Taiga Kagami completely ran out of things to say.
It had to be said that aside from being a hot-blooded idiot, Taiga Kagami had no talent for trash talk at all.
Other than simple words like "idiot" and "bastard," he had nothing left.
To Shogo Haizaki, who had been chased around and cursed out by Victor back in the U.S., those words were practically compliments!
Makoto Hanamiya did not understand what Shogo Haizaki was trying to do, but it did not matter.
If you are not going to play, then I will!
Makoto Hanamiya turned his gaze toward the person guarding him.
Shun Izuki.
Makoto Hanamiya searched through his memories for a moment, and in the end, he actually remembered him.
"Shun Izuki, right?"
Makoto Hanamiya suddenly spoke.
Shun Izuki froze for a second, then nodded in acknowledgment.
Seeing that, Makoto Hanamiya revealed a strange smile.
"I heard you have a pair of [Eagle Eyes] that let you observe the flow of the game?"
Shun Izuki frowned slightly, as if thinking about something.
Makoto Hanamiya's smile grew even more brazen.
"If your [Eagle Eyes] stopped working... how would you play?"
Shun Izuki's pupils shrank. He stared at Makoto Hanamiya in surprise and asked,
"What do you mean?"
Makoto Hanamiya did not answer him. Instead, he smiled again.
"Why don't you... guess?"
Thud, thud!
As soon as he finished speaking, Makoto Hanamiya suddenly moved, dribbling between his legs and changing direction. In an instant, he broke past Shun Izuki.
Even as he drove through, Makoto Hanamiya's mouth did not stop.
"You're an idiot too. Zoning out in the middle of a game."
After he cut into the paint, Teppei Kiyoshi immediately came up to help defend, raising both hands high.
With a serious expression, Teppei Kiyoshi spoke with righteous conviction.
"I won't let you get through."
Makoto Hanamiya smiled. He stopped his drive and asked with a grin,
"Kiyoshi, your leg... is it all better now?"
Teppei Kiyoshi's expression changed sharply.
The next second, Makoto Hanamiya suddenly passed, sending the basketball out past his side.
It landed in Kentaro Seto's hands.
Kentaro Seto naturally did not hold back and immediately finished the play with a layup.
After that, everyone from Kirisaki Daiichi quickly fell back on defense.
But Teppei Kiyoshi's gaze remained fixed on Makoto Hanamiya the entire time.
In truth, Teppei Kiyoshi's injury had not been caused by Makoto Hanamiya, but Makoto Hanamiya had been at the "scene of the incident."
To be precise, the whole thing had been rather bizarre.
Simply put, one day, Teppei Kiyoshi had been playing on a pickup court when he happened to run into Makoto Hanamiya and Kentaro Seto, who had also come there to play.
After seeing Teppei Kiyoshi, Makoto Hanamiya invited him to play a match.
But because Teppei Kiyoshi knew Makoto Hanamiya liked using dirty little tricks, he refused.
Seeing that, Makoto Hanamiya did not say anything more.
In reality, Makoto Hanamiya and Kentaro Seto had already begun training with the Miyamoto Family at that time, so naturally, those dirty tricks were gone.
But Teppei Kiyoshi did not know that.
Afterward, Makoto Hanamiya and Kentaro Seto played on another court.
Teppei Kiyoshi played with strangers on a different court.
At first, everything was fine. But suddenly, a commotion broke out on the court where Makoto Hanamiya was playing.
While Teppei Kiyoshi was going up for a dunk, he thought Makoto Hanamiya had hurt someone on the neighboring court again, so his attention shifted.
And because of that brief lapse in focus, he failed to notice the leg beneath his landing spot.
Then...
He got injured!
But one had to admit, the World Consciousness still came out on top.
Otherwise, someone who could be slammed around by Murasakibara without getting injured somehow ended up hurt just because his attention wandered for a moment on a pickup court.
All one could say was, the World Consciousness was amazing!
...
Possession changed.
Seirin's ball.
Shun Izuki carefully dribbled across half court while activating [Eagle Eye] to observe the situation on the court.
But just as he was watching, a voice interrupted him.
"Ball!"
Taiga Kagami suddenly shouted and ran over.
Seeing this, Shun Izuki immediately passed the ball to him.
Taiga Kagami caught the basketball, and Shogo Haizaki came up to defend him.
Shogo Haizaki spread his arms, a hint of anticipation in his eyes, and even licked his lips.
Taiga Kagami's gaze sharpened, and he immediately began his attack.
Taiga Kagami first put the ball down and drove in from the right. When Shogo Haizaki saw through it, Taiga Kagami instantly changed direction and broke left.
But Shogo Haizaki still blocked him completely.
Seeing that, Taiga Kagami immediately went for physical contact.
Bang!
'Damn it, I can't move him!'
After the collision, Taiga Kagami cursed inwardly.
Because he could not move Shogo Haizaki at all!
When Shogo Haizaki saw that Taiga Kagami actually wanted to play physically, he immediately mocked him.
"Kid, did you skip dinner?"
Taiga Kagami gritted his teeth and immediately turned his back to the basket.
Seeing that, Shogo Haizaki thought Taiga Kagami still wanted to keep forcing a physical confrontation, so he braced himself.
But Taiga Kagami had no intention of doing that.
Taiga Kagami made a move as if he were going to bump into him, then suddenly changed into a turnaround fadeaway.
Shogo Haizaki froze for a moment and did not step up to defend.
He watched Taiga Kagami shoot the basketball.
Shogo Haizaki licked his lips.
'Interesting.'
Just as Shogo Haizaki was getting ready for the inbound, the basketball...
Hit the backboard...
Shogo Haizaki froze again.
No, seriously, man. If your shooting is that bad, why are you throwing up garbage like that?!
But whatever. That move is mine now!
Shogo Haizaki licked his lips, and the look he gave Taiga Kagami became even more wickedly amused.
Possession changed.
Makoto Hanamiya had only just received the ball when Shogo Haizaki spoke.
"Hanamiya, ball."
Makoto Hanamiya glanced at him and said,
"Since when were you this eager to play?"
That was what he said, but Makoto Hanamiya still passed the basketball over.
Shogo Haizaki brought the ball up the court.
He dribbled forward with a wicked grin.
At the same time, his eyes carried a trace of excitement and anticipation.
As if he were looking forward to what was about to happen.
Patter, patter, patter...
But just as Shogo Haizaki crossed half court, the rain suddenly started pouring down.
A downpour!
Seeing that, the spectators no longer cared about the game. They all ran off to take shelter from the rain.
The anticipation in Shogo Haizaki's eyes instantly turned into annoyance.
"Seriously, it had to rain now?"
He turned his head, about to tell Makoto Hanamiya and the others to go take shelter, only to realize...
Makoto Hanamiya and the others had already run into a nearby building to get out of the rain!
The only Kirisaki Daiichi member still standing on the court was Shogo Haizaki!
...