Uozumi's Challenge (I)

Chi Tong turned to Tiangang Maoyi and said, "Coach, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first."

Tiangang Maoyi nodded. "Mm, all right. There's nothing else. You can go."

The next day, at Lingnan High School's basketball gym.

"Hey, did you hear?"

"The coach is thinking of replacing Uozumi as captain!"

"What?"

"No way!"

"Is that for real?"

"Who else could be more suitable than Uozumi to be the basketball team captain?"

"I don't know, but I heard there'll be an answer today."

"Sigh, it has to be a rumor. It's definitely fake. How could something like that be possible?"

Inside the gym, the first-year freshmen whispered among themselves, discussing bits of gossip they had heard from who knew where.

The upperclassmen, meanwhile, all wore subtle, uneasy expressions.

They had also heard that the team might be changing captains, but they did not want to believe it was true. They had long grown accustomed to Uozumi's presence as captain, and the sudden prospect of replacing him was difficult to accept. Besides, in their eyes, no one in the team besides Uozumi was qualified to take that position.

Yueye Hongming turned to Ikegami Ryoji beside him and asked, "Ikegami, have you heard?"

Shishang Liang'er slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I heard. It seems Coach spoke to Uozumi personally yesterday."

"No way, right?"

Yueye Hongming looked shocked as he hurriedly pressed on.

"Then do you know who's challenging Uozumi for the captaincy?"

Ikegami Ryoji shook his head. "I don't know."

Uekusa Tomoyuki spoke firmly from the side. "Whether the news is true or not, Uozumi is the only captain I recognize."

As he listened to everyone's discussion, Sento wore a thoughtful expression and muttered to himself, Captain?

That really is interesting. Other than Uozumi, there really doesn't seem to be anyone else!

Wait, there's one more person!

Something suddenly occurred to him. His eyes slowly widened, surprise appearing on his face before it turned into realization. Could it be— Just then, the gym doors were violently pushed open. Everyone looked over at the sound and instantly fell silent.

In an instant, the entire gym sank into dead silence.

Everyone stared at the familiar figure at the door with complicated looks.

It was none other than Captain Uozumi, the very person they had just been whispering about.

Uozumi coldly swept his gaze over the players in the gym. His face was expressionless as he slowly walked in with steady steps.

The first-year freshmen all lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes for fear of provoking his anger.

The upperclassmen avoided his gaze. They wanted to say something, but did not know where to begin.

In the end, Yueye Hongming gathered his courage and carefully asked, "Captain Uozumi, about the captaincy..."

He stopped halfway through.

After swallowing, Uozumi halted and shot him a sidelong glance. His voice was low and calm. "Train properly. Don't think about pointless things."

"But..." Ikegami Ryoji could not help asking, "Is it true that the team is changing captains?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. An awkward, apologetic look appeared on his face.

Uozumi simply stared at him, his expression unchanged.

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze, and the entire gym fell into an eerie silence.

The first-year freshmen suddenly sensed that something was off. Their bodies trembled faintly despite themselves, afraid that something impossible to resolve might happen next.

However, in the next moment, "As long as the team can win, what does it matter who the captain is?"

Uozumi spoke indifferently and withdrew his gaze, but a trace of unwillingness and obsession with the past flashed through his eyes.

Everyone was stunned by those words, their faces full of astonishment.

Captain Uozumi was actually this calm. If someone else had their position as captain challenged, shouldn't they have been angry? Shouldn't they have argued back?

Yet he seemed to have seen through it all long ago, even tacitly accepting the matter.

Thinking further, could it be that the change of captain was real?

As soon as that thought arose, the upperclassmen were flooded with mixed emotions.

It was not exactly sadness, since Uozumi himself had not shown the slightest resentment. But saying they did not feel awkward would be impossible.

A sudden change in captain was something everyone needed time to adapt to. As for accepting it, who could so easily acknowledge a new captain?

Whether the new captain could win everyone over was still unknown.

Uozumi seemed to see through everyone's inner struggle and said calmly, "Don't overthink it. The coach will make his own decision on this matter."

With that, he turned and walked to the side, throwing himself into training.

Seeing Uozumi's attitude, the others could not say much more. One after another, they lowered their heads and silently resumed training.

Not long after, the gym doors were pushed open again, and Chi Tong's figure instantly entered everyone's sight.

In an instant, the somewhat noisy gym fell quiet. Whether they were first-year freshmen or second- and third-year veterans, their eyes all turned toward the boy walking in slowly from the entrance.

Chi Tong's overwhelming performance on the court yesterday continued replaying in their minds even now.

In terms of ability alone, Chi Tong had completely conquered everyone.

Even those proud upperclassmen had to admit inwardly, though they did not say it aloud, that anyone capable of pushing Sento that far was someone they had no reason to refuse to acknowledge.

The others were not familiar with Chi Tong. They could only watch him silently with reverence and complicated feelings. Only Sento smiled and raised a hand toward him.

"You're here?"

Chi Tong smiled faintly and nodded in reply.

"Yeah. It was the first day of classes today, and something came up in class, so I was delayed a little."

"It's fine. We only got here not long ago too."

Sendoh waved it off without concern.

With his habit of showing up late at the slightest excuse and even skipping training altogether, he naturally would not take something like this to heart. Chi Tong knew that well.

Back in middle school, Sendoh had done this often. It was only after he became captain in his second year that he restrained himself somewhat.

Chi Tong merely nodded lightly at the others before walking straight to the side and beginning his own practice.

Elsewhere, Uozumi, who was training, happened to glance at Chi Tong. Yesterday's scene involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

That day, Coach Tiangang Maoyi had spoken with him alone about the choice of captain.

"Uozumi, what do you think of this year's freshmen?"

"Other than Chi Tong and Lingyu, the rest are pretty ordinary."

"Then what do you think of Chi Tong's strength?"

"Very strong. Judging by today's match, he's no weaker than Sendoh. He might even be stronger."

"More than that, his abilities are well-rounded. His technique, court vision, offense, and defense can all be called first-rate."

"You missed one point. You overlooked his organizational ability."

"The reason you lost today was not because Chi Tong's individual strength was so great. The key was his organizational ability. Without his exceptional ability to organize the team, he could not have defeated you all by himself."