Chapter 35: Hara Sawa Katsu

Having won the game, everyone was very happy after the match.

Aomine was especially noticeable; his smile never stopped, and he kept shouting that he must score more points than Tian in the next game.

Tian sneered and spat out three English letters, "M, V, P!"

Aomine was instantly silenced.

It was like this: during daily training, Aomine had lost a one-on-one to Tian and had boasted that he would win the MVP of the first game against Kaicheng Middle School.

The result was obvious; Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi won the best player of the game.

The prefectural tournament also had statistics for awards like best player.

If Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi continued his high-light performance in the upcoming games, he was very likely to become the second first-year to be the MVP of the prefectural tournament.

Who was the first?

It was none other than their captain, Nijimura Shuzo.

Last year, Nijimura Shuzo became the best player in the Tokyo region with comprehensive stats of 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 2 steals per game, and was selected for the best lineup.

Now he had become the strongest power forward candidate in the country!

While bickering with Aomine, not long after walking out of the locker room, the Teiko people encountered Hara Sawa Katsu.

He first greeted his senior, Coach Coach Baijin Coach Coach Baijin Coach Baijin Baijin Baijin Baijin Gengzao, very politely.

"Long time no see, Senior Coach Coach Baijin!"

Both had been selected for the national team, just not in the same year; Coach Coach Baijin Coach Coach Baijin Coach Baijin Baijin Baijin Baijin Gengzao was earlier than Hara Sawa Katsu, so calling him senior was perfectly fine.

"Here for Nijimura again?"

"Yes." Hara Sawa Katsu didn't hide it, but after glancing at Tian, he added, "If possible, I’d like to have a chat with Tian-kun as well."

Whoa, his ambition was not small.

Coach Coach Baijin Coach Coach Baijin Coach Baijin Baijin Baijin Baijin Gengzao’s eyes were subtle; this was the rhythm of trying to pull down Shirogane Eiji’s Rakuzan.

"I won't consider joining any high school for the time being; I just want to focus on the national tournament now."

"So, sorry, Mr. Hara!"

Nijimura Shuzo politely declined.

He had received such invitations many times over the past year.

This was not a professional league, let alone the NBA; there was no draft.

The only way for teams to reinforce themselves was for coaches to scout players themselves.

But this method tested a coach’s ability to train players, far less effective than directly inviting geniuses.

After all, geniuses were players who had already proven themselves.

In this regard, Taoka Moichi from Slam Dunk was quite capable.

He had trained the average-talented Uozumi Jun and Fukuda into first-class prefectural level players.

"However, you can chat with Tian; maybe he’ll be a little interested."

Everyone shifted their gaze from Hara Sawa Katsu to Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi.

Tian didn't refuse either, saying, "Sure."

Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi could be said to be very familiar with the team Touou.

The time the protagonist team Seirin was bullied the worst was when they were beaten by them.

At that time, Seirin possessed two trump cards, Seeing Seeing Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya, yet their hearts were shattered in the battle against Touou.

Not only did they lose the game, but they also made all sorts of mistakes in the subsequent round-robin, losing their chance to break out of Tokyo early.

This team left one impression on Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi.

Rich!

The lineup was composed entirely through the "money-sprinkling" method; as long as you were strong enough, they would come to you with cash.

A cold drink shop outside the arena.

Hara Sawa Katsu was still organizing his words, but Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi got straight to the point.

"How do you plan to trick me into joining your Touou?"

"Uh...."

Hara Sawa Katsu clearly hadn't expected Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi to ask that.

He indicated that little Tian spoke too bluntly, catching him off guard.

The key was that Tian hadn't guessed wrong; he was indeed thinking about how to trick people into joining Touou.

A genius player like Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi didn't need to worry about his next destination at all.

As long as he didn't get injured and fall from grace in the next three years of middle school, he would definitely be fought over by national powerhouses in the future.

For Touou, which lacked foundation, this was an inherent disadvantage.

He had even thought that if Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi mentioned other powerhouses or had a favorite high school in mind.

Hara Sawa Katsu would bring up rhetoric like "which is more challenging: building a dynasty in ruins or ascending the throne in an existing dynasty."

Now it seemed this ridiculously handsome little brat might not buy that.

He was clearly not the same type of person as the other dark-skinned, "simple" looking Aomine Daiki from Teiko.

There was no other way; he had to bring out some real goods.

"As long as you are willing to join our Touou in high school, you will be our absolute core player."

"The entire operation of the Touou team will revolve around you, and in the next two years, I will also use you as the cornerstone to prepare a lineup capable of dominating the country."

"I observed your entire game; your defensive ability is very strong, but it is more concentrated on 1v1 man-to-man defense, and your help-defense ability has flaws."

"This is not a shortcoming, because I will first find you an inside player with outstanding help-defense ability, so that we can maximize your offensive power and let you devote more energy to the offensive end."

"I will also arrange a three-point shooter for you; you seem to value the three-pointer as a scoring method, so that way our Touou will have two artillery pieces on the outside, maximizing the spacing of the enemy’s defense and creating more room for your drives."

"Of course, you also need an excellent point guard to share your pressure and reduce the risk of you being double-teamed, so that our Touou will have two excellent organizational points on the court..."

He spoke at length about a great deal.

It was clear to anyone listening that Hara Sawa Katsu had come prepared.

In fact, while watching the game just now, Hara Sawa Katsu had already been taking notes.

And he already had candidates in mind.

For that inside player with outstanding help-defense ability, he intended to continue inviting Nijimura Shuzo.

This Teiko captain would be a third-year next year, but he was the apple of many high school coaches’ eyes.

For the point guard position, he intended to find Imayoshi Shoichi, a scheming, calm, and clever genius point guard.

As for the shooter, he was more inclined toward Midorima Shintaro.

This first-year teammate of Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi’s had left a deep impression on Hara Sawa Katsu with his three-pointers in this game.

And that Murasakibara Atsushi, right, and that Akashi Seijuro.......

Damn, why the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this Teiko lineup was full of treasures?

"We can't become teammates."

"Hmm? Tian-kun, what did you just say?"

"I said that Aomine and the others and I cannot become teammates."

Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Tian Lizi shattered Hara Sawa Katsu’s fantasy.