Kuroko’s Basketball: Before Generation Miracles, I Already Crowned Chapter 135: The Nationals Begin —Those Rising Stars Being C

When Akashi finished painting that vivid picture with his words, the room fell into silence. Every first-year regular present remained quiet for a long mont.

None of them really cared about what was said concerning Inoue Tomoya. What truly mattered, what struck them, was the ssage hidden within Shigure-senpai's words.

It was about talent.

It was about the attitude of going all-out, even against weaker opponents.

And most of all, it was about glory.

For the first ti, Midorima Shintaro truly grasped what their senpai was aiming for. Among the examples given in the discussion about "talent," one particular term stood out, the professional league.

Without a doubt, for Shigure-senpai, the so-called "glorious path to the summit" wasn't referring to winning the Middle School Nationals.

It wasn't even about high school.

Or university.

No, it was about the pros.

Midorima clenched his fists tightly. In that mont, he realized just how different his and his senpai's visions were when it ca to basketball, their attitudes, their pursuits.

"…Hah."

No wonder Shigure-senpai always seed so fired up, even when playing in one-sided matches.

That… might partly be his personality.

But it was also about honoring past glory, and more importantly, about crafting a flawless résumé toward the pros.

Akashi gave everyone ample ti to digest all this. Then, he finally spoke:

"As much as I want to say winning is all that matters, from observing both on and off the court, I've seen it clearly,

the gap between us first-years and our senpai…

Whether it's physical ability,

technical skill,

or vision and mindset."

"Teiko is strong. Even our senpai and the coach admit that this team is the strongest Teiko has ever had. But the truth is, we can still be better."

"Starting with our ntality."

"That's the most important part."

"Maybe no one here has thought too deeply about it. But deep down, it's there.

Because of our senpai's overwhelming dominance and how opponents collapse in fear…

Our own drive gradually drops during matches."

"During the preliminaries, this wasn't so obvious, because we usually only played in the first half."

"But now that we're at Nationals, Teiko's training phase is over.

The starting lineup, our senpai, will take the court from the first quarter."

"And by the ti we rotate in, we'll be stepping into a ga with a massive lead, and probably up against opponents who are already ntally broken."

"So whether out of respect, or because sothing I said just now resonated with you, "

"I hope you'll give it your all, just like our senpai do."

When Akashi finished, his gaze swept across his teammates one by one.

Midorima nodded.

Murasakibara had already stopped chewing. If he were only reacting to what Akashi said, perhaps he wouldn't have cared much. But those sharp words from Fukaya Reiji earlier had struck at sothing deeper, his pride.

Now, with both ssages combined, the aning was starting to align.

"Ugh, sounds like such a hassle~," Murasakibara muttered lazily.

"But whatever…

As long as I don't lose to those guys without 'talent,' that's good enough, right?"

On the other side, Aomine finally seed to snap out of his thoughts.

"Ah… so that's what it ans."

"I get it now!"

Nobody knew exactly what he had figured out, but Haizaki found Aomine's sudden enthusiasm irritating.

"Tch. Of course we go all out, who cares how strong or weak the opponent is…"

"Don't tell , you're starting to feel sorry for them?"

"The more I crush them, the better I feel!"

Aomine gave Haizaki a sideways glance.

"Sorry for the opponents? Who thinks like that? It's basketball! You're supposed to have worthy rivals!

…But whatever."

"You're too dumb to get it anyway."

Even as he brushed off Haizaki, Aomine didn't fully understand everything Shigure-senpai had ant. But he'd figured out one thing:

If he faced another scared, shrinking opponent, he'd treat himself like a custom character in a basketball ga, take it seriously, beat the level, and unlock the next achievent.

And maybe…

Try to outscore his senpai while he's at it.

Ti passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was here.

The August sumr.

For Shigure Akito and Nijimura Shuzo, another National Middle School Tournant had begun.

Just one year had passed,

Yet so much had changed.

Though the venue wasn't the sa as last year, when the bus pulled up and the curtains were drawn back to reveal the massive stadium ahead, Shigure rembered clearly what Nijimura had said from the stands after their win over Okayama:

"Let's co back and see this view again next year."

Shigure smiled. "We're back~."

