When they got to the back of the warehouse, Yo Aoki saw four thugs standing there, and they didn't look like good people at all.
"Are you Yo Aoki, a graduate of Eda Middle School?" the leader asked, his name being Matsumoto.
Yo Aoki smiled and asked, "What brings you here?"
Matsumoto said coldly, "Pretty arrogant, huh? Today, I, Matsumoto, will teach you a lesson."
The four of them immediately surrounded Yo Aoki.
Yo Aoki glanced at them and said dismissively, "Come on."
"Hmph, get them!"
A few minutes later, Matsumoto and his friends were sprawled on the ground, groaning. Yo Aoki walked up to one of them, squatted down, and said, "So, why did you cause me trouble?"
The man stammered, "I... I Matsumoto that you... you had some kind of grudge against... his brother, so Matsumoto wanted to teach you a lesson."
Is his brother also in Takezato?
No, his younger brother is at the county high school.
Yo Aoki said "Oh," stood up, and laughed, "If you want to get beaten up again, just call me anytime."
Watching Yo Aoki's retreating figure, the man muttered, "That guy's ruthless; he knocked Matsumoto unconscious with just one punch..."
Back in the classroom, Yo Aoki began to reflect on what had just happened. "I didn't control my strength well the first time I attacked. I have to be careful next time, so I don't hurt anyone." But he didn't expect that he would be even more ruthless in the next fight.
After school, at the basketball court.
There are 21 freshmen who signed up for the basketball team this year. Takezato is one of the top four teams in the prefecture, so having only about 20 people is really not many. It's far behind Kainan and Shoyo. Even Ryonan has attracted a lot of talented kids in the past two years.
Yo Aoki, Shirota, and the other freshmen stood in two rows on the front court, surrounded by second and third-year students who were all sizing up the newcomers. Yo Aoki was also looking for someone familiar, scanning them one by one, and finally spotted a player who looked somewhat familiar—this must be Imamura, the only guy with a name in Takezato in the manga.
At this moment, a senior student who was about 1.8 meters tall, with slicked-back hair and small eyes, walked up to everyone and said with a smile, "Welcome to the Takezato High School Basketball Team. I am your captain, Masanobu Mizuki. Now, please introduce yourselves, starting with the one on the far left."
The boy standing on the far left immediately stood at attention and shouted, "My name is Heisaburo Nakako, I graduated from Meitoku Middle School, I am 175 cm tall, weigh 60 kg, and my preferred position is point guard."
Before long, their names were called for Shirota. He immediately stood up straight and announced at the top of his lungs, " Naoto Shirota, from Eda Middle School, 1.78 meters tall, 70 kilograms, primarily a shooting guard, but his forte is organizing and analyzing data."
Mizuki nodded. This was exactly the type of person the team needed. But before he could say anything more, his gaze swept over Yo Aoki next to Shirota.
Yo Aoki smiled, a smirk playing on his lips. " Yo Aoki, you also came from Eda Middle School. You're 1.89 meters tall and weigh 88 kilograms. You can play any position."
As soon as he finished speaking, a murmur arose from the surroundings. Yo Aoki listened, secretly amused. "Learning from Kaede Rukawa, he really does attract hatred."
Mizuki couldn't help but laugh out loud, "This kid's pretty arrogant."
After the last person was introduced, Mizuki clapped her hands. "Now there are twenty-one people in total. The coach will watch the training over the next week to decide who will stay on the team. But don't be discouraged if you're not selected. As long as you're willing to train, you'll become a full member someday. Good luck everyone!"
"Yes!" the twenty-one men roared in unison.
Seeing that the group was full of energy, Mizuki shouted at the top of her lungs, "Training begins! Today's event is the 5,000-meter run!"
"Huh?" "What?" "No way!" Cries of pain rose and fell, and Yo Aoki's first training session in high school began!
