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

Xiang Yang thought for a moment, clapped his hands and said, "Alright, since everyone is okay with everything, let's get ready to go on stage."

"Moriyama, Tanaka, Fukuhara, and... Shimamura, the four of you, fight with me for the last six minutes."

Upon hearing this, the Haichang players instinctively wanted to obey Xiang Yang's order. However, after a brief moment of thought, a third-year substitute couldn't help but ask, "Captain, is this really okay? Are we going to put four first-year players on our roster all at once? Won't we capsize?"

After saying that, the man looked at the score on the scoreboard.

With only a two-point lead in the final six minutes, this advantage is negligible in a normally evenly matched game.

Of course, this is on the premise that the two sides are evenly matched.

Xiang Yang licked his lips, said nothing, and simply got up and walked towards the arena.

If I can't even handle opponents at this level, I might as well just go into the fray.

The four new students from Haichang followed closely behind Xiangyang as they stepped onto the field together.

Meanwhile, Suzume High School immediately noticed Kaijo's adjustment and looked at Kaijo's freshmen with surprise. They really didn't expect that at the last moment of the competition, Kaijo would still look down on them with a superior mentality. This was really... infuriating!

"Seriously? You only have four newbies to fight us? There's a limit to how much you can underestimate others!"

The player from Suzuya High School who had been guarding Xiangyang couldn't take it anymore and started trash-talking him: "I bet you guys will be substituting in less than two minutes!"

Xiang Yang glanced at him, shook his head, and said, "Two minutes probably won't work, three minutes should be about right."

The man was taken aback, clearly not expecting Xiang Yang to answer like that. Just as he was about to say something, Hai Changfang had already passed the ball to Xiang Yang and started this round of attack.

The moment Xiangyang caught the ball with both hands, the four little ones from Haichang started simultaneously.

He immediately accelerated and rushed towards the basket in Suzuya's half of the court, as if he were about to launch a large-scale fast break!

However, the Suzume High School players didn't react much to this and continued to retreat and return to defense as usual. This kind of situation has happened countless times in this game.

Each time, Xiang Yang would just dribble and stroll around, showing no intention of sharing possession of the ball, as if he were not on the same team as the other four.

While dribbling the ball across half-court, Xiang Yang kept an eye on the four players' running routes. Apart from Tanaka's slight hesitation when turning back after positioning himself, the other three freshmen had no problem with running.

Relieved, Xiang Yang slammed the ball into the air with one hand, then raised his free hands in a "pull apart" gesture. Just as the basketball was about to bounce off the ground, a white flash of lightning suddenly appeared in Xiang Yang's eyes!

……

……

Three minutes later

Hai Chang applied for a replacement.

Amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the audience, Xiang Yang walked off the field, gave a high-five to the substitute player who came on, and then turned to look at the player who had previously trash-talked him.

Xiangyang held a single finger to his ear and dangled it, a very puzzled look on his face, as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"

As Xiang Yang made this mocking gesture, the cheers from the audience rose to another level.

At this moment, there are only three minutes left in the game, with Haichang leading 99-86!

In the live broadcast room

Bobo grabbed the microphone with one hand, stood up on the chair, and exclaimed excitedly, his face flushed, "Oh my God! What did I just see?"

"Three minutes have passed since Haichang's last timeout! Xiang Yang scored 13 points by himself! Two three-pointers, two drives to the basket, plus a layup and a 2+1 play! These three minutes are enough to make a highlight reel of Xiang Yang's performance in this game!"

Amid cheers from the crowd, Xiang Yang calmly crossed his arms and leaned back on the bench. Although he had put on a spectacular show just seconds before, to be honest, as the person involved, Xiang Yang didn't actually experience any significant emotional fluctuations.

If Xiangyang couldn't kill the game within three minutes against an opponent like Suzume High School, he would find it strange.

As the final whistle blew, the players from Suzuya High School, stunned by Xiangyang's performance, lost their spirits and mechanically ran back and forth on the court with the freshmen from Kaijo. The player who had trash-talked Xiangyang simply left the court, his face flushed with shame, not daring to look at Xiangyang even once.

Thus, Haichang won the first round 101-88 and successfully advanced to the second round.

This year, no team has faced suspension due to on-field violence, so Akashi did not arrange for the organizers to manipulate the draw.

Unfortunately, some unlucky ones still appeared, and there was more than one!

In the first round of the competition, which was 16 to 8, with a very, very small probability, Shiro Rin happened to draw Yosen, while Touou drew Shutoku.

These two unfortunate teams, lacking their core players, encountered one of only two teams with complete rosters in the first round.

Unsurprisingly, Touou and Shiro Rin held hands.

Accompany you home.

As for Rakuzan, they did not encounter any strong opponents and advanced smoothly, while the veteran miracle player, Shogo Haizaki, also advanced smoothly to the second round.

Unlike the previous two years, Haizaki Shogo, who was originally in a "whoever he plays, he loses" situation in the second round, was surprised to find that this year seemed to be his best chance!

With two consecutive easy victories, Futian Comprehensive has successfully tied the team's all-time major tournament record – the third round!

However, this third round seemed to be a curse on Haiqi. Just before stepping into the national top four, Haiqi finally encountered a strong opponent: Fukuda vs. Rakuzan.

With the idea that the Rakuzan roster was incomplete, Haizaki did not "take a break when facing the Generation of Miracles" like he did in the first year of the original work. Instead, he locked himself in the court the night before the game and practiced alone until very late.

Unfortunately, many things cannot be changed simply by hard work.

