Two days later, exactly 9:00 in the morning.
The Hiroshima Central Gymnasium began hosting the first match of the Final Four.
Shohoku High School vs. Kainan High School.
The stands were already packed with spectators and players from other teams.
Both Hakata High and Meihou had taken seats near the front.
These two teams were paying close attention to Shohoku and Kainan.
Especially Shohoku.
Since Shohoku and Kainan were both from Kanagawa, they had naturally heard how Shohoku beat Kainan during the regional tournament.
On the opposite side of the spectator seats—
There was Sendoh with his signature messy hair.
He was also looking forward to seeing what kind of sparks would fly between Shohoku and Kainan in this rematch.
On the court—
Bang...
Bang...
The doors on both sides of the player tunnels swung open.
Players from Shohoku and Kainan began entering the court in a steady stream from both tunnels.
Unlike the regional tournament—
This time, the stands were filled with cheers and shouts in support of Shohoku.
"Shohoku... Shohoku... Shohoku..."
"Aoi Kunisaku... Aoi Kunisaku... Aoi Kunisaku..."
Mixed in with the chants was another wave of cheers, almost drowned out by the noise.
"Rukawa Kaede... I love you... Rukawa Kaede... I love you... Rukawa Kaede... I love you..."
Three girls, dressed flamboyantly in tight, white cheer uniforms with bare thighs, shouted tirelessly.
You had to respect their energy.
Before long, the players of Shohoku and Kainan stood face to face on the court.
As they locked eyes from across the floor, tension filled the air.
Akagi Takenori and Maki Shinichi stepped forward and shook hands.
Akagi Takenori said, "Didn't expect to face you guys again so soon. We won't go easy."
Maki Shinichi smiled faintly. Though he wasn't confident in this match, he still carried himself like a true competitor.
"You beat us last time, but this time it won't be so easy."
Shohoku starting lineup:
Center: Akagi Takenori, No. 4, third year. (Captain)
Shooting Guard: Mitsui Hisashi, No. 14, third year.
Point Guard: Miyagi Ryota, No. 7, second year.
Small Forward: Rukawa Kaede, No. 11, first year.
Power Forward: Sakuragi Hanamichi, No. 10, first year.
Kainan starting lineup:
Center: Takasago Kazuma, No. 5, third year.
Shooting Guard: Jin Soichiro, No. 6, third year.
Point Guard: Maki Shinichi, No. 4, third year.
Power Forward: Muto Tadashi, No. 9, third year.
Small Forward: Kiyota Nobunaga, No. 10, first year.
Noticing that Aoi Kunisaku wasn't in Shohoku's starting lineup—
Maki Shinichi glanced toward Shohoku's bench where Aoi sat, then looked at Akagi Takenori with a puzzled expression.
"You're not putting him in?"
Maki didn't show much reaction outwardly.
But to Kiyota Nobunaga, it was like a match had been lit.
He shouted angrily at the Shohoku players, "You guys are looking down on us! Seriously? Holding back your main guy? Think beating us once means you're untouchable?!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi shot back, "Wild monkey, with the genius Sakuragi Hanamichi here, we're more than enough to beat you!"
"What did you say, you red-haired monkey?!" Kiyota Nobunaga glared at Sakuragi, furious.
Sakuragi glared right back, mumbling under his breath, "Wild monkey, short monkey, stinky monkey…"
Kiyota's face flushed red. Veins bulged across his forehead like they might burst at any second.
Akagi Takenori calmly replied to Maki Shinichi, "Shohoku isn't just about Aoi Kunisaku. Even if he doesn't play, we can still beat Kainan."
Maki Shinichi narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Oh? Is that so?"
He knew Akagi well enough.
Akagi wasn't the type to say things he couldn't back up.
He didn't know where Akagi's confidence came from, but Maki wasn't the kind to underestimate anyone.
He approached every match with caution.
Over at Kainan's bench—
Coach Takato Riki looked over Shohoku's starting lineup and frowned slightly.
'They're not starting him. Is it to conserve strength? Or is there something else going on?'
He couldn't figure it out.
Takato Riki glanced at Anzai Mitsuyoshi, calmly seated at Shohoku's bench.
'What's that old guy scheming?'
Though in truth, Anzai Mitsuyoshi wasn't pulling the strings this time.
Right now, he was just steering Shohoku from a high-level view.
Decisions like who started the game—he'd left those to Shimizu Kanon.
He saw big potential in Shimizu Kanon and wanted to train her fully.
All the other teams were focused on Aoi Kunisaku.
They completely ignored Shimizu Kanon.
Maybe only Taoka Moichi from Ryonan had started keeping an eye on her.
To everyone else, she was still just Shohoku's regular team manager.
No one realized that besides Aoi Kunisaku, Shohoku had another hidden genius—
Someone who could flip the court with a flick of her fingers.