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

From a referee's perspective, Xiang Yang's play was a brilliant attempt to draw a foul, but the players on the field didn't see it that way.

The national youth team's number one player was furious. He ran up to Takeuchi and gestured wildly to explain that it wasn't a foul and that Xiangyang shouldn't have taken the free throw!

Takeuchi frowned slightly as he looked at the national youth team point guard gesticulating wildly in front of him. If the guy hadn't specifically requested the national youth team to play a practice match, he would have ejected him. Questioning his calls?

Takeuchi waved to the number one player, indicating that there was no problem and the match would continue. However, the number one player from the national youth team remained unyielding. Just when Takeuchi couldn't take it anymore...

When they tried to expel the kid, the other members of the national youth team rushed over and carried the idiot away.

Putting aside Takeuchi's status as a former national champion and their senior, this is their home turf. Aren't you afraid of getting beaten up for acting so arrogantly on their home turf?

A calm and composed player on the national youth team, who resembled their captain, made a timeout gesture to Takeuchi.

They then substituted the national youth team's number one player to give him a break. The new point guard was a young man with a youthful face, who looked about the same age as Xiang Yang and the others, but was about the same height as the number one player.

The child seemed a little nervous, as if he felt pressured facing the sun.

After the timeout, Xiang Yang made both free throws as expected.

The offensive turn came back to the Chinese youth team.

The new kid seemed a bit reserved. He dribbled the ball to Haichang's half of the court and cautiously dribbled a few times in front of Xiangyang's defense.

However, as Xiangyang lowered his center of gravity and pulled up his trouser leg, the child shuddered instantly and hurriedly passed the ball to his teammate.

This whole situation left Xiangyang completely bewildered. He looked at the interesting guy in front of him and asked, "How old are you?"

The child clearly hadn't expected Xiangyang to speak to him, and hesitated for a moment before replying, "16..."

Oh, 16? No wonder you look so young, you must have just graduated from junior high...

Xiangyang nodded subconsciously, and was about to ask something else when he suddenly realized something.

Wait a minute, why is there a 16-year-old in the U22 national youth team?

"How did you get into the national youth team at your age?"

Xiangyang unconsciously raised his voice, and his unintentional action startled the child.

He stared blankly at Xiangyang and whispered, "I'm not on the national youth team... My father works for the basketball association, and he asked me to come along today... to practice."

Wow, a nepotism case? I never imagined the Great Japanese Empire had such things.

Xiangyang nodded and continued, "What's your name? Are you 16 and in high school this year?"

"My name is Hashimoto Yuki, and I'm in my third year of junior high school."

Seemingly sensing that Xiangyang had a good temper, Yuki breathed a slight sigh of relief, then her expression froze as she turned to look at Xiangyang and asked, "How did you know they were on the national youth team?"

…No matter how slow you are, there should be a limit to how slow you can go.

Xiangyang looked at Yuki speechlessly, a mischievous thought forming in his mind. He said teasingly, "I didn't know before, but I know now."

Yuki's expression changed, and a look of panic appeared on his face. He clasped his hands together in front of Xiangyang and pleaded, "Smithmasai! Please don't tell anyone, or I'll get scolded by my father!"

Xiang Yang licked his lips, a smile spreading across his face, and said softly, "What should I do, Mr. Yuki? I'm not very good at keeping secrets. If I accidentally tell someone, I'll be in a lot of trouble. You don't want people to know that you exposed your national youth team identity, right?"

"You're almost graduating from junior high, right? How about coming to Haichang for high school? With you watching over me, I feel less likely to let anything slip..."

That's right, Xiang Yang had his eye on this ninth-grade kid. His father was a high-ranking official in the basketball association? That meant the kid's skills were definitely not weak, especially with his obvious talent—16 years old and over 190cm? A promising future! Otherwise, he wouldn't be training with the national youth team. And just from those few dribbles, Xiang Yang could tell this kid's fundamentals were no worse than his own. Although his mental fortitude needed improvement, that was no problem for Xiang Yang; a soft personality meant easy control. His influence in the locker room was about to increase again!

Yuuki was slightly taken aback by Xiangyang's words. She was about to refuse when she saw Xiangyang looking at her with a bright smile. The smile made Yuuki's heart skip a beat, and before she could even utter a word of refusal, she changed her mind, saying, "I...I need to discuss it with my father..."

Seeing Yuki's attitude, Xiangyang nodded in satisfaction. However, while the two were having a friendly conversation, the competition continued.

