Strong as Ever.

The third day of the Tokyo preliminaries has arrived. Hiro stood on the floor conducting his pre-game warmup, looking around the court and audience. Kamiya Middle was warming up on their side of the court, while the opposing team did nothing.

Warming up was detrimental to the team and players, but most middle school sports clubs were like that; most of them were created for the purpose of having fun.

There weren't many teams that saw their sport as competitive and worked extremely hard to excel at it.

Hiro answered with a smile, "Being in a team for the purpose of having fun is not a terrible thing. It's a lot of fun to play with folks who share your interests. We can't expect everyone to play while striving for the top!" for the occasion

"You tell 'em!" Chiba smiled, as he patted him.

Sano then commented, "This was why the middle school basketball arena became gloomy; teams playing for fun were overpowered by Haranishi, and Haranishi appeared to be giving up. It wouldn't have been an issue if the Demons had all gone to different schools, but because they were all collected in one area, the scenario became quite gloomy!" With a grin.

Hiro had a peek at the squad they'd be facing in Round three; they were a team out to have fun.

"Playing for the sake of having fun does not imply that they are not talented. They outperform the entire low-level team. They're better than Musashi, but they're still....weaker than other teams like us!" Chiba mentioned.

"True, they are weaker than we are, but don't underestimate them! Do you follow? "As he overheard the conversations, the Coach inquired.

"Yes! Coach!" The Team gave a unified response.

...

"The game between Kamiya Middle School and Midoriya Middle School in Block A, Round 3 will begin shortly!" The announcement had been made.

"Gather!" The Coach Commanded as the players gathered and responded in unison, "Yes, coach!"

The coach faced the players and stated, "Midoriya Middle School is a defense-oriented school; their centre stands 181 cm tall, and the entire squad is defensive. I don't want you to overexert yourself and tyre yourself out; we still have another game to play! Understood!" With a serious tone of voice.

"Yes! Coach!" The Team responded in unison.

...

The game started quickly and concluded shortly.

[65-34]

Midoriya Middle's players were knocked off one by one, resulting in a 65-34 victory for Kamiya Middle.

Hiro produced eighteen points, three rebounds, fifteen steals, two blocks, and nine assists to Kamiya Middle's victory.

The game appeared to be a one-sided victory for Kamiya Middle, but the seasoned spectators in the arena could see what genuinely motivated.

Day three,

It consisted of two matches: Round 3 and the semi-finals. The battle for the semi-finals began in round three itself, as Middle School kids lacked the physical capacity to play two games at full strength; in order to have a shot at winning, you needed to have enough stamina to finish the game.

Kamiya began the game with all of their players on the court, but by the end, only Yagami Hiro of Kamiya Middle's starters remained. Being a major institution also required having a deep bench with plenty of subs.

Kamiya Middle began by moving the ball and expanding the space they needed to defend in order to tyre out Midoriyas' team.

Midoriya Middle wasn't particularly aggressive on offensive, thus Kamiya didn't need to focus much on defense. Midoriya had been run down by Kamiya by halftime, and all of their players were fatigued.

Before halftime, Kamiya had already replaced Utada, and Shun took over the Shot-making duties. He ensured that the offense ran well by spreading scoring equitably among the members.

Midoriya could only watch as the Kamiya Middle piled up points no matter how hard they attempted to defend. As the point difference widened, the Kamiya Middle began to push themselves, and the game became faster than Midoriya was used to.

While on the bench, he replaced Utada in the first eight minutes of the game, and Arai and Chiba were both taken out during halftime. Coach intended to replace Chiba with Hiro, but Hiro protested that he was alright and continued to play.

Midoriya middle wanted to change members as well, but they couldn't because their reserves weren't competent enough to compete with Kamiya.

The second half was even more harsh, as Hiro, who was on support, moved on offence and widened the score deficit, making it impossible for the Midoriya team to come back.

Sano was replaced by the second-year Center with eight minutes remaining in the contest.

Hiro determined that the score was adequate and returned to assist the present members on the court; he wanted the bench to gain game experience because some of them might be on the team next year.

The reserves were more than enough to overcome the fatigued Midoriya Middle team, and Kamiya won by a score of thirty points.

But it was what transpired in the semi-finals that convinced the entire stadium that Kamiya was ready to be a top contender for the Nationals and live up to the glory he achieved last year.

Kamiya went entirely offensive in the Block A semi-finals for the first time after only two games.

East Middle School was a steady school with a good reputation in Tokyo, but they couldn't help but look inept against Kamiya's current offense.

Kamiya demonstrated what they brought to the table this year, Sano went for rebounds and blocks like a beast, Arai demonstrated what power and talent combined could achieve on the field, and Utada supported his team from the outside and displayed himself as an all-around player.

Chiba eventually showed off his Special shot, and the audience was taken aback by his exceptional precision on a difficult fade away jumper. He was like a sniper shooting from the sidelines.

Then there was the first-year rookie with 27 points, 10 steals, four blocks, one rebound, and twelve assists. He shown the ability to score from wherever on the court. Yagami Hiro distinguished himself as a brilliant rookie, spearheading the champion's drive in the Tokyo prefecture preliminary semi-finals.

The victors, Kamiya Middle School, were as strong as ever.

The finals of Block A were guaranteed to be intriguing as spectators learned that Fukushima Middle School had likewise cleaned the floor with their opponents and were on their way to the finals to meet Kamiya.

The Tokyo Middle School basketball scene was eager and wondered who would win, the Towering Champions, Kamiya Middle School, or the Rising Challengers, Fukushima Middle School, but one thing was certain: it would be an extremely entertaining game.

But what they didn't even realize was that the scenario would heat up even more on Day four when Haranishi middle went onto the floor to demonstrate Block B teams who was the ruler.