Kuroko's Basketball: I'm not the boss?

A swift and powerful cross, and Nagano Tetsuya's face lit up with joy. Yuki's pass was perfectly timed, even taking into account the amount of time it would take for him to shift his weight upwards when receiving the ball!

I feel it!

Nagano Tetsuya jumped up and pulled up for a three-pointer before the defender could even move in to contest it, and the ball swished through the net!

"Yoshi! Well done, Yuuki!"

Nagano Tetsu excitedly pumped his fist. He had never met a point guard who could make him receive the ball so comfortably before.

Hearing the praise from her temporary teammate, the shy Yuki scratched her head sheepishly.

This scene was witnessed by Hirakawa, a stark contrast to the harmonious atmosphere and increasingly smooth fighting on Yuki's side. Their situation was completely different.

Unbeknownst to many, Hirakawa, determined to play as the playmaker, was already subtly vying for possession of the ball with Igarashi. A team can have two or even three sharp weapons, but it absolutely cannot have two brains! As a result, just halfway through the first quarter, the score difference between the two sides had already widened to more than ten points.

16:6, Yuki team is in the lead.

This score difference was achieved even when Yuki played very conservatively, without scoring a single point or making a single attack.

When there are two opposing voices within a team, it's a miracle they don't start fighting amongst themselves, let alone play a smooth-paced game.

Finally, the conflict erupted.

In another round of attack by the Hirakawa team, Miyaji received the ball at a high position and intended to help his teammates pass the ball around. However, when he received the ball and was about to pass it to his teammates, Igarashi, who was standing on the left, and Hirakawa, who had somehow moved to the right, both reached out to Miyaji for the ball.

This completely baffled Gongdi. He had only met his two temporary teammates today, and there was no question of how close they were. Moreover, judging from the situation in the match just now, both of them were quite strong, and their performance was outstanding even among the ten people on the field.

Who am I...? Who should I send this to?

Just as Miyaji was brainstorming, Hiroshi Ohara's eyes sharpened. Seizing the opportunity when Miyaji was distracted, he and Kimura instantly double-teamed him from the high post, stealing the basketball from Miyaji's hands and successfully scoring on a fast break.

Miyaji, realizing he had made a mistake, was about to raise his hand to apologize when he discovered that Igarashi and Hirakawa were already leaning their heads together.

"You idiot, what are you doing running to the three-point line? Don't you know you're a power forward?"

"Huh? I play point guard, I'm just playing power forward this game. If you weren't so useless, would I be running to the high post to ask for the ball?"

"What did you say, you bastard? If you hadn't been causing trouble and wasting possession, would we be down by this much?"

"Do you want to die? Huh!"

Seeing that the argument between the two was getting more and more intense, and they even seemed to be about to fight, the others who had come to their senses quickly stepped forward and separated them.

On the referee's stand, Xiang Yang, who should have blown the whistle to stop the game, was instead leisurely watching the game, arms crossed, peering out from the sidelines.

The two, who were still passionately exchanging insults remotely, listened to all sorts of "Japanese profanity" and secretly sighed: I've learned something!

The Miracle Team stared blankly at the inactive "referee," even Kise couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "Hikaru, call a timeout!"

Huh? Pause?

Xiang Yang suddenly realized that he was the referee. He quickly blew his whistle to signal that he needed to rest for a while.

Igarashi, still indignant, wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Aomine's sharp shout.

Even Hirakawa stopped his verbal attack after being stared at by Akashi.

Although they couldn't speak, their eye contact continued. If there weren't so many people around, Xiangyang estimated that the two of them would have gone out to find an open space to fight.

"Hirakawa is off the field for a rest."

After a brief moment of thought, Akashi finally settled on a solution. Since each team had a substitute on the bench anyway, and it was originally just for rotation purposes, but then this big blunder happened, they might as well just substitute Hirakawa. Coincidentally, their substitute is a forward, although he is a small forward, he can still fill in for a while.

"Let's make a substitution on the other side too, there's not much time left in the first quarter anyway."

