After a simple opening ceremony in the morning, the National Tournament officially began.
Seiho's game was scheduled for the afternoon.
They had no intention of returning to school, renting a gym near the stadium temporarily to prepare.
The style of a noble school was like this.
Especially Seiho High School, always famous nationwide for its basketball and kendo clubs.
Their annual activity funds were beyond the imagination of some scrub teams.
This year's National Tournament (Inter-High) main draw was located in Kyoto.
Even though qualification wasn't confirmed yet, Shio Yamashita had already booked the hotel in advance.
Such a thing could never happen at Homi Academy.
Yuuto and his teammates watched the match between Seirin and Shinkyo.
It is worth mentioning that the current Shinkyo was quite wealthy.
They found a black player named Papa Mbaye Siki from Senegal, 2 meters tall and weighing 87 kilograms.
This was the super talent Shinkyo used to counter the Lion King and the Generation of Miracles.
Shinkyo was a school with many foreign students and had a tradition of hiring "mercenaries" for years.
Because of this, this school wasn't very popular locally.
They didn't put Seirin in their eyes; after all, they didn't even put Yuuto and the others in their eyes—Seirin wasn't even worth mentioning in their eyes.
But the result of the game shocked them.
After one quarter, Shinkyo trailed Seirin by 15 points.
The mercenary they found indeed had outstanding athletic ability; that rampaging playing style had a bit of an emperor's demeanor.
Too bad.
This wasn't the NBA, and there was no sugar daddy protecting Papa Mbaye Siki. Let alone walking eight steps, even three steps would be called a traveling violation.
Possessing only a body but no skills.
Under Seirin's united will, his flaw of only knowing how to charge in a straight line with the ball was infinitely magnified.
Finally.
79:67. Seirin defeated Shinkyo without shedding blood.
Ryuhei Kasuga and the others finished watching the whole game, truly putting away the contempt in their hearts.
This year's Seirin couldn't be mentioned in the same breath as last year's Seirin.
Their freshman duo posed a considerable threat to any team.
"As expected, only monsters can be around a monster."
He couldn't help but glance at Yuuto.
Kuroko didn't score in this game, evidently heeding Yuuto's warning.
Phantom Shot and Vanishing Drive—he wouldn't use them lightly unless necessary.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Let's go, go back and rest well. It's our turn in the afternoon."
Yuuto didn't linger after watching the game, leading the team back.
...
Afternoon.
Five o'clock.
The grand finale of the opening day was assigned to Seiho High School.
Many fans came to the scene, filling the gym.
No other meaning.
They just wanted to see how strong Yuuto, last year's strongest middle school student, the Lion of Okukozome, really was.
When Yuuto led the Seiho players out of the tunnel, only tsunami-like cheers greeted him.
"He's out!"
"Lion King Yuuto!"
"Such amazing aura. As expected of Seiho, looking very different from other teams."
"Isn't that obvious? Seiho is absolutely a favorite for the championship this year."
"Besides the Lion King, they also secured last year's perimeter lockdown defender Tomoki Tsugawa. This year's Seiho is definitely the strongest in team history on paper."
There is no wall in the world that doesn't leak wind.
Although not every team had an intelligence expert like Momoi Satsuki, what should be known was known.
Seiho's starting roster had long spread throughout the country, not just in Tokyo.
Yuuto didn't need much introduction; first-year Tomoki Tsugawa also had his background dug out completely.
And in the north stands, a group of die-hard Seiho fans gathered, wearing unified uniforms shouting "Seiho Must Win."
Today their opponent was Kuromori Academy (Black King Academy), also from northern Tokyo.
It could be considered a derby match.
But unlike playing in Okukozome before, the Seiho Yuuto played for now was a rich kids' school. Students naturally looked down on plebeians.
Invisibly, this game was full of the smell of gunpowder before it even started.
Kuromori's core was a mix of Spanish and Japanese blood.
His father was Spanish, mother Japanese.
Mixed-race children weren't that rare in Japan.
As everyone knows, Japan is a country with strong admiration for the strong. As long as you are big enough... no, as long as you are strong enough, and happen to settle here, there is a high probability your descendants will be mixed.
This mixed-blood was named Laya Larmin. Although born in Japan, he still carried the tough European style in his bones, making Kuromori's team style incomparably tough.
Three minutes into the game, collisions between muscles could be seen everywhere on the court.
Kuromori's possession.
Laya Larmin held the ball. This traditional Spanish-Japanese mixed blood had a very European style.
His athletic ability wasn't particularly outstanding, but his sense of rhythm felt very tricky.
He knew what level of player his opponent was today; media and even professional team scouts might be staring at this game.
He hoped to make a name for himself with a victory.
One step left, one step right—not fast, but successfully used rhythm changes to shake past Ryuhei Kasuga.
A Euro-step drive, standard to the extreme.
Without hesitation, after shaking off the defender, Laya Larmin immediately jumped for a smooth layup.
He didn't fear physical contact with opponents.
In fact, physical contact had always been his strength, until the dome lights were swallowed by a black shadow.
Three minutes was enough for Yuuto to correct himself to crush this mixed-blood.
He started later but arrived first. The speed and height of his jump made everyone present gasp in admiration.
The last one to give fans such a shock was Seirin's Number 10, Taiga Kagami, in the morning.
Laya Larmin's expression showed just the right amount of astonishment. He felt he wasn't facing a Japanese player at all.
From elementary school to his third year of high school now, he had never encountered such a player.
Laya Larmin felt he was now facing a talent monster from the US.
That kind of pure stat crushing made one feel fear.
SMACK!
A solid block. Laya Larmin didn't even have a chance to pass to a teammate.
He had used this move against Tomoki Tsugawa before, and it had also been corrected by Yuuto.
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"