The Winter Cup had ended.
This ant the year had also reached its conclusion.
With senior players from various high schools retiring, the high school basketball world officially entered a recovery period.
During days without basketball, Tendou returned to his original routine.
While maintaining daily training, he occasionally made ti for so filming work.
Following his dominance in the Winter Cup, his popularity had skyrocketed to new heights.
Now the entire nation knew that the entertainnt industry had produced a handso male high school student who was incredibly skilled at basketball, as if he had walked out of a manga.
Many people who ca to see him were instantly captivated by Tendou's incredibly high looks—as if soone had personally designed his face while playing a character creation ga.
Thanks to this, Tendou's work now included not just photo shoots and comrcial filming.
Television stations had already contacted him, inviting him to film TV dramas.
A new entertainer with such low cost and high popularity was rarely seen.
Tendou treated it as entertainnt, and driven by curiosity, accepted the invitation to film his first TV drama.
The result was that with his crude acting skills yet devastatingly handso face, he beca a nationally famous heartthrob.
The kind of guy who had nothing going for him except his looks.
Male viewers demanded he get out of the entertainnt industry and return to basketball, but his first TV drama, while not becoming a breakout hit, mysteriously made it into the year's top five ratings.
With just a twelve-episode TV drama, Tendou proved to people that being ridiculously handso could really overco acting ability.
The market decided everything.
After this TV drama, despite Tendou's crude acting being criticized rcilessly by viewers, more and more production teams ca looking for him to film dramas.
His agency imdiately arranged a new persona for him.
Star among stars!
This referred to his success in both basketball and the entertainnt industry, attempting to prove he was talented in every area.
He was now an undeniable rising sensation.
...
This day.
Sumr.
The temperature was scorching—at least 30 degrees Celsius outside.
An outdoor court was packed with thousands of fans dressed for the heat.
Hyuga Junpei and Aida Riko were among them, wearing hats and waiting for an exhibition ga to begin.
The opposing sides were: a representative team composed of college league players from Japan, facing the internationally renowned Jabberwock basketball club.
It wasn't a professional basketball club.
All mbers of the Jabberwock club ca from Arican street basketball, representing street basketball culture.
A female reporter was already excitedly introducing the upcoming ga to the cara.
"Hello everyone watching on TV!"
"I'm currently at the scene of a street basketball super exhibition ga."
"Please look at the court behind —the stands are already packed with enthusiastic fans."
The host stepped aside, allowing the cara to capture the scene.
"Shortly, our dostically selected college representative team will face the super street basketball team, Jabberwock, right here..."
Following the host's words, the cara cut to footage of the Jabberwock team erging from the airport.
The mbers were all Black players, led by Nash Gold Jr.
He wore a suit and sunglasses, walking out of the airport with his head held high, completely ignoring the passing crowds.
That attitude—he really looked like a superstar.
Seirin Basketball Club.
Except for the team captain and coach who had gone out on a date, and Kiyoshi Teppei who had gone for dical treatnt, everyone else was gathered together.
"Getting to see authentic street basketball in Japan is really exciting."
They enthusiastically discussed the upcoming ga.
Street basketball was a special basketball style that, compared to professional style, emphasized performance aspects more.
They had their own culture and fan base.
Just like those rap artists in the country who constantly talked about "this is my attitude" and such.
So in many fans' eyes, street basketball was just an unorthodox style.
But undeniably, compared to professional basketball that existed purely to win, street basketball was indeed much more entertaining to watch.
"But speaking of which, that Tendou guy is really everywhere."
The Seirin players suddenly all felt depressed.
Because at the ga venue, several billboards displayed products Tendou endorsed and promoted his TV dramas.
On the billboards, Tendou rested his chin on one hand, sunglasses pulled down to his nose bridge, revealing half of his captivating eyes while smiling at the cara.
Many won were completely enchanted by his face that could bewitch all living beings.
This made the Seirin players feel even more that the gap between themselves and Tendou had grown even wider.
Tendou was simply their dream version of themselves.
"Let's just watch the ga first," Izuki Shun helplessly touched his hair.
The won in their families were now all mbers of "Tendou's legion."
Die-hard fans at that!
If he and Tendou both fell into water soday, Izuki Shun had no doubt that his sister and even his mother would choose to save Tendou without hesitation instead of him.
"If only little Shun were half as outstanding as Tendou-kun."
Such phrases had been constantly on his mother's lips for the past six months, until his ears had grown calluses from hearing them.
"That's right, I wonder what kind of team this Jabberwock team is today."
"I heard it's a very famous club with high recognition globally. Captain Nash Gold Jr. is supposedly one of the key figures carrying Arican basketball's future."
"Eh, isn't that incredible?"
Arican basketball was acknowledged as the world's best.
To be labeled as such, their strength definitely wouldn't be simple.
On the other side.
Too Basketball Club.
Aomine and others were also gathered together, coincidentally stopping their training to crowd around the television.
"There's no question about their strength, but they're probably not quite what the TV station describes as being able to carry Arica's basketball future."
"Oh? Momoi, you know about Nash?"
"Mm-hmm, I've looked into it."
Momoi's small hand reached behind her—who knew how she did it—and a thick notebook appeared in her hands.
"Nash Gold Jr., born in New York State, forr student at Clinton High School and also the main point guard of Clinton High's basketball team. In his senior year, he was selected by ESPN as a five-star high school player nationwide. Before graduation, he received an invitation from UCLA's basketball team and beca UCLA's main point guard."
"However, for unknown reasons, Nash voluntarily withdrew from UCLA's basketball team before the NCAA season began."
After finishing, Momoi forcefully closed her notebook.
The others all looked at her with different expressions.
"You can even gather intelligence from overseas?"
"Hehe, it's just basic information available online."
Momoi didn't take credit.
She didn't have the powerful connections of professional agents—gathering intelligence from there wasn't realistic. What she could collect was just publicly known information.
If this were in Japan, she might have been able to find out the reason Nash left UCLA.
"But regardless, it sounds quite troubleso."
The others' expressions beca serious.
UCLA was a famous basketball powerhouse in the NCAA—their status there was equivalent to basketball giants like Rakuzan, Shutoku, Yosen, and Kaijo here.
This was just a comparison—in terms of actual status, they were far inferior.
Because UCLA was world-class.
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