On Yōsen's side, Midorima and Murasakibara were mercilessly hammering their seniors.
Meanwhile, over at Seirin's court, the fierce battle between Haizaki and Aomine remained deadlocked.
Until two familiar "villains" made their grand entrance—Shigure Akihito and Nijimura Shuzo!
"Yo~"
"Been a while~"
Stepping into the gym, Shigure grinned, speaking before anyone else could even react.
"Senpai, it's been a long time."
The usually expressionless Kuroko actually smiled at the sudden sight of his two legendary seniors.
"So tall…"
"Who is that…?"
"The No. 1 high school player in the country—Shigure Akihito!"
"Eh?"
"Then the other one must be…"
"The other half of Teiko's Twin Stars—Nijimura Shuzo!"
Amid the shocked gasps, Shigure walked forward with a chuckle, reaching out to pat Kuroko's head.
At the same time, Haizaki and Aomine, still locked in battle, both froze mid-movement.
And then
Haizaki's eyes met Nijimura's.
That familiar, commanding presence—the aura of an apex predator
It had been a long time since he'd felt it.
Nijimura then glanced at Kise, who flinched instinctively, before turning back to Kuroko.
"What that brat Kise said isn't entirely wrong… but there's one thing he got right."
"Never doubt your own ability, Kuroko."
Meanwhile
Haizaki and Aomine exchanged a wordless look.
Before Kagami could even recover from seeing Shigure again and reignite his fighting spirit,
the two walked forward.
And then
Everyone from Seirin watched as the two seniors—Shigure Akihito and Nijimura Shuzo
in perfect sync, unbuttoned their collars and tucked in their shirts,
smirking with the kind of quiet confidence that could make even air stand still.
The girls around the court screamed.
One was radiant and easygoing.
The other, cold and stoic.
And both of them—utterly magnetic.
The way they loosened and straightened their collars carried an effortless restraint that made it all the more alluring.
It was as if the girls had just discovered something dangerous.
But soon
as both sides began their simultaneous 1-on-1 battles
the screams faded.
Until only silence remained.
And in that eerie stillness, Shigure's voice echoed:
"Haizaki, Aomine, Kise, Kuroko… sorry, but the ones standing at the top by the end—will still be us~."
A few weeks later.
Since the day those two Teiko devils visited Seirin, some time had passed.
And somehow… a new tradition had formed.
Every official team member now had to stand on the rooftop,
before the entire school,
and declare their goal of reaching Nationals.
A truly humiliating tradition.
And worse—if you failed to keep your promise,
the punishment was brutal:
You'd have to confess to your crush… completely naked.
Terrifying, to say the least.
After that, Seirin played a practice match against Tōō.
Though Haizaki hated to admit it—between Seirin and Tōō…
or more precisely, between himself and that seriously fired-up black-skinned idiot
there was still a slight gap.
He had to hurry.
He hadn't yet fully completed his "Monster Immersion."
Not yet, Haizaki.
It won't be that easy!
With a roar, Haizaki lunged forward for a block on Shigure's monstrous shot
Smack!
The crisp sound jolted him awake.
He blinked, dazed, realizing he was in class, cheek still pressed against his desk.
In his dream, he'd even managed to block Shigure's shot.
"Haizaki Shōgo!!"
His aging teacher trembled with fury, the corner of his mouth twitching from the accidental slap Haizaki had given him earlier.
"Office! After class!!"
"…"
Haizaki turned to glance at Kuroko, who, as usual, was peacefully napping—and of course, invisible to the teacher's wrath.
Across the room, Kagami's phone buzzed in his pocket.
When the teacher finally turned away, Kagami peeked at the message.
It was from Coach Aida Riko:
"All members, assemble at the gym thirty minutes early today!"
"Line up!"
Hyūga Junpei gathered everyone, but strangely, Riko wasn't there yet.
After confirming the formation, he raised his voice:
"The Inter-High prelims are coming up! We were one step short last year—but this year, we're going all the way!
Just like in Winter Cup, we're heading for Nationals again!"
"First up is our opening match. We start strong—no holding back!"
"YES, CAPTAIN!"
"…By the way, where's Coach?"
Hyūga sighed, "Said she was checking out one of our potential opponents' practice games… secretly."
As the team began warming up, the freshmen whispered among themselves—nervous but excited.
"Prelims right after Golden Week, huh? That's fast…"
"About three weeks left?"
"But Seirin's fine, right? The senpai reached the block finals even as first-years—and went to Nationals in winter!"
"Yeah, plus we've got the Generation of Miracles with us now…"
"So our first match should be easy, right?"
