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

"Actually, my original idea was that as long as Ah-Da was defeated, he could return to his original self and accept his teammates. But Ah-Da is too strong. Only the Generation of Miracles could possibly defeat him. However, apart from Ah-Zhe, the others are also fighting individually. If they defeat him, Ah-Da will only think that he didn't train enough..."

Ah Zhe is different from the other members of the Generation of Miracles; he always trusted his teammates and recognized their importance. That's why I hope Ah Zhe can defeat Ah Da; only then can Ah Da change.

Xiangyang stroked his chin, then suddenly realized, "So you were using Heizi? Hoping he could help you wake up Qingfeng, that's why you approached Heizi?"

When Momoi heard the first half of Xiangyang's sentence, her expression changed and she became angry. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but after hearing the second half of Xiangyang's sentence, her expression froze and she remained silent.

After a while, Momoi spoke softly, "What you said is not entirely correct. My initial purpose in approaching Kuroko was because I couldn't see through him. I did become interested in him, and only later did I want to use him."

Momoi pursed her lips.

"You must think I'm a selfish woman."

Xiang Yang glanced at Momoi. In his memory, Momoi was a very lively and cheerful person, but in their two times alone together, she had shown a vulnerable side to him. At this moment, Momoi was holding a teacup in both hands, looking lost and dejected, with tears welling up in her eyes. If someone who didn't know better were there, they might think she had been threatened by Xiang Yang.

"There's nothing wrong with being a little selfish. What kind of person would you be if you weren't selfish?"

Xiangyang picked up the teapot, poured himself another cup of water, and then said.

"Besides, I don't think what you did was selfish. You did take advantage of Kuroko, but do you think Kuroko didn't know what you were thinking? Someone who can develop a unique playing style by taking advantage of their low profile, would that person be a fool? As far as I know, he's even more eager than you to change Aomine, isn't he?"

Xiangyang slowly took a sip of water, which was clearly just plain water, but he tasted it as if he were savoring tea.

"Forcing someone to do something they don't want to do is selfish. You and the haters are just cooperating at most, since you both have the same goal."

Momoi's eyes grew brighter as she listened. Although she knew that Xiangyang meant to comfort her, she had to admit that Xiangyang's comfort was very effective.

Seeing the girl in front of him regain her energy, Xiangyang put down his teacup and asked a question.

"Since your original plan was to target Kuroko, why did you come to me?"

Hearing Xiangyang's question, Momoi looked at Xiangyang with a strange gaze and said matter-of-factly, "Of course it's because you beat A-Da. To be honest, I don't think A-Zhe could really win either. It's just that apart from the Generation of Miracles, only he had a chance. Who would have thought that you would come along?"

Xiangyang asked in surprise, "We only won because of Ryota, and Aomine losing the match didn't change anything, right?"

Momoi shook her head and said firmly, "Ao-dai has changed. After losing to you, he has been training hard every day. And Ryota is different from before. It's all because of you."

Xiangyang remained silent; it seemed you had already said it.

So much stuff, all they're trying to do is take advantage of me.

"I don't want to change Qingfeng either, I don't even know him."

Momoi's face stiffened, then she clasped her hands together and pleaded cutely, "Please, help me, okay?"

Xiang Yang hesitated for two seconds: "Then I'll help you with this, and you can help me with that too."

Momoi nodded quickly and said, "Sure, I'll do anything, as long as you can defeat Ootengu."

Xiangyang stood up and took off his coat. Momoi's expression changed instantly, and she said warily, "This is going too far. I'll call the police."

Xiangyang was completely bewildered: "What's going on? Go out and buy me dinner. It's your treat. When you come back, wash my teacup and take out the trash."

After saying that, Xiangyang lay down on the sofa in a "Ge You slouch" position and didn't move.

Momoi was embarrassed; she thought… well, never mind. Just as Momoi opened the door to leave, Xiangyang on the sofa called out, “Don’t forget to close the door when you leave, and bring me a bottle of water when you come back; I’m thirsty.”

