He had to admit that Chi Tong's abilities far exceeded his expectations.
Ryonan's victory was by no means a matter of luck.
Jin Soichiro stood beside Kiyota Nobunaga and shook his head gently, his voice full of emotion. "It wasn't luck. It was skill. High school basketball really has another powerhouse to contend with now."
As Hainan's ace shooter, he could better appreciate the ingenuity of Ryonan's tactics and understood what Chi Tong's presence meant to the team.
This team, making its first appearance at the National Tournament, already had the strength to challenge the very best.
Mu Shenyi folded his hands in front of him, watching the court with a penetrating gaze.
The result hadn't particularly surprised him.
A victory for Meipeng Industrial High School would have been perfectly natural, but so was a victory for Ryonan.
What truly surprised him was the breathtaking strategic game played out behind the entire match.
From start to finish, every move Mingpeng Industrial made seemed to fall within Chi Tong's calculations. Even Mori Zhongkuan's evolution and Mingpeng's counterattack seemed like parts of a script written in advance.
What a terrifying opponent.
Mu Shenyi murmured inwardly, a trace of gravity flashing through his eyes.
On the other side of the arena, the Sannoh Industrial High School players slowly rose from their seats. Their initially appraising gazes now held a new seriousness and respect as they looked toward Ryonan.
Gone was their initial disdain for a team making its National Tournament debut. In its place was the cautious assessment reserved for a formidable opponent.
Ryonan's crushing late-game counterattack, the sudden collapse of the Mingpeng Industrial Team's players-the entire match seemed to hit fast-forward at a certain point, racing toward a predetermined ending.
That sense of near-total control left even Sannoh's proud players, so accustomed