Hyūga appeared behind them and flicked each of their foreheads.
"Idiots. What are you saying?"
"Ouch!"
"Captain—sorry…"
Hyūga gave them the same speech his seniors once gave him.
"Lose once and it's over. Doesn't matter if it's the first or final match—there's no such thing as an easy win.
So stay sharp!"
"Captain…"
Kuroko unfolded the printed matchup chart.
National Inter-High—Tokyo District Preliminaries (Block A)
On the list were two seeded schools—Seihō, King of the North,
and Shūtoku, King of the East.
Two long-time giants of Tokyo.
But this year, they'd been placed in the same block
which meant one of them wouldn't even make it to the round-robin finals.
Haizaki raised an eyebrow.
"Damn, there are so many teams… This block alone has more than all of middle school Tokyo combined."
The number of registered basketball clubs had exploded—and with it, the competition.
"Tokyo's split into four groups—A to D."
"Only one team from each group advances to the round-robin finals."
"And only the top three from that final stage qualify for Nationals."
"Out of nearly 300 schools, only three will stand on the national stage."
"That's the Inter-High."
Kagami nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm… got it.
So basically, we just have to beat everyone."
"…?"
Everyone stared at him.
Technically true, but…
"I'm back…"
Coach Aida Riko entered the gym, her face dark as thunder.
"Coach's back…" Hyūga muttered automatically—then froze.
That expression… was bad news.
Freshmen Kōki Furihata and Kawahara tried to ask about today's drills,
but Riko's veins popped as she yelled,
"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?!"
"S-sorry!"
From a distance, Hyūga sighed. "She's in a terrible mood… Must've seen a tough opponent."
Riko covered her face. "Yeah… you could say that."
"Here, take a look."
She handed Hyūga her phone.
The first picture was… a cat.
"Cute, but—"
"Sorry, wrong one. Next photo."
Click.
The next image froze everyone.
"…What the hell is that?"
Riko exhaled heavily.
"Name's Papa Mbaye Siki.
Height: 200 cm.
Exchange student from Senegal."
Haizaki blinked. "A foreigner?"
Interesting.
He'd never played one before.
"Senegal, huh? Where even is that?"
"Somewhere in Africa, I think?"
"Man, he's huge! Is that even allowed?!"
Kagami snorted, "He's just tall. Ten centimeters taller than me—so what?"
Riko crossed her arms.
"Listen carefully!"
"This guy's not just tall. His limbs are absurdly long—and not in a clumsy way.
It's almost like… Murasakibara-level range."
"All the advantages of height, he's got them all.
More and more schools are recruiting foreign players now.
This next opponent, Shinkyō Academy, used to be an average team
but with this one player, they've become something else entirely."
Her comparison to Murasakibara made the veterans tense up.
Even the rookies, who hadn't seen Atsushi in action, fell silent.
"Our current target is that guy—Papa!"
"Which means…"
"Starting tomorrow, we're doing special training!
The prelim match is on May 18th—no time to slack off!"
Time flew.
And soon came the day of Seirin's first Inter-High prelim match.
Because nearly 300 schools were participating,
the venues were scattered across Tokyo.
Today's game was held in a neutral school gymnasium.
Outside, the team gathered, fully geared and ready.
Kuroko glanced at Kagami's dark eye bags.
"Didn't sleep again?"
Haizaki smirked. "Bifurcated eyebrows—if you drag us down, you're dead."
"Shut it," Kagami growled.
As they walked down the corridor to the court, they crossed paths with Shinkyō's team.
"Strange," Hyūga muttered, "That Papa guy isn't here?"
Izuki nodded. "Yeah, weird—"
Thud!
A massive shadow appeared in the doorway, smacking his head on the frame.
"Ah! Ow~! Doors in this country are way too low…"
And then—another thud!
He'd accidentally bumped into someone.
Looking down, Papa blinked at the small, blue-haired boy he'd just hit.
"Oh, sorry, little one—kids shouldn't be wandering here."
Before anyone could stop him, he casually lifted Kuroko off the ground with both hands.
"Idiot! That's an opponent! He's a player!"
"What?!"
Papa gently set Kuroko down, noticing the Seirin jersey peeking out beneath his shirt.
"…This team's got kids? Huh.
Guess the Generation of Miracles isn't so miraculous after all."
Huh?
…What did he just say?
Haizaki and Kagami both stepped forward—grinning, their eyes blazing.
And when Papa turned
He found himself staring into two pairs of terrifying eyes.
A gray wolf.
And a tiger.
END OF CHAPTER
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