"I know!" Momoi replied irritably. As expected, this guy can't be judged by common sense. Actually, when Momoi said he approached Kuroko because he couldn't see through him, there was a second part he didn't say: I can't see through you either, Hikaru-kun.

At this moment, Xiangyang, who was lying on the sofa, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Defeating Touou was something Kaijo had to do. If they wanted to win the championship, they had to get past Touou. Xiangyang could be said to have gotten something for nothing. He not only got Momoi to help with the housework, but also made her owe him a favor. He made a huge profit.

High school students are so easy to fool; they have a kind of innocent stupidity.

.

"Hey? Peach, it's nothing, I didn't get into any fights today. I'm playing basketball. Okay, I'll hang up now."

Aomine was practicing basketball alone on the court. He clenched his fist and murmured, "Kise... Kaijo... Hikaru..."

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Let's raise our perspective. On another court in the distance, Kagami Daigo is practicing his shooting.

498, 499, 500.

Vulcan, who had just finished training, took a breath and wiped the sweat from his face.

"Vulcan, aren't you going to practice anymore?"

Kuroko was still as elusive as ever, giving Kagami quite a fright.

"Kuroko?? When did you get here... Never mind, I'm tired, I don't want to ask that question anymore."

Vulcan rubbed his forehead, glanced at Kuroko, and asked what was the purpose of their visit.

"I'd like to spar with Kagami. If you can't beat me, then forget it."

"Can't beat me? Are you kidding me? I've only just begun."

.

"Hey? Xiao Xiangyang, how's your time with Xiao Taozi going? Hehehe, any mishaps? I'm just kidding. Okay, I'll make up for the meal I owe you tomorrow. Okay, that's all for now, bye-bye."

Kise is currently working part-time as a model. He was suddenly notified to work overtime today, so he rushed over as soon as he finished training. He is sitting on the sofa, feeling bored: "So boring~ The National Tournament... I really hope it starts soon."

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Midorima Shintaro was sitting at home, unwrapping the bandage on his right hand to prepare for a bath, when the radio next to him broadcasted the evening fortune-telling: "For those born under the sign of Cancer, your fortunes will be excellent for the foreseeable future. Please pay attention to the morning fortune-telling; wishing you all the best every day..."

With my obedience to destiny and all the lucky charms of Cancer, I am invincible every day! In the national competition, I will become the strongest.

Midorima took off his glasses and went into the shower room.

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On the street, a tall figure carrying a pile of snacks stood out – it was Atsushi Murasakibara. He was complaining, "What's going on? The new flavors just came out and they're already sold out. Seriously, are all the businesses these days incompetent? They can't even handle such a small thing."

As he spoke, he stuffed all sorts of snacks into his mouth. Despite being over 2 meters tall, he particularly liked eating children's food, a comical scene that drew glances from passersby.

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In a classroom, a boy with a full head of red hair is playing chess. He is playing against himself, and as the red side is trapped in a dead end, a slight smile appears on his lips.

Just then, a voice came from outside the door: "Akashi, Nebu and Hayama are arguing!"

"Ah, I'll handle it in a bit."

Akashi took one last look at the Go board in front of him, then picked up his coat and left the classroom. He didn't care why his teammates were arguing; as long as he was there, there was no problem.

Because he is Akashi Seijuro, nothing more.

There is one week left until the national competition.

Chapter 26 National Tournament Preliminaries

"Tomorrow is the national competition qualifiers, I'm telling you this one last time."

Coach Takeuchi said seriously, and everyone at Kaijo stood up straight to listen attentively... except for Kise and Hideaki, who even yawned.

"The national tournament qualifiers start with the knockout stage. If you lose one match, you're out. So you'd better play your best in every game!"

At this point, the coach glared at Kise and Xiangyang, and the two immediately stood up straight with solemn expressions.

"The competition is divided into four regions, A through D. The top team from each region advances to the finals, which are a round-robin tournament. Only the top three teams from each finals qualify for the national competition..."