The final score was 94-88, with Los Angeles easily securing the victory.

Haisaki scored 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, achieving a massive triple-double! He even slightly outperformed Akashi in individual statistics, but still lost.

Akashi had 28 points, 15 assists, 4 rebounds, and 8 steals!

With three minutes left in the game, the score difference between Rakuzan and Fukuda was still three points. Relying on the completeness of their lineup, Fukuda, whose overall strength was decent, kept the score very close and even saw the light of victory.

Unfortunately, in the final one-on-one duel, Haizaki was still defeated by Akashi.

With this, Futian Comprehensive has been eliminated, and the four teams that will compete in this year's Summer Tournament have been determined.

They are Haichang, Luoshan, Yangquan, and Xiude.

Before the draw for the semi-finals was announced, netizens had already discussed the question of "who will be this year's champion".

On the internet, the "prophet" has reappeared.

"Who will be this year's champion? I've noticed this question is trending a lot lately while browsing my phone, but what I want to say is, isn't it obvious who the champion will be?"

In the video, the "prophet" wears a mask and a black hoodie, appearing mysterious and profound under the filter and lighting.

“Every year, dark horses emerge in the national tournament, and championship-contending teams rise one after another. For example, in the first year, there was Seirin, and in the second year, there was Fukuda Soccer. People always said that they could win the championship this year, but what was the result?”

The prophet tapped the table and said disdainfully, "Isn't the result just as I predicted?"

Of course, he didn't mention a word about Haichang's comeback victory against Luoshan in last winter's cup.

"This year's champion will definitely be either Xiude or Yangquan! Absolutely!"

The prophet spoke with great certainty. He pulled out a pre-prepared analysis chart from under the table and spread it out in front of everyone.

"Let me give you a simple analysis. We know that Kaijo won the championship in the first four competitions. I have to admit that Kaijo's strength is outstanding and has even completely surpassed the level of high school students, but!"

"The premise is that this Haichang team is at its full strength, but due to the defects in this summer competition, the limit of this Haichang team is only the level of runner-up."

The prophet shook his head in regret, then flipped through the analysis chart.

He paused for a moment, then continued, "And the fully-formed Kaijo is undoubtedly in a league of its own. Closely following them is the fully-formed Rakuzan, but unfortunately, Rakuzan is not fully-formed this year either..."

"I don't know if everyone watched the first round of matches, but since you've come across this video, I believe you're all very dedicated basketball fans and wouldn't have missed Haichang's first round of matches. And here's the interesting part..."

The prophet took out a black pen and circled the Kaijo column on the analysis chart, saying, "Kaijo seemed to have lost their soul throughout the game. Without Kise, facing an opponent of Suzume High School's level, the point difference between the two teams remained at only two points until the end of the game."

"Unfortunately, this is the report card that Haichang has submitted this year..."

The prophet shrugged and threw the analysis chart he was holding onto the ground.

"No offense intended to Suzuga High School, it's just that as a team from the Southern Division, Suzuga has always had only one outcome when facing Yosen High School..."

"The game was over before the first half was even over!"

"Unfortunately, fans of Haichang watching this, your team's winning streak may be coming to an end this year..."

"By the way, between Xiude and Yangquan, I favor Yangquan more."

……

……

Shark Gym

Due to team training issues, Masako and Hikaru hadn't seen each other for a long time, but today, the two were unusually together.

Masako propped her legs up on the coffee table, chewing gum while flipping through a magazine in her hands, occasionally blowing a bubble that made a squeaking sound.

Xiangyang lay on the leg press machine, wearing headphones, doing his daily strength training.

The two remained in this state for a long time. Although they did not communicate with each other, they could clearly feel each other's presence in this not-so-wide space.

Just then, the gym door was suddenly pushed open.

Masako didn't even lift her eyelids, subconsciously assuming it was a member of her own gym. As a yakuza boss, Masako never cared about the income from her business, so even if she occasionally found someone sneaking in to work out without a membership, Masako wouldn't say anything.

Of course... Masako when she's angry doesn't count.

However, Masako was wrong this time. The person who came in was neither a gym member nor someone trying to take advantage of the situation.

"coach."

A voice interrupted Masako's leisurely time reading the magazine. She frowned and looked up, only to see her team's ace outside player, Himuro Tatsuya, standing there, smiling and bowing to greet her.

"What's wrong, Himuro?"

Masako closed the magazine, withdrew her scrutinizing gaze, and asked Himuro.

Himuro smiled and said, "It's nothing, Coach. It's just that the competition is in two days, so I thought I'd come to the gym to work out a bit more."

Masako nodded slightly, indicating that Himuro should do as he pleased, and then opened the magazine again to read.

Himuro didn't stand on ceremony with Masako and went straight to the weight room. He was just about to pick up a couple of dumbbells to warm up when he saw Higashi.

"Oh? Mr. Xiangyang, you're here too?"

Himuro was somewhat surprised, but he immediately realized that compared to Xiangyang being here, it was clearly more strange for him to be here.

As a player for Yangquan and someone who knew Xiangyang, Himuro was naturally well aware of his relationship with Masako.

At that moment, Xiangyang, who had just finished a training session, also breathed a sigh of relief. When he saw Himuro arrive, he was also taken aback.

"Excuse me, Himuro, what did you just say?"

Xiangyang took off his headphones and asked Himuro, who waved his hand to indicate that it was nothing.

Suddenly, Himuro seemed to remember something, and his expression turned somewhat strange. Xiangyang keenly noticed the change in his expression and asked, "What's wrong, Himuro?"