The day before heading to Hiroshima for the national tournament, Rukawa Kaede came to the Ryonan basketball gym alone.
He wants to challenge Sendoh Akira to another duel!
Because when he had a private conversation with Coach Anzai earlier, Coach Anzai said something that he was very reluctant to admit.
That is, Coach Anzai believes that there is still a certain gap between Rukawa Kaede and Sendoh Akira.
To put it bluntly, Rukawa Kaede is not as good as Sendoh Akira.
Perhaps Coach Anzai said that on purpose to motivate Rukawa, or perhaps there really is still a gap between Rukawa and Sendoh.
However, no matter what, Rukawa Kaede would absolutely refuse to admit that he was inferior to Sendoh Akira.
So, the day before heading to Hiroshima for the national tournament, Rukawa Kaede made a special trip to the Ryonan basketball gym to have a one-on-one match with Sendoh Akira to determine the winner.
However, to Rukawa's disappointment, Sendoh Akira did not train with the Ryonan players.
Judging from Sendoh Akira's style, he's probably gone fishing again.
When the Ryonan players learned that Rukawa wanted to have a one-on-one match with Sendoh, they were all very surprised and unanimously believed that even if Sendoh were here, he would not agree to a one-on-one match with Rukawa.
As everyone knows, Akira Sendoh has a mysterious seal on his body, and it will not be broken unless the competition reaches a critical stage.
Normally, Sendoh Akira would not easily engage in one-on-one battles with others.
You'd be better off going fishing!
Rukawa Kaede left the Ryonan basketball arena in disappointment.
Interestingly, on his way back, Rukawa encountered Sendoh Akira, who was carrying fishing gear and planning to go fishing.
The moment the two met, Rukawa Kaede said menacingly, "Hey! Sendoh! Let's go! Fight me one-on-one!"
Sendoh Akira had originally planned to greet Rukawa Kaede with a smile, but he didn't expect Rukawa Kaede's killing intent to be so strong.
Sendoh Akira was slightly taken aback, but he wasn't angry. He quickly changed the subject, saying, "Ah! The weather is really nice today! Rukawa, I'm going fishing! See you later!"
How could Rukawa Kaede easily let Sendoh Akira go?
"Sendoh! Are you willing to lose the final match to us?"
Rukawa Kaede tried to provoke Sendoh Akira with words.
Sendoh Akira, who had already turned around, suddenly stopped, and his expression changed slightly, as if he was struggling with something.
Rukawa Kaede continued, "You have the chance to go fishing every day, but your chances of fighting me one-on-one may not be so many."
These words made Sendoh Akira frown and ask in confusion, "Not many opportunities left? What do you mean?"
Rukawa Kaede said seriously, "Because I will show everyone in the national tournament that I am the strongest high school student in the country!"
Actually, Rukawa Kaede didn't say the second half of his sentence: after becoming the strongest high school student in the country, he would go to the United States to study.
But he swallowed those words back down his throat because a red-haired guy suddenly popped into his mind.
"The strongest high school student in the country?" Sendoh Akira asked rhetorically, then smiled faintly and said, "Interesting!"
So Sendoh Akira gave up fishing and found a basketball court nearby with Rukawa Kaede, where they started a one-on-one match.
"Damn it! That's our territory!"
"Those two have taken over our territory, what are we going to do now?"
"Ugh, this is so annoying! This is just bullying!"
A group of junior high school students brought basketballs to the basketball court and found two handsome and tall guys playing one-on-one. They started muttering to themselves.
But soon, their feelings changed from resentment to shock.
Wow! It's a dunk! He can actually dunk! That's so cool!
"Wow! The other one can dunk too! That's amazing!"
"Those two are amazing!"
"Yeah! They're really strong! Just like professional athletes!"
Several junior high school students instantly became his little fans.
One of the chubby junior high school students turned to his companions and asked, "Did you guys go to watch the national qualifiers in Kanagawa?"
His companions all shook their heads and said, "No, we can't get tickets at all."
Everyone wore expressions of regret.
The chubby middle school student said confidently, "Those two must be players from Shohoku, Ryonan, or Kainan teams, otherwise they wouldn't be so good!"
"I heard that Shohoku is the champion of Kanagawa this year!"
