"You!" The man who had been pushed aside was furious, but he could find nothing to say in rebuttal, because everything Ryota Kudo had said was true.
"You bastard! I'll take you on!" As he spoke, the man prepared to charge at Ryota Kudo.
"Enough, Minami Tsuyoshi!" A middle-aged man grabbed the man named Minami Tsuyoshi.
Their accents were all distinctive, different from standard Japanese and full of regional character. They were unmistakably Osaka accents.
Moreover, Osaka was famous for its delinquents, so people in some other regions discriminated against those with Osaka accents.
"Let go!" Minami Tsuyoshi shook off the coach's hand and stormed up to Ryota Kudo.
"Kid, don't think you can act so arrogant just because Shohoku has an S rating!
Are you looking down on our Toyotama High School?!"
As he spoke, Minami Tsuyoshi reached for the front of Ryota Kudo's shirt.
However, Ryota Kudo was considerably taller than Minami Tsuyoshi, and he was stronger, too.
With a single slap, Ryota Kudo knocked Minami Tsuyoshi's hand away.
"Toyotama? Never heard of it. If you want to prove yourselves, make it far enough to face us at Shohoku first."
The farce continued until a train attendant arrived. Only then did the players from both sides separate.
Of course, Ryota Kudo knew about Toyotama High School.
They were the champions of Osaka Prefecture, but Osaka Prefecture was not strong in basketball.
Even though Toyotama High School ranked first there, they still could not earn a seed.
Ryota Kudo also remembered how Toyotama had been described in the original story: average ability, but a dirty style of play.
That was precisely why Ryota Kudo had stepped forward to provoke Minami Tsuyoshi.
Whatever tricks they had, they could use them on him when the time came.
With Ryota