Chapter 38: That Was Close—Almost Got Him Darkened

Coach Fukuda noticed that Seijuro Akashi was also on the court and immediately reminded Kotaro Hayama:

“Kotaro, use the first-quarter play!”

Kotaro Hayama paused for a moment. When he spotted Seijuro Akashi, he nodded to the coach.

Both teams returned to the floor. Fukuda had possession.

Fukuda’s point guard deliberately slowed the tempo, trying to buy everyone a bit of time to recover their stamina.

After crossing half court, Kotaro Hayama signaled for the ball.

Once the pass was made, the point guard quickly moved to set a screen on Miyamoto Tokima, forcing the matchup to switch and leaving Seijuro Akashi on Kotaro Hayama.

Miyamoto Tokima immediately sensed their intention and tried to chase back onto Hayama, but to his surprise, Fukuda’s power forward stepped up to set another screen.

The two screens completely sealed Miyamoto Tokima off.

Seeing this, Miyamoto Tokima had no choice but to give up the pursuit.

Kotaro Hayama was now matched up one-on-one with Seijuro Akashi.

Seijuro Akashi’s expression turned solemn as he locked his gaze onto Hayama, staying alert for Lightning Dribbling. He knew Hayama’s strength very well.

At this point, Seijuro Akashi simply had no way to defend against Kotaro Hayama’s Lightning Dribbling.

Thud! Thud!! Thud!!! Thud!!!! Thud!!!!!

Kotaro Hayama slammed the ball hard into the floor. Up close, Seijuro Akashi could clearly feel how deafening each bounce was.

Damn it… the sound is actually this loud.

A rare trace of discomfort crossed Seijuro Akashi’s face.

“Three fingers!”

Kotaro Hayama shouted, and in the next instant, his body turned into a streak of yellow lightning, vanishing right in front of Seijuro Akashi.

Seijuro Akashi froze in place, disbelief surging through him.

That fast?!

At this stage, Seijuro Akashi’s defense wasn’t particularly strong. He didn’t yet have the second personality’s terrifying Emperor Eye, and Kotaro Hayama had trained a full year longer than him. Breaking through in a single instant was inevitable.

After getting past him, Kotaro Hayama didn’t force his way into the paint. Instead, he pulled up near the free-throw line and took a jump shot, avoiding close contact with Atsushi Murasakibara.

Swish!!

The ball dropped cleanly through the net, ending Fukuda’s scoring drought.

Seijuro Akashi’s expression darkened. His fists clenched, then loosened—only to clench again.

I… I actually got blown by in one step?!

Miyamoto Tokima rushed over in time and patted Seijuro Akashi on the shoulder.

“Seijuro, don’t overthink it. You’re not the same type of player. He’s focused on scoring, you’re focused on organizing the offense. You’re playing different roles, so there’s no need to dwell on it.”

“But—”

Seijuro Akashi tried to say more, but Miyamoto Tokima cut him off.

“But what? Let me ask you this—if a swimmer races a sprinter and loses, would the swimmer agonize over why they couldn’t run as fast as the sprinter?”

“And the other way around—if a sprinter races a swimmer and loses, would the sprinter beat themselves up over not swimming as well?”

The question left Seijuro Akashi speechless. After a brief silence, he shook his head.

“No.”

Only then did Miyamoto Tokima relax and smile. He slung an arm around Seijuro Akashi’s shoulder.

“That’s it. Don’t overthink it. Think about it—didn’t you completely dominate their point guard?”

Seijuro Akashi nodded.

“So let’s leave it at that,” Miyamoto Tokima continued. “You just focus on playing defense. I’ll cover for you when it’s needed.”

“Alright!”

Seeing Seijuro Akashi smile again, Miyamoto Tokima finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Damn it… Akashi almost went dark there. Good thing I reacted fast.

Miyamoto Tokima shot a sidelong glance at Kotaro Hayama, complaining silently.

You look pretty pleased with yourself now, kid. Where was this confidence when Akashi tore you apart in the original story?

Possession changed. Teikō had the ball.

With his emotions steadied by Miyamoto Tokima’s pep talk, Seijuro Akashi dribbled past half court and began to organize the offense.

Shintaro Midorima sprinted out to the arc and received the pass from Seijuro Akashi.

The instant he caught the ball, Kotaro Hayama pressed up on him. Shintaro Midorima’s eyes flicked slightly as he glanced toward Miyamoto Tokima’s position out of the corner of his eye.

When he saw that the shooting guard who should have been defending him had shifted to Miyamoto Tokima instead, he understood immediately.

Fukuda was trying to shut down his three-pointers. Otherwise, they had no way to close the score gap—after all, three points are always worth one more than two.

But Kotaro Hayama clearly underestimated Shintaro Midorima’s shooting and driving ability.

Midorima wasn’t just a shooter and defender. His ball-handling and offense were strong as well—in the original story, he had even toyed with early-stage Kagami’s drives.

Shintaro Midorima quickly lowered the ball, pushed off with his toes, and burst past on the right.

The sudden drive made Kotaro Hayama stiffen.

He can drive?!

Kotaro Hayama had always thought that Shintaro Midorima only had shooting and defense. He never imagined that Midorima could create offense off the dribble.

That assumption wasn’t unreasonable—up to this point, Midorima had never initiated his own offense. He always shot the moment he caught the ball.

This sudden display of penetration caught Kotaro Hayama completely off guard.

After blowing past him, Shintaro Midorima came to a quick stop, released the shot, and immediately turned to get back on defense.

Swish!

The ball dropped cleanly through the hoop.

Fukuda went back on offense. Kotaro Hayama called for another screen, but this time the point guard failed to block Miyamoto Tokima.

With no other choice, Kotaro Hayama called Fukuda’s center out to set the screen. This time, Miyamoto Tokima was completely sealed off.

Kotaro Hayama ended up mismatched against Atsushi Murasakibara. Seeing that Murasakibara was a full two steps away, he didn’t hesitate and quickly pulled up to shoot.

Swish!

The ball went in again. Fukuda picked up another three points.

Seeing that Atsushi Murasakibara hadn’t stepped up to defend at all, Daiki Aomine complained,

“Murasakibara, why aren’t you defending?”

Murasakibara slowly straightened up, scratched the side of his head, and replied in a dull tone,

“Ah… I thought he couldn’t shoot threes, Aomine. Won’t happen next time.”

Aomine didn’t say anything more. He knew Murasakibara’s personality too well.

Possession changed again. Kotaro Hayama continued to stick to Shintaro Midorima, guarding against his three-point shot.

Seijuro Akashi wanted to pass the ball to Miyamoto Tokima, but the defense on that side was even more ruthless. Fukuda’s power forward outright abandoned Daiki Aomine and joined the shooting guard to double-team Miyamoto Tokima.

Daiki Aomine was completely left open. Fukuda clearly believed he had no three-point range. If Aomine drove into the paint, the center would rotate over, while Atsushi Murasakibara would be handled by Fukuda’s power forward stepping in to cover.