"I will make you regret this, Yuuto!"
Asakura was furious; he swore to make this vicious guy regret it.
"I have many regrets in this life, but this is definitely not one of them."
Yuuto turned to run back on defense.
He felt these brats in front of him were too easy to understand; their emotions were written all over their faces.
This hothead would nine out of ten times try to isolate him again.
Sure enough.
After the inbound pass, Asakura immediately ran out to demand the ball from his teammate, then actively pulled up in front of Yuuto while refusing a screen from his teammate.
Asakura gathered strength, exploding with acceleration using all his might.
But Yuuto reappeared in front of him like a ghost.
He actually couldn't even get past half of Yuuto's body length.
"Yuuto has indeed become faster, but how?"
The Yamaguchi High head coach confirmed it; Yuuto's speed had improved massively compared to a year ago.
Even the team's sharp knife Asakura, as the offensive side, couldn't gain any advantage.
One must know.
In basketball, the offensive player is always at least half a step ahead of the defender.
Most of the time, the defender takes countermeasures based on the ball handler's actions.
Only extremely few individual players can anticipate the opponent's offensive intent.
Like that genius Akashi Seijuro from Teiko.
He is definitely the young generation player with the strongest anticipation ability he has seen in the last ten years.
Yuuto didn't possess such ability, yet he still blocked Asakura's offensive route dead.
This means his speed is even above the speed-type Asakura. Only in this way can he achieve arriving first despite starting later.
Bang!
Asakura, in a moment of inattention, crashed directly into Yuuto.
Because he stood firm in advance, the referee didn't blow the whistle. Yuuto took the opportunity to slap away the ball in Asakura's hands.
Sakurai Ryō had a keen sense of smell, picking up the ball and protecting it immediately.
"Here, Mushroom Head!"
Yuuto, having completed the defense, sprinted at high speed.
At this moment.
The 80-point speed attribute was fully presented in front of the fans.
Like a gray-white sports car, he crossed half-court with a whoosh.
Sakurai Ryō immediately passed the ball out. Yuuto caught up and smoothly drove into the paint, completing this offense with a layup so simple it couldn't be simpler.
4:0!
Homi Academy achieved a dream start because they also dominated the initiative on the field.
"I regret it so damn much!"
"Regret actually raising even a tiny bit of expectation for you just now!"
"But look at you? Not even as good as those kun (male chickens/gigolos - likely a slang/typo for specific service providers) in the red-light district. I don't even have to spend money to make you strip yourself bare!"
Yuuto showed no mercy with his mouth. Asakura's face turned beet red, looking like he was about to explode at any moment.
"Is, is this really Yuuto?"
"His counterattack speed is so fast, and his defensive reactions are top-tier too!"
"What did he say to Asakura? Why does Asakura look like he wants to hit someone?"
"This year's Homi Academy is stronger!"
Questions, countless questions.
In the audience seats, the participating teams of Group B couldn't figure it out.
In one year, why did Yuuto change so much?
Not only did his playing style simplify complexity, but his speed also took a qualitative leap.
Could it be that his talent was also limited by age and only started to explode this year?
Putting aside those solid fundamentals.
After all, playing style and technique are things that can be trained.
Many players, especially professional players, make certain changes at some stage of their career to adapt to the court.
Tim Duncan is an example.
When he first entered the league, he was also a beast-style forward, playing the high-flying style.
But after a major injury, he had to shift to a floor-bound style to prolong his career.
But talent?
This cannot be hidden, nor can it be trained.
At least there's no way to obtain such a huge improvement through training.
There is only one truth!
Yuuto is a hidden genius. His talent was restricted before his age allowed it, and only started to cash in this year.
Otherwise, it's hard to explain why he became so powerful this year.
Some were curious about Yuuto's changes.
Some were curious about what Yuuto said.
The slaughter on the court continued.
This is a single-elimination format; lose and you pack your bags and go home.
No one wants a "one-round tour." Leaving aside that players at this stage only have a stage like the National Tournament, just the title of "one-round tour" is embarrassing to mention.
Yamaguchi High quickly called the first timeout of the game.
After returning, Asakura regained his rationality, but still found it difficult to open a breach.
Asakura was their sharpest knife; with him locked down by Yuuto, the team's offense was hard to unfold.
Yuuto, on the other hand, played more and more relaxed.
Simple passes, simple crossovers, simple shots, simple layups, simple...
All his moves were simple, yet they just couldn't be guarded, giving a high-level sense of having reached perfection.
Fans still didn't think his offensive talent was very strong, only feeling that Yamaguchi High was a bit trash.
Otherwise, how could their defense be penetrated so easily?
Instead, Yuuto's defense attracted the attention of many fans.
People were curious about when Yamaguchi High's sharp knife Asakura could score a goal. And to what extent Yuuto could defend.
"Pass the ball, Asakura. Don't be obsessed with personal victory or defeat. All for one, one for all!"
Seeing Asakura forced into a turnover by Yuuto again.
Looking at his disciple's face, which was almost suffocating, Yamaguchi High's head coach shouted immediately to give Asakura a way out.
Asakura wasn't a fool either and stopped obsessing over winning against Yuuto.
Because he found that he really couldn't win.
"Congratulations, you successfully became number one in the eyes of the fans!"
"The first pitiful worm to be eliminated!"
Yuuto continued to mock his opponent. Asakura gritted his teeth tightly, but the fear in his heart prevented him from even speaking words of rebuttal.
"Soft egg."
Yuuto cursed inwardly and stopped wasting effort on the opponent.
"Seven attempts, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 2 turnovers. Asakura is completely lost in Yuuto's iron-blooded defense."
The first quarter ended.
The score was a disparate 24:12. Homi Academy doubled the opponent's score in a single quarter.
Doubled!
It was actually doubled!
For Yamaguchi High, this was a great humiliation.
But without Asakura, the sharpest knife, they really couldn't find a good way on the offensive end.
Not to mention that Asakura's irrationality earlier gave Homi Academy many opportunities.
Yuuto's defense on Asakura left a deep impression.
But a small number of people also saw that Yuuto quietly got 10 points and 4 assists on the offensive end in a single quarter.