Xiangbei High School successfully won the first game of the county competition qualifiers. There were three days between the second and first games.
After the game ended that day, the Xiangbei High School basketball team returned to the school gym for training for a few hours before announcing its disbandment.
The next morning.
Even though Xiangbei had a game two days later, the team's training did not stop. However, the training programs arranged by Coach Anxi were not high-intensity physical training, but more basic exercises, mainly to help the players maintain their sense of the ball.
At the same time, in order to allow the players to have sufficient physical strength to cope with the game two days later, after today's training, Coach Anxi announced that they would take a day off tomorrow and no corresponding training programs were arranged.
This was also within the expectations of Takenori Akagi. When they played against Shohoku in previous years, Coach Anzai led the team at the same pace as it does now. There would be no training the day before the game.
Akagi Takenori remembered what he had promised Haruko yesterday, so when the training ended, Akagi went to find Mitsui Hisashi.
"Mitsui, there is no training tomorrow. I heard that Takeishi Middle School will have a quarterfinal match tomorrow. Do you want to go and watch it together?"
When Akagi approached Mitsui, Mitsui was practicing shooting with Takeshi and Miyagi. Although they had completed the training tasks assigned by Coach Anzai, private practice was still indispensable. The reason why he and Takeshi's abilities far surpassed other teammates was not only due to their personal talents, but also because they had put in more sweat than others.
"Takeishi Middle School's match? Top 8 to top 4?"
"Why are you suddenly interested in the junior high school competition? We have a game the day after tomorrow. Don't you want to rest well tomorrow?"
Mitsui didn't expect that Akagi would ask him to watch the game together. If it was to watch the game of Shoyo or other strong high school teams, Mitsui would not be surprised, but watching junior high school games was meaningless for them.
After all, they are high school students. They won't play against junior high school teams in the county competition, right
"Uh... the game was in the morning, and since I had nothing to do, I thought I'd go and take a look."
"Weren't you and Budou both former members of the Takeishi Junior High School team? Just watch the juniors' games as a way to relax."
"And I heard that Takeishi Middle School has an ace named Rukawa Kaede. He is in the third grade this year and should be promoted to high school in the spring of next year."
"I was thinking..."
Akagi scratched his head and explained. He would not tell Mitsui that he went to watch the game because his sister pestered him. The reason he gave to Mitsui was also carefully considered by Akagi.
"I see. I didn't expect that the county competition hasn't even ended yet and you're already helping the team find outstanding new players!"
"Ryukawa Kaede! I haven't seen this kid for a long time. I don't know what his abilities are like now."
Mitsui Shou showed an interested expression on his face, and then shouted to Budou and Miyagi who were shooting on the court: "Hey! Budou!"
"Tomorrow there will be a match between Takeishi Junior High School and the top 4. Are you going to watch it?"
Wu Dao was shooting from a long distance when he heard Mitsui's call and turned his head away. After a brief look at each other, Wu Dao nodded and said, "Go ahead. There's nothing to do anyway. Let's go watch their game."
"Miyagi, you should come with us. There's an outstanding junior who will be our teammate in the future. You should go and see how he plays."
Miyagi Ryouta was thinking of refusing after hearing what Budou said before. He had no interest in junior high school level competitions. Besides, he was thinking of asking Ayako out for a date tomorrow.
However, Wu Dao's following words still aroused Miyagi's curiosity. Words like "excellent junior" and "will be teammates in the future" made Miyagi swallow his words of rejection.
Wu Dao seemed to have sensed Miyagi's thoughts and suddenly smiled and said, "You can also ask Sai Ayako to come along. After all, we are here to observe future team members. As the manager, she should also go along, right?"
"Okay! I'll go talk to Ayako!" Miyagi's eyes lit up and he immediately responded, then happily went to find Ayako.
Akagi, who was far away, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Mitsui Shou agreed. Although there were many more people watching the game, it didn't matter. His mission was still accomplished.
…
The county competition for junior high schools is held a little earlier than that for high schools. Although the schedules for junior high school competitions and high school competitions overlap for a while, both junior high school competitions are held at the Kanagawa Prefectural Gymnasium.
It's just that the game time is staggered. Today, the junior high school basketball 8-to-4 match is being held in the stadium.
Takeishi Junior High School is a strong team that once made it to the national competition. Although it was a junior high school competition, there were still a lot of spectators who came to watch the game.
There are a total of four games today. Takeishi's game is the second one in the morning, and the opponent is also a strong team, Fuqiu Junior High School.
Akagi Takenori was dragged to the stadium by his sister early this morning, and Akagi also called his good brother Mugure Konobu. The three of them arrived at the stadium before the first game started, occupied the first row, and also saved seats for Mitsui Hisashi, Wudao and others.
"Brother, why are you taking up so many seats? Besides Mitsui-senpai, are there any other people coming?"
