As summer deepens, the temperature in Kanagawa is getting higher and higher, and it is no longer as cool and refreshing as before.
On Saturday morning, Jinguji Budo got up early, just like he did on his usual days off, wearing a sweat-absorbent sports shirt and a sweat towel wrapped around his hand, and left home while his parents were still sleeping.
The schedule of the prefectural competition qualifiers has also reached the end. As early as last Thursday and Friday, the top 8 matches were all completed. The four teams that qualified for the semi-finals are Kainan, Ryonan, Shohoku, and Buyuan High School. The old strong team Shoyo High School was defeated by Shohoku, and the once outstanding seed team Buri High School was defeated by Ryonan High School.
Wuyuan High School, which had always been an unknown team in the past, stood out from the weakest Group D, advanced to the semi-finals, and won the opportunity to compete with three other teams for a place in the national competition.
The semi-finals will be a round-robin tournament, where Shohoku will play against these teams one by one, and finally the number of wins and net points will be counted to decide the two teams that will represent Kanagawa Prefecture in the national competition.
There is less than a week's buffer period between the quarterfinals and the semifinals.
In order to let the players relax, Xiangbei High School did not have any training tasks on this weekend. In order to prevent hard-working players such as Miyagi Ryouta and Takeshi from coming to the school to practice on their own, Mitsui Hisashi even locked the gym.
Although the school's gymnasium has been locked by Mitsui Hisashi, the martial arts training plan will not change much because of this, and the daily morning run must still be completed.
Wudao went out very early, around six in the morning, but because it was summer, it was already bright at six in the morning. Although it was bright, most of the shops along the street were still closed, with only some 24-hour convenience stores and some breakfast shops open.
“Hoho… huh… hoho… huh.”
Jinguji Wudao's steps are light and his breathing is quite rhythmic. After running nearly a thousand meters, Wudao will change his running rhythm, sprinting for nearly a hundred meters and then slowing down, and then continue to run a thousand meters, repeating this cycle until the system task is completed.
...
The early morning sun shines through the buildings and illuminates the ground.
At the entrance of a pinball shop, a group of five people were walking out of the shop. The leader of the group was a red-haired young man with a crew cut, wearing a pure white T-shirt, navy blue trousers, and leather shoes, looking like a social person. At this time, the young man who had just come out of the pinball shop was squinting at the deserted street.
“Ahhh!
!”
"I lost everything again, damn it! Sakuragi, it's all because of you, an idiot. If you hadn't messed me up, I would never have lost that game!"
A young boy with dyed yellow hair complained to the tall young man next to him with an angry look on his face.
It was a red-haired young man with a crew cut. It was not quite accurate to call him a young man. To be more precise, he should be a teenager. Although he was tall and dressed like a "social person", he had a bald spot next to his lips, which showed that he was a child who had not yet developed.
"You're so long-winded. It's obviously your bad luck. How can you blame me?" Sakuragi Hanamichi scratched his hair, looking indifferent.
"What? You don't even admit it." Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi's nonchalant look, Yuji Okusu got angry. Just as he was about to continue arguing with Sakuragi Hanamichi, Mito Yohei walked up to him, patted Yuji Okusu's shoulders with both hands, and comforted him:
"Alright, alright, I've lost, it's not the first time."
"I didn't expect that it's already daybreak. I've played for so long but I don't feel tired at all."
"Hanamichi, what shall we do next?"
Mito Yohei comforted Ohkusu Yuji and looked up at the sky. It seemed that because he had just come out of the room, Mito Yohei was a little uncomfortable with the light outside. He subconsciously put his palms in front of his eyes to block some of the light. Then Mito looked at Sakuragi and asked with a smile.
While Mito Yohei was speaking, the other three also looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi, as if waiting for Sakuragi to make a decision.
"Uh... .huh?"
"What?! Of course I went home. I didn't go home last night. My dad will definitely scold me when I get home."
"You guys, when I say I'm going to your house to study, don't let it get away from you guys!"
When Sakuragi Hanamichi heard Yohei's question, he looked at him in confusion, and then spoke to the few people.
"What?! No, no, this is too stupid. We will definitely be exposed if we say that." After hearing what Sakuragi Hanamichi said, Takamiya Nozomi shook his hands repeatedly, his head shaking like PDD whose mouth was burned by cigarette.