Beside him, Nijimura Shuzo clearly rembered too.

He turned, and bumped fists with Shigure, who had already extended his hand.

"This year's championship," Shigure grinned,

"I'll win it with my own hands again."

"Hmph."

"Just don't run out of stamina this ti."

"..."

"There's no more Hagioka-senpai this year. Even if he were here, he still wouldn't be a match for . No… he wasn't, even last year."

"Heh. You really dare to say that, huh?"

Smack!

They lightly bumped fists again, right before getting off the bus.

As the white-uniford Teiko players stepped out one by one, the air around them surged with excitent and confidence. That excitent was understandable, after all, of last year's championship team, only Shigure and Nijimura remained.

For players like Fukaya Reiji and Kurokami Shinji, who had only ever seen Nationals from the stands while training ended, this was their first ti stepping into the battlefield as actual team mbers. Even they, usually composed, couldn't hide their anticipation.

The mont Teiko disembarked, their uniforms drew imdiate attention.

"It's Teiko!"

"Ohh!"

"The Twin Stars are here!!"

"Look at those two… what terrifying presence!"

"You can feel it? It's not just their aura, they're taller and bulkier too. Shigure's got to be at least 185 cm by now!

He could hold his own against Hagioka Kasayuki last year despite being smaller, this year's Teiko…"

"They're even stronger. Honestly, as long as the Twin Stars are still on the team, it doesn't matter who else is in the lineup.

But even beyond them, Teiko is stacked this year.

Like #6 center Kurokami Shinji, or starting small forward Fukaya Reiji, they're on par with, if not better than, last year's third-year starters!"

"Even their entire bench, all first-years!"

"Huh?"

"Yep, all of them. Easy to spot, just look for the rainbow-haired kids."

Before long, they entered the venue.

And right away, Teiko's first-year players gained a whole new understanding of their senpai's fa. In Tokyo, attention was scattered among a few top schools, but here at Nationals?

Everything centered on Shigure Akito and Nijimura Shuzo.

A flood of magazine journalists surged like a tide, surrounding them from all sides as they passed, forming a wall of flashing caras and flying questions.

Players from other first-ti qualifiers watched in stunned curiosity.

"Who are they?"

The answer ca quickly,

"Oh, that's Shigure Akito and Nijimura Shuzo."

…

"Figures."

Middle school players everywhere were awestruck by their overwhelming presence, and quietly envious.

Can anyone challenge the Teiko Twin Stars this year?

Maybe…

Just maybe…

Those five rising stars who've been making waves across the country since last year's Nationals, the ones they're calling the 'Five Generals', can they do it?

Soon, the opening ceremony began and the buzz around Teiko settled.

Afterward, the 24 schools gathered for the draw.

Just like last year:

The tournant began with 3-team group round robins.

The top two from each group would move on to the next day's elimination bracket.

Win each round, reach the final, and seize the championship.

Two matches a day, an unforgiving battlefield.

As the draw unfolded, Shigure scanned the room:

Hayama Kotaro from Nagamoto International

Mibuchi Reo from Senshin Middle School

Kiyoshi Teppei from Teruei Middle School

Nebuya Eikichi from Ibu Middle Schhol

Hanamiya Makoto from Kirisaki Daiichi

One by one, all the "main rivals" Shigure had identified had arrived. Even Kamizaki Middle, who had lost to Teiko in the Tokyo prelims and entered as the second seed, was here, along with Inoue Tomoya.

After the draw, Inoue considered walking over to greet Shigure-senpai, the one who had guided him.

But when he saw Nijimura standing nearby, he hesitated. He wondered, did Nijimura know about that private conversation from before? And what would he think of him?

"Inoue, forget it."

"Let's head back to the hotel and study our opponents. The matches start tomorrow."

Inoue nodded silently.

"I'll show him my resolve on the court, during Nationals."

First step: make it to the elimination rounds!

He turned around.

Thud!

"Ugh…!"

Inoue bumped into soone. Looking up, he saw a boy with black hair and unusually thick inner eyebrows tapering to fine ends, smiling playfully and sticking out his tongue.

"Oops, my bad~."

"You're from Kamizaki Middle…"

"Inoue-kun~," the boy grinned.

End of chapter...

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