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Teiko's rest area.
The assistant coach was very satisfied.
Victory was firmly in Teiko's grasp.
The assistant coach thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Second quarter: Akashi, Aomine, Midorima, Murasakibara, Ryu, you'll be off the court first."
Although some were puzzled, no one objected.
Then, everyone understood what the assistant coach wanted to do.
He substituted Kise and Kuroko, along with three other members of the first team.
Kise and Kuroko were extremely excited; finally, they could play.
Amid their excitement, the whistle blew to start the second quarter.
Toot…
With the whistle, everyone saw that Teiko had only four players on the court.
A murmur of whispers immediately arose from the stands.
"Huh? Teiko only sent four players?"
"Really? What's going on?"
"Are they throwing the game?"
It wasn't just the audience who were confused.
Even the Kakugan team was puzzled.
"Are you insulting us?"
The speaker was Kakugan's point guard and captain.
He was extremely humiliated and indignant.
Teiko clearly looked down on them, only sending four players.
This was a blatant insult to them.
Seeing the murderous look on the opposing player's face, Kise Ryota was bewildered.
"What are you talking about? What insult?"
The Kakugan captain said through gritted teeth, "You only sent four players? Isn't that an insult?"
Hearing this, Kise Ryota frowned slightly and looked at him.
"Four people? There are clearly five of us!"
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, and his expression became increasingly strange.
Kise Ryota grinned, then turned his head to look at Kuroko beside him.
"Look carefully, there are five of us."
Noticing Kise Ryota's gaze, the Kakugan members looked over and saw Kuroko Tetsuya with blue hair.
"This…"
"When did he appear?"
"Strange, was someone here just now?"
"I didn't even notice."
The Kakugan members looked at Kuroko with surprise and doubt.
After this brief interlude, the referee blew the whistle to start the second quarter.
Kakugan served first.
However, Kakugan was never a top-tier team.
Even with Teiko's roster changes, they were still a team Kakugan couldn't handle.
Kise and Kuroko, one in the open and one in the shadows, were making life miserable for the Kakugan team.
The basketball, under Kuroko's unpredictable movements, constantly changed its trajectory.
Kise was in charge of the offense.
He practically blew the rim apart with his shots.
Yes, he practically blew it apart.
Because at this point, Kise Ryota couldn't dunk yet.
As time passed, the game between Teiko and Kakugan was coming to an end.
The final whistle blew throughout the arena.
The score between Teiko and Kakugan was 103-34.
"67 points, not bad," Ryu murmured.
Kise Ryota alone scored nearly 40 points.
It looked pretty good, but it depended on who the opponent was.
The opposing team was a bunch of weaklings; scoring more points was meaningless.
Aomine scored 50 points against a team in the top 8 nationally.
They were fundamentally not even in the same league.
Teiko's first qualifying match ended in an easy victory.
However, what no one knew was...
The next day, news completely shook the entire Japanese basketball world.
[Easily Scoring 3 Goals in the First Minute: Just How Strong is Teiko?]
[Teiko Team Profiles Explained: The Results Are Shocking]
[Shocking! Teiko's Starters Rested, Yet the Substitutes Created a 3-Fold Point Spread]
[The Invincible Teiko Performs Another Miracle]
When Ryu learned of this news, he simply smiled.
This was nothing.
He and Aomine hadn't even exerted their full strength yet!
If they went all out, a 50-0 run in a single quarter wouldn't be a problem, and it might even be higher.
Teiko Middle School.
Ryu strolled leisurely into the cafeteria.
He immediately spotted a group of people with rainbow-colored hair gathered around.
"Hi…" Ryu greeted them.
"Ryu, you're eating in the cafeteria today!" Aomine noted.
Ryu replied to Aomine's statement, "Ah, Karupin's gone off somewhere, and I haven't had cafeteria food in ages, so I came."
Ryu suddenly saw Momoi Satsuki and greeted her.
"Satsuki, you're here too!"
Momoi Satsuki was delighted to see Ryu.
"Ryu, congratulations on winning your first qualifying match."
"Oh," Ryu replied calmly.
Seeing this, Momoi Satsuki pouted.
"Seriously, you're like this too."
"Huh? What?" Ryu was a little confused.
Aomine explained at this moment, "Satsuki thinks you're too indifferent to victory."
Ryu scratched his head and then said, "Oh, I see. It's not that I'm indifferent! After all, it's just a qualifier. There's nothing to brag about if I win!"
Momoi Satsuki was completely defeated by these people.
Akashi suddenly spoke up.
"By the way, Ryu, there's something I need to tell you. Your performance has been much more lax lately, so I have a suggestion: in the upcoming matches, each of us needs to get at least 20 points."
"20 points?"
Ryu didn't have any objections to this.
The current team was very strong; it was not fun to always be crushing weaklings.
Increasing the difficulty a bit would be quite nice.
"Okay! I understand."
But was he lax?
Ryu recalled his performance these past few days.
Perhaps, just maybe, there was a slight lack of focus!
His strength had grown.
He unconsciously began to restrain his power.
Ryu shook his head with a bitter smile.
If he was like this, what about the others?
Meanwhile, the basketball clubs of various middle schools also saw the reports about Teiko.
Fukuyama Middle School.
Hayama Kotaro stared at the newspaper in his hand, falling silent.
He would never forget the humiliation of last year.
For the past year, he had trained relentlessly.
His goal was revenge against Teiko.
But seeing the report on Teiko, his rekindled confidence dwindled again.
A 36-point shutout victory.
This exaggerated record felt like a mountain pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.
Meisei Middle School.
Hanamiya Makoto crumpled the newspaper in his hands.
His entire body trembled slightly.
He gritted his teeth, his eyes fierce as he stared at the information in the newspaper.
A chilling sound escaped his lips.
"Teiko... Ryu... Damn it... Damn it... Damn it..."
Thinking of the humiliation Ryu had brought him, he wanted nothing more than to tear Ryu to pieces.
But he couldn't beat him.
Countless times in the past year, he had been consumed by impotent rage.
Teruei Middle School.
Kiyoshi Teppei put the newspaper he had finished reading aside.
"Teiko is indeed very strong!"
An indomitable fighting spirit surged in his eyes.
But a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
Rokko Junior High School.
Reo Mibuchi was practicing three-pointers alone in the basketball gym.
His eyes were full of determination and sharpness.
His movements never stopped.
Even though his jersey was soaked with sweat, it didn't stop his training.
And on the bench outside the court, a newspaper about Teiko peeked out from a backpack.
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