"Huh?!" When Sakuragi Hanamichi heard the word "stupid" from Takamiya Nozomi's mouth, he hummed softly, his eyebrows raised instantly, and his fists were clenched clenched.
"Yeah! Yeah! That's stupid."
"How could uncle believe that you are studying in our house? You don't know yourself."
Noma Chuichiro closed his eyes, looking sleepy, and didn't realize that Sakuragi Hanamichi was already angry. He waved his hand and spoke casually. However, after he finished speaking, none of his companions spoke to him. Noma Chuichiro opened his eyes in surprise, and suddenly found that Mito Yohei and Ohkusu Yuji beside him had already retreated far away.
Takamiya Nozomi was strangled by Sakuragi Hanamichi's hands, and he made a painful sound, "Huh...Huh", while Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes were also staring at him.
"winter!"
After a dull thud, Takamiya was hit hard by Sakuragi Hanamichi's headbutt and slowly collapsed to the ground, freeing himself from Hanamichi's grip. Noma Chuichiro realized that something was wrong and was about to run, but he was still a step too slow and was caught by Sakuragi Hanamichi. After being hit hard by Sakuragi Hanamichi's headbutt, he followed in Takamiya's footsteps.
After hammering two in a row, Hua Dao finally felt comfortable and hummed a cheerful tune.
"Yohei... Why didn't you remind me?" Noma Chuichiro slowly got up from the ground. At this time, Mito Yohei had just come to his side and was grabbed by Noma Chuichiro's sleeve.
"Haha, what's the point of reminding me?" Yohei couldn't help laughing when he saw Noma Chuichiro's forehead was swollen. He followed Sakuragi without any guilt or worry. Behind him, Okusu Yuji came to Takamiya and Noma, and helped them up while laughing.
"Come on, Hanamichi, let's go have a bowl of ramen before going back."
Yohei came to Sakuragi Hanamichi and said with a smile. After hearing what Mito Yohei said, Sakuragi Hanamichi couldn't help rubbing his stomach. Don't say it, after playing all night, he was really a little hungry.
"Okay, let's go." Sakuragi Hanamichi agreed without hesitation, not even thinking about the fact that he had just lost all his money in the pachinko parlor and was now penniless.
"Hey, let's go eat ramen."
Yohei got a positive response from Hanamichi, and turned to wave at Takamiya and the others. When they heard that there was food to eat, Takamiya and the others immediately forgot about the headbutt that Hanamichi had just received, and hurriedly dusted off their bodies and ran towards Hanamichi and Yohei.
However, before they had run a few steps, a huge figure suddenly ran out from a small path on the side and bumped into the three people.
A huge force instantly poured down on Takamiya and others. Takamiya Nozomi, who weighed nearly 200 pounds, along with Noma and Ōkusu Yuji, could not withstand the impact and fell to the ground with a muffled sound.
"Hey! Takamiya, Noma, and Ohkusu!" This sudden scene startled Yohei and Hanamichi, and they quickly ran over.
Jinguji Takeshi was staring blankly at the three people he had knocked over in front of him. He had not expected that three people would suddenly jump out from his blind spot on the deserted street. Even he could not dodge in time and bumped into them directly.
Coincidentally, Wudao knew these three people!
"Hey, are you guys okay?" Mito Yohei hurried over to Takamiya and the others and helped them up, his face full of concern. Seeing that they had no obvious injuries and were able to stand up smoothly, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then turned his head to look at Jinguji Budo who hit them.
“So tall!”
“Besides, this guy… ..”
Mito Yohei was shocked when he saw Jinguji Takeshi, and he looked him up and down. The tall man in front of him immediately attracted Mito's attention. There was no way, Jinguji Takeshi's height was too prominent. And what Mito cared about most was that after such a violent collision, Jinguji Takeshi was standing there as if nothing had happened.
You know, the combined weight of Takamiya and his men is nearly 400 pounds. Although Danan and Noma were knocked down by Takamiya Nozomi, the power they possessed to knock down a strong man like Takamiya who weighs nearly 200 pounds and knock down two people at the same time is quite terrifying.
However, Jinguji Budo seemed to be unaffected at all, which made Yohei realize that the other party was not an ordinary person.
Although Yohei thought a lot, Danan would not think about all these messy things. After standing up, he rushed directly to Jinguji Takeshi, grabbed Takeshi's collar and wanted to scold him.
