Chapter 298: Two wins, two losses

Seirin's locker room.

Everyone was silent, organizing their equipment under the coach's direction so as not to cause trouble for the teams playing later.

No one spoke; it was like heaven and earth compared to the madness of defeating Shutoku a few days ago.

Looking back now, the version of themselves that boasted before the match about defeating Kirisaki Daiichi, defeating Tiandao Jingyan, and defeating the Generation of Miracles was so cute.

"Don't be so dispirited."

"The round-robin hasn't ended yet. Don't forget our goal. We must also work hard in the upcoming matches. As long as we win one, we can qualify."

Aida Riko clearly had also reflected and regretted not giving up the match earlier.

They hadn't regained their dignity in the match.

They didn't choose to be decent, and Tiandao didn't give them a chance to be decent either.

Teammates who usually responded enthusiastically were silent at this moment.

Even Hyuga Junpei silently organized his equipment and called for his teammates to leave.

He didn't mention the next two matches at all.

Kuroko's last words seemed to really just be for the sake of being cool once; after that, things remained the same.

"We actually lost by 60 points, so what about us who lost to Seirin..."

"Smack!"

On the way back, Takao Kazunari used an exaggerated tone to prove the shock in his heart.

Teammate Kimura Shinsuke slapped him on the head.

Captain Otsubo Taisuke explained, "Don't treat basketball as a simple conversion problem. We lost to Seirin because the compatibility between Midorima and Kagami was too poor."

"Just like how the compatibility between Kuroko Tetsuya and Tiandao Jingyan is also very poor, but..."

If asked whether they could defeat Kirisaki Daiichi or Tiandao Jingyan, the Shutoku players had no confidence at all.

"The leader of the Generation of Miracles is truly beyond reason."

For those basketball clubs that had absorbed members of the Generation of Miracles this year, it should have been a great time to show their ambitions.

Not having a member of the Generation of Miracles meant exiting the ranks of the contenders early.

It seemed the competition had narrowed, but it hadn't; the competition had instead become even more intense.

The key to victory now lay in the battles between those geniuses.

Just like playing a battle royale, although there were fewer opponents in the final circle, those who remained were all elites.

They, who could influence the match last year, had their presence significantly reduced this year.

"That's true..." Takao Kazunari sighed silently.

Wasn't his own teammate, Midorima, the same, not remembering him?

Back in junior high, they had a record of playing against each other.

"Let's go back; our Shutoku's journey today isn't over yet."

"Everyone, cheer up. In the Winter Cup, we must personally take back the dignity that belongs to the kings."

"Oh!"

This focal match ended in a one-sided manner.

Still in the Seirin locker room, Hyuga Junpei and the others had already left.

Only the two first-year starters, Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya, remained.

Today was definitely a disastrous day for them.

Kagami and Kuroko were both beaten to the point of doubting themselves.

In front of Tiandao, they were like immature children.

"Maybe this is our limit." Kagami spoke first. He said, "I thought we could go further, but it turned out like this."

"In the face of overwhelming strength, working together isn't enough to win, is it?"

Kuroko's heart tightened upon hearing this.

Kuroko, who was already doubting himself after being beaten by Tiandao, was wounded all over by these words.

Could they really not win?

He remembered Tiandao's conversation with him before the match: "Basketball isn't a playground. With this 'playing house' mentality, you'll never beat me in your life."

No, that's not true.

Kuroko immediately became firm; he believed in his own convictions and held onto his original intention.

However.

The second day of the round-robin.

In Seirin's match against Touou, Kuroko and Seirin were hit hard again.

"Don't even think about passing!"

"I have no interest in you right now."

"Get out of my way."

Bang~

Facing Kagami's solo defense, Aomine used an extremely flashy crossover to make Kagami spin around.

Having watched yesterday's match, he had no interest in playing against Seirin now.

Originally, he was quite curious about how much real substance Kagami, who could defeat Midorima and Kise, had, but it turned out to be only this level.

Kagami was shaken to the ground again, but he didn't feel it was shameful; there was only unwillingness in his heart.

He wanted to stand up and fight again, but a sharp pain came from his ankle.

Gritting his teeth, he wanted to hide it and continue the match, but he couldn't escape Aida Riko's eyes.

"Was it from yesterday's match against Tiandao?" Aida Riko didn't hesitate this time and decisively substituted him out.

The schedule of the National Tournament was cruel; the intensity of yesterday's match was too high for them.

They had less than 24 hours of rest, and the fatigue brought by the match couldn't be eliminated...

Whether it was matching up against Tiandao or Aomine, the pressure was enormous for Kagami.

Plus, in the match against Shutoku, he had used his super-jump to block Midorima's three-pointer without regard for the consequences, which could be considered an accumulation of overwork.

From this aspect, one could see how much foresight Baijin Kozo had back then.

Ultimately, Seirin lost their second match, ending the round-robin with two losses.

Along with them was Senjinkan.

In the subsequent matches, they were no match for Kirisaki Daiichi, also losing both matches in the round-robin.

However, unlike Seirin, Senjinkan had prepared from the start to only play this match against Seirin.

(There are four teams in the anime round-robin: Senjinkan, Meisei, Touou, and Seirin; here, it is assumed that Meisei was eliminated by Kirisaki Daiichi.)

Facing Kirisaki Daiichi, they didn't put up much resistance and very simply conceded the victory to Kirisaki Daiichi.

Even fearing that their players would be injured and dreading Kirisaki Daiichi's iron elbows, they substituted their starters out after the first half and surrendered.

Unlike Seirin, who still played all their starters against Touou for four quarters.

And look, they only realized Kagami Taiga's ankle was injured after the fact.

In the original work, her ability to lead Seirin to win the Winter Cup championship could be called a miracle.

Not to mention Seirin, after Kirisaki Daiichi secured their second win, the fans at the scene were boiling.

At this time, the qualification situation in the Tokyo area was already very clear. ===== CHAPTER 300 =====