"Little Xiangyang! Stop chatting with them! Come over here and organize things!"

Kise stood in the front, looking dissatisfied.

The captain of the national youth team also called out to Yuki: "Yuki! Come back and control the ball, that blond kid is not simple!"

"Oh, here it comes!"

Yuuki nodded repeatedly and hurried over, while Xiangyang strolled over leisurely, whistling, and teased Kise, "Why don't you just fight it out yourself? Why do you have to make me come over?"

"Without you passing the ball to me, playing basketball is so boring."

"Hey kid... pass the ball to me, I'll pass it to you."

Chapter 74 Is Takeuchi a biased referee?

Although it was a training match, Takeuchi's officiating was very professional. As expected of a former national team player, the two sides played relatively lightly in the first half, except for that little incident involving the Chinese youth team's number one player.

First half ends

The Chinese youth team leads 56-54.

Even though Kise is a consistent scorer, Kaijo's overall game pace was still suppressed by the national youth team! Putting everything else aside, just in the paint, the national youth team completely outrebounded Kaijo!

Kogoro, who usually protects his own rim well, was helpless against the double-team of a group of two-meter-tall players from the national youth team, and could only watch them grab the rebounds and score over his head.

It wasn't just Hori in the paint; Kasamatsu was also repeatedly exploited as a weakness by the opposing team on the perimeter. While his defense wasn't bad, his physical attributes were a significant disadvantage. Usually, Xiang Yang would help distribute the load, but his offensive and defensive performance at the start of the first quarter was truly frightening, even managing to beat the national youth team's number one player and persuade Hashimoto Yuki to surrender. Under these circumstances, no one on the national youth team would consider actively challenging Xiang Yang one-on-one to prove their strength. Why pick on the strong when there's a weaker opponent? Although Xiang Yang's defense was all bark and no bite, his outward appearance was very effective against opponents whose abilities were unknown.

In summary, Kaijo was completely outmatched defensively. Furthermore, aside from Kise, their overall strength was inferior to the opposing team, and Xiangyang's playmaking abilities couldn't be fully utilized, making it difficult to execute various tactics. Fortunately, Kise's offensive efforts remained quite lethal even against the national youth team's defense.

In one-on-one defense, no one on the Chinese youth team could contain Kise, forcing them to use multiple players in a zone defense to double-team him. However, Kise wasn't a selfish player like Aomine; whenever a teammate was open, he would decisively pass the ball. Add to that Xiangyang's constant antics on offense, drawing fouls. For a time, this Kaijo duo completely dismantled the Chinese youth team's defense.

During halftime

"These guys are really troublesome."

The captain of the national youth team looked at the score and frowned as he spoke.

Kise alone caused chaos for the national youth team, and with that guy who's good at drawing fouls, it's no accident that this team won the national championship.

"No way, if we lose to them, where will our national youth team's name be? We can't even beat high school students, it'll be a laughing stock."

The captain of the national youth team glanced at Yuki, who was silently drinking water, sighed, and gestured to the national youth team's number one player: "Get ready, you're coming on in the second half. No matter what method you use, contain that guy for me."

The national youth team's number one understood the captain's hint, and instantly wiped his face, feeling energized. He had been humiliated by the opposing defender and was worried about how to get back at them.

"Captain, don't worry! I guarantee that what happened in the first half won't happen again!"

Yuki watched this scene without saying a word. Being timid by nature, he never had any opinions on other people's arrangements.

Pause ended

Xiang Yang had just finished tying his shoelaces when he looked up and was taken aback. Where had his newly recruited underling gone? And why was this number one back on the field?

Although Yuuki didn't gain an advantage against Hikaru, his presence on the court...

The team's playmaking was very effective, and several of the national youth team's inside players successfully attacked the basket multiple times, largely due to Yuki's passing! Even a seasoned veteran like Xiang Yang couldn't find many opportunities to exploit this junior high school student.

Feeling like they're about to lose and afraid of losing face, they decide to try someone else to see how it goes? Desperate measures are being taken.

Xiang Yang shook his head and found it amusing. Taking the initiative to change tactics when the situation was in his favor was truly clever. He didn't think this number one could do better than Yuki.

Well, it doesn't really matter. Anyway, this guy is currently the lowest scorer on the court, and his bullying of the weak and avoiding the strong is still effective.

Perhaps it was the mockery in Xiang Yang's smile that provoked the national youth team's number one player even before the game started. While defending, he pressed his entire body against Xiang Yang, constantly using subtle hand gestures to harass him, increasing the intensity of his defense. At first, it was alright, but as Xiang Yang drew several more fouls, the national youth team's number one player's actions gradually escalated.

