After Seijuro Akashi left, Miyamoto Tokima invited everyone present to go out for a meal.
However, Ryota Kise, Tetsuya Kuroko, and the others had a match that afternoon, so they declined.
And so, Miyamoto Tokima took Daiki Aomine and Shintaro Midorima out to eat.
A meal that belonged solely to the [Generation of Miracles].
...
In the blink of an eye, afternoon arrived.
That meant the first match of the National Tournament was about to begin.
Kaijō High School vs. Seirin High School.
Since the players from both teams had already been inside the gym, they began warming up as soon as the court was opened.
Everyone from Seirin High School looked serious. After all, for some of them, this was their first time competing in the National Tournament.
Teppei Kiyoshi wore a stern expression as he began his warm-up step by step.
Taiga Kagami seemed completely fired up already, throwing down two powerful dunks at the basket.
Tatsuya Himuro watched Taiga Kagami with a smile on his face.
It was the same on Kaijō High School's side.
Whether it was Yukio Kasamatsu or Yoshitaka Moriyama, every one of them looked extremely serious.
Ryota Kise seemed to be affected by Taiga Kagami's energy as well, and he threw down two powerful dunks of his own.
Then he turned and locked eyes with Taiga Kagami.
Taiga Kagami did not back down, meeting Ryota Kise's intense stare head-on.
Their gazes crossed, as if the battle had already begun.
Riko Aida watched the situation on the court and thought to herself,
'Kaijō High School is strong, but after a whole summer and autumn of intense training, aren't we a strong team too?'
Although they had held a training camp during the summer, there had been none in autumn!
After the Winter Cup preliminaries ended, each team trained on its own.
So neither side truly knew how strong the other had become.
In other words, Ryota Kise and the others had no idea just how much Taiga Kagami had grown during this period!
Thinking that, Riko Aida suddenly smiled.
'Let them be surprised!'
In the stands.
Because Miyamoto Tokima had gone to eat with Daiki Aomine and the others, they arrived together as well.
After greeting one another, everyone returned to their own teams.
Miyamoto Tokima led Atsushi Murasakibara and the others to Kirisaki Daiichi's seats and slowly sat down.
Makoto Hanamiya had already saved seats for them.
Miyamoto Tokima and Satsuki Momoi sat down while chatting.
Shuzo Nijimura stretched and said,
"It's finally about to begin."
...
On the court.
The referee blew the whistle in his mouth.
"Beep! The match is about to begin. Both teams, take your positions!"
The players' gazes all sharpened, and they lined up at the center line together.
"Please take care of us!"
Both teams shouted in unison.
After the formal greeting, both sides returned to their benches to hear their coaches' final instructions.
After giving a few brief orders, Riko Aida shouted,
"Win this match!"
All the Seirin players looked serious, nodded together, and shouted,
"Yes!"
Kaijō's side seemed to have finished their instructions as well. They shouted together, then slowly walked onto the court.
Seeing this, the referee blew the whistle again.
"Beep!!! Ready!"
Both teams quickly took their positions, preparing for the jump ball.
Seirin's starting five were:
Center, Teppei Kiyoshi.
Power Forward, Taiga Kagami.
Small Forward, Tatsuya Himuro.
Shooting Guard, Junpei Hyuga.
Point Guard, Shun Izuki.
Kaijō's starting five were:
Center, Kōji Kobori.
Power Forward, Mitsuhiro Hayakawa.
Small Forward, Ryota Kise.
Shooting Guard, Yoshitaka Moriyama.
Point Guard, Yukio Kasamatsu.
After seeing Seirin's starting lineup, Ryota Kise asked in confusion,
"Kuroko is coming off the bench?"
After saying that, Ryota Kise even glanced back at Seirin's bench.
Riko Aida naturally noticed Ryota Kise's gaze and revealed a mysterious smile.
'Just wait and be surprised!'
...
The referee, with the whistle in his mouth and the basketball in his hands, slowly walked between Kōji Kobori and Teppei Kiyoshi.
After glancing at the two of them, he lowered his body and prepared to toss the ball.
Kōji Kobori and Teppei Kiyoshi immediately focused completely, their attention locked onto the ball in the referee's hands.
Whoosh!
The referee threw it up with force, sending the basketball high into the air.
Teppei Kiyoshi and Kōji Kobori jumped at once, reaching for the basketball in midair.
In the end, Teppei Kiyoshi came out slightly ahead and tipped the basketball into the backcourt.
The moment Shun Izuki caught the basketball, he immediately launched the attack.
That was right, a fast break!
The Kaijō players reacted quickly too, swiftly falling back to prepare their defense.
Although the two teams had attended the same training camp before, they had never played a proper match during that time.
They had only trained together and occasionally played one-on-one.
While the Kaijō players were still retreating on defense, Shun Izuki had already gone full throttle.
[Eagle Eye] continuously scanned the situation on the court.
Taiga Kagami and Tatsuya Himuro charged forward at the same time, cutting into Kaijō's interior from the left and right.
Ryota Kise chose the nearest target and went to defend Taiga Kagami, who was closest to him.
Tatsuya Himuro, meanwhile, was being followed by Mitsuhiro Hayakawa.
Seeing this, Shun Izuki immediately threw the ball to Tatsuya Himuro.
After all, Tatsuya Himuro's shooting was definitely more stable than Taiga Kagami's.
The moment Tatsuya Himuro caught the ball, Mitsuhiro Hayakawa immediately pressed up to stop him from suddenly attacking.
However, Tatsuya Himuro had no intention of attacking.
He merely smiled, then casually flicked the ball behind him.
Junpei Hyuga immediately ran to the baseline and caught Tatsuya Himuro's behind-the-back pass.
Because Yoshitaka Moriyama was half a beat slow, his defensive rotation was delayed.
Just as he rushed up to help defend, Tatsuya Himuro suddenly ran over and set a screen.
This completely blocked Yoshitaka Moriyama.
Yoshitaka Moriyama cursed inwardly.
'Damn it!'
Tatsuya Himuro smiled gently, one eye looking at Yoshitaka Moriyama, while the other was covered by his bangs, and said,
"I can't let you through just yet."
Seeing this, Mitsuhiro Hayakawa wanted to help defend, but it was already too late.
Junpei Hyuga had already released the basketball.
However, for some reason, Junpei Hyuga's wide-open shot actually missed.
Clang!
Seeing that he had missed even a wide-open shot, Junpei Hyuga could not help cursing,
"Damn it!"
The basketball struck the rim and bounced high into the air.
Teppei Kiyoshi had already secured the best position. He jumped straight up from where he stood and grabbed the rebound.
Kōji Kobori felt rather uncomfortable, because his boxing-out technique truly was not as refined as Teppei Kiyoshi's.
But there was nothing he could do about that. After all, Teppei Kiyoshi was one of the [Uncrowned Kings]!
...
...
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