Chapter 60: Everyone Else, I Want You All…
Although the referees suddenly seemed unusually sharp, that attention was focused solely on Miyamoto Tokima. It didn’t extend to the rest of Teikō.
Once Makoto Hanamiya realized there was no way to hurt Miyamoto Tokima anymore, his expression turned extremely ugly. Still, there was nothing he could do—the officiating in this game was simply absurd.
After sorting his thoughts out, Hanamiya took a deep breath and turned to his teammates, speaking in a low, heavy voice:
“Stop fouling Miyamoto Tokima.”
The Meisei players gasped in surprise, completely confused. But none of them dared question the order, so they could only follow Hanamiya’s instructions.
Among everyone, only Kentaro Seto understood why. He, too, had noticed how strange the referees were being.
Ignoring everyone’s reactions, Hanamiya clenched his teeth and slowly spat out the rest of his words:
“Everyone else… except him…”
The Meisei players nodded, signaling they understood.
The game resumed, Meisei ball.
Hanamiya glanced at the clock. There was only one minute left in the first quarter, and Meisei was already down by eleven points.
He knew this possession had to end with a three-pointer.
After crossing half court, Hanamiya faced Miyamoto Tokima directly.
He used a series of probing steps, trying to shift Tokima’s center of gravity, but Tokima didn’t bite at all.
“Tch.”
Hanamiya clicked his tongue and passed the ball to the shooting guard.
There was no other option. He couldn’t break through Tokima’s defense, and even his usual little tricks were useless now. Earlier, while facing Tokima, Hanamiya had glanced at the referees out of the corner of his eye.
The moment he started a between-the-legs dribble, both referees had already locked their eyes onto him, whistles practically in their mouths.
Hanamiya had a bad feeling—he was certain that even something as small as using his off arm to protect the ball would get him called for a foul.
His face darkened as he stared at Miyamoto Tokima with resentment, completely baffled.
What exactly did you do?
The shooting guard caught the pass and squared up against Daiki Aomine.
Aomine dropped into a low stance, his expression serious as he guarded him.
The Meisei shooting guard tilted his head slightly, glancing at Hanamiya, waiting for a signal.
Hanamiya immediately looked at the referees again. Their attention was still mostly on him. He nodded at the shooting guard and gave a subtle look.
Only then did the shooting guard start his attack.
He didn’t drive right away. Dribbling with his right hand, he kept probing forward with his left foot.
At first, Aomine didn’t react—but then he realized the guard was deliberately testing the space around his feet.
Aomine shifted slightly.
That single adjustment was enough.
The shooting guard exploded past him.
Aomine reacted instantly and chased after him, but the next moment, the shooting guard suddenly swung his left arm outward.
Aomine was forced to dodge.
That split second delay allowed the shooting guard to break into the paint.
Anger surged across Aomine’s face as he sprinted after him, trying to recover on defense.
Damn bastard.
Seeing this, Hanamiya shot Kentaro Seto a look.
Seto immediately understood and ran out from the paint.
Atsushi Murasakibara originally wanted to follow, but the shooting guard had already penetrated inside. With no choice, Murasakibara stepped up to help.
Kentaro Seto smoothly ran to Miyamoto Tokima’s side and set a screen.
The moment Seto planted his feet, Hanamiya cut hard from the left.
Seeing Hanamiya come free, the shooting guard kicked the ball out.
Hanamiya caught it wide open, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, and released the shot.
Miyamoto Tokima fought through the screen, circling tightly around Kentaro Seto—but just as he passed, Seto’s foot shifted ever so slightly.
That tiny movement caused Tokima to stumble just a bit, slowing his closeout by a fraction of a second.
All he could do was watch as Hanamiya released the ball.
Swish!
Three points.
The score became 20–12.
Miyamoto Tokima didn’t dwell on it. Kentaro Seto’s movement had been incredibly subtle, his step barely noticeable. If Tokima had taken even a slightly wider path, he wouldn’t have been tripped.
But he had been rushing to recover, passing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Seto—and Seto had seized that moment to pull off a move that fooled both referees.
Honestly, Tokima couldn’t even tell whether it had been intentional or accidental.
He let out a soft sigh, watching Seto retreat on defense.
“Really is a talent…”
With a little over thirty seconds left, Miyamoto Tokima caught the ball and pushed forward quickly.
A sharp change of direction shook off Makoto Hanamiya. When Kentaro Seto came over to help, Tokima used his body to crash into him and knock him aside.
After clearing space, Tokima gently flicked the ball up and into the hoop.
Twenty-eight seconds remained.
This was Tokima deliberately setting things up so his team would still have the final possession.
Hanamiya immediately understood his intention. At this point, the last shot would almost certainly belong to Teikō—unless they intentionally missed and Kentaro Seto grabbed the rebound. But that possibility was extremely slim.
Right now, Atsushi Murasakibara was completely enraged, constantly colliding with Kentaro Seto.
There was no way Seto could match Murasakibara’s strength. Just holding his ground was already exhausting, let alone trying to step on his foot and fight for a rebound.
So Hanamiya abandoned that idea.
Instead, he chose to drag this possession out and shorten the time Teikō would have for their final attack.
Hanamiya dribbled the ball two steps beyond the three-point line, letting the seconds tick away.
When only eight seconds remained on the shot clock, he signaled his teammates.
Kentaro Seto and the shooting guard immediately ran over and positioned themselves to Miyamoto Tokima’s right.
Hanamiya drove.
Knowing there were two players setting a screen on his right, Tokima gave up the chase and waited for Daiki Aomine and Atsushi Murasakibara to rotate.
Aomine tried to burst forward—
Suddenly, he felt a tug.
He turned his head and saw the shooting guard gripping his jersey.
The hold lasted only an instant. The moment Aomine looked back, the guard let go.
Using Kentaro Seto and Miyamoto Tokima to block the referees’ line of sight, the guard slipped by unnoticed. The referees’ attention was fixed on Tokima and Seto, completely missing it.
Aomine remembered what Miyamoto Tokima had told him earlier.
He swallowed his anger and could only watch as Makoto Hanamiya charged into the paint.
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