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

Just as Xiangyang was imagining what next summer's competition would look like, the curious Yuki asked again, "Senior Xiangyang, don't you have to participate in the national team training camp? Could it be that..."

"You've been selected for the national team?"

Xiangyang: ...

Xiangyang's eyes twitched as he looked at Yuki's innocent face. He kept adjusting his breathing and murmured, "Calm down, calm down... Yuki didn't do it on purpose."

"Well, you're not wrong, I have indeed been selected for the national team."

[It's just... not the Japanese national team.]

"Hey! Xiangyang, Youji, come over here for a champion's photo!"

Kise stood on the other side of the arena, cupping his hands like megaphones and shouting at the two of them.

According to the procedure for taking the championship team's official photos, one player from the championship team will stand in the center and hold the trophy high. This player is usually the MVP of the finals.

Xiangyang kicked Kise in the butt, signaling him to step forward and lift the trophy. Kise didn't stand on ceremony at this moment and strode forward to raise the trophy high above his head.

"Hey everyone, sorry about that, I'll be taking the center position~"

Kise proudly raised his head and parted his bangs a little to make the photos later more harmonious.

Xiangyang rolled his eyes, but instead of teasing Kise, he raised one hand and put it on Kise's shoulder, while making a peace sign with his other hand next to his face.

On the other side, Yuki stood there with his hands folded in front of his abdomen, looking terrified. However, just as the camera was pointed at him, he secretly raised his right hand and made a peace sign.

Behind the three, Ohara remained silent, only slightly closer to Xiangyang.

Kobori-senpai ended his last national competition at Kaijo with a classic "Mr. Bodybuilding" move.

Thus, the overall championship of the second Winter Cup was once again won by Kaijo!

(The second year is complete.)

Chapter 218 Eagle Nation Invitation Training Match

Inside the stadium dedicated to the Chinese national team

The starting lineup of the new generation of the national men's basketball team is training there.

"Li Wenyu, speed up your downward movement!"

Coach Sun stood on the sidelines, arms crossed, holding a tactics board and instructing the players. On the tactics board were the tactics proposed by Xiang Yang.

He looked down and a hint of admiration appeared in his eyes.

Even with his extensive knowledge, he couldn't find a single flaw in these tactics. On the contrary, there were many aspects of these tactics that left him in awe.

And that's why the Chinese men's basketball team has been doing an absurd amount of tactical positioning training lately!

On the court, Li Wenyu looked utterly hopeless. In the past hour, he had been like a robot, constantly repeating the same positioning and passing maneuvers. If the environment were different, people would believe he was there to practice running.

"Damn it... Xiangyang, aren't you giving Coach Sun way too many tactics? We're just running through tactics all day now, I don't even have time to go to the gym!"

While running to Xiangyang's side, Li Wenyu couldn't help but complain in a low voice. The latter rolled his eyes and said irritably, "Captain, a simple-minded guy like you needs to do more of this kind of training. Training muscles and lifting weights all day long will easily make your brain sluggish."

Li Wenyu's expression froze for a moment, then an angry look appeared on his face. He said, "I'm very smart when I play basketball, okay? I can often make steals on the court!"

Xiang Yang pinched his chin with one hand and recalled carefully: "Yes, you ran like crazy on the court, without taking a break for four quarters, so of course you made a lot of steals."

Li Wenyu: ...

"Tch, I can't be bothered to talk to you!"

After saying that, Li Wenyu pursed his lips and focused his attention back on positioning.

Xiangyang turned his head to look out the window and entered a daze, commonly known as daydreaming.

Unlike other players who need to be familiar with tactical positioning, Xiang Yang has already memorized every skill and variation in these tactics.

To be honest, he could stand by Coach Sun's side right now and let him ask him directly if he doesn't understand something.

As for why Xiangyang chose to stay here and run tactical drills with them, one reason was that he didn't want to be left out, and the other was because…

Dili lili!

Coach Sun's cell phone suddenly rang.

"Hey, Master."

Coach Sun answered the phone and spoke respectfully.

Judging from the looks of it, it was Ebi who called?

While running around, Xiangyang kept an eye on the other side out of the corner of his eye.

A look of surprise flashed across Coach Sun's face. He covered the phone and asked, "Are you serious? How could they possibly..."

"Okay, okay, I understand. The time is next week, right? I will let them know."

After hanging up the phone, Coach Sun did not immediately gather the players, but instead stood quietly on the sidelines waiting for the training session to end.

"Oh my, it's finally over. I'm exhausted. I guess I won't go to the gym today."

Li Wenyu wiped the sweat from his brow. The repeated positioning was making him a little irritable. He was just about to ask Xiangyang to play cards with him...

At that moment, Coach Sun, who had been standing on the sidelines for a long time, clapped his hands.

"Come and gather here."

The sound wasn't loud, but the effect was outstanding. All the players in the stadium immediately put down what they were holding and stood up to gather in front of Coach Sun.

With his hands behind his back and a meaningful expression on his face, Coach Sun said, "Next week... there will be a training match that everyone must participate in."

