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

With that, Xiangyang picked up his bag and led the way out of the stadium.

Behind him, the Kaijo members looked at each other in bewilderment. Kise put his hands on his hips, stared with dead fish eyes, and said, "This is my first time practicing... and it feels like I'm going to work."

Yuuki stood behind Kise, holding the ball in both hands, and said hesitantly, "Ryota-senpai, is this really okay...? The Winter Cup starts in a month, don't we... need to do extra training?"

Yuki voiced the sentiments of everyone at Kaijo. With Takeuchi tanking and not even stepping into the gym, it had become a habit for Xiangyang to urge them to train every day.

However, given the current trend, even Xiangyang is starting to give up!

A team that has won three consecutive championships, from the coach to the captain, still has no intention of doing extra training in the face of the upcoming game. If this news were posted online, it would probably surprise everyone!

Kise rubbed his hair in frustration and said listlessly, "Uh... let's do it his way. The coach isn't here, so he's the captain and he's the boss."

"Let's go, let's go home, off work!"

After saying that, Kise swung his arm, whistling as he walked towards the door.

He was complaining about Xiangyang, but his face showed a relaxed expression. Although there was no extra training, both Xiangyang and Kise knew very well that...

With Kise and Mukayo on the team right now, there's no way they can lose!

Chapter 204 Don't Try to Play Tricks on Me

"With 7 seconds left, Midoriya receives a pass from Takao. Let's see his offensive decision..."

"After a probing step, he immediately broke through, unleashing a long step-back fadeaway three-pointer from the top of the arc—it was incredibly difficult!"

"Kagami jumped very high, but missed; Midorima's shot—it's in!!!"

"113-112! In the final moments of the game, Midorima hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer, single-handedly saving the day! He propelled Shutoku to the top of the North Division! Congratulations to them!"

Bobo's passionate voice rang out from the live broadcast room, and with the end of this match, all the teams that successfully advanced to the official tournament of this year's Winter Cup have now qualified!

With Los Angeles and Haikou securing guaranteed spots, the Eastern and Western divisions are missing two of their top teams, resulting in a number of new faces advancing from these two divisions.

In the Southern Division, Yangquan remained the dominant force, securing first place in their group and advancing without any pressure.

As for the fiercely competitive Wild North District, the competition has been somewhat less intense due to the fact that Touou is a guaranteed admission candidate.

Even so, the match between Shutoku and Seirin for the top spot in the North Division still attracted a large number of fans.

Hikaru and Kise were among them.

While cracking sunflower seeds, Xiangyang shook his head and sighed, "Midori's three-point shot is really abnormal. We have to be careful when playing against them and not give him the chance to shoot a game-winning three-pointer."

With a 100% success rate on difficult three-pointers, Midorima could easily replicate the "McGrady Moment" if the conditions were right.

Kise nodded seriously, agreeing with Xiangyang's statement. After a while, he suddenly turned his head and asked, "By the way, little Xiangyang, I went to play with Fengzi today. Guess what I saw!"

Kise beckoned to Xiangyang with a mysterious look, as if he had some earth-shattering secret to tell.

Now that Xiangyang was intrigued, he looked at the expression on Kise's face, cracked a sunflower seed, and asked, "You caught that kid looking at sexy photos and entertaining himself?"

"Ugh... Ptooey! What are you saying?"

Kise rolled his eyes at Xiangyang and explained, "Fengzi... he's actually training seriously! There's someone standing next to him who looks like a personal trainer, instructing him on passing drills!"

Xiangyang, who had lost interest after hearing Kise's denial, paused slightly when he heard the second half of Kise's words and couldn't help but complain, "That guy is still practicing passing. I've watched him practice for more than half a year, and he still hasn't mastered the most basic chest pass. He should take a break."

"Why can't he just be a clutch shot killer? Why does he have to practice passing? Is that something he can do?"

Xiangyang clicked his tongue, as if he regretted Qingfeng's "stubbornness".

Kise stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "Speaking of which... I think I've seen that private coach before, when the Basketball Association was registering the national youth team roster! I think he was one of the assistant coaches at the Basketball Association!"

“Fengzi has also been invited by the Japanese Basketball Association, and he has already agreed to go with me to participate in the training camp in the first half of next year.”

向阳

Not surprising. He had already watched the match video of the Dragon Blast vs. Dragon Slayer team. Even Murasakibara, who performed the worst among them (he was suppressed by Thibodeau for the whole match), was fully qualified to join the national team.

Xiangyang estimates that apart from Heizi's low profile and weak physique preventing him from joining the national team, everyone in the Zhanlongjian team should have received an invitation.

"Besides you and Aomine, who else is there? I mean, the ones who are going to the training camp."

Kise thought for a moment and said, "It seems like Kagami is also planning to go. Akane and Murasaki have clearly refused, and Midori didn't give a direct answer, but I feel that given his personality, it's unlikely he'll go play basketball."

Midorima Shintaro's parents were no ordinary people. He and Akashi had known each other since they were young. Only children from families of the same social standing could meet on the same platform.

Although the Midorima family's power is certainly not as great as Akashi's, it is definitely not much less. Under such circumstances, if Midorima were to choose to abandon his family business and pursue a career in basketball, he would most likely be reprimanded by his parents.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Yang's expression became somewhat strange: "So, so far, only the three of you are planning to join the Japanese national team?"

[So, if we encounter Ryota and his team at the World Championship, it seems... it's not entirely impossible to win, is it?]

