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

"It's nothing, just some rumors circulating online lately, I don't know if you've seen them..."

Chapter 232 The Best Is Always in the Present Moment (Two Chapters Combined)

"...There are some rumors circulating...I don't know if you've seen them."

Xiang Yang was taken aback, turned his head and thought for a moment before asking, "What rumors?"

"I don't usually go online much."

Himuro made an "uh" sound and said, "It's just some bored fans saying they're not optimistic about this year's Kaijo or something..."

Hearing this, Xiang Yang waved his hand dismissively: "They're just clowns. Every year, so many people don't think we can defend our title, but what's the result? We still won the championship four times in a row. After the results of the competition, those people who didn't think we could win still had nothing to say and pretended to be dead. There's no need to care about them at all."

He thought that these words would make Himuro understand, but to his surprise, after hesitating for a long time, he took out his phone from his pocket and handed it to Xiangyang.

"Here, take a look for yourself."

Himuro said with a hint of helplessness. Xiangyang frowned slightly, glanced at him, and took the phone to look through it.

Shocking! The defending champion faces a formidable opponent in the first round!

What will become of Kaijo's future after Kise's defect?

Famous basketball blogger "Prophet Emperor" releases video commentary: Haichang has no chance of winning the championship this year.

The top trending news on Twitter were all about Haichang, and without exception, they were all negative.

Xiangyang propped his cheek up with one hand, scrolling through Twitter with a bored expression.

It's not that these remarks criticizing Haichang are too weak in attack, but rather that this scene plays out every year, and Xiangyang is already visually fatigued.

"That's all? This is considered gossip?"

Xiangyang rubbed his nose, handed the phone back to Himuro, and got up, just about to lie back on the pedal machine for another set, when he heard Himuro's voice again.

"Mr. Xiangyang, I think you should take a closer look."

Himuro glanced at his phone and reminded him, "You only looked at the trending news, you haven't seen the fans' reactions yet..."

"Ok?"

Xiang Yang frowned, realizing that things might not be so simple. He picked up his phone and opened the most popular news: Kaijo High School narrowly defeated Suzume High School in the first round of the official tournament!

Open the comments section, and you'll find a lot of fans criticizing Haichang.

"The defending champions, who have won four consecutive titles, actually got into a tough fight with their opponents in the first round... Is the impact of Kise leaving the team really that big?"

"If it weren't for Xiang Yang's explosive performance in the fourth quarter of the first round of the main tournament, Hai Chang might not even be here. I think this year's championship is in jeopardy."

"The main problem is Haichang's center this year. They are just too weak. What was the coach doing during the player selection? Don't they have a stronger center in the team?"

Xiang Yang narrowed his eyes and began to read through the comments section word by word.

Not only neutral fans and bloggers, but even many of Haichang's own fans are not very optimistic about their home team this year.

Himuro discreetly observed the expression on Xiangyang's face and tentatively said, "Actually... it's all because of a blogger called Prophet Emperor. He's the one who started this whole thing."

Xiang Yang raised an eyebrow and started watching the Prophet's video.

About three minutes passed—

Xiangyang expressionlessly turned off Himuro's phone screen, then lay down on the leg press machine, placing his weight directly on it.

Fill it up.

Ice Room: ...

Should I not have told him?

Himuro scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. He watched as Hiyori pedaled the full-weight leg press machine, then sheepishly shrank back and went elsewhere to warm up his muscles.

At this moment, on the leg press machine, Xiang Yang's leg muscles were taut. Having been in fitness and competition mode for many years, his thigh muscles were like the gnarled roots of an old tree, proudly exposed to the air after being engorged with blood.

Clang!

With a loud thud as the metal sheet collided with the machinery, Xiang Yang lowered his slightly exhausted legs, wiped the sweat from his face, and muttered, "No matter where you are, there are always plenty of people who manipulate online traffic and seek attention..."

"But since things have come to this point... it would be too boring if I didn't give you some response."

……

……

Tokyo Prefecture

In an affordable apartment building

A middle-aged man with a stubble beard sat in front of a computer screen, typing rapidly on the keyboard. Beside him were a black mask and a black hoodie.

He is the "prophet" who recently garnered a lot of attention and traffic online. Through a video that belittled Haichang, he became a trending topic in just a few days. With a set of "reasonable and well-founded" analyses, the prophet not only stepped out of the eye of the storm but also gained a large following through this surge in traffic.

At this very moment, he is planning to make a series of videos that "belittle Luoshan," imitating Haichang, using the same old trick in a different guise to make another round of money.

Suddenly, the number of @mentions on Twitter increased. The prophet frowned but ignored them and focused on making more videos.

However, the Prophet's disregard did not reduce the number of @ messages; on the contrary, they increased, even interfering with the Prophet's work.

"Damn it!"

The prophet cursed and clicked on the @ messages from netizens. Only then did he realize that all the netizens who tagged him were referring to the same video.

