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

Moreover, as Kaijo's former senior, Kasamatsu knew that Yuki was a point guard, and that he could even go toe-to-toe with Hikaru during intra-squad practice matches.

Unfortunately, there's no way to take the starting point guard position away from Xiang Yang yet.

"You're right. Judging from ability alone, there are indeed many players who are more suitable for this exhibition match than you."

Aida picked up the coffee on the table and put it in his mouth. Its bitter taste made him frown slightly.

"But... some of them can't fight, and others don't want to fight."

Kasamatsu looked puzzled and asked, "What do you mean?"

Aida scratched his cheek, his expression somewhat gloomy, as if he had thought of something unpleasant.

"The Japanese Basketball Association is unwilling to send anyone. I don't know if you've heard of Kurikuni, he's the current president of the Basketball Association."

"Since it's a game you're bound to lose anyway, you can just throw in a few random players to fool everyone. There's no need to field your own players at all... That's exactly what he said."

Aida leaned back against the seat and looked out the window. He saw a flower floating in the middle of the road, but a car quickly passed by and mercilessly crushed it with its tires.

"Leaving aside the Basketball Association, couldn't you find a better candidate? The Generation of Miracles..."

Kasamatsu asked again, but this time, Aida waved him off before he could finish speaking.

"Those young men are indeed very strong, but unfortunately they have a fatal flaw."

Aida pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, offered it to Kasamatsu, and wasn't embarrassed when Kasamatsu refused. He simply took one out and prepared to light it himself.

"High school students are not allowed to participate in this kind of exhibition basketball game..."

"Unfortunately, among those who are below professional players in Japan and older than high school students, you are already one of the best, Kasamatsu."

Just as Aida took out his lighter to light it, Kasamatsu snatched it away. Aida stared at Kasamatsu with a bewildered expression, as if to say: "I just..."

I offered it to you, but you didn't want it!

"Senior... Smoking is not allowed in the coffee shop."

Kasamatsu answered expressionlessly, then handed the lighter back. Aida looked around, an embarrassed expression on his face, and reluctantly took the cigarette back.

"Ahem! That's roughly the situation, which is why I said you're the most suitable candidate."

Aida cleared his throat and looked at Kasamatsu with a serious expression.

"Perhaps those old fogies at the Basketball Association are right, this exhibition game is bound to be lost, but I have never had a precedent of winning without a fight."

"Come help me, Kasamatsu! The outcome of this match may have been decided before it even started, but I still hope... to do my best to be responsible for this exhibition match!"

……

……

The basketball court dedicated to the Chinese national youth team

"One more time."

"One more time."

"One more time."

Xiang Yang's somewhat stiff, albeit slightly veiled, words echoed throughout the stadium.

His words were always the same, because ever since Li Wenyu began his attack, every single offensive had been slapped out of bounds by Xiang Yang before it could even be launched.

According to the rules of the one-on-one match, if the attacker goes out of bounds, it is equivalent to the defender successfully completing the defense. However, Xiang Yang was testing his defensive ability at this moment and was in high spirits, so he had no intention of switching sides. He just kept repeating "One more time" to signal Li Wenyu to attack.

"Ha...ha...is this kid a monster?"

In his attacking position, Li Wenyu was breathing heavily, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at Xiang Yang.

In a full six or seven offensive possessions, Li Wenyu failed to score a single point over Xiang Yang, and didn't even step into the paint. He was still standing on the outside when Xiang Yang made the steal.

At this critical moment, Li Wenyu no longer had the thought that "it was just a coincidence." He focused all his attention on Xiangyang.

As captain, if I can't even score a single goal, then my position becomes a joke.

Li Wenyu lowered his center of gravity, his expression more serious than ever before, with only one thought in his mind.

That is to slam that damn basketball into that hoop!

"Winning or losing doesn't matter anymore. This shot embodies all my basketball beliefs up to this point!"

"So...get in!"

With a roar, Li Wenyu suddenly broke through to the right, sweat dripping from his forehead. His gaze was very firm, as if he had made up his mind!

Unfortunately... Xiangyang, who was in the middle of his excitement, had already forgotten about the water.

Snapped!

Another crisp sound of the ball being struck rang out. Xiang Yang didn't move his body; he simply reached out with his right hand and made another steal.

The basketball flew out of bounds. On the sidelines, Coach Sun and Elder Hai watched this scene with blank expressions, their hearts completely unmoved.

At first, these brilliant steals would occasionally elicit gasps from the two players, but this was already the seventh or eighth time. Even the most spectacular performance would become tiresome to watch.

However, Xiang Yang, as the person involved, did not find it boring.

He scratched his right hand, his expression...

Thoughtful.

"One more..."

"I'm not coming anymore, you won!"

Li Wenyu took a few steps back and sat down heavily on the ground, his face full of resentment, as if he had just been violated by Xiang Yang.

