No one would deny that the basketball level of the Lighthouse Country is unparalleled in the world.
Their high school league is stronger than that of university leagues in other countries. There are basically no weak players on the team, and everyone has top-notch athletic ability.
Take Michael Okita for example. He played in the high school league in Lighthouse Country for a year but didn't even make the starting lineup. However, when he returned to Japan and played in Kanagawa, he was completely crushed by the super scorer Kiccho Fukuda. The difference in skill was obvious.
Although the players from the Lighthouse Country aren't as ridiculously tall as those from the Chariot Country, they still have a significant advantage over Shohoku.
However, compared to the Chariot Country, they have stronger athleticism, a faster pace of play, and top-notch individual skills in every position.
The ace is Alex is 193 cm tall. He is known as the number one high school player in the Lighthouse Country. His physical test data is ridiculously exaggerated. He is a guy who plays basketball in the sky.
Looking across the country, only Shirasawa and Eiji Sawakita can match Alex; anyone else who goes there is basically just giving away points.
Besides Alex, the team's second-best player is center Robinson, who stands at 208 cm tall and averaged 22 points and 20 rebounds per game during the league season, making him a monster-level player as well.
The combination of an inside player and a outside player makes the team virtually without weaknesses.
The Shohoku team gasped after seeing the data; this was just on paper, they hadn't even seen the real people yet.
Take the Lighthouse Country team for example. They emerged from a Lighthouse Country, so you can imagine how valuable each of their statistics is.
Ayako pushed all the documents onto the table and said to everyone, "These are the basic details of the three teams. This will definitely be a big test for us. The next two games will be at least as intense as the Sannoh game. Brothers, be prepared."
After saying that, she winked playfully. As the team manager, her task was complete; all she could do now was cheer everyone on.
Meanwhile, the teams from the other three countries arrived yesterday and are currently training in their respective stadiums. They have also received Shohoku's data report.
Someone pointed at the data and exclaimed, "The data for Shirasawa number 9 is just too outrageous!"
An average of 51.3 points per game in the national tournament is a statistic that would cause a stir anywhere. Even Alex, the top high school player in the Lighthouse Country, only averages 38 points per game. Although the level of the opponents is different, the difference is still too obvious.
In short, the players from all three countries have developed a strong interest in Shirasawa and are eager to test their skills against him.
On the fifth day of training, with only three days left until the opening of the Four Nations Invitational, many players have already arrived in Kanagawa. The appeal of this level of competition is undeniable.
Goro Domoto and Eiji Sawakita also arrived today and went straight to Shohoku High School's gymnasium.
Goro Domoto wasn't embarrassed at all. In his mind, he was now Coach Anzai's student, so there was no need to be reserved when visiting his teacher; he could come whenever he wanted.
As soon as the two entered the stadium, Goro Domoto bowed deeply to Coach Anzai and immediately called out, "Teacher!"
Coach Anzai's face twitched, and he said helplessly, " Coach Domoto, just call me senior."
Goro Domoto shook his head, insisting, "No, teacher!"
Coach Anzai sighed, "Whatever makes you happy."
Eiji Sawakita didn't get involved in this, and turned directly to Shirasawa: " Shirasawa, I told you before that I wanted to find you and have a one-on-one fight."
Shirasawa looked up and smiled, "Okay, let's wait until our whole team finishes training. Then I'll take you somewhere big enough that no one will bother us."
Shohoku is currently in extra training, practicing until very late every day. However, Shirasawa comes to train purely out of team spirit; he usually doesn't participate in extra training sessions.
That evening, the entire Shohoku team continued their extra practice under the guidance of Ryota Miyagi, while Coach Anzai, unable to resist being pestered, went to Goro Domoto's house for tea.
Shirasawa packed his things and led Eiji Sawakita towards the management team's private court.
The stadium, which was exclusively owned by the talent agency, was currently packed with Kenji Fujima, Michael Okita, Ichiro Katsumi, as well as Kaede Rukawa and Akira Sendoh.
That's right, Sendoh is here too, but he hasn't officially signed a contract with Sanae yet. Although he came somewhat reluctantly, he didn't hide it from Kaede Rukawa, who was on his team.
Although Sendoh had shown some interest in Sanae's agency after the Kanagawa Prefecture tournament, he didn't care about the contract money at all. He was simply curious about the players, or to put it bluntly, he felt he was lagging behind.
After watching the epic one-on-one match between Shirasawa and Sawakita in the national finals, he was even more unsettled.
Going back two years, while everyone's strength wasn't exactly evenly matched, Xian Sendoh was about the same level as the other two. Shirasawa was the only exception—nobody knew what level Shirasawa was at two years ago.
To be honest, Shirasawa had never even touched a basketball before, and he had absolutely no skill at all.
But Sendoh estimated that two years ago, Shirasawa was probably about the same Eiji Sawakita back then.
But now? The gap between him and those two has widened to an insurmountable chasm. Even the rising star Kaede Rukawa is slowly closing the gap. If he stands still, Rukawa will likely surpass him next season.
Besides Rukawa, there's Nobunaga Kiyota, who's secretly training with Shinichi Maki, and Hiroshi Morishige, the super rookie from Aichi Prefecture, all chasing after him.
Sendoh is a player who relies heavily on talent, that much is undeniable. His talent is frighteningly high, and if we're talking purely about talent, he's even stronger than Eiji Sawakita.
