However, Hisashi Mitsui had his own plans. He didn't want to damage his knee again before entering university, as that would be a huge loss.
This current lull is perfect for practicing three-pointers intensively, getting the hang of it, and trying to break into a college basketball team and secure a starting position.
This means Shohoku will lose three key players, and adjustments to the team will have to be made.
Although everyone had a thrilling time in the national competition, Shirasawa and his team didn't plan to waste any more time in the Winter Selection Tournament.
Shohoku will probably only be able to send their substitutes to play a few games and gain some experience, that's enough, nobody expects them to cause any more trouble.
Takenori Akagi cleared his throat, his gaze sweeping over his teammates surrounding him, and said in a deep voice.
"Next, I'd like to talk about the issue of the next captain."
In most teams, the head coach makes the decision on the captain, but Shohoku is an exception.
Aside from matches, Coach Anzai hardly ever dealt with the team's miscellaneous affairs. He quietly took on the coaching responsibilities from the very first year that Takenori Akagi joined Shohoku.
With Akagi gone, it's like taking away Shohoku's mainstay, putting considerable pressure on Anzai.
Hanamichi Sakuragi crossed his arms and swung them around, a smug smile playing on his lips, "Hmph, Gorilla, is it really necessary to use all that suspense?"
As he spoke, he stepped forward from the queue without hesitation, wanting to take over the captain's position.
" Miyagi, Shohoku is in your hands now."
Sakuragi's feet had barely touched the ground when he froze, his eyes wide with disbelief. "???"
Miyagi was also bewildered, pointing to his nose. "???"
Actually, Akagi and Anzai had already discussed this matter at the 003 Coffee Shop in Hiroshima after the National Tournament.
Is there no one in the Shohoku Team who can be the captain? Not really. Shirasawa usually just coasts through training and can't motivate anyone. Shiozaki and Yasuda are too soft-hearted to be vice-captains. As for Kogure, he'll be busy enough as vice-captain.
After much thought, the Miyagi is the most suitable.
Akagi had figured it out back then: the captain isn't the one who's the best player on the team, but the one who can unite the veterans, train the newcomers, and listen to the coach.
Miyagi perfectly embodies all of these qualities, making her the ideal choice.
Miyagi stared at Akagi in disbelief.
Akagi patted him on the shoulder, finally able to put down the burden he had carried for three years, and felt a sense of relief. "That's right, Miyagi, if anything happens to the team, I will never let you off the hook."
Sakuragi exploded upon hearing this, jumping up and down and yelling, " Gorilla!!!"
His desire to become the team leader has been brewing for a long time.
Akagi smirked, staring at Sakuragi: "You still have a long way to go, Sakuragi. I'll be watching you next season. If you can anchor Shohoku's defense, you'll be the next captain; if not, I'll personally take care of you."
Sakuragi's eyes lit up, and he patted his chest, shouting, "Alright! Then open your eyes wide and see clearly how this genius will rule the world!"
Kogure then smiled and said, " Yasuda, from now on we'll rely on you to cooperate with Miyagi."
The deputy captain's job looks easy, but it's actually full of trivial matters. He and Miyagi are the good cop and the bad cop, which perfectly balances the energy in the team.
Yasuharu Yasuda quickly replied, "Yes!"
Yasuda instantly felt a great responsibility; cooperating with Miyagi was no easy task.
With this, the captaincy handover for Shohoku was finalized.
There's still some time before university admissions. Although the third-year students aren't official team members, they can still come to the gym to train, but they're not under the jurisdiction of Miyagi, the new captain. They won't officially graduate until the end of the Autumn National Sports Festival.
Just as Miyagi was about to ask Akagi about the arrangements, Akagi waved his hand. "Don't worry about me, you're the captain now."
Miyagi clenched his fists, and had just shouted, "Everyone get a day off!" when Akagi punched him hard in the back, almost knocking him to the ground. His face contorted in a grimace, he cried, "You just said you wouldn't care about me..."
Just as they were making a fuss, the gym door was pushed open, and Coach Anzai walked in, accompanied by Ayako and a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty years old.
Miyagi immediately shouted, "Assemble!!"
Anzai chuckled twice, " Miyagi's got a lot of energy, not bad, not bad. I have something to announce today."
Seeing that Anzai and Mr. Akeno were both there, the team members knew exactly what was going on, and their faces lit up with excitement.
"Our Shohoku Basketball Team has been selected to participate in the Four Nations Youth Invitational Tournament!"
Anzai pointed to Mr. Akeno beside her. "This is one of the people in charge of this competition. The competition will officially begin on May 3rd, one week from now!"
Shohoku finally received the news, and their previously anxious hearts were finally at ease.
Mr. Akeno added with a smile, "This is a tournament, and all four rankings need to be determined. The leagues in the other three countries finished at least half a month ago. You guys just finished the national tournament, so you've had the hardest time and only had one week to train."
A slight smile played on Miyagi's lips as he stated confidently, "A week is more than enough!"
On the other hand, the school administration of Sannoh Industrial High School regretfully informed Goro Domoto that they would not be participating in this year's Four Nations Invitational.
Domoto had anticipated this; without winning the championship, they were naturally not qualified. However, he still held onto a sliver of hope— Sannoh was the only team in the country to have ever traveled to foreign countries and had experience with foreign teams. In the end, the Basketball Association still recognized the rankings.