But before he could grab Jinguji Budou's hand, Budou stretched out his hand and blocked Danan's hands casually, then grabbed Danan's wrists with his backhand and said apologetically:
"I'm sorry, are you guys hurt? I didn't mean it."
Da Nan, who was grabbed by Jinguji Takeshi's wrist, was very surprised. His surprise was not because Takeshi was apologizing, but because he was about to grab Takeshi's collar, but was easily blocked by the other party, and was even grabbed by the other party with his backhand.
Danan could clearly feel that Wudao's hands were like iron hoops, tightly grasping his wrists. The tremendous force was something he could not resist at all.
"Hey, Danan, stop it."
"Hello, I'm sorry. My friend was a little impulsive. I'm apologizing on his behalf."
"Can you please let him go?"
Mito Yohei spoke up when he saw Dannan taking action, but he didn't have time to call out to Dannan. However, the next second, the tall young man in front of him counterattacked Dannan, which was something Mito Yohei had not expected.
Mito was afraid that Danan would suffer a loss, so he hurriedly spoke.
"Haha, I should be the one to apologize. I bumped into them."
"Everything alright?"
Wudao let go of Danan and smiled gently. Danan pushed his wrist and stepped back repeatedly, looking at Wudao with a vigilant look. Takamiya and Noma also looked at Wudao with unfriendly expressions, and surrounded Danan. Mito saw the hostile look of his partner, silently stepped forward, stopped by a few people, and stared at Wudao.
Seeing the looks on their faces, Wu Dao couldn't help but smile. Then he stopped looking at them and looked elsewhere.
There, a young man was staring at Jinguji Budo with a look of surprise on his face.
Sakuragi Hanamichi has never forgotten the face of Jinguji Budou. Although Sakuragi Hanamichi is a heartless person, he still remembers those who have helped him very clearly.
What's more, Wu Dao could be considered as his father's savior.
“You… it’s you!”
"Brother Aota Ryuhiko!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi pointed at Jinguji Takeshi's face and shouted in surprise. However, his address made Jinguji Takeshi tilt his head.
Qingtian Longyan? What the hell?! What's the relationship between Qingtian Longyan and me?! And if you want to call me brother, just call me brother. What the hell is a little brother? I'm waiting for you to make some dirty jokes to match my identity?!
"I went back to look for you after my father was out of danger that day, but you were gone by then."
"Afterwards, I asked Yohei to find out for me and found out that your name is Aota Ryuhiko. It's great that you're okay even though so many people are attacking you!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi was very emotional and said with a happy face that he was really happy to see Jinguji Takeshi again.
After hearing what Hanamichi said, Wudao finally remembered why this guy called himself Qingtian Longyan. The name he left behind was Qingtian Longyan. Wudao still remembered that Qingtian was even late for the judo competition that year. Later, he heard that he was blocked by bad guys and delayed. Now that he thinks about it, the source is still here!
"My name is not Aota Ryuhiko."
"In order not to cause trouble for myself, the name left is not my own."
"My name is Jinguji Budou, and I'm a freshman at Shohoku High School."
"I know you, the red-haired one... ..Sakuragi Hanamichi."
Jinguji Takeshi said with a smile that in front of Sakuragi Hanamichi, Mito and others, Takeshi didn't need to put on a messy vest.
"Kami... Jinguji Budou?" Sakuragi Hanamichi was stunned for a moment when he heard the name suddenly. He seemed to have heard this name vaguely from his classmates, but he had forgotten where he heard it from.
When Mito Yohei and others saw that Hanamichi seemed to know Takeshi, the tension between them disappeared. Instead, they surrounded Sakuragi Hanamichi and looked at him and Takeshi with curiosity.
Yohei looked at Takeshi curiously. From the conversation between Takeshi and Sakuragi, he roughly knew Takeshi's identity. He knew about the big crisis in Sakuragi Hanamichi's family. He even helped take care of Sakuragi's father when he was in the hospital.
"Yes, Jinguji Budo."
"Hello, young men, nice to meet you!"
As he spoke, Wudao turned his head to look at Mito Yohei and others, and greeted them with a smile. A gentle smile appeared on his face, and the morning light shone on Wudao's body.
Although it was the first time they met, Yang Ping and others suddenly felt that Wu Dao was very familiar, as if they had known each other for a long time. Yang Ping and others had never felt such a feeling before.
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