"Uh…"

Xiang Yang was slightly taken aback, then realized what was happening and quickly stepped forward to help Li Wenyu up, saying apologetically, "Sorry, Captain, I got a little carried away just now. Um... are you alright?"

"Heh heh, you got a little carried away, so you totally destroyed me on the defensive end too..."

Li Wenyu looked up at the sky, feeling as if something was about to come out of his eyes.

"What could possibly be wrong with me? I'm just a spineless captain who's been driven to the brink of a mental breakdown..."

Xiang Yang touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Coach Sun clapping as he walked over.

“Excellent, Xiangyang. Your skills have truly broadened my horizons. There’s a reason why my master speaks so highly of you.”

Coach Sun patted Li Wenyu on the shoulder, then turned to look at Xiang Yang with admiration.

"I heard from your master that you are better at team battles and how to fight the whole game than in one-on-one fights?"

Xiang Yang nodded and said modestly, "Just a little bit."

"Hahahahaha."

Coach Sun responded with a smile: "After watching your performance just now, I think this little bit needs further examination!"

"Alright, that's enough for today. I already know your individual abilities. If it's convenient for you tomorrow, I'd like you to come again. How about we organize a five-on-five full-court match?"

Xiang Yang remained humble: "Anything is fine, I'll just follow the coach's instructions."

Hai Lao walked over to Xiang Yang, patted Xiang Yang's shoulder, and said, "Good fare. Go back now. I'll call you two taxis, or I can ask Xiao Shu to come and pick you up."

"No need, no need, Miss Reiko is waiting for me outside the stadium."

Xiang Yang shook his head and declined Elder Hai's offer. Because the system suddenly notified him that he had completed the task last time, he got excited and stood Lingzi up. So before coming to the trial training today, he had already told Lingzi that he would go out with her as soon as it was over.

Hai Lao nodded and waved goodbye to Xiang Yang: "Alright, you two young people go out and have some fun. Be careful, although the security in China is pretty good, you should still be careful when you're out and about, just in case."

"I understand. Goodbye Elder Hai, goodbye Instructor Sun, goodbye Captain."

After greeting everyone in the stadium, Xiang Yang relaxed and walked out of the stadium.

For a moment, the stadium became much quieter.

Coach Sun walked over to Li Wenyu and made a gesture. The latter immediately understood and said, "His breakthrough ability is very sharp, but he is not fast. If his teammates help delay and defend him throughout the game, he is not completely unstoppable."

Coach Sun nodded, signaling Li Wenyu to continue.

"I can't see anything else yet, since we've only played a few one-on-one games, but his defense is really insane!"

Li Wenyu shivered, as if he had been transported back to the moment when Xiang Yang Qiuqiu stole the ball from him.

"At first, I thought he wasn't very tall, so his defensive ability was probably just average, and I didn't pay much attention to him. But after I carefully observed his defense, I realized that guy was not simple at all!"

“There was something about him…it was a feeling that made me very uncomfortable.”

Li Wenyu shrank his neck and carefully chose his words before continuing.

"It's like... me facing off one-on-one against a defensive master who's been playing for fifty or sixty years..."

"But that guy looks like he's not even twenty! That's really weird..."

Chapter 189 Better to Die for Your Fellow Daoist Than for Yourself

"Hinata, hurry up!"

On the side of the road, Aida Riko, wearing a sun hat, stood with her hands on her hips, urging him on with a dissatisfied expression.

Beside her, Captain Hinata Junpei of the Shiro Rin shrugged and said listlessly, "Don't rush, Reiko, the match won't start for a while."

"Idiot, of course I know!"

Reiko crossed her arms, glared at Hinata, and said, "There will definitely be a lot of people going to watch the game live. If we don't get there early, we won't be able to get front-row seats and we won't be able to see anything!"

"It can't be that bad..."

Hinata was speechless. He hadn't even woken up properly this morning when Reiko dragged him out to watch the game.

"Shouldn't tickets for this exhibition match be really hard to get? How did you manage to get them?"

Hinata was a little curious. Tickets for this exhibition match, featuring the world-famous streetball team, Zhabolong, were snapped up as soon as they went online. Even many members of the Seirin team wanted to go to the event, but unfortunately, they couldn't get a single ticket.

In this situation, Reiko actually managed to grab two tickets at once, which made Kagami extremely envious. He had always wanted to see for himself what level the world's top basketball players were at.

"My dad gave me the tickets. I originally wanted to invite everyone to go see it together, but he said the tickets were selling so well that even he didn't have any more."

Reiko raised her right finger to explain, glancing at Hinata as she scrutinized his expression. There was actually a second part of her sentence she didn't say aloud… she had specifically asked her father for only two, partly out of her own selfish motives…

Unfortunately, Hinata didn't realize it.

He clenched his right fist and slammed it against his left palm, a look of sudden realization on his face: "Oh, I see. I had forgotten that your dad was the coach of this exhibition match."