Domoto asked, "I understand. Can this year's expedition still proceed?"
Goro Domoto was single-mindedly focused on leading Sannoh to break through and be exposed to higher-level basketball concepts, which would be a real benefit to the players' development.
"The expedition is fine; you just need to decide on the specific participants."
The school administration didn't dampen their spirits; they were full of hope for the future. One defeat hadn't broken them; instead, it had made them even more determined to bring Sannoh back to its peak and dominate the nation.
Back at the stadium, Goro Domoto immediately got to work on the player selection.
Although Masashi Kawata had made it clear that he would not get involved in the expedition plan, Domoto also knew that he wanted to give his younger brother Mikio, more opportunities.
And then there's Minoru Matsumoto, who has officially retired from the team and gone to another prefecture due to family matters. This loss of two key players is not good news for Sannoh.
If the expedition goes terribly, it's better not to go at all. It won't be able to explain to the school, it will hinder the players' development, and it might even have the opposite effect.
Domoto deliberation, Domoto settled on Eiji Sawakita. Whether Eiji Sawakita went or not would have a world of difference in the impact on the team.
Two months ago, Sawakita's father approached him and made it clear that Sawakita would leave the team after the national tournament, take a break, and then go to the Lighthouse Country to study in the high school league, provided that Sannoh wins the national championship.
Sawakita's father made this decision because he felt that Sawakita had no rivals in China and that staying any longer would only lead to stagnation.
But now the situation has changed. Sannoh lost, and a new powerhouse, Shirasawa, has emerged who is even stronger than Sawakita. Domoto wonders if this will change the Sawakita family's mind. If Sawakita could stay for another year, that would be ideal, so they could lead the new Sannoh to rise again.
Domoto knew perfectly well what was going on with Ryuji Yazawa. All the coaches in the country knew that if he wasn't ready to go abroad, he might not do well. Before, Sawakita was a top player in the country, and he couldn't grow without going abroad. But now that Shirasawa was emerging, Domoto was wavering and felt that waiting another year would be the best option.
Having made up his mind, Domoto left the stadium and headed straight for Sawakita's house.
In the living room of the Sawakita family home, Goro Domoto, Eiji Sawakita, and his father sat in a circle. Domoto immediately shared his thoughts.
However, Sawakita and his son didn't seem too surprised. Sawakita's father pondered for a moment and said that he was there during the finals. Eiji played well, but not as well as Shirasawa.
"You're right. If we can't even get first place in the country, then there's no point in going abroad. Short-term study is fine, but if we really go to the high school league, Eiji wouldn't be able to get over it, would he?"
After he finished speaking, he looked at Eiji Sawakita. After the finals, Sannoh had a rare break. Sawakita had been pondering this matter for several days. Shirasawa's appearance made them waver.
With a determined Eiji Sawakita said, "Coach, I want to go find Shirasawa in the next few days and have another match with him. After that match, I think I can make my final decision."
Just like he told Shirasawa after the match, he wanted to have a one-on-one duel, without any constraints or worries, a pure duel, to see how much he was lacking, or whether he was just restricted in the match.
Domoto nodded. "Okay, I'll go with you. Shohoku is going to play in the Four Nations Invitational."
The news that Shohoku would be playing in the Four Nations Invitational quickly spread throughout the country. The Basketball Association had done a really good job of keeping it a secret; the news was like a bombshell when it was released, and the whole country was in an uproar.
This time, Shohoku is no longer seen as the villain, but has become the target of everyone's support. Everyone hopes that they will stand out in the Four Nations Tournament, which is the glory of basketball players and fans across the country.
But the pressure on Shohoku also increased instantly. The higher you are praised, the greater the pressure becomes. This kind of external pressure is unavoidable.
On the third day of training, Ayako obtained information on the teams from three other countries: Kimchi Country, Chariot Country, and the Lighthouse Country.
Relatively speaking, Kimchi Country doesn't face much difficulty. Judging from its performance and development in recent years, as long as it doesn't cause any major upsets, Kimchi Country is a sure bet to take last place.
Regardless of height, physical attributes, or technique, Kimchi Country excels in none of these areas. They are Shohoku's first major opponent, making this ranking ideal.
Although Kimchi Country seems easy to handle, the Chariot Country in the second war was the real tough nut to crack.
The Chariot Country has made a significant presence on the international stage in recent years. They are characterized by their tall and strong players, excellent teamwork, and unstoppable advances, like steel Chariot. If you're not careful, you'll be crushed to dust.
The team's ace is power forward Hoffmann, who is 215 cm tall and won the national high school league MVP, averaging 31 points and 15 rebounds per game.
Mikio Kawata, and a full 26 centimeters shorter than Hanamichi Sakuragi, which is a nightmare for Shohoku's inside game.
In the entire matchup, only Shirasawa, the point guard, has a slight height advantage; everyone else is significantly shorter, especially Ryota Miyagi, whose height difference is even more pronounced.
The Shohoku players were stunned when they saw the roster. They thought Shoyo's height was impressive enough, but compared to this, Shoyo's height was nothing.
Ayako spoke up, " The Chariot Country is our second opponent. If we want to win the championship, we must get past them."
She paused, then added, "After all, those who make it to the end are never pushovers."
Ayako slammed the final list on the table. "This is our last opponent—the basketball kingdom, the Lighthouse Country."