Xiang Yang glanced at Yuki and gestured towards him with his lip. Yuki's backup is a point guard. Xiang Yang has already achieved his goal in this "Freshman Cup" by collecting data on the freshmen from various teams. Instead of keeping Yuki on the court and exposing his information, it's better to let him go off the court now.

Upon hearing Xiangyang's words, Akashi narrowed his eyes, turned to look at Yuki, and scrutinized him up and down as if trying to see through him.

Who is Captain Red? Standing at 1.6 meters tall with an aura of 2.2 meters, he exudes a superior aura, and even his eyes reveal a penetrating power.

Our little genius Yuuki had never seen anything like this before. When Akashi glared at her with his "God's Eye," she panicked and froze, not knowing what to do with her hands and feet.

Fortunately, Xiangyang, who habitually pays attention to Akashi, immediately noticed Yuki's unusual behavior. He stood in front of Yuki, looked Akashi in the eye, and smiled.

"What's wrong, Mr. Akashi? My junior is quite handsome, but he's very shy. If you stare at him like that, he'll get embarrassed."

Akashi also realized that his gaze had indeed been rather unfriendly to Yuuki.

He adjusted his expression, gave Yuki an apologetic smile, nodded to Xiangyang, and said gently, "Sorry, I just think your new person is very interesting."

Xiang Yang chuckled and turned to Yuki, saying, "See? Even Captain Miracle praised your potential. Be more confident! If you work hard for a few more years, you'll be able to touch my heel without any problem."

Upon hearing Xiang Yang's words, Yuki nodded hastily, showing no intention of refuting him. He could, of course, see that Xiang Yang was hiding his true strength.

Akashi gave Xiangyang a deep look, then turned and returned to the audience seats.

The other members of Miracle also turned their attention back to the game.

Kise smiled and beckoned to Yuuki, gesturing for him to sit beside him. Xiangyang then blew his whistle again, ending the pause.

The game continues.

The two newly introduced first-year high school students are still quite strong, after all, they are the team's "future" chosen by everyone in Miracle! Although the new point guard on Yuuki's side is not as good as Yuuki, he is still qualified as a playmaker.

On Igarashi's side, the newcomer who came on wasn't playing power forward, but with Hirakawa off the court, their overall offense started to revolve around Igarashi, and their fluidity improved significantly!

Igarashi lived up to expectations and successfully tied the score at the end of the second quarter. His playing style was very similar to that of Xiangyang, although strictly speaking, he was Xiangyang in his first year of high school.

Xiang Yang, who had been watching the game closely from the sidelines and occasionally blowing his whistle, had successfully gathered information on all the new students present.

Watching Igarashi Yuei score once again using his teammate's screen, he thought to himself: No wonder Aomine said this kid could be compared to me. I thought he was just being stubborn, but I didn't expect that his playing style is actually like mine.

He makes good use of screens, loves to organize his teammates, plays a selfless style of basketball by not touching the ball, and never takes one-on-one shots he is not confident of winning.

If you cover their faces and jerseys, even Xiangyang himself might not be able to tell whether it's Igarashi Yuei or himself from his first year of high school.

This kid is about the same height and build as me... When Qingfeng plays with him, doesn't he ever feel like he can't help but hit him?

Thinking of this, Xiang Yang couldn't help but glance at Qing Feng in the audience, but unfortunately the latter was focused on watching the game and missed the teasing expression on his face.

In another offensive possession by Yuki's team, Nagano Tetsu, positioned in the corner, missed a three-pointer with decent spacing. Just as everyone was lamenting, Ohara Hiroshi stepped up again! Overpowering the newly entered small forward and Miyaji, he successfully grabbed the offensive rebound! Simultaneously, leveraging his physical advantage, he jumped from a standing position and completed the putback!

At 43:45, Yuki team regained the lead with two minutes remaining.

Hiroshi Ohara, believing he had scored the crucial point, struck a bodybuilding pose and let out a roar, exuding confidence! If this were a competition, he would likely receive applause from the audience, however…

"generally."