"Yes! Shohoku was a completely mediocre team before, but this year they broke through and won first place in Kanagawa. It's simply unbelievable!"
"Ryonan team is also very strong!"
"Yeah, yeah! The Hainan team, which has dominated Kanagawa for more than ten years, didn't even qualify for the national tournament. Shohoku and Ryonan are both very strong."
The fact that the Hainan team, which had dominated Kanagawa for more than a decade, failed to qualify for the national tournament this time has become a topic of conversation among everyone.
While several middle school students were excitedly discussing the three strong teams in Kanagawa, Sendoh Akira suddenly stopped his attack and said, "Rukawa Kaede, stop. It's getting dark."
The sun was still in the sky, around 4 pm, but Sendoh Akira said it was getting dark. Obviously, this was Sendoh Akira's excuse; he probably wanted to save some time to go fishing.
Rukawa didn't press the matter, after all, the two had already fought a battle. Although the outcome wasn't completely decided, Rukawa realized that he hadn't completely defeated Sendoh Akira.
That's enough; it at least shows that Rukawa Kaede needs to work even harder if he wants to become the strongest high school student in the country.
Rukawa looked at Sendoh Akira and said seriously, "Sendoh, you are indeed very strong! But I will definitely defeat you completely."
The once battle-ready Akira Sendoh has returned to his sealed state, and he smiled faintly.
However, Rukawa's fighting spirit also inspired Sendoh, so Sendoh couldn't help but say, "Rukawa, to be honest, your change surprised me. Because when we played our first practice match, you were the kind of person who didn't like to pass the ball to your teammates at all. At that time, I felt that after you got the ball, you would fight one-on-one with everyone who was blocking you. Even if there were five people on the other side taking turns blocking you, you didn't seem willing to pass the ball easily."
If Sakuragi Hanamichi heard Sendoh Akira's words here, he would definitely retort without mercy: "How dare you talk about Rukawa Kaede? When you get carried away, aren't you the same?"
Sendoh Akira continued, "But later, while you were improving your own skills, you also gradually learned to cooperate with your teammates, which is really remarkable, especially your cooperation with Sakuragi."
At this point, the image of the genius Sakuragi Hanamichi appeared in Sendoh Akira's mind. A smile crept onto his lips, and he couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "That guy! He's really unpredictable!"
Finally, Sendoh Akira said, "Your exceptional one-on-one skills are indeed very strong, but if you continue to play like that, it might actually hinder Shohoku's victory in the national tournament."
Basketball is a team sport. Players on a strong team not only need to have strong individual skills, but also must have a sense of teamwork.
This statement is simple to say and can be accepted by everyone.
However, in real-world competitions, those with strong skills often share a common flaw: when they get carried away, they like to go it alone!
To be honest, it all comes down to mindset.
If you've experienced countless matches and encountered numerous formidable opponents, then this aspect will indeed change.
However, on the other hand, when the game is in a difficult situation, it is indeed necessary for someone to step up and rely on their strong abilities to revitalize the entire team.
Perhaps some statements aren't so absolute; it always depends on the situation.
However, it cannot be denied that Rukawa Kaede still has relatively little match experience.
It's truly remarkable that Sendoh Akira would say such things to Rukawa Kaede, given that they are rivals.
At that moment, Rukawa Kaede also firmly kept these words in mind.
Then, Sendoh Akira picked up his fishing gear and turned around with a flourish.
"Sendoh!" Rukawa suddenly called out to Sendoh Akira again, asking, "Will there be any players stronger than you in the National Tournament?"
Sendoh Akira pondered for a moment and said, "I think so... I remember, back in middle school, I had a match with a guy, and that guy was definitely stronger than me back then."
It's worth noting that Akira Sendoh was an extremely strong player during his junior high school years, which is why Coach Taoka poached him from Tokyo.
For Sendoh Akira to admit that he's stronger than him, how powerful must the other person be?
At this moment, Rukawa Kaede was filled with shock and hurriedly asked, "What's that person's name?"
Sendoh Akira pondered for a moment, then said uncertainly, "I think it's called... Kitazawa? Hmm, that should be Kitazawa..."
Akira Sendoh, carrying his fishing gear, left with a dashing air, leaving behind a magnificent silhouette.
"Kitazawa!" Rukawa Kaede remembered this name firmly.
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