Sakuragi Hanamichi's goal brought the score between Shohoku and Sannoh to 17-12.
But at that moment, Coach Domoto of the Sannoh team looked at Rukawa Kaede: "He's here! A player who's on par with Sawakita Eiji! This Rukawa Kaede is really amazing!"
Although Sakuragi Hanamichi scored the goal, countless girls in the stands were chanting Rukawa Kaede's name.
There's no way around it, Rukawa Kaede dribbling past the super ace Sawakita Eiji just now was just too cool.
Not only were the girls in Rukawa's fan club moved to tears, but many girls who hadn't paid much attention to Rukawa before also started cheering for him.
Rukawa Kaede's influence among girls is simply too great!
"Sawakita Eiji, what were you doing just now? You just let him pass like that?"
With a dark expression, Kawata Masashi questioned Sawakita Eiji. In his opinion, a super ace like Sawakita Eiji shouldn't be so easily outmaneuvered by a rookie like Rukawa Kaede.
Sawakita Eiji kept a straight face and did not answer.
Kawata Masashi pressed on, "Didn't you watch the Shohoku team's game footage carefully last night? Don't you know Rukawa's playing style? Hmm?"
At that moment, Masashi Kawata pointed to the area with the most female spectators in the stands: "If I remember correctly, those girls were your fans before, right? Look at their expressions after Rukawa dribbled past you just now?"
"Hmph!" Kawata Masashi sneered, mocking, "If you keep going like this, those girls might become Rukawa Kaede fans~"
Upon hearing this, Eiji Sawakita finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Sawakita Eiji retorted angrily, "So what? It's none of your business!"
Kawata Masashi stopped arguing with Sawakita Eiji and started running towards the Shohoku team's position.
However, Kazunari Fukatsu reminded Eiji Sawakita, "Sawakita, you need to be careful. After all, you are our Sannoh Industrial's ace player. If our ace player is taken down like this, it will boost the opponent's morale."
"So, if you continue like this, it might be better for you to step down."
Sawakita Eiji was even angrier!
I only got beaten once, why are my teammates so upset with me?
Having already been tricked by the shameless Sakuragi Hanamichi and Miyagi Ryota, Sawakita Eiji was now getting beaten by the rookie Rukawa Kaede. For a moment, Sawakita Eiji's mentality was a bit unstable.
Then, Eiji Sawakita walked up to Kaede Rukawa and said arrogantly, "I admit I underestimated you just now! But sorry, that last shot is your last! Because from now on, I'm going to get serious!"
Rukawa Kaede squinted and remained silent. He hadn't expected that the legendary number one high school basketball player in the country would be such a somewhat idiotic guy.
A posthumous work?
If I make another basket later, are you going to kneel on the ground and cry your heart out?
Just as Rukawa was mentally criticizing Sawakita Eiji, the basketball was already flying towards him.
"ah!"
Sawakita Eiji let out a scream.
The basketball hit Sawakita Eiji in the butt.
"Ze Bei! You! Get serious!"
Kawada Masashi roared angrily!
Rukawa Kaede reacted quickly, snatching the basketball in an instant, and then sprinted forward!
"So fast!"
"It's Rukawa Kaede!"
Wow! He charged ahead all by himself!
"Great! This ball is bound to go in!"
Akira Sendoh, sitting in the audience, smiled slightly but remained silent.
Those familiar with Rukawa Kaede know that fighting alone and charging ahead by himself is what Rukawa Kaede excels at.
This ball is bound to go in!
In the blink of an eye, Rukawa Kaede had already rushed to the basket of Sannoh Industrial.
During this process, Rukawa Kaede thought to himself, "Is the number one high school basketball player in the country really that stupid?"
Rukawa Kaede didn't mean to mock Sawakita Eiji; he just found it incredible.
In Rukawa Kaede's world, besides sleeping, there's only basketball.
Seeing his good friend Sakuragi Hanamichi spending all his time with Akagi Haruko, he felt that this would definitely affect Sakuragi Hanamichi's basketball skills.
