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Time flies like an arrow.
Three months have passed in the blink of an eye.
The basketball club continues its rigorous training every day under the supervision of the assistant coach.
During this time, Ryu hasn't seen Kuroko Tetsuya again.
However, he heard that Kuroko went to see Akashi yesterday.
Akashi must have already verified Kuroko's abilities.
Furthermore, Akashi mentioned that a new member would be joining the first team today.
This must be referring to Kuroko Tetsuya.
"I brought Kuroko Tetsuya-kun." Just then, a voice reached everyone's ears.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Momoi Satsuki leading someone into the gym.
Nijimura Shuzo replied, "Oh, thanks!"
Aomine Daiki was the most excited.
He quickly greeted Kuroko. "You've finally arrived, Tetsuya."
Akashi, who initiated the invitation to Kuroko, also welcomed him with a smile. "Hi! I've been waiting for you. Welcome to the Teiko basketball team's first team."
A faint breeze brushed across Kuroko's face.
His eyes widened, and he stood there, stunned, staring at the first team.
This was the first time he had felt such a powerful and oppressive aura. If he were a little timid, he probably wouldn't even be able to stand there.
Akashi continued, "And you must remember this: from this moment on, you have only one mission, and that is victory."
Ryu smiled at him. "It will be great to have you here from now on, Kuroko-kun!"
"Meow…" Karupin meowed appropriately.
Hearing the cat's meow, Kuroko Tetsuya snapped out of the overwhelming pressure and looked over. "Ryu-kun…"
Hesitantly—perhaps it was just his imagination—Ryu gave him a strange feeling.
It was the same when they met that night in the gym.
He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but he felt that Ryu seemed somewhat out of place among the rest of the first-year students.
This wasn't to say that Ryu wasn't strong.
To put it another way, the rest of the first-year students were Tyrannosaurus Rexes, while Ryu was an Dragon.
One was the absolute ruler of the land, the other the sole sovereign of the ocean.
Although both were dragons, their domains were completely different.
"Assemble!" Just then, the bespectacled, serious-looking assistant coach shouted loudly.
Everyone quickly lined up, awaiting the coach's instructions.
The coach scanned the room before speaking clearly. "We have a practice match with Nanbara Middle School in a week. The purpose is to confirm the first-year rosters. However, just in case, the second-year students will also be going. Keep that in mind."
After speaking, the coach glanced at Ryu and the other first-year students, then continued. "Alright, that's all. Dismissed—except for Kuroko."
Hearing this, Ryu and the others all looked confident of victory.
They naturally knew about Nanbara Middle School.
Their strength was quite good among junior high schools nationwide.
However, compared to Teiko, they were somewhat lacking.
After being dismissed, everyone began their training for the day.
However, some unexpected things happened during training.
Kuroko Tetsuya became the focus of everyone's attention.
Due to his physical limitations, Kuroko Tetsuya collapsed after training with the others for several tens of minutes.
Seeing this, everyone's lips twitched uncontrollably.
Ryu was also quite surprised.
Having read the original work, he knew Kuroko's physical abilities were weak, but he hadn't expected them to be this weak.
If Karupin were to provide some statistics, it would be something like this:
[Name]: Kuroko Tetsuya
[Age]: 12 years old
[Height]: 155 cm
[Weight]: 49 kg
[Strength]: D
[Speed]: D
[Stamina]: D
[Mental Strength]: D
[Passing]: A
[Skills]: None
[Ability]: Low Presence
After calculating these statistics, Ryu couldn't help but internally complain. 'Goodness, without passing, Kuroko is practically useless.' However, passing and low presence are his weapons.
Ryu wouldn't deliberately judge anything.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Today was the practice match between Teiko and Nanbara.
Ryu and his group boarded the bus bound for Nanbara Middle School.
After a long while, the bus stopped at the school gate.
The coach and captain of Nanbara Middle School had been waiting at the gate for quite some time.
As soon as Ryu and the others got off the bus, the opposing coach and captain stepped forward to welcome them. "A very warm welcome to everyone from the Teiko basketball team to Nanbara for this practice match."
The Nanbara captain also stepped forward and addressed the group. "I am the captain of the Nanbara Middle School basketball team; welcome to our school."
Nijimura Shuzo shook hands with them. "We've met before; no need to be so polite."
The assistant coach and the opposing coach chatted as they walked towards Nanbara Middle School's campus.
Soon, they arrived at the basketball gym.
Nanbara's gym was far inferior to Teiko's; there was only one gym, and the number of players was many times less than Teiko's.
After a brief exchange, both sides went to prepare.
In Teiko's rest area, a phone rang abruptly just as everyone was preparing to go on the court.
Akashi took his phone out of his bag, glanced at the caller ID, and then turned to Nijimura Shuzo. "It's Haizaki."
Upon hearing it was Haizaki Shogo, Nijimura Shuzo's face darkened. "Ah! Give me the phone." He snatched the phone from Akashi's hand and pressed the answer button. "Hey, Haizaki, where are you now?"
A few seconds later, it was unclear what was said on the phone, but Nijimura Shuzo suddenly became incredibly gloomy, as if shrouded in shadow, emanating a chilling aura.
After a long while, he turned to the assistant coach and said, "Haizaki said he caught a cold today, so he's taking the day off."
The assistant coach's expression remained unchanged, seemingly unconcerned about Haizaki Shogo's absence. He first scanned the Teiko group, and finally, his gaze settled on Ryu. "Ryu, you won't be going on stage first today, okay?"
Hearing the assistant coach's question, Ryu simply smiled and waved his hand. "Of course, no problem; I don't mind."
The assistant coach nodded, then looked at Kuroko Tetsuya, who was tying his shoelaces. "Kuroko, you're starting today."
Upon hearing this, Kuroko was stunned for a moment, then his bright blue eyes went blank, accompanied by a shiver running down his body and beads of cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
Seeing Kuroko's bewildered expression, Ryu chuckled to himself.
He thought, 'This guy was substituted off in a second in the original story; I wonder how he'll be this time?' Ryu was quite looking forward to it.
Soon, the referee signaled that the match was about to begin.
As they lined up, Ryu saw Kuroko's legs shaking uncontrollably, wobbling like a newborn fawn.
Whistle...
Just then, a clear whistle blew.
The practice match between Teiko Junior High School and Nanbara Junior High School had officially begun.
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