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The next day.
The news of a shutout loss in the preliminary rounds spread like wildfire throughout the junior high basketball world.
That being said, everyone only knew that Teiko had shut out their opponents, but few knew the reason for the shutout.
However, the names of Shirogane Ryu, Aomine Daiki, Murasakibara Atsushi, Midorima Shintaro, and Akashi Seijuro naturally entered everyone's field of vision.
Ryu and his teammates fought their way through, encountering mostly weak and relatively unknown teams.
When the final whistle blew in the last match of the preliminary rounds, Teiko had successfully secured their ticket to the national tournament.
Ryu also earned a generous amount of cat food during this period. Almost every match had a related task. He participated in a total of 32 matches; winning a match earned him 5,000 cat food, and each point scored earned him 10 cat food.
A single match consumes at least 5,000 cat food pellets. His current total [Cat Food] was 180,656. Once Karupin absorbs all this cat food, he will possess nearly 200,000 [Cat Energy].
Ryu used 10,000 Cat Energy to have Karupin upgrade his [Basic Ball Skill] to Advanced.
He then used another 25,000 Cat Energy to upgrade [Data Basketball] to 3.0.
There was no other way; 2.0 [Data Basketball] required a lot of physical training—something he could do on his own—making it practically useless.
He had no choice but to upgrade it all at once.
With [Data Basketball 3.0], Ryu's data collection speed is several times faster than before.
Data that used to take hours or even days to collect now only takes a few minutes. This allows him to make accurate predictions in a short time. This means he only needs one quarter of the game to drag his opponent into an endless abyss.
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Personal Information Panel
[Name] : Shirogane Ryu
[Age] : 12 years old
[Height] : 177 cm
[Weight] : 65 kg
[Strength] : A
[Speed] : A
[Stamina] : A
[Mental] : A+
[Ball Skills] : Basketball Basics (Advanced), Basic Ball Skills (Advanced), Data Basketball 3.0
[Ability] : Ice Emperor's Eye - Insightful Vision (Evolvable)
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Karupin Panel
[Cat Food] :130,000
[Cat Energy] : 26,057
[Activity Range] : 81,767 meters
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Looking at his attributes, Ryu was in a very good mood. With 150,000 cat food, he was considering whether to buy a big item. However, looking at the cat food he had finally obtained, he was very reluctant to part with it.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and had Karupin teach him "Wind," one of the six elements: Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain, Thunder, and Yin. This is the signature move of Genichiro Sanada from the series The Prince of Tennis.
Wind: Swift as the Wind (An ultra-high-speed shot, almost invisible to the naked eye).
After transformation, the "Swift as the Wind" technique became a basketball-related skill. The transformed "Wind" creates an ultra-high-speed ball bounce; the trajectory of the basketball is difficult to track with the naked eye, leaving the audience with only countless afterimages of hands and the ball.
"This move seems to require a lot of stamina," Ryu muttered.
"Swift as the Wind!"
Damn... Ryu tried it and felt as if his arms were about to break. He immediately regretted it. He felt this move wasn't something he could use in his current state.
Karupin immediately saw Ryu's problem. "Your body hasn't matured yet. Advanced techniques are beyond your current capabilities. So, when you choose skills, you should consider your current situation."
Ryu fell silent. He suddenly felt a sense of frustration, like possessing a treasure trove but being unable to use it.
"Actually, there's an ability that's more suitable for you right now," Karupin said.
"What ability?" Ryu asked.
Karupin's sapphire-like vertical pupils flashed slightly. Then, a thin blue energy line connected to Ryu's brain. An image appeared before Ryu's eyes showing a white-haired boy. Strangely, this boy kept changing; one moment he was in the form of someone else, and a moment later, he reverted to his original form.
Seeing this, Ryu knew who it was: Niou Masaharu, known as "the most terrifying con artist on the court," a seasoned cheat who manipulates opponents with ease.
Then, Ryu saw the description below the image:
[Niou Phantom] (Can transform into any character and use that phantom's signature skill).
"It requires 100,000 Cat Energy!" Ryu couldn't help but exclaim. "I painstakingly accumulated tens of thousands, and this ability requires far too much Cat Energy!"
Karupin said irritably, "Didn't you even consider why this ability requires so much Cat Energy? Don't underestimate it. Back then, Niou Masaharu used a phantom to appear as Tezuka Kunimitsu, even creating a phantom of Tezuka for Tezuka himself. This means that the potential of Niou's phantom is far more complex than it appears. The only thing to be careful about is that for a phantom to be powerful, the user's own abilities must be sufficient; otherwise, it will only be a hollow shell."
Ryu nodded, seemingly understanding. "Now I understand. In that case, this ability is indeed terrifyingly powerful."
No matter how strong someone is, a phantom can be on par with them. Ryu pondered for a long time before finally making up his mind. "Come on, Karupin, I'll take this Niou Phantom."
"Have you thought it through?" Karupin reminded him.
"I've thought it through. Instead of wasting small amounts of cat Food, I'd rather improve my strength and earn more cat energy later."
Hearing Ryu's words, Karupin nodded approvingly. "Wait a moment, I need to absorb some cat food first."
Ryu wasn't in a hurry and waited quietly by his side. Karupin absorbing cat food was essentially the process of converting it into cat energy. Ryu could see it: Karupin's entire body was emitting a shimmering golden light. This golden light was like an eggshell, firmly enveloping Karupin within.
After some time passed, the golden light gradually seeped into Karupin's body. Karupin slowly opened its eyes. "It's ready, let's begin!"
It leaped into Ryu's arms. Then, its sapphire-like vertical pupils gradually emitted a blue light. The light overflowed from Karupin's body, slowly enveloping Ryu.
If an outsider could see this, they would notice Ryu was now inside a transparent light screen. The surface of the screen had strange, shimmering patterns like flowing water.
Ryu felt very strange at this moment. He felt his body was unsteady, and various faces flashed through his mind. He gradually immersed himself in it, until finally his mind went completely blank. An unprecedented clarity filled him, and he fell asleep with that feeling.