Tendou's words unexpectedly sparked heated discussion in the real world.
The tiline in the real world didn't match the Black Basket world.
In the real world, LeBron Jas had already ushered in the age of "superteams."
The era of "one man, one city" was now worthy of commorative awards.
These days, the frequency of superstar trades in the league was off the charts.
Take Kevin Durant for example.
After enjoying the superteam success with the Warriors,
He left, ford another Big Three in Brooklyn,
Then left again to form yet another Big Three in Phoenix.
Fans widely criticized this kind of behavior as "taking shortcuts to a championship,"
Fearing that their own teams' titles might be stolen by these assembled superteams.
Since it concerned their own teams' title hopes, fans naturally disdained this kind of move—
Unless the superteam was their own. Then it was a different story.
However, there was one point all basketball fans agreed on:
If you're going to trade for a superstar,
He'd better be the foundation of the team.
The cornerstone.
The ceiling and the floor of your franchise.
A skyscraper starts from the ground up—
And that player is the foundation.
"See that, folks? This is why I like Tendou so much,"
The strear nad Aquarius jumped into the chat once he noticed the rising debate.
"Look at Kuroko, Kise, and now Midorima—
They keep parroting the sa old lines about 'friendship,' 'teamwork,' and 'hard work.'"
"That stuff feels hollow. Sure, this is ani, so fans are used to it."
"But real basketball isn't like that. Tons of NBA players have complained—
Saying they feel like rchandise, just being shipped around with no say in the matter."
"But they don't stop to think—
If you suck, do you think anyone's trading for you?"
"You ever see Curry, LeBron, Durant, Harden, Jokic getting traded against their will?
The worst-case scenario is they leave by choice—
You never see teams dumping them."
"So Midorima's stuff about 'trusting teammates' sounds great,
But your team wants you to win gas.
You trust them—
But who's trusting you?"
Aquarius was feeling himself.
He thought what he said was damn insightful.
He also praised the animation team for choosing to let Tendou say these lines.
Bringing so real-world perspective into the mix was a bold move.
There was nothing wrong with this.
Even if it turned so idealistic viewers into anti-Tendou haters,
That only proved how successful his character was.
Just look at Kise, Midorima, Murasakibara, and Akashi—
They were all racing to claim the "friendship, teamwork" narrative.
Eager to redeem themselves and appeal to the crowd.
That only made Tendou stand out more.
Aquarius was still basking in how brilliant his own take was—
Until a comnt popped up in chat:
"Luka Don??i?? got traded by the Mavericks. How co you didn't ntion that?"
Aquarius lost his composure instantly.
He rage-banned the comnter on the spot.
"Listen here, you oversized waterlon—
I'll let you off with a one-day ban because you're an old viewer.
But if you bring this up again, the Mavericks' GM is going to show up at your team's front office tomorrow!"
Viewers erupted into laughter,
Mocking how easily he was triggered.
Of course, Mavericks fans weren't laughing.
Don??i?? had played for Dallas his entire career.
Just last year, he led them to their first Finals appearance.
Fans had been hoping for a championship soon.
And then—
Like a bolt from the blue—
That braindead general manager traded him to the Lakers.
It was like grinding a max-level RPG character for years,
Then handing the account to your rival.
What the hell, man.
...
Back on the court.
Shūtoku called a tiout.
They had co into the second half hoping to make a run—
Only to fall even further behind.
The deficit was now 20 points.
If they didn't make changes now,
They might as well skip the fourth quarter.
anwhile, Tendou sat on the bench, staring at the virtual screen—
Wearing a strange expression.
His popularity had suddenly skyrocketed.
"What just happened?"
Did he not need to let the opponents show off anymore?
Was him solo-showboating already enough?
He quickly checked other livestream rooms.
Once he finished browsing, he finally understood what was going on.
It wasn't about showing off or not—
It was that the audience was drawn in by how different he was.
Even while calling him a "crazy bastard,"
They still quietly tapped the like button,
And joined the Tendou Corps.
That works too?!
Tendou was briefly stunned.
But after thinking it over, he understood.
The whole "yasashii protagonist" archetype wasn't in style anymore.
Most of the smash-hit shows lately had taken darker, edgier paths.
Sure, hot-blooded heroism would never truly go out of fashion—
But it was no longer the default lead.
Otherwise, why would fans of Jujutsu Kaisen only want to see Gojo and Sukuna duke it out,
While ignoring the actual protagonist?
Tis have changed.
Tendou turned off the screen and got back to organizing tactics.
As for Kirisaki Daiichi's bench?
Just like always, Tendou's bold speech had been heard by all—
But no one overreacted.
They all agreed with what he said.
After all, from the day this team ford,
Kirisaki Daiichi had followed Hanamiya Makoto's lead.
When Hanamiya played dirty, they played dirty too.
Once Tendou took over,
The team of bad boys beca a battle-hardened war machine.
Even Hanamiya himself agreed.
He couldn't out-compete Tendou,
So instead of resisting, he joined in.
He stayed.
So he beca part of the new system.
The others did the sa.
That was the law of survival in the Kirisaki Daiichi basketball club.
Just one more example of how much a team reflects its core player.
...
Tiout over.
Both sides returned to the court.
Even trailing by 20 points,
Shūtoku had no plans to give up.
Takao Kazunari wasn't ready to throw in the towel—
Or perhaps they simply had no other options.
There was only one road left: all the way to the end.
Midorima felt the sa.
As he approached the three-point line,
He locked eyes with Takao.
No words were needed—
They understood each other completely.
Then, even without the ball,
Midorima mimicked the motion of receiving it—
Legs bent, body tensed, eyes fixed forward.
This was how he found rhythm.
So that the mont the ball touched his hands,
His shot would be flawless.
Takao saw this—
And imdiately shook off Hanamiya's pressure.
In the stands, the Rakuzan players asked Akashi:
"Akashi, if it were you, could you stop Shūtoku's alley-oop three?"
"Yes."
Akashi answered flatly.
"Midorima has trained both hands to be nearly identical in precision.
But he's a lefty—
He always opts for his left when it's the safer shot."
"If you track that,
You can roughly predict where Takao's pass will go."
"Then, all you have to do is pressure Takao into that zone,
And use the Emperor Eye to intercept the pass."
Because once the ball was in Midorima's hands—
It basically ant the defense had failed.
That was the fatal flaw of this alley-oop combo.
So the key to breaking it...
Was not letting Midorima get the ball at all.
But this ti,
Tendou chose a much faster solution.
"Domain Expansion!"
"Unlimited Void!"
Buzz—
---
[Get 20 chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"]
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