Akagi's Determination

"At Takeishi Junior High School, Mitsui has also attracted the attention of many people. Mitsui himself is the best player in this class, and the team's record is excellent. Many colleges and universities have pursued Mitsui for a while. Even Taoka of Ryonan is attracted.

I have to mention here that Ryonan's Shigeichi Taoka is quite cunning! He knew that there was a gap between Ryonan and the wealthy school like Kainan and Shoyo, so Coach Taoka came up with the idea of playing the emotional card. He not only had many pleasant discussions with Coach Yamada but also attracted Ryoji Ikegami, hoping to persuade Mitsui to join. If successful, that's great, but if it fails, Ikegami, being from a champion school, is also a valuable choice.

Even Coach Anzai, who is retiring from Shohoku and has nothing to do with the world, heard the news. He heard that Hisashi Mitsui of Takeishi Middle School is a super scorer, a team player, highly intelligent, capable of designing tactics and training. He can even use run-and-gun tactics, which are rare among high school students in Japan.

When talking about run and gun, we have to mention another person - Anzai's good friend, Coach Kitano. They were both defenders on the national team at first and later became coaches. They had agreed to train a team for a competition, but unfortunately, with Tanizawa's death, Anzai was also affected. Now he is just taking care of himself. However, Kitano heard that he was also coaching in college, but the two haven't seen each other in a long time.

After hearing more about it, Anzai inevitably became curious. After all, Kanagawa has had many outstanding young talents in the past, but not many have been as highly praised as Mitsui. Moreover, I heard that King Kainan even plans to give Mitsui a first-year regular spot. You must know that Kainan has dominated Kanagawa for fourteen years. In these fourteen years, no one has ever played in the first grade!

Coach Takato often declares confidently, "We in Kainan have no so-called geniuses at all, and we don't need any geniuses!" In reality, this is just sour grapes. If a genius joins Kainan, they will undoubtedly be delighted to find one. Kainan has even sent out early invitations to some outstanding talents.

With Anzai's status, he wanted to watch a junior high school finals. Of course, the officials were flattered and arranged the best seat for Anzai, so he and Taoka, who came after hearing the news, could sit together to provide commentary and judge the game.

Taoka was panicking. With the arrogance of a wealthy family like Kainan and Shoyo, the most they could do was send a formal invitation to Mitsui. They couldn't be as forward as Takato. This was probably a common problem among wealthy families. They boxed themselves in and had to wait for players to approach them. If they invite players in person, it might push them away.

Based on Shigeichi Taoka's experience, although Kainan and Shoyo is a wealthy school, a talented player like Mitsui, who emerges once in a decade, won't be content with just an addition to the team. He would want the team to build a new system around him and establish a dynasty. Taoka, the "divine fortune teller," has already won over Ikegami and Yamada Shinichi established a good relationship.

Originally, everything was going according to Taoka's plan. Mitsui should have been his. However, once Anzai takes action, with Anzai's reputation, even talented players would be eager to get guidance from the former national player. Anzai himself is a famous figure in the university!

Taoka secretly observed Anzai, who was sitting beside him. Anzai just smiled, revealing no signs of his thoughts. The match between Shoyo and Kitamura was underway. Despite Shoyo's height advantage, Akagi, who had learned from the previous game, showed strong energy.

"Coach Anzai, this Kitamura center is impressive," Taoka remarked. In fact, Taoka regretted not considering that Kitamura, who had only reached the first round in the previous two rounds, had such an outstanding center. Although Taoka already had Uozumi, Uozumi was tall but lacked the necessary physical strength. Additionally, having two strong centers would always be beneficial.

"Haha," Anzai raised his glasses. The frame captured Akagi jumping high to block Hanagata's attack and striding forward. A glint of determination flashed in his eyes, "This young man has a bright future. He will surely achieve greatness."

"Haha, you're right. It's rare to see someone with this height and physique. Coach Anzai, how about you? Are you also starting to take an interest in talent? To be honest, I'm also tempted to get in touch with him."

Anzai returned to his composed demeanor, "Our Shohoku is just a public school, not very competitive." Coach Taoka received a satisfying response and continued to watch the game, which was nearing its conclusion.

Despite the gap in hard power, Kitamura was one point behind Shoyo, 52 to 53, with 12 seconds left before the end of the game. Moreover, Shoyo still had possession of the ball at this moment.

