4-to-2 Begins (1)

Chi Tong slowly opened his eyes. Everything had returned to calm, as though nothing had happened.

Everything seemed peaceful on the surface, but Chi Tong knew that voice had never disappeared. It was hidden in the deepest part of his heart like a beast lying in wait, always trying to tempt him off course with vanity and ambition.

The silent contest just now had ended in an unexpected way. He had neither completely suppressed either side nor been consumed by either one. Instead, he had allowed those two seemingly opposing personalities to find room to coexist within him.

Perhaps this is the real me.

The next day, Kanagawa Prefecture gymnasium.

The plaza outside the gymnasium was already packed with people, with crowds continuously streaming in and out.

Every one of those pouring into the gymnasium had come for today's semifinal matches.

Today marked the start of the four-to-two stage. Hainan, Xiangyang, Shohoku, and Ryonan would begin the first round-robin matches here, and every win or loss would directly affect the final spots.

It would not be an exaggeration to call the attention this competition received unprecedented.

There would be two games: the first four-to-two match in the morning, Hainan vs. Shoyo; and the second in the afternoon, Ryonan vs. Shohoku.

Today's games were packed with headline matchups and endless highlights.

On one side, the reigning top-ranked kings of Hainan would face second-ranked powerhouse Shoyo in a peak showdown. This collision between giants was destined to be a formidable test of Hainan's throne, and it would determine whether Xiangyang could shake Hainan's dominance.

On the other side, the rapidly rising and currently unstoppable Ryonan would face this year's greatest dark horse, Shohoku. The former carried ambitions of breaking into the elite, while the latter continued to create surprise after surprise as