Xiangyang looked up at the referee, Takeuchi, with a bewildered expression. If he didn't blow the whistle soon, his team's point guard would be killed on the field.

Takeuchi made no comment on this. If the other party were Kasamatsu or Kohori, he would not hesitate to blow the whistle, but his standards were different when facing Hikaru and Kise.

Professional basketball isn't as simple as just playing the game fairly. You can avoid dirty tricks and minor fouls, but you can't be completely ignorant of them, especially when the opponent uses those underhanded tactics. You need a strong heart and the ability to withstand that pressure. After all, not every referee will call the game fairly.

For Xiang Yang, who is physically weak, this kind of foul-style defense was devastating. After losing the protection of the whistle, he realized that he did not have the offensive ability to break through.

Don't blame me, Xiangyang. This is something you have to go through...

Takeuchi remained silent, watching as Xiangyang was forced to stop by a rather rough move and lost the ball, but still did not blow the whistle.

Xiang Yang, who had been tackled, sat on the ground and watched as the national youth team's number one stole the ball and scored a layup. He didn't react much, but got up and patted his butt. He was smart and had already understood what Takeuchi meant.

So they put this guy in here just to mess with me...

If things go as expected... Ryota's side should also be subjected to increased intensity.

Xiang Yang touched his nose, thinking helplessly: "My physical fitness is still too poor. Otherwise, I could have easily broken through to the inside while the opponent was making some dirty moves."

As expected, Kise was soon harassed by the Chinese youth team members' dirty tricks! Seeing that even Kise's aggressive defensive moves weren't called a foul, the Chinese youth team understood Takeuchi's officiating style. Facing Kise charging into the paint, they all started to foul him, but Takeuchi continued to turn a blind eye. Unless it was a particularly obvious foul, his whistle seemed to be off.

Kise attacked the basket again, but just as he was about to jump, he was tackled to the ground by two inside players from the national youth team. It can only be said that it was all hands, not the ball.

The point difference on the court has widened at this moment.

China's U23 team leads by 9 points, 67-58.

Kise finally couldn't hold back any longer. He lay on the ground and shouted at Takeuchi, "Foul! Foul!! Coach, are you being biased?!"

Takeuchi remained oblivious, waving his hand to signal the match to continue.

Xiangyang immediately called a timeout, went over and helped Kise up, patted him on the back, and reassured him, "It's okay, the coach has his reasons."

Kise couldn't understand a thing. He looked at Xiangyang and glared at him, saying, "I think he's lost his mind after the interview. He found a team to play a practice match with us and even blew the whistle himself to target us! What kind of thinking is that?"

Before Xiang Yang could speak, the national youth team's number one player, who happened to be walking by, sneered, "Young man, learn something. Playing basketball is not child's play."

At this moment, the number one player of the national youth team was smug. He felt that he was really smart and had figured out Takeuchi's whistle and intentions in one go. You want to train your own disciples? Then we will help you treat them well.

Upon hearing this, Xiangyang stopped and turned back to give him a cold look.

"Shut up, you old man. Besides these underhanded tricks, what else do you think you have?"

Chapter 75 A Three-Pointer Shot Made from Inside His Own Three-Point Line

"Shut up, you old man. Besides these low-class tricks, what else do you think you have?"

The air fell silent instantly, and Number One's smile froze. He never expected Xiang Yang to talk back.

Before he could even get into the mood and demand an explanation, Xiangyang had already led Kise to sit on the bench to rest.

Just as the national youth team's number one was about to explode, he glanced around at the entire stadium and saw that everyone was staring at him. He immediately abandoned the idea of ​​going up to cause trouble, but secretly vowed to teach this guy a lesson!

"Honestly, I don't know what the coach is thinking."

As soon as Kise sat down, he muttered something to Xiangyang. He rushed into the paint but only managed a few layups. Now, both of his arms were bright red, and it was unclear whose handprints they were.

Xiang Yang patted his leg without saying anything, then turned to look at the number one player on the national youth team, narrowing his eyes. A warning sign told him that this person was now somewhat hostile towards him, though not much, but there was some.

"Seriously, where did all these guys come from? Putting aside their disgusting little tricks, they're all really strong."

Kise was still muttering to himself. This was the first time he had encountered someone who was both strong and played dirty. In the past, only opponents who were not strong would play dirty.