As both teams walked back onto the court, the tension in the atmosphere was heightened as the teams took their positions.
Kazami's five starters could only look at the opposing team with a sense of faltering confidence.
Meanwhile, Momoharu looked to be buzzing with excitement.
Kazami's players noticed this and could only pinpoint their impending doom by realising that the final player who would essentially put the nail in the coffin for them was undoubtedly this blond haired prodigy.
And the immense pressure whoch was being emanated by the boy only told them that he was planning to go all out from the get-go.
The ball was in Kazami's possession as Ashikage inbounded the ball to Izuki, however, as the centre threw the ball, another hand snatched it out the air as in the same moment, a thunderous slam was sheard thrroughout the court.
Everyone's eyes widened as the attention was now on the blond haired prodigy who was still hanging from the rim.
"Try and go all out against me, or you won't win at all." The boy spoke with confidence as he dropped down from the rim.
"Momoharu-kun! He's so fast! I didn't even see him!"
"As expected of prodigies like him!"
"Kami really blessed us didn't she!"
Were the cries of the spectators of the game who seemingly increased in size.
"He seems to be even better than earlier somehow!"
"How are we able to stop him!"
"He's on another level!"
Were the cries of the bench of Kazami Junior High.
As Momoharu walked back to his side, he couldn't help but smirk, his reaction speed seemed to be increasing and his overall skills were steadily improving also.
By the end of this game, he would undoubtedly become a starter along with his friends!
As the third quarter streched on, the players of both Kazami Junior High and Meikō Junior High could only look at the blond prodigy in awe as his score tally just increased and increased.
There was no stopping.
As Momoharu continued his incredible run, he could only think of the current basketball game, and as he did, his mind was solely focused on dominating the game.
As the game progressed, the situation for Kazami hadn't looked any better than in the first half.
In fact, it looked even worse than before.
Hyūga could only watch the inevitable collapse of their team as he looked at the growing freshmen.
'How...
How can you be so good? They are all younger than us and they're completely blowing us out the water.
And what can we do in return, we're nowhere near as good.
What kind of momsters are these, each play they get better and better.
These....monsters, have no mercy. It's like we're pieces on a shogi board, moving about to the opponent's will.
As a team, they have no weaknesses, they cover each other and play their roles exceptionally well.
Each player has a specific job to do and they do it so well that it's unbeatable.
But this blond one. He seems as if he's unbeatable. Not one of us can guard him.
The dude's walking on air, how are we supposed to defend against him. No doubt that this is their future ace.
And then their leader. Hikigaya Ryouta. Although he may not be captain now, there's no doubt he'll be a captain by the second year, or maybe even first.
But this kid, is undoubtedly the scariest player on the court.
His offense and his defense are as good as each other. He has no weaknesses, he's an exceptional playmaker and his ball handling is like nothing I've ever seen before.
But most of all, his ability to coordinate well with this team, it's like he knows what they're going to do before they even do it.
The perfect point guard.'
As Hyūga's internal monologue came to an end, a resounding slam was heard throughout the court as a blond haired boy was hanging from the rim, his face devoid of any emotion, though internally, he was in a state of utmost clarity.
In Momoharu's Mind-
Stood in front of a door was a blond haired boy who looked upon the rusty door.
'Should I open it?' The boy thought before placing his hand on the handle and pushing gently, however, the door didn't budge, not even one bit..
"What? Is it locked?" The boy thought as he looked at the door, he pushed again, this time woth more force as he heard a slight creak from the door, although it still stood unopened.
"What do I do to open this door?"
This question lingered as reality came back as he heard the swish of the net, seeing his teammates high fiving Mibuchi.
He offered his own congrats before a smile suddenly graced his features.
'Maybe I just need to get even better, then that door will have no choice but to open!' And with this thought, he doubled down on his efforts, not knowing that he was delving deeper into an unknown ability.
———
TBC
