Kanagawa Prefecture Private Miuradai High School.
At the school gate, a middle-aged man was pacing anxiously.
His name was Harada, and he was the basketball coach of Miuradai High School behind him.
Ever since he saw a video of a basketball game sent to him by an old friend a month ago, he had been looking forward to this day.
Swish!
A few minutes later, a taxi pulled up in front of him.
When Harada saw Wu Yufei get out of the car, he rushed over excitedly.
"Haha! Yufei, you're finally here!"
"Hello, Coach Harada!"
Wu Yufei replied fluently in Japanese.
On the way here, Wu Yufei continued to search his mind for memories of this life and finally recalled some very important details.
The original owner of this body was also named Wu Yufei and had come to Japan with his father a year ago.
Moreover, the original owner of this body was also a basketball fanatic, even more so than the previous Wu Yufei.
From childhood to adulthood, nothing else could capture his interest besides basketball, including a girl's confession.
Over the past year, Wu Yufei led his middle school basketball team through a series of victories, ultimately securing an impressive eighth-place finish in the national championships.
It's worth noting that this middle school had been a mediocre team that couldn't even qualify for the county championships the previous year. Simply by joining the team, Wu Yufei propelled it into the top eight nationally. Although it was only a middle school-level competition, it still clearly demonstrated Wu Yufei's individual abilities.
Wu Yufei's father in this life was an entrepreneurial visionary who rode the wave of reform and opening-up to become one of the first in the country to seize opportunities and accumulate wealth. He then swiftly expanded his business overseas, with Japan as his first destination.
Wu Yufei's father was friends with a board member of Miura Tai High School, so it was natural for him to introduce Wu Yufei to the school.
After all, the high school was close to home, had a good campus environment and facilities, and most importantly, its basketball team was still quite competitive within Kanagawa Prefecture.
That's the background.
As the head coach of Miura-dai High School's basketball team, Coach Harada, though his coaching skills were average, had big ambitions. He was determined to break the long-standing dominance of the two powerhouses, Hainan and Shoyo, in Kanagawa Prefecture, where the other teams were merely supporting acts. Over the past two years, he had been actively trying to strengthen the team.
Under his efforts, the team's main scorer, Murakami Ken'go, has become increasingly mature, and the secret weapon, Naito Tetsuya, after a year of training, is now ready to play in games.
The only thing the team is currently lacking is a strong point guard.
Although Araki Ichiro's skills are just barely sufficient to start, he still fails to satisfy Harada.
Therefore, he now desperately wants a strong point guard to fully unleash Murakami Ken'go's scoring ability and activate Naito Tetsuya's immense power under the basket.
All these wonderful ideas were ignited after he watched Wu Yufei's game footage.
He must acquire this player! That was Harada's sole thought after watching the footage.
To single-handedly drag a team that couldn't even make it out of the county tournament all the way to the national quarterfinals. Such ability is more than enough to completely outshine the current starting point guard, Araki.
With Wu Yufei's organization and leadership, the potential of Murakami and Naito would also be fully unlocked. Miura Tai could definitely defeat Shōyō and even Hainan, advancing to the national tournament!
It was precisely for this reason that Coach Harada humbled himself to adopt such a polite attitude toward a mere fifteen-year-old kid.
Of course, Wu Yufei had no idea what Coach Harada was thinking. All he wanted was to get on the court and test the power of his new body!
Under Coach Harada's guidance, the two headed toward the Miura Tai High School basketball gym. Along the way, they chatted about basketball. Wu Yufei's clear thinking and articulate speech made Coach Harada admire this young man even more.
Upon entering the gymnasium, although it was still vacation time and there was still a full week before school started, the basketball team members had already been forced by the coach to end their vacation and report to the gymnasium for training every day.
Seeing the coach bring in an unfamiliar person, all the team members looked at Wu Yufei with great curiosity.
Looking at the unfamiliar yet familiar faces before him, Wu Yufei felt a mix of emotions.
The Miura-dai basketball team was a team that had made a brief appearance in the original story before fading into obscurity.
Although the team performed poorly in the original story, getting soundly defeated by Xiangbei in the first round of the county tournament, Wu Yufei did not consider Miura Tai to be a weak team.
First, in the background story, Miura Tai was eliminated by Hainan last year. This means that the team made it all the way to the county quarterfinals.
Second, the average height of this team exceeds 185 centimeters, and even the point guard, Araki Ichiro, is a tall player. Such an average height is unmatched in all of Kanagawa, with only Shoyo able to rival it.
Third, the team members are not just tall and useless. Murakami Ken'go has outstanding penetrating power, and Naito Tetsuya's physical abilities rank among the top three in all of Kanagawa. The other players also have average skills.
The reason they were eliminated in the first round during the story year can only be attributed to their poor ball-handling skills, coupled with the fact that they happened to face the team led by the protagonist.
Naito has physical strength, Murakami has skill, and the other players have height. There are no particularly troublesome individuals in the team, and they are relatively well-behaved.
If Miura Tai can refine their tactics, focus on defense, and engage in positional warfare, they will definitely not lose to any strong team in the county.
Moreover, the school was chosen for him by his wealthy father, so he had no choice. He might as well try to maintain a level mindset.
No matter what cards fate deals him, Wu Yufei is confident he can play them well with his current skills!
"Assemble everyone!!"
At Coach Harada's call, all the Miura Tai players in the gymnasium quickly gathered around the coach. The thirteen players lined up voluntarily in order of height.
Once everyone had assembled and stood at attention, Coach Harada nodded satisfactorily, then cleared his throat.
"Cough cough! Today I'd like to introduce a new teammate! Yufei, please introduce yourself."
"Alright."
Wu Yufei stepped forward, waiting until everyone's gaze was on him before speaking slowly.
"Um... Hello everyone! My name is Wu Yufei. I am a foreign student from China. I am 188 cm tall and weigh 86 kg. My position on the court is point guard. I will officially become a member of Miuradai High School in a week, so I came early to greet my seniors."
"Although Yufei has only been in Japan for a year, he led his middle school basketball team to the national top eight in just one year of junior high school. His skills definitely meet the requirements to join our team. Let's all work together and avenge our loss to Hainan this year!"
"Yes!!"
All the remaining players responded loudly.
Having a strong teammate join them was naturally welcomed with enthusiasm. Especially since Wu Yufei is a seasoned player who led his team to the national top eight.
Though it was only at the middle school level, it still required winning through round after round of intense competition.
"Alright, to help Yufei and everyone else get a better sense of each other's abilities, everyone warm up for ten minutes. After ten minutes, I'll arrange an internal team match!"
Coach Harada ordered directly.
Ding-dong—!
As soon as Coach Harada finished speaking, Wu Yufei heard the system prompt sound from the depths of his mind.