They'd won the game, and after the match, everyone was in high spirits.

  Aomine was the most obvious—he hadn't stopped grinning and was loudly decring that in the next game, he'd definitely score more than Tendou.

  Tendou scoffed and spat out three letters from his mouth: "M, V, P!"

  Aomine was instantly silenced.

  That's right—during regur training, after losing a one-on-one to Tendou, Aomine had vowed to become the MVP of their first game against Kaisei.

  But the result was clear: Tendou Kageyoshi walked away as the best pyer of the match.

  The prefectural tournament also had individual awards like MVP.

  If Tendou continued performing at this level, he was highly likely to become the second first-year ever to earn the MVP award for the Tokyo tournament.

  And the first? None other than their captain, Nijimura Shūzō.

  Last year, Nijimura had averaged 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 2 steals per game, securing the MVP award and a spot on the All-Tokyo Team.

  Now, he was one of the top national candidates for the best power forward.

  While still bantering with Aomine, the team stepped out of the locker room and ran into Harasawa Katsunori.

  He politely greeted his senior, Shirogane Kōzō.

  "Long time no see, Shirogane-senpai!"

  Both of them had once pyed for the national team, albeit not in the same era. Shirogane had pyed earlier, so being called senpai was completely appropriate.

  "Here to see Nijimura again?"

  "Yes," Harasawa replied without hiding it, but after gncing at Tendou, he added, "If possible, I'd like to speak with Tendou-kun as well."

  Whoa, big ambition.

  Shirogane's eyes grew subtly sharper. So this guy was pnning to overthrow the powerhouse Rakuzan?

  "I'm not thinking about which high school to join right now. I just want to focus on the national tournament," Nijimura said politely but firmly, declining the invitation.

  This wasn't the first time he'd been approached like this over the past year.

  There's no professional league, no draft system in Japan.

  The only way to strengthen your team is for coaches to recruit pyers themselves.

  But this approach heavily relies on a coach's training ability—nowhere near as straightforward as just recruiting proven talents.

  In this regard, Takezono High's Takeoka was quite impressive. He trained average pyers like Uozumi and Fukuda into top-tier regional pyers.

  "But," Nijimura continued, "you can talk to Tendou. He might be interested."

  Everyone turned their eyes to Tendou Kageyoshi.

  Tendou didn't refuse. "Sure," he said.

  Tendou knew all about Tōō Academy.

  In the main story, Seirin's worst defeat was at the hands of Tōō.

  Even with their two aces, Kagami and Kuroko, they were crushed in their match and spiraled into a slump afterward, throwing away their chances of making it past the Tokyo qualifiers.

  Tendou's impression of Tōō Academy?

  Money.

  The whole roster was put together through "money-throwing" tactics. As long as you were strong enough, they'd come at you waving cash.

  ...

  Outside the stadium, at a nearby cold drinks shop.

  While Harasawa Katsunori was still organizing his pitch, Tendou cut straight to the point.

  "So, how do you pn to talk me into joining Tōō?"

  "Uh…"

  Harasawa clearly hadn't expected him to be so blunt.

  He admitted Tendou's directness had caught him off guard.

  But Tendou wasn't wrong. Harasawa had indeed been thinking about how to "talk him into it."

  For a pyer like Tendou, there was no need to worry about his future. So long as he didn't get injured during his middle school career, every top-tier high school would be fighting over him.

  Tōō, which cked a legacy program, was already at a disadvantage.

  He'd even prepared for Tendou to mention other famous schools and had come up with lines like "Building a dynasty from ruins is more challenging than inheriting one," and so on.

  But this ridiculously handsome kid might not be one to fall for that kind of speech.

  He didn't seem like the same type as that "pure" Aomine Daiki with the darker complexion.

  No choice—he had to bring out the real incentives.

  "If you're willing to join Tōō in high school, you'll be the absolute core of our team."

  "Our entire system will revolve around you. Over the next two years, I'll build a championship team around your strengths."

  "I watched your entire game. Your defensive skills are excellent, especially in one-on-one matchups, though your help defense is a bit cking."

  "That's not a fw—I'll find a rim protector with great help-side defense to complement you, so you can pour all your energy into offense."

  "I'll also get you a sharpshooter to stretch the floor. You seem to value the three-pointer as a core weapon, so with two outside threats, we can widen the defense and create more space for your drives."

  "Of course, we'll also need a strong point guard to share pymaking duties and reduce your risk of being double-teamed. That gives us two high-level creators on the floor…"

  He went on and on.

  Clearly, Harasawa had come well-prepared.

  In fact, during the match, he'd already been taking notes.

  He'd already thought of candidates.

  For help defense, he'd continue courting Nijimura Shūzō.

  The captain of Teikō, entering his third year next year, was a hot commodity among high school coaches.

  For a point guard, he had his eyes on Imayoshi Shōichi—a sharp, composed, and sly genius.

  As for a shooter, he was leaning toward Midorima Shintarō.

  Tendou's first-year teammate had left quite the impression with his three-point shooting in today's game.

  And then there was Murasakibara Atsushi. Oh, and Akashi Seijūrō too…

  Damn it—why did it feel like every pyer in Teikō was a national treasure?

  "We'll never be teammates."

  "Hmm? What did you say, Tendou-kun?"

  "I said I could never be teammates with Aomine and the others."

  Tendou Kageyoshi crushed Harasawa Katsunori's fantasy.