Chapter 27

But today marked the opening of the Tokyo District preliminaries, so the spectator stands in the gymnasium were more than half full, and in the center of the gym, most of the teams participating in the Tokyo District preliminaries had already taken the court.

The members of Bai Shui followed Takefu Masaki, who held the sign at the very front, to the center of the gymnasium.

Just then.

As a team wearing white uniforms entered the arena, the volume of the crowd suddenly rose another level.

Yukimiya Kazuma turned his head to look.

As expected, it was Teiko Middle School.

"Hey!"

"Look, it's Teiko Middle School!"

"Two consecutive national championships! The ones at the front are the Generation of Miracles!"

"It feels a bit scary... their expressions are a bit gloomy."

"Before last year's National Tournament, Teiko had never lost, but they weren't this exaggerated this year. In the exchange matches among the top ten schools in the region, they often scored over a hundred points more..."

"Huh?"

"Really!?"

The player who revealed this information nodded, affirming, "Really. Teiko is definitely going to win the championship this year; everyone else shouldn't even think about it..."

"These monsters are insanely strong!"

Yukimiya Kazuma turned to look at Teiko Middle School; this was the first time since his transmigration that he had faced the entire Generation of Miracles.

The first to catch his eye was Atsushi Murasakibara, whose height had clearly already reached 200. Although not yet at the later 208 level, standing among a group of middle schoolers, he looked quite terrifying.

Ryota Kise, who was印象中 quite lively, also wore a cold face most of the time during this phase of Teiko's disintegration.

Next was Daiki Aomine, whose height looked about the same as Yukimiya Kazuma's, perhaps only one or two centimeters taller. At that moment, he was tilting his head, saying something with a gloomy expression to a pink-haired girl beside him.

That eye-catching patch of green in the crowd had bandages on his hands, silently examining a mascot that Yukimiya didn't understand. This guy Midorima was nearly 190 tall, almost equal to their own center, Takefu Masaki.

And Seijuro Akashi...

When Yukimiya Kazuma looked at him, Akashi suddenly turned his head and glanced at him. His eyes, full of oppressive pressure, and the heterochromatic pupils already visible at the bottom of his gaze, looked extremely eerie.

Yukimiya Kazuma: "..."

Good lord...

Who dares say you are protagonists? You look exactly like a villainous group.

"Hello."

"Yukimiya-kun."

Oh.

Except for the one right in front of him.

"Hello."

Tetsuya Kuroko came over to greet Yukimiya Kazuma on his own initiative, but didn't say much before following the Teiko team away.

Yukimiya himself felt strange, while the teammates beside him felt terrified. The ever-stern Coach Xinsongzhi, this little old man, even shivered when suddenly confronted by Kuroko.

The opening ceremony for the regional preliminaries proceeded quite smoothly.

Athletes' oath, group photo.

Speech by the organizers.

One hour later, the opening ceremony concluded, and the matches officially began.

According to the draw results before the start, Bai Shui Middle School's first match was against a middle school named Enshoji. This school's strength, within the Tokyo District, was nothing special.

Of course.

In Yukimiya Kazuma's memory.

This "nothing special" was probably about the same level as the old Bai Shui.

After everyone changed into their jerseys in the locker room, not long after, staff from the gymnasium came to notify them that the match was ready and they could go on the court to warm up.

Immediately, the members of Bai Shui, with somewhat anxious hearts, stepped onto the court.

"Is Bai Shui Middle School strong?"

"Well~ I don't know."

"If we haven't heard much about them before, they're probably about the same level as us, right?"

"Eh?"

"Isn't this a good draw? In that case, our chances of advancing to the second round increase greatly!"

After the warm-up ended, at the Enshoji Middle School bench.

The basketball club members quietly looked in the direction of Bai Shui.

Although their team's strength was ordinary and they had always been eliminated in the first round of the regional preliminaries in the past, even so, as players, they had ambitions!

Clap, clap, clap~!

"Focus, don't think about anything else. No matter what the opponent does, we play to our own rhythm and win the first quarter first." The captain of Enshoji Middle School stood up, clapped his hands, and encouraged everyone.

"Yes!"

"Let's go! Defeat the opponent!"

"Make a big scene this year!"

The starting five of Enshoji Middle School stood up with quite impressive momentum, and as they stepped onto the court, everyone wore an expression of confidence.

Then, not long after...

Boom~!

During Enshoji Middle School's offensive possession, a white flash leaped out from the free-throw line on the opposite side!

The shooting guard of Yuancheng Temple School, after setting a screen, launched a three-pointer that, accompanied by a thunderous boom, was swatted away with such force that the basketball flew all the way from the frontcourt to the backcourt!

It then slammed violently into the advertising board outside the court!

In an instant.

The expressions on the faces of every player from Yuancheng Temple Middle School on the court froze solid.