Shoyo's coach called a final timeout on the sidelines and instructed his players, "You've done well. Now, just pass the ball around until the end of the field. No need to take any more shots, understand?" The Shoyo team responded loudly, "We understand!"

Although there was no hope of winning the championship, securing second place was still important. It would give them a chance to continue into Shiyo High School. Tokiomi Tosaka just wanted stability at the moment."

Taking advantage of the timeout, Taoka communicated with Anzai again. Although Taoka is also a good coach, he is still far behind Anzai. Therefore, Taoka hopes that his analysis can catch Anzai's eyes. In fact, this is also considered a good coaching behavior, Shigeichi Taoka; he's always a persistent coach.

"The next time is only 12 seconds. Shoyo, who is one point ahead, now has the ball in his hands. According to my understanding of Tokiomi Tosaka, his final tactic at this moment must be to kill time. Mr. Anzai, it seems that the outcome has been decided."

"Well..." Anzai was still thinking while holding the tea, "Don't be discouraged!" A loud shout passed into the ears of the two of them, "We still have time, we will definitely win!"

Looking around, there was a big No. 5 appeared in their eyes, "Oh, it seems that I still don't want to give up." A smile appeared on Taoka's face. In fact, what Taoka admires most is this type of player who never gives up.

"On the opposite side, Shoyo lost to Takeshi by a big score. We have played two games with Takeshi, and everyone has improved. Now there is only one point difference. This is the best proof of our efforts this month. Whether it is good or bad for us, there are only the last 12 seconds of junior high school basketball left!"

"Akagi!" The players on the sidelines were encouraged by Akagi's words, and their eyes became fierce again. Even Kogure off the court was excited by Akagi's words. He was excited, but unfortunately he was only a substitute and could not play, but he also waved the towel in his hand and shouted "Kitamura, come on!" It seemed silly that he was the only one shouting at first, but soon others followed and shouted, and the supporters also shouted, and Kogure was even more moved "Mitsui-san, you are right, it is great for me to be able to play basketball!"

Although he shouted words of encouragement to his teammates, in fact, Akagi himself had already decided in his heart that he had no hope of winning. However, after hearing the support from everyone, Akagi still planned to fight to the death.

When Shoyo came on the stage, they felt the difference in Kitamura, and the atmosphere of the audience also changed. "What are you doing, Kitamura guys? Aren't you giving up?"

Akagi completed a steal! And struggled to chase the ball's landing point.

If you want to take it, you must take it back! At this moment, Akagi had only this thought in his mind. The basketball hit the guest seats and hit Taoka's head. Akagi's flying jump also scared Taoka, but he still couldn't save it and the ball went out of bounds.

Because it was Akagi who touched it, Shoyo still had the ball. The time was shorter, and the opponent would definitely be more vigilant. Akagi closed his eyes in despair: Damn it, it's no longer possible.

Just when Akagi felt desperate, suddenly, a light hit him in front of him. Akagi looked up and saw Coach Anzai holding a basketball in the light.

Anzai held the ball in one hand, and his eyes were full of kindness. "Hold on to the end, don't give up hope. If you give up, the game will be over." After saying that, Anxi handed the ball to Akagi and walked back to his seat.

Don't give up hope, don't give up hope! Akagi seemed to have gained infinite strength. With four seconds left, he jumped up and intercepted the pass from Shoyo. Then he dribbled lamely towards the opposite basket. Shoyo's players were all panicked and crazy.

Tokiomi Tosaka yelled from the sidelines, "What are you doing? Akagi is a poor dribbler and can't shoot. Someone is coming to intercept him. Don't let him have a chance to advance and block him out." But . Unfortunately, Akagi had already charged up. Like a heavy tank, Akagi took off from the paint area and dunked! Violently venting the flames in his heart, Hanagata, Takano and Nagano was sent flying, and Kitamura Middle School reversed the score at the last second!

"Yeah!" Akagi cheered loudly,

"Victory!"

"Akagi!"

"Akagi-senpai!" Everyone in Kitamura rushed up and surrounded Akagi. Haruko, who had been watching the battle, also showed an excited smile. "It's amazing, brother."

Akagi looked at Coach Anzai, who also smiled and nodded to him. This made Akagi feel warm in his heart. Akagi found that he wanted to play basketball under the guidance of this person. Even if he later found out that Shohoku was only a public school, Akagi planned to apply for it because he wanted to repay Coach Anzai.