Haruko asked curiously, looking at the long row of empty spaces beside Akagi, which were occupied by backpacks and beverage bottles. Today, Haruko was not wearing the school uniform of No. 4 Middle School, but a casual outfit, which matched her pure and beautiful appearance, like a girl next door, very eye-catching.
"Hey, a few friends are coming too, including the guy you said is not as good as Rukawa Kaede."
Akagi replied, but his eyes were fixed on the game on the court.
On the court, there was a young man who attracted his attention. He was a player who was only about 170cm tall. Although he was not tall when standing in the middle of the court, he had a very terrifying bounce. Facing the opponent's defense, he repeatedly broke through and made layups. His personal ability was far beyond that of other players on the same court.
When Haruko heard Akagi's slightly perfunctory words, she stuck out her tongue, stopped talking, and focused her attention on the court.
"Hoora hoora!"
"Can you guys run faster? You can't defend against this genius like this!"
"This match will be taken over by my uncle, Kiyota Nobunaga!"
On the court, the junior high school student that Akagi was watching made another breakthrough and a layup, and then he smugly pointed fingers at his opponent. He looked so arrogant that even Akagi, who was not playing on the court, gritted his teeth and wanted to teach that kid a lesson.
Akagi was like this, and Kiyota Nobunaga's opponents would only become more furious, glaring at Kiyota. However, facing the angry eyes of his opponents, Kiyota was not intimidated, but instead sneered and mocked: "Country chicken and clay dog!"
At this moment, the opponents' anger was all ignited. For a moment, the players' movements became much more violent. The game had only been going on for a few minutes, but it had already reached a white-hot stage.
"Haha~ That kid is really interesting!" Just when Akagi and others were concentrating on watching the game, Mitsui Hisashi's voice came into Akagi's ears.
Mitsui, with a big smile on his face, walked down the stairs from the entrance and headed towards where Akagi and the others were. Behind Mitsui, Ayako looked around, somewhat surprised that there were so many spectators for a junior high school match. Behind Ayako, Miyagi was like a lackey, following closely behind Ayako and diligently handing her water.
Akagi Takenori, Haruko and others looked in the direction of the sound and happened to see Mitsui Hisashi and others.
Akagi Haruko also noticed that behind Miyagi, there was a tall and handsome young man, who was watching Kiyota Nobunaga with great interest. Next to the young man, there was a tall and beautiful girl, who held the young man's arm with her jade arms and looked at Akagi Takenori and his group.
"Oh! Mitsui, Miyagi, Ayako, you're here."
"Hey, Budo, who is this?"
When Akagi Takenori saw the person coming, he stood up and greeted him. When his eyes swept over Wudao and the beautiful girl beside him, Akagi hesitated and asked.
“This is... ..” Wu Dao just wanted to introduce the girl next to everyone, but the girl took the initiative to interrupt and introduce herself.
"Hello, my name is Fujima Takako, and I'm a friend of Budo's."
Fujima Takako showed a gentle smile and smoothed her long hair. Today, Fujima Takako wore a light blue dress, without any jewelry or hair accessories, and her long hair was draped behind her, which made her look clear and simple. The gentleness she inadvertently revealed made people subconsciously feel good about her.
Her image today has greatly subverted the image of a judo girl in the past. Moreover, when meeting with her martial arts teammates, she is not restrained and is very open and confident.
"Oh! Sit down, everyone, please sit down first."
"Takeishi's match hasn't started yet. After this match is over, Takeishi's match will start."
Although Akagi Takenori was a little surprised that Wudao would bring a girl to watch the game, he quickly reacted and simply packed up the bags and drink bottles around him to help clear up the seat.
However, Akagi Takenori obviously did not expect that there would be one more person at the beginning. He knew about Ayako's arrival, but he did not know about Fujima Takako's arrival, so there was one less seat.
Mitsui Hisashi and the others also noticed this problem. Looking at the empty seats, they did not sit down immediately, but turned their heads to look at Wu Dao.
"It's okay, just sit down."
Fujima Takako also noticed this and said with a smile. Wudao looked at the position where the number was obviously insufficient and continued, "I can just stand and watch for a while."
Because Akagi and his team were in the first row, there was a row of passages in front of them for spectators to pass through. Standing there and watching would not affect the sight of the spectators in the back row, while also allowing them to have a good view of the game.
It’s just that most of the audience don’t want to stand and watch the game, so although there are empty seats in the front row, there are few people watching the game.
While Wudao was talking, he walked to the passage, grabbed the fence with both hands, and looked at the court. Mitsui Shou and others sat down, watching the ball and chatting in low voices.
"Kiyuda Nobunaga!"
"I didn't expect that I could see this kid's game today."
