Tōō High vs. Senshinkan.
The result was almost predictable.
Though Senshinkan was one of Tokyo's Three Kings, for Tōō, blessed with the ace of the Generation of Miracles, Aomine Daiki, the so-called "kings" were just… ordinary.
121–74.
Thanks to their experience and pedigree, Senshinkan didn't lose by double or triple the score as other teams might have, but nearly a 50-point defeat was still staggering.
Even though the outcome was expected, seeing such a huge gap in person still left the Senshinkan players feeling hollow as they exited the court.
Losers have no words.
But today was different. The Senshinkan point guard couldn't help but feel inexplicably irritated when he saw Shoichi Imayoshi smiling with those squinty eyes.
"Hey! That squinty-eyed schemer…"
"Squinty-eyed schemer?"
Hearing this, Imayoshi froze, pointing to himself: "You mean me?"
"Of course! Who else here has squinty eyes? Didn't you want to know the result of our last scrimmage against Seiho? Well, I'll tell you, we lost. By 25 points. And… that was without that monster even taking a shot."
"Oh?"
The moment Imayoshi heard the last part, his smile vanished instantly.
Seeing this, the Senshinkan point guard felt his mood lighten, turning to leave the court with a sense of satisfaction.
Meanwhile…
As the Tōō vs. Senshinkan game ended, Shutoku's match concluded as well.
No surprises here, both teams belonging to the Generation of Miracles easily advanced to the round-robin stage.
Next up were the matches: Seirin vs. Josei.
Seirin's opponent remained the same as the original story: Josei High.
Kirisaki Daiichi faced Meisei High.
Kirisaki Daiichi's game didn't draw much attention, as most of their main players had quit basketball last year due to trauma from their previous match.
The only notable player, "the troublemaker" Hanamiya Makoto, was still recovering from ankle and knee injuries, leaving his performance significantly weakened.
In contrast, Seirin drew much higher attention, both from Shutoku and Tōō.
Shutoku's interest was due to Seirin previously defeating them.
The others at Tōō simply watched with curiosity, though Aomine Daiki remained focused solely on Kuroko Tetsuya.
When Seirin faced Josei, the first player to draw attention wasn't Kagami or Kuroko, but Kiyoshi Teppei.
"Captain, that guy…" Kousuke Kazunari noticed Teppei first. Being a center of the same age, he had known of Teppei since junior high.
"Ah~~ I see. Staying behind today was the right choice!" Shoichi Imayoshi squinted, his expression growing serious.
The match began swiftly.
At first, Seirin didn't play very well. They were a slow-start team, and Kagami's performance was extremely unstable.
This wasn't due to a gap in skill but personality factors.
Even Akashi Asuka's meticulous planning couldn't easily change that.
So in the beginning, not only did Seirin struggle, but Josei, viewing Seirin as a serious rival, also felt embarrassed.
If our opponent is this weak, does that make us the same level?
However, by the second quarter, Seirin began stabilizing.
Yes!
This time, Kagami wasn't the issue.
The improvement came from Kiyoshi Teppei and Hyuga Junpei forming the core of a renewed tactical system, or rather, a return to the original system.
Before Teppei's injury, when Kuroko Tetsuya and Kagami hadn't joined, Seirin relied on the "inside with Teppei, outside with Hyuga" strategy to reach the Tokyo finals.
"It's definitely different now!"
Shoichi Imayoshi said, "The Uncrowned Kings, iron-heart Kiyoshi Teppei. With him back, Seirin's stability and coordination have improved tremendously."
"Especially in the paint. Last year, the inside was their weakness, but now, with Teppei's return, it's no longer a gap, more like a threat."
Josei High's strength lay in their inside game, with a talented first-year center. Normally, they could have challenged Seirin heavily, but Teppei's presence quickly suppressed the rookie, causing Josei's entire lineup to collapse.
By the fourth quarter, Seirin held a near 25-point lead, practically securing victory.
Kagami finally calmed his impulsive energy and, in the last offensive play, executed a free-throw-line jump dunk in front of Midorima Shintaro and Aomine Daiki.
At that moment, all five members of the Generation of Miracles felt an inexplicable resonance.
Someone had opened the door.
The door that only true geniuses could step through.
Interestingly, Akashi Asuka wasn't behind this door, which left the entire Generation of Miracles puzzled.
No doubt about it, Kagami's dunk ignited the crowd.
But for Shutoku and Tōō, it was hard to smile.
"No way! High schoolers can really do a free-throw-line dunk? I've only seen this in the NBA!" Takao exclaimed.
"Looks like our previous estimates were a bit naive."
Shoichi Imayoshi looked at Seirin celebrating, then glanced at Shutoku nearby. He pushed up his glasses, hiding the seriousness in his eyes.
Now, it's not just about taking revenge on Seirin in the official match, we might not even make it past the preliminaries this time!
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria