The game ended.
Momoi immediately returned to Teiko Middle School.
At that moment, basketball club activities had only just begun.
Her timing was perfect.
“Momoi, I didn’t see you all afternoon.
Where did you run off to this time?” Daiki Aomine had already changed into his gear and was preparing to warm up.
Seeing Momoi return, skipping along as if she had encountered something happy, he couldn’t help growing curious.
“I went to Kanagawa.” “Kanagawa?
Gathering intelligence again?
You really do like doing boring stuff like that.” Aomine never read the intelligence Momoi collected.
In his words, following his own instincts when playing basketball was what made the game enjoyable.
If he knew everything in advance, there would be no surprises.
“Don’t assume everyone is like you, Dai!” Momoi glared, dissatisfaction written all over her face.
Gathering intelligence was very hard work.
These days, she had practically run all over the country and barely rested.
“So?
What did you see in Kanagawa this time?” “A wonderful game.
Chiba Middle School’s warm-up game against Yokohama International!” Chiba Middle School.
The people at Teiko were not unfamiliar with that name.
They had only heard it from Momoi a while ago.
“Didn’t Coach tell you to focus on competitors from the Tokyo region first?” “I did properly collect information on the Tokyo teams too.” Momoi took out a statistical report.
Rather than explaining everything, she felt it would be better to show them.
“That Yokohama International lost by 22 points?” Shuzo Nijimura was surprised when he saw the result.
Kanagawa had always been one of the strongest regions in the nation, and in terms of competitiveness, it was not weaker than Tokyo.
Yokohama International was not some weak team either.
They were a frequent presence at the national tournament.
Yet they had been crushed by Chiba Middle School by 22 points.
What exactly had happened?
Looking further down, Shuzo Nijimura pointed at the report and asked, “Momoi, is this report written wrong?” “Written wrong?
Impossible.” “Then why did you write seven under blocks?” “Because Hibari-kun really did record seven blocks.” Huh?
The moment those words came out, everyone else fell silent.
The Generation of Miracles before awakening was still very strong.
As first-years, they could already serve as Teiko’s starters.
However, the gap between them and other players had not yet reached the future level, where they would seem like people from completely different worlds.
Recording seven blocks in one game was an astonishing number.
“How many minutes did he play?” “He played thirty minutes.
Hibari-kun made Yokohama International’s players afraid to enter the paint.
However…” “However what?” “I don’t know how to put it…” Momoi thought for a while, considering what adjective to use.
Hibari’s statistics were gorgeous, but to some extent, they resembled Marcus Camby’s.
The numbers did not represent his dominance on the defensive end.
“Do you have footage?” Kozo Shirogane also spoke up at this moment.
Rather than listening to descriptions, he trusted his own eyes more.
“I do.
I recorded it properly.” …
Elsewhere.
Hibari followed the team back to Chiba Prefecture.
After returning to the basketball club, the coach announced that the team was dismissed.
There would be no training today.
But after Hibari went home and rested, he continued his daily practice that night.
This was one advantage young people had: they recovered quickly.
Sleep once, and the fatigue was forgotten.
When he arrived at school the next day, Chiba Middle School’s brutal win over Yokohama International in the warm-up game had attracted some attention.
The national tournament was about to begin, and many media outlets had already started building momentum in advance.
Chiba Middle School slaughtering Yokohama International by 22 points on the road was no small news.
In many people’s minds, these two teams were on the same level, even if Yokohama International had failed to break through last year.
Yet the score of their warm-up game had been so lopsided…
Eikichi Nebuya’s dominance was within people’s expectations.
After all, he had been one of the best centers last year.
Fans did not react too strongly to his performance.
Hibari, on the other hand, a first-year player who had delivered seven blocks in a single game, drew a great deal of attention.
It was well known that Japan admired strength.
With the national tournament not yet started, a genius had suddenly popped out, and people were naturally curious.
Some media outlets, chasing attention, even wrote headlines like “Chiba Middle School Is Ready to Win the Championship.” It made people instinctively turn their eyes toward Chiba Middle School.
“These media outlets love making a mountain out of a molehill.
Leaving aside the fact that this was only a warm-up game, we merely beat Yokohama International.
We’re still far from the point of winning a championship.” Hayato Takahashi casually tossed the newspaper into the trash.
He didn’t like this kind of report, and he didn’t want it appearing in his basketball club.
This kind of praise would indeed bring them attention, but it would also invisibly increase the psychological pressure on the players.
It would make them feel that anything short of success was failure.
Hayato Takahashi believed that the current Chiba Middle School should challenge the nation as a dark horse.
They were challengers.
There was no throne beneath them to sit on!
“How are the people in the basketball club reacting?” “Overall, they’re happy.
Some members are overly excited.” Yukino answered honestly.
“Just as expected.
Since they have so much energy, double the training intensity and help them release that excess energy.” Once the news came out, the basketball club was filled with wails.
But this method was indeed effective.
At the very least, the boys on the team were all too tired to get cocky.
…
One week later, Chiba Middle School arrived in Kyoto and welcomed their second warm-up opponent.
Ryuzakura Private Middle School.
The attention on this game was visibly higher.
When Hibari and the others arrived at Ryuzakura Private Middle School’s basketball club, several reporters holding cameras were already waiting at the venue.
The national tournament was about to begin, and it was time for reporters to move.
Ryuzakura Private’s ace player was a third-year interior player who stood 194 centimeters tall.
His static physical talent was his greatest advantage.
According to the information Yukino had collected, this person had played basketball since childhood and received professional training.
Hibari flipped through the memories in his mind and found that he truly had never heard this name.
Still, someone who had received professional training since childhood should have something to him.
However, after the game began, Hibari discovered that there was a reason this guy had no name in the original work.
The opponent’s height advantage was indeed obvious, but his physicality was truly terrible.
He weighed 85 kilograms, roughly the same as the current Eikichi Nebuya.
But in terms of core strength, he was completely no match for Herculean Strength.
Even Hibari found it effortless to attack the basket several times in the opening stretch.
By halftime, the score had already become 50-31, with Chiba Middle School leading by as many as 19 points.
In the first half, Hibari recorded 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 blocks, and 4 steals.
Three of those blocks came over the opposing core player.
Under the alternating devastation of Hibari and Eikichi Nebuya, the opponent shot 0-for-7 in the first half.
It was even worse than the Qi family’s thirteen victims!
Chang Wei may not have spared even a dog, but at least the Zhang family’s young madam was still alive.
Ryuzakura’s boss, on the other hand, couldn’t even score one point in the first half.
…
Please add this book to your library!