Upon hearing that there was a practice match, Li Wenyu immediately perked up. He rolled up his sleeves and excitedly asked, "Really? There's a match?"

"Yes! I finally don't have to run those damn tactics anymore!"

Not only Li Wenyu, but the rest of the men's basketball team were also quite excited at this moment. After all, compared with the boring training, the game was obviously more exciting for them.

Coach Sun watched this scene quietly without saying anything.

Having already anticipated who their opponent would be, Xiangyang saw his teammates' happy expressions and decided to dampen their spirits. He raised his hand and asked Coach Sun, "Coach, who is our opponent in the practice match?"

Coach Sun glanced at Xiang Yang and said in a calm tone, "The Eagle Nation's national team."

"Never mind who the opponent is, even if they are... the Eagles? The Eagle Nation's national team?"

Li Wenyu's expression froze, somewhat unable to believe what he was hearing. He looked into Coach Sun's eyes and asked, "The Eagle Nation National Team, is that the team that Nash, the captain of the famous streetball team 'Neck Dragons,' plays for... the Eagle Nation National Team???"

Coach Sun nodded in agreement: "That's right, it's the Eagles national team that won the championship in the last World Championship."

For a full five seconds, the air in the basketball court was silent, followed by gasps of shock.

"Hahaha."

Li Wenyu chuckled twice and confirmed, "You must be mistaken, Coach. The Eagles' men's basketball team is already in the top three in the world. What reason would they have to come to us for a practice match? Shouldn't their opponents be those other top-ranked countries in the world? You must be mistaken!"

Coach Sun ignored his words and turned to Xiang Yang, asking, "I heard that the Zhabolong team went to Japan for an exhibition match a while ago. Xiang Yang, have you seen any members of the Zhabolong team there?"

Xiang Yang nodded and said, "I've seen them. Their captain, Nashgot, is indeed quite capable."

Unfortunately, he still couldn't beat me in a one-on-one fight.

Xiang Yang kept the second half of his sentence to himself, but his comment on Nash, "He has some ability," was enough to surprise everyone.

Zhou Yi spread his arms wide and exclaimed in surprise, "A little bit of strength? It should be said that he's too strong! Nash's performance on the court is simply epic!"

"Xiangyang, you didn't actually see Nash playing, did you?"

Xiang Yang thought for a moment and said, "I guess so, I did see it with my own eyes."

Not only that, he personally beat him to a pulp.

Zhou Yi let out a strange cry and looked at Xiang Yang with great envy.

"Damn it, I'm so envious! No way, when we play a practice match next week, I absolutely have to get his autograph!"

It's not hard to see that Zhou Yi seems to be a fan of Nash. The question is, if he saw Nash's true colors off the court, would his idol image be shattered?

[Collapse? Is this a correct term?]

Is this how it's used?

Just as Xiang Yang was hesitating whether to introduce Nash to Zhou Yi, Coach Sun coughed twice, interrupting everyone's conversation.

"Participation in this training match is voluntary according to the procedure, but I still hope that all of you, regardless of whether you can play or not, will come and watch this training match."

Coach Sun paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, lingering almost imperceptibly on Xiang Yang.

"This will be the first time you've ever had the opportunity to see firsthand what world-class basketball looks like."

"That's it for today, let's call it a day."

……

……

"Xiangyang! This way!"

On the side of the road, Brother Shu, wearing sunglasses, leaned out of the car window and waved to Xiangyang from a distance.

"Thank you for your help, Brother Tree."

Xiang Yang said something polite, then opened the car door and got in.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Let me tell you, next month is Chinese New Year in our country. Come over to my house for dinner! It'll be so lively here during the Spring Festival..."

It has to be said that Brother Shu's enthusiastic nature hasn't changed. He started introducing the Spring Festival customs of China to Xiangyang.

Xiangyang rested his chin on his hand and looked out the window, occasionally chiming in with a few words, but in his heart he was thinking about other things.

Because it was close to the Spring Festival, Lingzi, who hadn't been home for several years, returned to her hometown last week, while Xiangyang was entrusted to Brother Shu.

Fortunately, Brother Shu is a warm-hearted person. Even though he has only met Xiangyang a handful of times, he can still communicate with him very enthusiastically. And Xiangyang doesn't dislike this kind of person.

"By the way, Xiangyang, I feel like you're getting better and better at explaining the meaning of flowers. To be honest, when you got in the car just now, I didn't realize you were from abroad at all."

Tree Brother clicked his tongue, feeling a little unreal. After all, just over half a year ago he was a complete foreigner, but now he can communicate normally with them using the language of flowers. Tree Brother guessed that Xiangyang must have put in a lot of effort in learning the language of flowers!

"It's alright, Brother Shu. Maybe it's because I practice every day."

Hearing Xiangyang's answer, Brother Shu had a "I knew it" look on his face. He looked at Xiangyang through the car's rearview mirror and asked, "Aren't you guys going to have a practice match against the Eagles' men's basketball team next week?"

Xiang Yang turned his head with a slight surprise and asked, "Brother Shu, how did you know? Coach Sun just informed us."