Takeuchi's tone was serious, but he didn't really care. Kaijo High School had made it to the national tournament every year. In this region, Kaijo High School Basketball Team was the absolute leader. Not to mention that Kaijo was exceptionally strong this year. The possibility of not making it to the national tournament was comparable to a meteorite falling from the sky and blowing Kaijo up.

Takeuchi barely even paid attention to his opponents. What? You don't even have a Generation of Miracles? Sorry, you're just freebies. You're even a waste of our time to practice tactics. With Kise and Mukahi, we can do whatever we want.

Although qualifying for the national tournament is a foregone conclusion, Takeuchi can't show it in front of the players. There still needs to be a sense of ceremony, even if there is no pressure, he has to pretend to be under some pressure.

"We can play more relaxed during the qualifiers. We have an absolute advantage in strength. We shouldn't compete with some weak players. Everyone should be careful not to get injured."

"Our goal is the national championship! Do you understand?"

"Hi!"

Takeuchi stroked his chin, wondering if he had forgotten to mention anything, and was just about to dismiss the team when Kasamatsu suddenly said, "Coach, it seems our first opponent has hired a foreign player. Quite a few teams have hired foreign players this year."

Takeuchi asked in surprise, "Is that so?"

Everyone at Haichang was speechless. Was it really okay for a coach to just throw the game like this, not even bothering to investigate the opponents? Xiangyang glared at him with deadpan eyes. He knew his coach's personality; he didn't think being a little arrogant was a bad thing, but this was just too disregard for the opponents.

Takeuchi cleared his throat, noticing that his players were looking at him strangely.

"It doesn't matter how strong the foreign players are, the gap between the teams is fixed, basketball is a five-person sport. Hmm... that's all for now, everyone get a good rest today and prepare for tomorrow's game, let's dismiss."

Just as everyone was about to leave the stadium, Coach Takeuchi called out to Kasamatsu.

"Kasamatsu, could you give me a copy of the information you've gathered about the other teams?"

"Yes, Coach."

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Day 1 of the qualifiers

Inside the huge stadium, one team arrived very early; they were Nanli High School, Haichang's opponent today.

"Captain, it's over! Our opponent is Kaijo! How are we going to win? It feels like we're going to be eliminated in the first round this year."

"What's there to be afraid of? So what if it's Haichang? He's still a human being. Besides, we have Brown here this year."

The captain of the Southwest Associates team pointed to the young black man who was warming up on the field.

He was very tall, with exceptional static talent, and most strikingly, his neck was unusually long. He was...

Kevin Brown, the foreign aid player that Nanjing University of Science and Technology invited this year.

Brown tossed the basketball into the air, then took a running start and jumped lightly, performing a simple and unpretentious self-alley-oop dunk for his teammates.

The captain of Nanjing University of Science and Technology put his arm around his teammate's shoulder and said excitedly, "See that? No skill involved, just pure talent. With Brown, this monster, on the team this year, our team is going to be incredible!"

"A monster? This is terrible! Where is it?"

Upon hearing this, Xiangyang, who had just entered the stadium, immediately came over and asked with a grin.

The captain of Nanli University frowned at him and shouted sternly, "Who are you? There's a match going on here today. If you want to play around, go somewhere else."

Before Xiang Yang could speak, a member of the Nanjing University of Science and Technology secretly pulled the captain aside and whispered, "Captain, look at his uniform, it looks like it belongs to Haichang University."

Huh? The captain of Nanli turned around abruptly and saw that it really was Kaisho's team uniform. Subconsciously, his tone weakened a bit: "Ah, sorry, sorry, I didn't recognize you as a Kaisho player. I didn't see you at the last national tournament, haha...ha."

Then the captain of Nanjing University of Science and Technology realized something was wrong. "We have foreign aid this year. We're not afraid!" His confidence returned, and he straightened his chest, ready to say something tough.

"Well, if this is considered a monster, then my ace is a god."