"WTF?"

The prophet muttered something and glanced at the video title.

A review of the most prestigious championships in history.

"Is this... a way to generate traffic by comparing different champion teams? Not a bad idea..."

The prophet's eyes lit up, and just as he was about to take a closer look, he saw a familiar figure appear in the video.

With his hands behind his back and a big smile on his face, Xiang Yang looked at the camera and said, "Hello everyone, I am Xiang Yang, the point guard of Haichang High School basketball team."

"Thank you all for your attention these past few days. Our Haichang has been trending on social media, and I see my photos online every morning when I wake up. It's such a wonderful feeling!"

In the video, Xiangyang clicked his tongue, a fleeting expression appearing on his face.

He sighed, but quickly regained his composure.

"Alright guys, let's get back to the main topic. If my mind hasn't changed, then the title of this video should be the most prestigious champion recap!"

Xiang Yang picked up his phone and turned the camera around; the video showed Haichang's Hall of Fame.

This room houses the trophies of every member of the team that won the championship. Including the four titles won by Xiang Yang's team, there are a total of 23 championship trophies in this hall of fame.

among.

Of course, apart from Xiang Yang, who is an outlier, the other 19 championship trophies correspond to 19 different teams from different time periods.

Xiang Yang adjusted the position of his phone so that he could be on camera. He walked to Haichang's honor wall and said with a smile, "Actually, this video is more of a discussion than a review. So many outstanding teams have won the national championship in history, so who is the champion among champions?"

Xiang Yang leaned on the wall of honor with one hand and pointed to the championship trophy closest to him.

"Let me first express my opinion. Let me first give you a grand introduction to the first national championship won by the new generation of Haichang in the summer competition two years ago!"

Xiang Yang stroked his chin, a look of reminiscence on his face: "Two out of three free throws, I was the key player."

"Two years ago at the Winter Cup, the new generation of Kaisho won their second championship with a step-back game-winner. I didn't travel."

Xiangyang pointed to each of the trophies on the wall, reminiscing about the events of that time.

Seeing this, the prophet remained unmoved. He thought Xiang Yang just wanted to manage his fan base. After all, with so many fans in Haichang, he could easily earn a considerable income if managed properly.

This is quite an interesting topic; the champion among champions…

The prophet pressed his nose with one hand, already plotting how to use this traffic to make another fortune.

Just then, Xiangyang's voice came from the screen again.

"The third championship marks the beginning of the Kaijo Dynasty. Yuki's last-second victory proves that newcomers can't carry the torch."

"And the fourth championship, which can be completed in three quarters, is a different journey for the dynasty builders in the finals compared to other teams."

Xiang Yang shrugged and shook his head, saying, "However, in my opinion, none of these champions are worthy of being called champions among champions."

"Even though many people think that winning four titles in two years is an incredible achievement, in my eyes, the most beautiful moment in the world is always the present moment!"

As the prophet watched Xiang Yang's confident demeanor in the video, alarm bells rang, and a bad premonition rose in his heart.

The next second, Xiang Yang in the video revealed an enigmatic smile. He tidied up Haichang's wall of honor, leaving a space next to the fourth trophy.

"The greatest champion in history will always be this year's champion!"

"No matter what some of you say or analyze, or how pessimistic you are about Haichang, we are still on the road to winning the championship this year!"

"Wait and see."

……

……

Xiangyang's video went viral online in less than a day, attracting a lot of attention.

Some people deliberately took Xiangyang's video and compared it with the "prophet's" video.

Both videos attracted a large number of onlookers. Some sided with Xiang Yang, believing that the "Prophet" had already made a wrong prediction once and was not 100% accurate. However, many others supported the "Prophet," thinking that "the depleted Haichang team no longer has the look of a champion."

Therefore, after making a video belittling Luoshan, the "Prophet" produced another video dissing Haichang, or rather, dissing him.

iss iss facing the sun.

Fortunately, Xiangyang has a large fan base. Even someone like the "Prophet" who only cares about gaining traffic and doesn't care about right or wrong, didn't dare to be too presumptuous. He only had doubts about whether Haichang could continue his winning streak and didn't show too much hostility towards Xiangyang.

Xiang Yang did not respond further, as the semi-final schedule for the top four to the top two had already been released.

In the first semi-final match, Luoshan faced Yangquan.

In the second semi-final match, Haejo faced off against Soo-deok.

In a sense, this schedule helped Xiangyang a bit, because if Haichang had run into Yangquan and sent them away by himself, Masako might have argued with him for a few days.

Fortunately, Hae-chang was matched up against Soo-deok.

Xiangyang stroked his chin and asked Yazi with a smile, "So, do you need my help?"

Although Rakuzan was just a remnant of its original force, given Akashi's level of skill, Xiangyang was completely confident that this year's remnant Rakuzan force was just as strong as their Kaijo force.