Wudao looked at the man in the court and sighed in his heart. Kiyota Nobunaga was a familiar face to Wudao. The first yellow monster in the slam dunk was not Sakuragi Hanamichi, but the boy in front of him. A freshman in high school who dunked over a two-meter-long mermaid with a height of 178cm. No matter from which aspect, he was a gifted person.
If Kiyota Nobunaga's height can reach around 195cm in the future, his talent will be no inferior to Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Budao, I noticed you were staring at that player. Is he someone you know?"
Just when Wudao was watching the game in a trance, Fujima Takako came to his side and asked curiously. Fujima Takako didn't even sit on the table, after all, he was not very familiar with Akagi and the others, and there was nothing to talk about.
Moreover, Ayako was too gossipy and kept asking Fujima Takako questions. Fujima Takako was in the same class as Takeshi and Ayako, but when they were in school, Ayako had no idea that Takeshi and Fujima Takako had a private relationship, which was the kind that they could call out to watch the game.
Fujima Takako was a little overwhelmed and ran to watch the game with Wudao. Noticing that Wudao's eyes were always fixed on Kiyota, Fujima Takako couldn't help but feel curious.
"I guess so. He's a player I've heard of before."
"Why don't you go sit down? They're very easy to get along with, and Ayako is a very welcoming person. You guys will become good friends."
Budo turned his head to look at the empty seat next to Ayako and asked.
Fujima Takako didn't say anything, she just stood quietly beside Wudao and watched the game on the court. Seeing Takako like this, Wudao didn't ask any more questions and turned his attention back to the court.
The junior high school team that Kiyota Nobunaga plays for is called Kinan Junior High School. It is not very famous, but it made it to the quarterfinals this year. It can be seen that Kinan Junior High School is quite strong under the leadership of Kiyota Nobunaga.
As the team's main attacker, Kiyota Nobunaga is unbeatable in junior high school level competitions.
As the game progressed, the score difference between the two teams gradually widened. Kiyota Nobunaga's offense was mainly based on breakthrough layups. His breakthrough speed was quite fast. Relying on his excellent jumping ability, his layups were not only stable but also difficult to intercept. No one of Qi Nan's opponents could stop Kiyota who had already started to speed up.
By the halftime, Qi Nan had already taken a 15-point lead. Of the total 37 points, Kiyota Nobunaga alone scored 17 points. Considering the level of junior high school, this is a very outstanding result.
After watching this game, Wu Dao finally understood why Qing Tian was recruited by Hainan and why Qing Tian considered himself the top rookie. His strength was indeed quite good.
He often talks about being the top rookie, but he's not bragging, of course, if it weren't for Rukawa Kaede.
Being able to watch Kiyota's game was a pleasant surprise for Budo. After all, he was a future opponent, and it would be nice to get to know his abilities during junior high school.
After the start of the second half, Qinan Middle School still maintained the offensive firepower of the first half, suffocating the opponent.
Twenty minutes later, Qinan Middle School won the game.
After the game ended, Takeishi Junior High School, led by Rukawa Kaede, and their opponents took to the court.
"Rukawa Kaede! It's Rukawa Kaede!" When Rukawa Kaede appeared, Akagi Haruko seemed particularly excited. She grabbed Akagi Takenori's sleeve, pointed at Rukawa Kaede who was on the field and whispered.
Akagi also looked in the direction Haruko pointed, and finally saw the young man whose abilities "surpassed martial arts" that his sister described in Takeishi's team.
"This kid is still the same as always, looking cool and not talkative. I don't know how he gets along with the other teammates."
Mitsui Hisashi saw Rukawa Kaede and seemed to be worried between the words.
"Ryukawa is now the leader of Takeishi and has no problem getting along with the team members!" Haruko seemed to know Takeishi very well, and explained after hearing what Mitsui said.
"Leader? This guy, can he be a leader?!"
"If the captain of the team has such a personality, the players will be very troubled!"
Mitsui Shou covered his forehead and said that he had some expectations for Rukawa Kaede's ability and did not think that Rukawa Kaede was not capable enough to be a leader. However, Mitsui Shou was very troubled by Rukawa Kaede's personality.
"Every team leader has his own way of getting along with his teammates. Whether he is suitable to be a leader can be seen by his performance on the court."
What kind of personality can make you a leader? In martial arts, there is no standard. You can be a locker room bully like Jordan, a lone wolf on the court like Kobe, smooth like James, or even a funny guy like Curry.
The standard for evaluating a leader has never been character, but strength.
Takeishi Junior High School began pre-match warm-ups.
"Bang!" A loud noise sounded in the venue without warning.
And after Rukawa received the pass from his teammate and completed a dunk, the atmosphere in the entire stadium was pushed to a climax.
Wudao smiled as he looked at Rukawa Kaede on the court, recalling the proficiency that Rukawa Kaede had shown when he dunked just now, and whispered softly:
"It seems like the growth is really significant!"
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