Until following the team back to the locker room.
Yuuto's voice echoed in Taiga Kagami's mind like a demon's whisper.
The locker room was terrifyingly quiet.
Only Riko Aida's voice instructing players to pack their things without omission.
Captain Junpei Hyuga, Izuki Shun, Mitobe Rinnosuke...
Well, the last one didn't count; he was basically indistinguishable from a mute.
With a mouthpiece (Koganei), Mitobe definitely wouldn't say a word.
But Seirin at this moment, everyone turned into Mitobe Rinnosuke.
They were lifeless, packing their bags without saying a word.
Before this game.
They harbored many expectations.
This year they welcomed epic enhancements, possibly the two strongest teammates in their lives.
They once imagined winning the final victory of the National Tournament two years after the team's establishment.
This way, if Seirin could become a high school basketball powerhouse in the future.
Their names would definitely accompany the team Seirin forever.
And they indeed saw hope.
The once high-and-mighty Kanagawa powerhouse Kaijo, possessing the genius Ryota Kise, was defeated by Seirin.
This was the best confidence catalyst.
They were ready to challenge the nation.
But reality was cruel.
They were ruthlessly eliminated by Seiho and Yuuto in the second round.
Yuuto interpreted what "powerful" meant with his monster-like individual ability.
With a game-high 45 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, 6 steals, and 4 blocks, he ruthlessly beat Seirin back to reality.
They lost completely.
Riko Aida saw everything, hiding the pain in her heart.
To challenge those six geniuses, or simply put, Yuuto.
They still had a long way to go.
Today's game showed her how big the world was.
Dominating the nation.
These four simple words carried a lot; it wasn't something that could be achieved just by shouting slogans loud enough.
Packed up, everyone left without saying a word.
Kagami and Kuroko didn't; they remained in the locker room.
Suddenly.
Kagami asked Kuroko, "When you played with Yuuto, did he actively seek your help?"
Hearing this, Kuroko's clasped hands couldn't help but tighten.
He obviously understood Kagami's meaning.
But he still said calmly, "No, Yuuto never seeks help from anyone."
"Is that so?" Kagami had no more questions. "Makes sense, after all, he is so strong."
Compared to relying on others, Yuuto was the object everyone could rely on.
"Honestly, I really thought we could win something. In the end, eliminated so quickly... Looking at the result, individual ability reigns above the team."
Kagami left, leaving Kuroko alone.
After a long time, Kuroko sighed silently.
He knew clearly what Kagami was thinking right now.
If it were before, he would definitely think that was wrong.
But in the past year, Yuuto proved the feasibility in this way and won victory.
But that was definitely different from what Kagami understood.
Yuuto would make himself the most outstanding one; he would make himself the "backer" for his teammates, then lead the whole team forward.
And Kagami.
He was simply intoxicated by Yuuto's unreasonable individual ability.
Completely failing to notice Yuuto's extremely strong personal charisma under the powerful surface.
He twisted the entire Seiho team into a rope; that was the truly terrifying part.
"Happy to win the game, but the National Tournament has just begun; we are still very far from the finish line. We can briefly celebrate the victory, but by tomorrow, we will forget everything that happened today."
"Difference between Tokyo and Tochigi? It's very prosperous here. The participating teams are several times that of Tochigi, accompanied by greater competitiveness. We will be prepared."
Yuuto's arrival had long attracted the attention of Tokyo media.
Just that there were no games before; they only found the opportunity to interview now.
Yuuto answered a few questions simply and left with Sora.
He didn't say anything like "I will conquer this place."
Compared to talking, he preferred to do it with practical actions.
Night.
Returning home, Yuuto didn't conduct a simulation.
Because since entering high school, the system completed an upgrade.
The changes brought were huge.
First, the rule of 1 win for one simulation changed...
Now conducting a simulation required 3 wins, meaning victories in formal matches.
Yuuto didn't like this change because it would make him lose two years of training memory (opportunity).
Of course, there were benefits too.
Now conducting a simulation, he could draw talents 5 times at once, and select any three after the simulation ended.
Simultaneously, experience acquisition was five times that of the past.
Starting from the short term, after the system upgrade, it allowed him to level up faster and gain more free attribute points.
But from a long-term perspective, he lost a lot of "time."
In addition.
After the system upgrade, a new function was added.
Same-level talents could be fused to create stronger talents.
This was a great function, able to clear out many talents that were useless to Yuuto.
Equivalent to turning waste into treasure.
He was now one victory away from the next simulation.
Could complete it before the game against Shutoku.
After dinner.
Yuuto changed clothes and was about to go out.
"Going out, Sora."
"Oh, wait for me, I'll spray some mosquito repellent first."
Sora still followed Yuuto to the outside court for training every night.
After failing to become the basketball club manager, Sora listened to Yuuto and picked a club to join.
Not a sports club; her body didn't allow her to do so.
She found a Poetry Club she was interested in and now recited poems and composed verses with other students in the school every day.
Sometimes when inspiration came, she would write a few poems to read to Yuuto.
Yuuto mostly asked her, "Why not write something about basketball?"
Every time he said this, Sora would ignore him for half a day!
The next day.
Seiho had no game. The whole team conducted recovery training in the basketball club, incidentally paying attention to Shutoku High School in the same group.
This year's Shutoku, like Seiho, welcomed two first-year geniuses.
Shintaro Midorima and Kazunari Takao.
Taisuke Otsubo, Shinsuke Kimura, Kiyoshi Miyaji—Seiho knew these old faces. The name of Shintaro Midorima, the Generation of Miracles' strongest shooter, was thunderous.
Only this Kazunari Takao—they didn't know enough about him.
...
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