In the end, Ryota Kise went to talk to Yukio Kasamatsu.
Yukio Kasamatsu was still hesitant at first, but the moment he heard that Riko Aida had said it, his expression changed.
He looked terrified and immediately agreed.
Genta Takeuchi did not object either. He left it up to the players, since it was their choice.
With that, the first game of the National Tournament officially came to an end.
The second match was scheduled for three days later.
Tōō vs. Yōsen.
As for the result, there was basically no need to watch.
Without Atsushi Murasakibara and Tatsuya Himuro, Yōsen's strength was nowhere near enough to compete at the National Tournament level.
They had completely fallen into the role of cannon fodder.
Because of this, Yōsen's coach, Masako Araki, was both furious and helpless.
She was furious because Atsushi Murasakibara and Tatsuya Himuro had transferred schools, causing the team's strength to drop sharply.
She felt helpless because Atsushi Murasakibara and Tatsuya Himuro were at Kirisaki Daiichi.
Although Tatsuya Himuro had already transferred schools, as far as she knew, he had signed a contract with Miyamoto Tokima and now belonged to the Miyamoto Family.
If someone else had poached those two, Masako Araki might have been able to settle things by force.
But the person who poached them was Miyamoto Tokima, and that left Masako Araki with no options. After all, he was the heir to the Miyamoto Family.
Besides, she was working for him now. How was she supposed to use force against him?
It was worth mentioning that while Seirin was having their dinner gathering, Alex Garcia showed up at the place where they were eating.
She also met Taiga Kagami and Tatsuya Himuro there.
When the two boys reunited with their old coach, it felt like meeting family again, and both of them were visibly emotional.
After that, Alex Garcia smoothly moved into Taiga Kagami's home.
There was no helping it. She was homeless at the moment.
Do not get the wrong idea. Taiga Kagami was not making a move on his teacher!
... The next day.
Inside the Miyamoto Family villa.
Miyamoto Tokima was fiddling with the latest electronic gadgets.
Just as he was about to show off his skills in a game, the doorbell rang.
Because of the villa's setup, the sound of the doorbell could be heard in Miyamoto Tokima's room.
Miyamoto Tokima reluctantly put down the controller, walked over to the computer, and opened the front gate camera. He saw Shogo Haizaki standing outside.
So Miyamoto Tokima opened the gate through the computer and spoke through the remote intercom.
"The door's open. Come in by yourself."
Hearing that, Shogo Haizaki pushed open the villa's front gate and walked inside.
By the time he reached the living room, Miyamoto Tokima had also come downstairs.
Miyamoto Tokima looked at Shogo Haizaki and asked,
"Haizaki, what made you come looking for me today?"
Shogo Haizaki turned to him, his expression firm. He looked at Miyamoto Tokima with complete seriousness and said,
"Tokima-san... I want to get stronger..."
Miyamoto Tokima glanced at him in surprise and said,
"Because of yesterday's match?"
Shogo Haizaki nodded and gave a quiet "Mm."
Seeing that, the corners of Miyamoto Tokima's mouth lifted.
It had to be said, Shogo Haizaki did have a competitive streak.
Because of Ryota Kise's sudden explosion in strength, Shogo Haizaki had begun to feel a sense of urgency as well.
He had always wanted to stand at the highest point alongside Miyamoto Tokima, and he had been working hard toward that goal.
So when he saw that group of people growing stronger and stronger, the urgency in his heart became more intense.
This made him desperately want to become stronger!
Miyamoto Tokima looked at Shogo Haizaki's expression and knew he was serious.
So Miyamoto Tokima sighed and said,
"Strength isn't something that increases overnight. It takes a long time to build up."
"However, I do have one move that suits you pretty well. Come on, I'll take you to practice it."
When Shogo Haizaki heard that, his eyes instantly lit up. Then, with an excited expression, he followed Miyamoto Tokima toward the basketball court behind the villa.
... Time passed in the blink of an eye.
The second game of the National Tournament officially began.
Tōō High School vs. Yōsen High School!
Although everyone already had a good idea of how it would end, that did not stop them from coming to watch the game in person.
After all, while the result of a basketball game was important, the process was just as essential.
By the time the Kirisaki Daiichi group arrived at the venue, both teams were already warming up on the court.
The Tōō players were warming up very casually, as if they were not worried about this match at all.
Daiki Aomine was the same. He stood at the free throw line, yawning as he casually tossed up a couple of shots.
Clearly, the current Yōsen team could not spark even the slightest bit of interest in Daiki Aomine.
Shoichi Imayoshi narrowed his eyes and said with a smile,
"What's wrong, Aomine? You look like you're still half asleep."
Daiki Aomine yawned again, waved a hand dismissively, and said,
"It's too boring. Let's hurry up and finish this."
Shoichi Imayoshi smiled and said nothing more.
Yōsen's side, however, was completely different.
The atmosphere around them was extremely tense, as if they were taking this match very seriously.
Every one of them was warming up with great focus.
They might not be able to beat Tōō High School, but they had still decided to fight with everything they had.
After all, if they did not even have the courage to give it a try, then what was the point of playing basketball?
Masako Araki stood off the court and sighed softly.
Back when Atsushi Murasakibara was still with them, Yōsen was known as the strongest shield, earning them the nickname Shield of Aegis.
Meanwhile, Tōō had been called the Strongest Spear because of their full powered offense.
This match was originally supposed to be a clash between the Strongest Spear and the Shield of Aegis.
Unfortunately, a key piece that made up that Shield had already left.
It was worth mentioning that Kirisaki Daiichi was known to the outside world as the [Emperor].
This title clearly was not something the local spectators could have come up with.
It was the result of Miyamoto Hiroshi, Miyamoto Tokima's father, spreading it around.
There was no helping it. Miyamoto Tokima was his son, so spoiling him a little was only natural.
Warm ups ended quickly, and the two teams began the game.
Right from the start, Yōsen High School's captain, Kenichi Okamura, won the tip off and secured the first possession for his team.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, Kenichi Okamura had the height for it.
On Yōsen's first possession, their offense went very smoothly. They did not choose to score with any special technique.
Instead, they used the simplest method to take the point.
Brute force.
That was right. No technique, only power.
Yōsen scored first, but the Tōō players did not panic at all. They immediately turned around and launched a fast break.
That was right. Tōō's strategy for the first quarter was to attack with fast breaks.
They had no intention of slowing the pace down. Instead, they planned to use a high tempo offense to tear straight through Yōsen.
Although the Yōsen players quickly got back on defense, they still could not withstand Daiki Aomine's isolation play. He broke through their formation and scored two points.
...
...
...
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