Chapter 142

Bai Shui defeated Hagiya, but they did not crush Tsuchiya Dahe's will.

Because a man who stands on the court with his head held high and chest out, accepting defeat, will never truly be beaten by his enemies.

Moreover…

When it came to that will, it was quite the opposite.

After the match ended, Yukimiya Kazuma was approached by Tsuchiya Dahe.

"Hey there~, Yukimiya-kun~, have you confirmed your next opponent?" Yukimiya Kazuma was startled by the voice. When he turned around, that familiar, overly friendly tone made Yukimiya Kazuma inexplicably think of Kise Ryota.

But the voice actually came from Tsuchiya Dahe, who had been quite aloof on the court, which surprised him greatly.

Could it be…

The overly friendly type?

Yukimiya Kazuma found such people hard to deal with. He turned around and said, "Pretty much. Are you guys leaving already? Not going to watch the rest of the matches?"

Tsuchiya Dahe stood with his hands on his hips and said loudly, "Yeah, we're heading back to start hellish training. In the next match, our Hagiya will definitely beat Bai Shui, and beat you!"

Tsuchiya Dahe was bursting with energy, completely different from Yukimiya Kazuma's helpless look at this moment. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought Tsuchiya Dahe was the one who had just won.

"Alright, hope you guys have a smooth…"

Yukimiya Kazuma was about to wish the Hagiya group well in their training, but then suddenly remembered—this guy is already in his third year, right? Where would there be another chance for a next match…

Bai Shui vs. Hagiya.

This was the last time.

But in the end, before Yukimiya Kazuma could remind him, the kouhai of Tsuchiya Dahe from Hagiya Middle School couldn't stand watching anymore. "Tsuchiya-senpai, let's go already. If we don't leave now, the school bus will leave without us."

The other members of Hagiya Middle School, seeing that Tsuchiya Dahe still wanted to keep talking to Yukimiya Kazuma, had no choice but to speak up and stop him.

Tsuchiya Dahe left reluctantly without another word.

When the Hagiya group left, they brushed past Yukimiya Kazuma, but their attitude toward Yukimiya was not as friendly as Tsuchiya Dahe's. After all, not everyone could be like Tsuchiya Dahe—facing an opponent who had just utterly defeated them, yet still calmly issuing another challenge.

……

After the Hagiya people left, everyone from Bai Shui also returned to the inn where they were staying.

At this point, everyone was preparing to discuss tactics for the next match, but before that, Niimatsu Osamu first introduced information about their opponent for everyone.

"Kitaoka Middle School, the number one seed in the Aomori district, has entered the National Middle School Championship for eight consecutive years. Just looking at the data, Kitaoka Middle School is stronger than Hagiya from the last match, and in fact, that is indeed the case."

"Although both are top national basketball powerhouses…"

"The difference is that Kitaoka's players are all very tall. Apart from one second-year point guard at 179 cm, all the remaining starting players are above 180 cm."

"The center is 198, the power forward is 193. And the one worth noting is their core player, small forward Dakou Longzhi. This guy is 186 cm tall, but his playmaking and scoring abilities are both quite impressive…"

At this point.

Without Niimatsu Osamu needing to hint at anything, everyone from Bai Shui immediately noticed something off.

This description…

Isn't it a lot like Yukimiya Kazuma?

Everyone instinctively looked at Yukimiya Kazuma and muttered, "186 cm, playmaking and scoring both quite impressive?"

Yukimiya Kazuma: "…"

"Does it feel a bit familiar?"

"Exactly!"

Everyone nodded immediately.

The next second, Niimatsu Osamu also nodded. "Your feeling is correct. This player, Dakou Longzhi, is second only to Yukimiya in reputation, and is compared as a player of the same type."

"In the Aomori preliminaries, he averaged a complete stat line of 26.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 2.2 blocks, and 1.8 steals per game."

"In other words, in the next match, we might be facing a player of the same type who is just as strong as Yukimiya."

After Niimatsu Osamu finished speaking, he had expected it to draw surprise from everyone, but at this moment, none of the players were surprised at all.

"How could that be, Coach…"

"What a joke."

"Right? Just looking at the stats, Yukimiya-senpai is way more exaggerated than him. Not to mention we all know just how much of a 'monster' Yukimiya-senpai is…"

"Apart from the Generation of Miracles, no one can compare to him."