Seeing that Sawakita Eiji had just said some strange and inexplicable things, he thought Sawakita Eiji was a bit of an idiot.
Just play basketball, don't think about anything else.
If you really have the ability, then just do it!
What's the point of babbling on and on about useless things?
This is Rukawa Kaede, a focused man immersed in his own basketball world!
At this moment, Rukawa Kaede had already jumped with the ball.
Rukawa Kaede has done this kind of jumping move with the ball countless times.
This ball is bound to go in!
But just then!
With a "smack"!
Rukawa felt the basketball in his hand being slapped by a powerful force. He felt a pain in his hand and was startled: "What?"
Suddenly, Sawakita Eiji unleashed terrifying speed, using a teleportation technique to rush behind Rukawa Kaede and slap the basketball out of Rukawa Kaede's hands.
"drop!!!"
At the same time, the referee's whistle blew.
The referee pointed at Eiji Sawakita and shouted, "Sannoh number 9! Hand-hitting foul!"
Although Eiji Sawakita committed a foul, it must be admitted that his terrifying speed was truly astonishing.
Even Rukawa Kaede was in a state of shock at this moment. He never expected that, under those circumstances, Sawakita Eiji would still be able to rush up and stop his goal.
For Rukawa Kaede, if he dribbles the ball and charges ahead to launch an attack, he should definitely score.
However, not only was he caught up by Eiji Sawakita, but his scoring opportunity was also ruined by Sawakita, which forced him to reassess Sawakita's strength.
Besides, the sense of superiority he felt from having outperformed Eiji Sawakita had also vanished from his mind.
"Sannoh Industrial, change the manager!"
Kazunari Fukatsu and Masashi Kawata, one on each side, amicably supported the reluctant Eiji Sawakita as he left the field.
Coach Domoto rested his chin on his hand and pondered, "Eiji Sawakita's form is still not as stable as Masashi Kawata's or Kazunari Fukatsu's! Letting him rest for a bit will help."
"Oh? Their ace player, Eiji Sawakita, has been substituted!" Coach Anzai said slowly, his eyes deep. "Kogure, after Kaede Rukawa finishes his free throws, you can substitute him."
Since the Shohoku team participated in the Kanagawa preliminaries, Kogure Kiminobu has had very few opportunities to play.
At this moment, during the finals of the national tournament, Coach Anzai suddenly called on Kiminobu Kogure to play, and Kogure was momentarily caught off guard.
"Hmm? Oh, okay!"
Kiminobu Kogure hurriedly pushed up his glasses, his face showing a mixture of excitement, nervousness, and trepidation.
For Rukawa Kaede, free throws are absolutely no problem.
Rukawa Kaede successfully scored two goals from the penalty kick.
The score between Shohoku and Sannoh became 19-12.
"Both teams' ace players have been substituted!" Aida Hikoichi exclaimed excitedly. He had originally thought that after Rukawa Kaede finished his free throws, Sawakita Eiji and Rukawa Kaede would continue their one-on-one battle!
Coach Taoka analyzed, "As expected of Coach Anzai! At this point, we should definitely substitute Rukawa Kaede to give him a chance to catch his breath and recover his stamina. After all, this is the final of the national tournament, and the opponent is Sannoh Industrial, the three-time national champion. Whether Shohoku can maintain their current 7-point lead until the end is completely unknown."
When Rukawa Kaede left the field, he exchanged a glance with Sawakita Eiji.
It's clear from their eyes that they both take their opponent very seriously.
"Sannoh Industrial, change the manager!"
Rukawa had just stepped out of bounds when everyone heard the referee call for a substitution.
"Why is the Mountain King still changing players?"
Aida Hikoichi looked completely puzzled.
"Hmm?" Even Coach Taoka looked towards the Sannoh team with a serious expression. "Sannoh substituted Nobe Masahiro, who was matched up against Sakuragi Hanamichi, because of those two alley-oops by Sakuragi Hanamichi just now?"
A tall, muscular giant emerged from the Sannoh team's rest area!
Mikio Kawada!
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