"9 points."

"Can't this be deducted? He's grown so strong for nothing."

Unfortunately, the audience today is very discerning, since among them, apart from Momoi and Kuroko, only Hikaru can't dunk.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Hiroshi Ohara rubbed his nose awkwardly, realizing he'd been careless...

Although Hiroshi Ohara didn't receive any applause, his performance today was still very impressive. Unlike Yuki's ability to hide his weaknesses, Hikaru's whistle blew his whistle, which made him very motivated. He frequently exerted himself on the defensive end and also made significant contributions on the offensive end.

At this moment, everyone in the Miracle team has reserved a small place for Hiroshi Ohara. This newcomer from Kaijo is not to be underestimated!

Of course, if Yuki were to unleash her full power, it would be a completely different story.

beep—

The final whistle blew as the sun set.

With a score of 51-49, Yuuki's team ultimately secured the victory thanks to their lead established in the first quarter. Igarashi missed a crucial game-winning shot in the final possession.

Fortunately, this was just a training match, so the winners weren't overly excited, and the losers weren't overly dejected.

The outcome of one match doesn't mean anything; the real showdown will have to wait until the Summer Split!

"Let's go, senior will treat you to dinner."

After greeting everyone from Miracles, Xiangyang pulled Kise along and led the two Kaijo kids away from the stadium.

"Ohara played well today, but have you forgotten what I told you?"

Xiang Yang smiled, his eyes narrowing into slits, and turned to speak to Ohara Hiroshi.

The latter had barely heard the first half of Xiang Yang's sentence when his expression froze before he could even show a happy smile.

Oh no! I forgot!

"Smith Marseille! Senior Xiangyang, I...I...hit me! Hit me..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Seeing that Hiroshi Ohara looked like he was ready to die to prove his point, Xiangyang quickly waved his hand, saying that he was just joking and didn't really mean to punish Hiroshi Ohara.

"Sigh... I don't mean to blame you, but you still need to be punished."

"As punishment, you decide what to eat tonight! Of course, the senior students will treat us."

Chapter 137 Yuuki's Little Thoughts

"The format of the National Summer Tournament is different from that of the Winter Cup. Even if you are the champion, there is no guaranteed advancement mechanism. Every team has to start from scratch, one match at a time!"

Inside the Kaijo Arena, Takeuchi was holding a tactical board and explaining the schedule for the summer tournament to everyone, mainly to the first-year students.

"The national tournament is divided into four regions. Each region starts with a knockout stage, and the final four teams will compete in a round-robin tournament to determine the top three teams. The team that emerges victorious will qualify for the official national tournament!"

Takeuchi's voice was dull, like chanting a mantra, but that's understandable, since he had to say it like that every year when new students entered the club.

They were all old news, and seasoned veterans like Kise Hikaru had long since lost track of time. The others were in the same boat, except for Yuki and Ohara Hiro, who listened attentively.

A week has passed since the first privately-run competition, the "Freshman Cup," concluded.

During this period, Xiangyang, as the captain, had already decided on the starting five for Kaijo this year, and after communicating with Takeuchi, finalized the substitute spots one by one. During regular training, Yuki and Hiroshi Ohara were already training with the starters.

"Although the team achieved very good results last year, which is something to be happy about, we still cannot slack off in the new year. We must give our all in every game, and our goal is still the championship!"

Xiangyang picked at his ear, not taking his coach's words seriously. This guy talks a good game now, promising to give his all in every match? When the qualifiers come around, he'll probably be so arrogant that the opponents won't even bother to study him. You know, in the past, studying opponents was something that Kasamatsu-senpai did.

When a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength.

But a lion, when faced with a fly, will only wave its paw impatiently.

Xiangyang decided to respect his coach's wishes and study the opponent before the match.

Sorry, Haichang has no rivals in this competition area.

"Hmm... that's about it. Let's have a practice match today."

Takeuchi stroked his smooth chin, his gaze sweeping over the Kaijo crowd present. After a brief moment of thought, he finalized the lineups for both sides.