But over the years, he hasn't really improved himself. If it weren't for Moichi Taoka from Ryonan pushing him every day, his current level would definitely be worse. After all, just based on his talent alone, he would be enough to be in the top ten in the country.
As for hard work? You might as well go fishing for a while.
This is why he and Hanamichi Sakuragi are called "geniuses," while Kaede Rukawa, Shinichi Maki, and others are not.
Of course, Eiji Sawakita was also a genius, but he put in much more effort than others on top of his talent.
This is why Sendoh is here right now—he's starting to crave strength, but he hasn't reached the point of signing a contract yet, because he's unsure how long this desire will last.
Maybe after three to five days, once that initial passion fades, he'll find that swinging the rod is much more comfortable than shooting. Anyway, he's strong enough without practicing, so why make things difficult for himself?
In response, Sanae could only relax the policy and let him stay as a free agent for the time being, since it wasn't a formal contract anyway.
As soon as the curtain at the entrance of the stadium was lifted, Shirasawa and Eiji Sawakita walked in, Sendoh immediately went up to them.
Sendoh scratched his head. "Huh? What brings you all here?"
Shirasawa smiled and waved his hand, "Hey Sendoh, I didn't expect to run into you here. Kaede Rukawa is here too, what a coincidence!"
Sendoh tilted his head and glanced at Sawakita, frowning. "Huh? Who's this foreigner?"
Sawakita took a step forward, his tone fierce. "I don't care about any of that, today I'm going to beat you all to a pulp!"
Although Sendoh and Rukawa, the Ryonan Twin Stars, are undoubtedly the top offensive players in the country based on the level of high school basketball in the previous season, meeting them here is indeed an unexpected surprise for Eiji Sawakita.
His goal was clear: beat them all up, and that would be enough.
Kaede Rukawa rolled his eyes, thinking to himself: This guy is probably a complete idiot.
Shirasawa reached out and Michael Okita over, saying to Sawakita, " Sawakita, weren't you planning to go to the Lighthouse Country? Michael just came back from the high school league there. Let him assess whether there's a gap between your skills and theirs."
Sawakita frowned slightly, staring at Michael: "Okay, then let me ask you first, what level of strength could Shirasawa reach in the Lighthouse Country?"
He asked Shirasawa first, because Shirasawa was at least no weaker than him. He himself didn't know how strong the Lighthouse Country High School League really was, since he had never been there in person.
His previous understanding came entirely from his photographer father's stories—his father had studied in the Lighthouse Country many years ago, loved basketball, and had inquired about the situation there. Even before the second year of junior high school, the fact that his father could dominate him was related to his life in the Lighthouse Country during those years.
To put it simply, go there, play some casual games, exchange ideas with local amateur players, train for a year or two, and then you'll be able to beat Eiji Sawakita before he was even in his second year of junior high school.
Sawakita's only contact with players from the Lighthouse Country was during Sannoh Industrial High School's expedition last year, when they played three games against a high school team there. According to inside information from Sannoh, that team was not a top-tier powerhouse.
Aside from that, his knowledge of Lighthouse Country basketball came entirely from magazines, so running into Michael today was like striking gold.
Michael Okita smiled and said, " Shirasawa? If Shirasawa went to the Lighthouse Country High School League, he would quickly reach the top ranks. I'm not exaggerating at all."
Sawakita nodded, satisfied with the answer, "Alright, as long as I can defeat Shirasawa, my trip to the Lighthouse Country will be settled. I can start a new challenge there."
After the discussion, everyone immediately got into position. Eiji Sawakita's ultimate target was naturally Shirasawa. The two stood in the half of the court for an 11-point one-on-one match, best of three. It looked like the match was about to begin.
What's the point of even fighting? We've already lost to Shirasawa, isn't this just asking for trouble?
Ichiro Katsumi stretched and yawned, his face clearly saying, "I'm sure I'll win this game."
Although they didn't go to the finals in person, they watched the recording at least ten times.
As someone in power, Eiji Sawakita may have his own concerns.
But the onlookers weren't blind; they could clearly see the difference in strength between the two.
No matter how fierce Eiji Sawakita, compared to Shirasawa, he is far inferior!
Shirasawa shoved the ball toward Sawakita's feet. "Start!"
Sawakita didn't hold back either, and the two started fighting in the first round.
One-on-one is different from playing a full match; you don't have to worry about your teammates, and there aren't any of those annoying rules holding you back.
Physical confrontation is fine as long as it doesn't get too tense. As for the bottom line, the two of them can decide for themselves; whoever feels they can't stand it can set that bottom line.
But these two guys basically have no bottom line; they just want a good, satisfying fight.
Sawakita dribbled between his legs to create half a body distance, then drove hard to the basket despite Shirasawa's defense, scoring the first two points, making it 2-0.
Possession was transferred, Shirasawa dribbled left and right, his first step so fast it was like he was riding on fire, pressing down on Sawakita's defense to attack the basket, scoring two points and tying the game at 2-2.
In this level of one-on-one combat, whoever tries fancy tricks will lose. The defenders are not pushovers; the simpler the defense, the more effective it is.
If you can drive to the basket in one step, don't play the tempo game; if you can shoot a three-pointer, don't take a mid-range shot. Keep everything simple.