..." Mitsui said weakly, like a wilted eggplant, "Then let's call her Mistress!"

When faced with two evils, choose the lesser. Unfortunately, Mitsui was unaware that "mistress" had another meaning; otherwise, he would have preferred to choose Suzu.

Beep~
At this point, Ryonan requested a substitution, sending Ikegami and Kiyota into the game.

It's clear that Coach Taoka brought on these two players primarily to further strengthen the defense.

sigh~
Soon, Sendoh broke through Miyagi again and drove straight to the basket.

Naito immediately stepped forward, trying to cut off Sendoh's layup route.

However, Sendoh had no intention of going for a layup at all, and sent out a high-arcing pass when he was still half a step away from the paint.

The basketball bypassed Naito's block and flew towards the top of the basket.

Bang~

Uozumi delivered an alley-oop dunk, once again showcasing the legendary "Monkey King" style of slam dunking.

It must be said that Shohoku's lineup has significant weaknesses in perimeter defense.

When it came time to attack, Miyagi found Kiyota standing in front of him.

It's clear that Ryonan opted for a switch.

Compared to Miyagi, Kiyota has a 10-centimeter height advantage, and more importantly, his speed, explosiveness, flexibility, and jumping ability are also outstanding.

As expected, Miyagi was restricted due to Kiyota's targeting.

He had to pass the ball out, but because the pass was a little weak, it was intercepted by Ikegami.

pop~
Without hesitation, Kiyota rushed to the front field at top speed.

Ikegami dribbled the ball for a couple of steps, and just as Yohei was getting close, he threw the ball forward into the field first.

Miyagi pursued closely, closing in as Kiyota received the ball.

The two advanced side by side, and Miyagi tried to steal the ball but couldn't find an opportunity.

Kiyota kept his center of gravity very low, and his ball control was quite skillful.

During the warm-up phase of the Xianghai game, Kiyota showed off his ball handling skills. Although he was humiliated by Sakuragi, it must be said that his ball handling was indeed excellent.

In the blink of an eye, the two rushed into the paint area.

Kiyota assumed a layup stance, while Miyagi silently counted his steps.

The next moment, the two jumped up almost simultaneously.

However, Kiyota made a layup in mid-air and slammed the ball into the basket with a reverse grip.

This goal greatly boosted the morale of the Ryonan team.

Clearly, the effect of Ryonan's substitutions can be described as immediate.

Their defense limited Shohoku's offense, especially their outside shooting.

However, the Shohoku team did not fall into a major disadvantage because of this.

With Mitsui and Naito providing support, Shohoku was still able to maintain a decent scoring efficiency.

Whenever the Shohoku team needed to score, Mitsui always stepped up and contributed crucial points for the team.

Naito's dominance under the basket is not to be underestimated; his presence ensures that Shohoku always maintains a sufficient threat in scoring inside.

The biggest problem for the Shohoku team comes from their perimeter defense.

Ryonan seems to have found Shohoku's weakness; their outside offense has become exceptionally smooth, and their scoring efficiency is even higher than Shohoku's.

Although Mitsui and Naito's efforts prevented Shohoku from falling too far behind.

However, if Shohoku cannot solve its perimeter defense problem in time, then Ryonan's scoring momentum is likely to continue.

Given enough time, they could very well be overtaken by Ryonan.

Beep~
At this point, Coach Anzai requested a timeout.

Coach Taoka on the opposite side felt a chill, fearing that Coach Anzai would send Kogure onto the field again.

He had finally seen the momentum to surpass Shohoku, and naturally did not want to lose this opportunity.

Soon after, Shohoku also made a substitution.

To Coach Taoka's relief, Shohoku did not send out Kogure, Akagi, or even Rukawa, but instead replaced Miyagi and Yohei with Okamoto Nobuhiko and Yamamoto Kuma.

"They're just two role players. Taking advantage of Shohoku's carelessness, we might still have a chance to win the championship."

Commentator Tian Gang visibly breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face.

With only two role players, it's unlikely that they can have an immediate impact on Shohoku's situation.

Soon, Shohoku launched an attack.

Nobuhiko Okamoto steadily dribbled the ball past midfield and then passed it to Mitsui.

His role is similar to that of Derek Fisher, the future Lakers' "old fish"; his main roles are dribbling the ball across half-court, three-pointers, and defense.

Mitsui gripped the basketball with both hands, crouched slightly, adopting the classic triple threat stance, and stared intently at Ikegami in front of him.

The two of them were already old rivals on the court, and their understanding of each other was almost tacit.

Mitsui knew Ikegami's defensive habits, and Ikegami was also familiar with Mitsui's offensive tactics.

Mitsui didn't make any unnecessary probing moves; he suddenly started moving, dribbling the ball and breaking through.

Even though Ikegami tried his best to defend, his defense was ultimately passive, and Mitsui inevitably found a way to break through.

After completing the breakthrough, Mitsui pulled up for a jump shot.

sigh~
The basketball, unsurprisingly, pierced the rim.

When it was Ryonan's turn to launch an attack, Sendoh stared at Mitsui standing in front of him, his face filled with solemnity.

Not far away, Nobuhiko Okamoto was relentlessly pestering Kiyota.

His speed is not as good as Kiyota's, but his strength in combat is far superior to Kiyota's.

Using his extensive match experience, Nobuhiko Okamoto limited Kiyota's performance to some extent.

This is also related to Kiyota's poor shooting ability.

As for Yamamoto Kuma, he followed Ikegami around everywhere.

Yamamoto Kuma's role on the court is similar to Ikegami's; he can also be considered a 3D player, but his talent is not as great as Ikegami's.

As a third-year player, Yamamoto Kuma is very experienced.

For a time, Ikegami had no chance to escape.

As for Ryonan's twin towers in the paint, they were also limited by Naito and Sakuragi.

Seeing that his teammates hadn't shown any opportunity, Sendoh had no choice but to try to take on Mitsui alone.

However, Mitsui's defense was exceptionally solid. His positioning, technique, and timing were all superb.

Mitsui's defense was already excellent, but after entering high school, he was brutally beaten by Kogure for two and a half years, which naturally improved his defense even further.

Sendoh vaguely saw Kogure's shadow in Mitsui.

In the brief moment that Sendoh was momentarily stunned, Mitsui immediately closed in and used Death Bind.

This was also a defensive technique he learned from Kogure.

Entangled in death, the immortal path appeared quite disheveled.

pop~
Suddenly, Mitsui spotted an opportunity and, taking advantage of his superior strength, forcefully made a steal.

(End of this chapter)