After the match, news of Ryonan High School's 148–47 victory over Ippon Nari, with an astonishing 101-point margin, spread through Kanagawa's high school basketball world like a sudden storm.
Basketball forums exploded overnight.
Newspapers rushed out special columns.
Even casual fans began whispering the same name.
"Again? Another 100-point win?"
"Is this Ryonan even human?"
"I watched it live—after the first three-point duel, it wasn't basketball anymore. It was an execution."
This victory was different from the previous ones.
Ippon Nari wasn't a weak team.
They were a legitimate Top-16 contender, a squad that had defeated several reputed schools in the preliminaries. Beating them was expected.
Beating them by one hundred points was not.
Teams at this level had pride. Even when losing badly, they fought until the final buzzer.
In recent years, not even the traditional giants—Kainan or Shoyo—had managed such a margin against Top-16 opponents.
Kainan usually won by fifty or sixty at most.
Shoyo preferred stable, conservative victories.
Yet Ryonan shattered that unspoken ceiling.
Purely by score, they now stood undisputedly at the top.
For a time, Ryonan's name eclipsed even Kainan and Shoyo.
They became the focal point of the entire prefecture.
As the tournament progressed, Ryonan's momentum only intensified.
They swept forward without slowing, each match ending with the opponent's morale completely crushed.
Sixth Match:
Ryonan High School vs. Shida High School.
This game became historical.
Ryonan annihilated Shida 176–15, setting both the highest single-game score and the largest point differential since the establishment of the prefectural preliminaries.
The stadium fell silent.
People began to realize something unsettling—
This wasn't just dominance.
This was imbalance.
The seventh match finally ended Ryonan's streak of 100-point victories.
Their opponent was Kamakura High School, last year's Top-8 team.
Kamakura possessed two towering interior players, both over 190 cm, whose physical presence disrupted Ryonan's rhythm and forced adjustments on both ends of the floor.
Even so—
Ryonan prevailed.
Final score: 111–53.
A decisive 58-point victory.
Kamakura became the first Top-8 team eliminated in this year's preliminaries.
The impact was immediate.
The remaining Top-8 teams fell into silence.
If even Kamakura was crushed so thoroughly, then against Ryonan—
No one could afford complacency.
With this victory, Ryonan became the first team to officially secure a Top-16 spot.
While Ryonan advanced early, battles in other districts raged on.
One by one, the Top-16 lineup was finalized.
District A
Kainan University Affiliated High School
Odagiri High School
Takenozono Academy
Sarashina High School
District B
Shoyo High School
Miuradai High School
Tsukubu High School
Shohoku High School
District C
Ryonan High School
Nanbara High School
Mokuji High School
Uchimura Daini
District D
Takezato High School
Kusaka High School
Kasuga Daiichi
Daikita High School
All sixteen were set.
This year's Kanagawa Prefecture Preliminaries felt different from the very beginning.
The most obvious change—
Participation numbers had exploded.
Previous years averaged just over a hundred schools.
This year, more than 260 high schools registered.
Many were newly formed teams.
Basketball fever had swept the prefecture—and even the nation.
Schools invested heavily, hoping to seize a miracle amid the chaos.
The consequence?
A complete reshuffle of the traditional power structure.
Less than half of last year's familiar Top-16 remained.
The rest were newcomers, stepping over fallen giants to announce their arrival.
Odagiri.
Sarashina.
Nanbara.
Mokuji.
Uchimura Daini.
Kusaka.
Kasuga Daiichi.
Daikita.
Names that barely existed last year now stood on equal footing with established powers.
In previous years, the Top-16 stage continued with single-elimination until the Top-4, followed by a round-robin.
But this year—
The organizers introduced something unprecedented:
The Top-16 Re-Ranking System.
The goal was simple:
Increase suspense
Prevent early mismatches
Give rising teams a chance to prove themselves
The results would be announced in three days.
Every team received a rare gift—
Three full days of rest.
Recovery.
Tactical refinement.
Opponent analysis.
Psychological adjustment.
Three Days Later — Ryonan Gym
The basketball gym was unusually quiet.
No fierce drills.
No shouting.
No pounding dribbles.
Players stretched silently, repeating routine motions.
Akashi had deliberately reduced training intensity.
They weren't just resting their bodies.
They were waiting.
Bang.
The gym doors burst open.
Aida Hikoichi rushed in, panting, clutching a rolled paper.
"It's out!" he shouted. "The Top-16 groupings are out!"
Every head snapped up.
Hikoichi hurried to the notice wall and slapped the paper into place.
"This time," he added, wiping sweat from his face, "last year's Top-4 teams were deliberately split into different groups."
Akashi stepped forward, eyes settling on the paper.
Group A
Kainan University Affiliated High School
Sarashina High School
Kusaka High School
Daikita High School
Group B
Shoyo High School
Kasuga Daiichi
Kakuno High School
Odagiri High School
Group C
Ryonan High School
Miuradai High School
Takenozono Academy
Tsukubu High School
Group D
Takezato High School
Mokuji High School
Nanbara High School
Shohoku High School
"As expected," Koshino muttered. "They split the Top-4."
Ikegami nodded. "They want the clashes saved for later."
Uekusa frowned, pointing at Group C.
"Wait… doesn't our group seem a little too stacked?"
Everyone leaned closer.
Compared to other groups—
Group C was filled with well-known competitive teams.
Targeted?
Akashi didn't react.
Opponents were opponents.
Then Hikoichi scratched his head nervously.
"Well… considering we've had multiple 100-point wins, it's not surprising."
He added quickly,
"Oh—and the Top-16 stage is now round-robin. Each team plays at least two games."
Murmurs spread.
Akashi's gaze lingered on Group C.
Miuradai.
Takenozono.
Tsukubu.
Names he recognized from another timeline.
His eyes shifted to Group D.
Shohoku.
A faint curve appeared at the corner of his lips.
"A round-robin…" Akashi murmured.
"How interesting."
His heterochromatic eyes reflected the schedule like a chessboard—
One where every outcome was already known.