Riko Aida's expression changed slightly, and she nodded heavily.
"I understand. Thanks."
With that, she hung up.
The call had naturally come from the classmate Riko Aida had asked for help.
The task, of course, was to find out which two teams had made it into the Summer Cup finals.
She already knew that Kirisaki Daiichi would definitely advance.
Because she genuinely could not think of anyone capable of stopping Kirisaki Daiichi at this point.
As for the second school, she had always assumed it would be Rakuzan High School.
But something unexpected happened.
Rakuzan High School's Seijuro Akashi had not even taken the court.
Wasn't that basically handing over the win?
Riko Aida sighed helplessly and murmured:
"If nothing unexpected happens, Kirisaki Daiichi will be the champion."
Kirisaki Daiichi was simply too terrifying. Even she found them a little frightening.
She had followed her father around since childhood, and she had occasionally been present when he conducted special training for professional athletes.
So she knew a little about the physical data of pro players.
But the first time she saw Miyamoto Tokima, she had been stunned by his explosive physical talent.
Because Miyamoto Tokima's physical gifts were the best she had ever seen.
Even professional athletes could not compare to Miyamoto Tokima.
That kind of impact was immense.
"Sigh, Kirisaki Daiichi..."
She sighed again and looked toward the group on the court, who were making a racket while going through their special training.
Then, without realizing it, she smiled.
"But getting scared before the fight even starts isn't our style!"
"We... will work hard!"
...
Meanwhile.
In a hospital.
A tall figure was moving his foot under a doctor's watchful gaze.
The doctor recorded the data as he spoke.
"Mm, your recovery is going well."
The tall figure asked:
"Doctor, then can I go back to..."
The doctor immediately replied:
"You can, but you can't push yourself too hard, or there's a risk of it recurring."
"But I still recommend continuing treatment. Our hospital recently had a doctor return from America, and he happens to specialize in this area."
The tall figure looked at the calendar, tested his leg again, and finally said:
"Okay."
...
That night.
Miyamoto Tokima lay on his bed, his mind still replaying everything that had happened that day.
What his father had said, along with the old man's identity, had undoubtedly shaken him.
After all, the reason the Miyamoto Family in America could influence the military's decisions was because of his grandfather.
If his father wanted to get involved, he would still need his grandfather's help.
But now, his father actually wanted to directly replace the Prime Minister of Japan.
Miyamoto Tokima lay sprawled out in a helpless starfish position.
"Damn, my family really is ridiculous. How come by the time it gets to me, I feel like I'm just some deadweight?"
Miyamoto Tokima felt a little embarrassed. His grandfather could influence the American military.
His father was preparing to replace the Prime Minister of Japan.
And me... I'm just crushing people in the high school league?
Alright, I'm trash...
"Whatever. I'll deal with it when it comes. Sleep first!"
Miyamoto Tokima waved a hand, rolled over, closed his eyes, and stretched his legs... no, wait, just closed his eyes and went to sleep.
...
The day of the finals arrived quickly.
Shintaro Midorima was at home making his final preparations.
In his hand was the morning horoscope.
"Here we go, here we go, today's morning horoscope."
"It's a sunny day today, so I'm in a great mood too."
"Mm... let's see which sign is the luckiest today."
"Wow. Aries is the luckiest sign today. Everything will go smoothly. It'll be even better if you bring your lucky item."
"Second..."
"But unfortunately, Cancer is at the bottom today, so you'd better be careful."
Shintaro Midorima's expression changed, and his hands tightened.
"Fate... is not with me..."
The morning horoscope continued.
"Let's see what today's lucky item is."
"Wow. It's a basketball. Congratulations, Aries..."
Shintaro Midorima turned it off. It was the first time he had ever failed to listen to the whole thing.
He leaned weakly against the sofa, his eyes full of confusion.
"So... this is fate...?"
...
As the game drew near.
The audience poured into the arena, all gathered to watch the final match of the Summer Cup.
People from major high schools, some universities, as well as scouts and club representatives, had all arrived at the venue.
The high schools were there to study other teams' tactics.
The universities were there to look for suitable players they could recruit after graduation.
The clubs were naturally there for their own purposes.
As for the scouts, there were all kinds of them, a real mixed crowd.
But in truth, all of those scouts shared one common goal, the players of Kirisaki Daiichi.
The problem was that even if they had a target, they could not act on it.
Miyamoto Tokima had strictly forbidden any clubs or scouts from negotiating with Kirisaki Daiichi's players.
There was only one kind of scout allowed to come. NCAA scouts from America.
As for everyone else, forget it.
At least for now, it was out of the question.
And don't start talking about holding anyone back. As long as they were under Miyamoto Tokima's command, it did not count as holding them back.
The clubs and scouts had no choice but to behave and watch the other teams instead.
After all, you wouldn't want something to happen one night while you were asleep... ahem, you get it.
Since Kirisaki Daiichi was untouchable, they had to go after the others.
And the one receiving the most invitations right now was Shintaro Midorima.
The Summer Cup finalists naturally drew a huge amount of attention.
For the past few days, Shintaro Midorima had practically run into someone handing out flyers every time he stepped onto the street.
It had given him a massive headache.
Only when he was training at school could he get some peace and quiet.
Since Shintaro Midorima was being approached, the others from the [Generation of Miracles] naturally were as well.
The first one they targeted was Seijuro Akashi.
But after Seijuro Akashi's father strictly forbade it, they gave up.
Then came Daiki Aomine.
Daiki Aomine found those people annoying, so he simply ran off to Kirisaki Daiichi to hide.
At the same time, he also freeloaded off their training and meals.
As for Ryota Kise, they could not find him at all. His coach, Genta Takeuchi, kept his mouth shut tight and refused to say where they had gone.
With that, the scouts' and clubs' plan to recruit the [Generation of Miracles] had completely fallen through.
At the venue.
The spectators all took their seats, still chatting among themselves.
In particular, a huge number of people had come from Kirisaki Daiichi's school and local area.
...