Niimatsu Osamu: "…"

*Snap*~

Niimatsu Osamu closed the folder. "Alright, as long as you all know what you're doing…"

Didn't scare them at all…

But judging by their looks, they didn't seem like the type to grow complacent and careless, so let's just proceed step by step.

After all the tactical explanations were done, everyone from Bai Shui also dispersed one by one.

……

The next day.

The match between Bai Shui Middle School and Kitaoka Middle School officially began.

As usual, the commentators introduced the starting lineups of both teams one by one. After everyone had taken the court, the players from both sides officially began warming up.

During this time, Yukimiya Kazuma observed the Kitaoka Middle School players. In the end, the evaluation he arrived at was just two words:

Professional.

Probably because their average height was relatively high, and everyone had a cold expression.

From them, one could sense a hint of Teikou's vibe, more or less, but it was different from Teikou's feeling. Teikou's was the confidence that came from within, born of overwhelming strength, looking down on everything.

But the ones in front of him…

Gave off more of an air of deliberately acting cool.

But whether it was pretense no longer mattered, for the system notification had arrived. Since stepping into the All-Japan Preliminaries, the system had never disappointed him, yet this time felt somewhat different.

【Badge Quest: Defeat Kitaoka Middle School and achieve comprehensive superiority over Dakou Longzhi in the statistics (points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks).】

【Completion Reward: Related Badges of Dakou Longzhi.】

You must know.

The last time the system issued a badge quest related to a 'person's name', that person was Facing Qingfeng Daki.

The badge obtained was 'Monster Immersion · Flying Bird'.

Is Dakou Longzhi on such a high level?!

How is that possible?

I've never heard of him in the manga; either he stopped playing basketball in high school, or he was buried like Ryonan in 'Slam Dunk', unable to rise above the regional level.

Comprehensive superiority in statistics...

Fortunately, it limited the main five categories; without that condition, it would be complicated. Turnover rate, fouls drawn, and so on—there are too many fragmented statistics to compare...

If it's just the main five, for Yukimiya Kazuma normally, it isn't too difficult.

But Yukimiya Kazuma did not rejoice too early. Judging from this quest issued by the system, Yukimiya felt he should first see what kind of player Dakou Longzhi is.

In the stands, because Yukimiya Kazuma and Dakou Longzhi were among the most watched players of this tournament beneath the Generation of Miracles, their duel was highly anticipated.

The atmosphere from the Kitaoka Middle School cheer squad on site was also quite good, focusing solely on cheering for Kitaoka Middle School. Their banner covering half of the Kitaoka stands, "Great Wind Supports the Ridge, Endurance Unyielding," was very imposing.

Regarding this, Yukimiya Kazuma expressed envy. Bai Shui, with completely average club results, didn't even have an external club motto, which wasn't very cool.

During the pre-game warm-up, Dakou Longzhi met Yukimiya Kazuma's gaze several times, nodding very coolly each time, neither happy nor sad, looking very stylish.

As Takefune Masaki and the Kitaoka center leaped for the jump ball, the match began.

Kitaoka's average height in middle school must be unparalleled; I doubt any other team has a center close to two meters tall. Of course, Ziyuan of Teiko, over 2m, belongs to the category of gods beyond worldly things.

The Kitaoka center won the jump ball and then tapped the ball to the point guard.

In this match, Yukimiya Kazuma needed to handle the power forward with a height of 193 cm on defense, so the one matching up against Dakou Longzhi was Liang Huayin, who had recently successfully broken through from 180 to 182.

After the Kitaoka point guard reached the frontcourt, he quickly passed the ball to Dakou Longzhi on the left three-point line.

Dakou Longzhi drove with the ball. It was clear that his drive relied heavily on physical attributes and contact; it was the common middle school type where, if your physical ability is better, you just exploit your body relentlessly.

His talent was indeed there; for that height in the Chinese Basketball World, his combination of speed, strength, and agility was quite excellent.

Most players couldn't withstand Dakou Longzhi's assault, but Liang Huayin, as he is now, clearly did not belong to that category.

Although saying that a month of devilish training camp can transform someone is somewhat outrageous.

But Yukimiya Kazuma had to say...

It is exactly that outrageous.