Xiangyang was quick-witted, while Kise saw through his thoughts at a glance.

"I have a feeling that you're looking down on us!"

Kise rolled up his sleeves, rubbed his nose, and said, "Let me introduce you. The future starting point guard for the Japanese national team is none other than me!"

Xiangyang: ? ? ?

Before Xiangyang could even ask a question, Huangse continued, "This is what the national team coach told me. He asked me if I could play point guard, and I told him I could play any position, so he told me to develop into a point guard in the future!"

Even though Kise is only about 187cm tall, he has the bug-level skill of "perfect imitation". He can be considered a brick on the court, and can be moved wherever needed!

[Letting Ryota play position one would also solve the position conflict between Kagami and Aomine, putting all three in the starting lineup... Tsk, this makes perfect sense, I would do the same.]

After a little thought, Xiangyang realized that "letting Kise play the number one position" was not a joke, but actually solved the team's incompatibility problem.

Aomine and Kagami are both power forwards (position 4). Of course, Aomine, known for his speed, can easily move up to small forward (position 3) with a little practice. However, this would create a positional conflict between Aomine and Kise, who are used to playing small forward (position 3).

If Aomine were to play position one...

OMG, this is a disaster!

You expect someone who passes the ball less often than he dunks to play point guard? That's ridiculous!

"Judging from this, it seems like the three of you can actually produce something?"

Xiang Yang was surprised to find that if the three of them could perfectly adapt to each other and be compatible on the court, then as long as the remaining two positions on the Japanese national team weren't too bad, they would most likely be able to achieve good results in next year's World Championship.

[I can't take it anymore...]

Those people at home... need some more training...

Xiang Yang frowned slightly, pondering how to discuss with Coach Sun how to improve the team's strength.

He doesn't have the good habit of "participation is the most important thing". Since he has decided to participate in the world championship, he will strive for the championship no matter what!

Just as Xiangyang was pondering how to improve the team's level, Huangse suddenly patted him on the shoulder and said, "Look, Xiangyang, the matchup list for the official tournament has been released!"

"We're here... Haichang vs... Wuqi is number one... Hey, Xiao Xiangyang, that team's name sounds so familiar!"

Kise pinched his chin with one hand, pondering the memories in his mind, trying to find information about this team.

Xiang Yang patted himself on the shoulder and said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter, we'll win no matter who we play... Wait, which team?"

Xiang Yang looked up and his expression froze when he saw the team name "Misty First".

"The First of the Mist Wonders... Flower Palace..."

"No way... I've run into the opponent I least want to fight?"

Xiang Yang stared with dead fish eyes and complained.

Because of Touou's guaranteed admission, the North District's advancement spots were no longer exclusively occupied by the Generation of Miracles, and the extra spot happened to fall to Hanamichi.

Unlike Haizaki Shogo, who has already received a thorough education, Hanamichi is still uneducated. If nothing unexpected happens… he's going to have an accident.

"Tsk, I'm an adult... hitting someone on the court... won't I get arrested and go to jail???"

……

The first round of group draws were relatively favorable, and the miracle teams did not start their internal battles so early. Instead, they were all matched against weaker teams. Even Fukuda United, led by Haiki, seemed to be a sure thing for advancing to the second round.

The match between Kaijo and Kirikiichi was relatively early in the round. After successfully eliminating an unlucky team in Rakuzan, Kaijo ushered in their first match of the Winter Cup!

On the day of the competition, on the field

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Kise appeared extremely excited, occasionally picking up basketballs from the ground and charging towards the basket for a powerful dunk! This drew screams from the audience.

Xiangyang, meanwhile, was leisurely warming up while squinting and observing the bench of Wuqi No. 1.

A thin man with a gloomy face sat there, fiddling with his bangs, looking somewhat harmless.

One of the "Five Uncrowned Generals", the "Bad Boy" Hanamichi Makoto!

As someone who is familiar with the original plot, Xiang Yang would not be deceived by Hua Gong's delicate appearance. He knew that it was Xiang Yang who caused the worsening of Tie Ping's injuries last year!

【You better not try anything dirty with me... Hua Gong, if you try to play mind games with me, I'll fight you to the death.】

Xiang Yang licked his lips, and the "Israeli Military Combat Techniques" talent in his talent bar lit up slightly, as if it were hinting at something.

Although Xiangyang really wanted to show off his fighting talent, it would be a bad influence to have him hit someone in front of so many people at the competition.

Although he had Masako backing him up, and Xiangyang was confident that he could get out of jail unscathed, given his personality, he didn't want to cause trouble for anyone, not even his close friend Masako.

"As long as it's not excessive, I can turn a blind eye, but if you cross my bottom line..."

Xiang Yang dribbled the ball forcefully, tucking it under his arm. His gaze, undisguised, fixed on Hua Gong, growing increasingly cold.

Beep beep beep—

A sharp whistle rang out.

The second match of the first round of the official competition

The match between Kaijo and Kiriki, the number one seed, is about to begin.

Chapter 205 "Have you eaten, Flower Palace?"

"Please have both teams assemble and greet each other."

"Please advise!"

In the center of the field, the players from Haichang and the top player from Wuqi bowed to each other.

With his hands behind his back, Xiang Yang glanced deeply at Hua Gong as he looked down.

More than a year later, they were overshadowed by the three strong "miracle" teams in the North District. Despite being one of the "five generals", they couldn't even get a ticket to the official game.

Having finally gotten a chance this year, Xiangyang doesn't believe that Hanamichi has no intention of winning.