Jason Silver was already furious when he heard Makoto Hanamiya mutter another insult under his breath, calling him a dog again.
Beating him up was obviously out of the question—after all, Hanamiya was Miyamoto's teammate.
But on the basketball court?
If he crushed him there, there would be nothing Hanamiya could do about it.
So Jason Silver chose not to say anything further and simply waited for Nash Gold Jr. to act.
A strange smile appeared on Nash's face.
"Friends, you seem to be basketball players."
"If that's the case, why not settle our conflict on the court?"
Makoto Hanamiya didn't agree immediately.
Something about this felt suspicious.
Then Nash added,
"Or… are you scared?"
Those words were directed straight at Atsushi Murasakibara.
Murasakibara immediately got annoyed.
"You're the one who's scared!"
For someone like Murasakibara, childish provocation was often surprisingly effective.
Seeing that it worked, Nash immediately continued,
"There's a street court nearby. Let's play there."
"Oh, and a game without stakes would be boring."
Hanamiya narrowed his eyes.
Just as I thought. They're up to something.
Nash deliberately added fuel to the fire.
"If we lose, we'll kneel down and apologize to you."
"But if you lose…"
"Then you'll call yourselves clowns and apologize to us."
The moment he finished speaking, the people behind Nash burst out laughing.
It was obvious they didn't take Kirisaki Daiichi seriously at all.
This time, even Hanamiya felt a surge of anger—not just Murasakibara.
"Let's go."
Nash gave a wicked smile and turned, preparing to lead everyone to the nearby court.
"Wait!"
Hanamiya suddenly shouted, stopping them.
He wasn't about to be led around by Nash.
Even though they had Murasakibara, the other side clearly didn't look like ordinary opponents.
So Hanamiya decided to wait for Nijimura and Dicky Anthony before making any decisions.
After all, Nijimura was the one leading the group.
"Yo, what's going on here?"
Nijimura's voice suddenly came from ahead.
Everyone turned and saw Nijimura and Dicky Anthony walking toward them.
Hanamiya immediately said,
"This is our leader. If you have something to say, talk to him."
Nash smiled and nodded.
Then, where no one else could see, he gave Nijimura a subtle look.
Nijimura instantly understood.
He walked up to Hanamiya and asked,
"What happened, Hanamiya? Who are these guys?"
After Hanamiya briefly explained the situation, Nijimura put on a serious expression and turned to Nash.
"Are you guys looking for trouble?"
Nash replied in Japanese,
"So you're the leader of this bunch of clowns? You look… pretty weak."
"Since you're here now, let's go. See you on the court."
"One quarter will be enough."
After saying that, Nash turned and walked toward the basketball court.
Kentaro Seto walked up to Nijimura.
"Nijimura… are we really going?"
Before Nijimura could answer, Haizaki spoke first, his face dark.
"These bastards are already stepping all over us. Are we just supposed to let it slide?"
"Don't forget what we represent."
Seto fell silent.
Nijimura quietly gave Haizaki a mental thumbs-up.
Nice assist.
...
On the basketball court.
The court had already been cleared by Nash.
The people who had been playing there were now standing around the edges, watching as spectators.
The reason everything had been arranged so smoothly was simple.
All of them had been set up by Miyamoto.
The purpose?
Mockery.
Mockery.
And more mockery.
The pressure had to be pushed to the absolute limit.
Only then could Murasakibara grow under that pressure.
The moment Nijimura and the others stepped onto the court, the crowd immediately started shouting insults.
"Boo! Where did these clowns come from? Get lost! You're not welcome here!"
"Hahaha! You actually think you can challenge Nash and his crew? Did you grow up dreaming?"
"Hey look at that tall guy! Jason's gonna beat him so badly he won't even recognize himself!"
The wave of ridicule instantly filled the Kirisaki Daiichi players with anger.
Even Hanamiya, who was usually calm, suddenly had the urge to punch someone.
Nash stood on the court, casually spinning a basketball in his hand.
When he saw them arrive, he smiled with obvious contempt.
"Well, you finally made it. We've been waiting."
Nijimura's face was cold.
"Let's start."
Nash waved his hand casually.
"Okay, okay."
Both teams quickly changed clothes on the spot and prepared to start the game.
Yes.
Neither side warmed up.
Because their blood was already boiling.
While changing, Hanamiya and the others were still being mocked by the surrounding crowd.
Haizaki got furious and started arguing with them.
But there were simply too many people.
Even he couldn't out-talk them all.
Seeing this, Hanamiya stopped him.
"The other side are probably some of the best players in the local streetball scene."
"Be careful."
"And you can't out-trash-talk them alone. Even I might not be able to."
There were simply too many people.
Hanamiya was confident he could win a one-on-one exchange.
But one against ten… or a hundred?
That was a different story.
And if the arguing kept escalating, it might even turn into…
Haizaki clenched his teeth and nodded.
As for the referee, Nijimura randomly picked the quietest spectator nearby.
That person turned out to be a professional referee.
Black Dragon Team lineup:
Center — Jason Silver
Power Forward — Zack
Small Forward — Allen
Shooting Guard — Nick
Point Guard — Nash Gold Jr.
Kirisaki Daiichi lineup:
Center — Atsushi Murasakibara
Power Forward — Shuzo Nijimura
Small Forward — Shogo Haizaki
Shooting Guard — Dicky Anthony
Point Guard — Makoto Hanamiya
After changing clothes, both teams stepped onto the court and took their positions.
They were ready for the jump ball.
As he stood at center court, Jason Silver finally took a closer look at the person he was supposed to deal with.
Atsushi Murasakibara.
Murasakibara gave him only one impression.
Slow.
Where did Tokima-san find someone this… pure?
While Jason was still thinking, the referee walked over with the ball.
Then he tossed it into the air.
Murasakibara and Jason jumped at the same time.
Smack!!!
.........
...
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