Inside the Takezato High School basketball gym, twenty new recruits were practicing dribbling and layups. It was more of a test than a training session, with Shirota squatting nearby, noting each person's performance. After all, with his talent, he was the first among this year's recruits to stand out and directly secured a spot on the official team.
"Next!" Mizuki shouted as soon as a player finished a layup. This time it was Yo Aoki's turn, and he immediately rushed forward with the ball.
Two obstacles were placed on the court, one at 45 degrees to the left of the three-point line and the other at 45 degrees to the right of the three-second zone. The player had to navigate around both obstacles before scoring a layup.
Yo Aoki dribbled the ball with his right hand, quickly sprinted to the first obstacle, flicked the ball between his legs to his left side, switched to his left hand to dribble, swayed to the right to avoid the obstacle, and headed straight for the second obstacle. After a few steps, he flicked the ball from behind his back to his right side with his left hand, switched to his right hand to dribble, swayed to the left to avoid the second obstacle, and then went for a layup.
He did it all with ease, his movements flowing smoothly without a single pause, leaving everyone else stunned.
Shirota already knew Yo Aoki's abilities, so he wasn't surprised at all. He simply filled in an A in the dribbling column of the record sheet. He glanced at Yo Aoki's other items: shooting A, physical fitness A, speed A, all four items were perfect scores.
Shirota looked at Yo Aoki on the court and felt a deep sense of admiration. He had witnessed Yo Aoki's hard work from the beginning of junior high school until now, and he couldn't believe that anyone could withstand that level of training.
Coach Hisaishi from Eda Middle School once told Shirota, " Yo Aoki is the most hardworking basketball player I've ever seen. My biggest regret is that I should have put him on the court earlier; it's a pity I discovered him too late."
Shirota thought it was awesome to be teammates with Yo Aoki! "Dominating the nation might actually be possible!" He clenched his fist.
In fact, Yo Aoki's skill level is entirely due to his training methods. However, unlike the training content of high school basketball today, Yo Aoki places more emphasis on strength training.
This strength refers to core strength, which is the area between a person's shoulders and hips. It not only stabilizes the body but is also key to a player's power generation, serving as the hub for hand-foot coordination and acting as a link between upper and lower body movements when transferring power. Therefore, core strength training is of paramount importance in Yo Aoki's training plan.
After training, Mizuki, holding the test records from the past few days, walked to the coach's office. He knocked on the door, and a voice from inside said, "Come in."
Mizuki pushed open the door and entered. The office was small, about ten square meters. Besides the desk, there was a bookshelf with some files and a few trophies.
Behind the desk sat a chubby man in his forties, Kazukazu Akai, the coach of the Takezato High School Basketball Team. He had a furrowed brow and a long face.
Mizuki came in and put the test records on the table. Seeing the coach's expression, she couldn't help but ask, "Coach, did the plan not go smoothly this time?"
"Hmm," Coach Akai said in a somber tone, "I only got back yesterday afternoon. I visited several good middle schools nearby, but all the talented kids want to go to high schools that can compete in the national tournament. Takezato, which has never made it to the national tournament, has no appeal whatsoever!"
In fact, Coach Akai spent the entire holiday wandering around various middle schools in Kanagawa, trying to scout for talented students. But those with even a little basketball talent were determined to go to Kainan and Shoyo, and even Ryonan was favored by the Takezato. He had no other choice but to try to recruit from outside Kanagawa, but now that plan has fallen through.
"With this lineup, we can't beat Kainan and Shoyo at all. Are we going to only be able to reach the top four in the prefecture again this year?" Akai stared at the trophies on the bookshelf opposite him, lost in thought.
Seeing that the coach didn't speak, Mizuki coughed lightly, interrupting his thoughts. Akai snapped out of his reverie and remembered that Mizuki was still there, so he quickly composed himself and said to him, " Mizuki, how's training these past few days?"
Mizuki placed the test log of the twenty-one new recruits on Coach Akai's desk and began to report.
As instructed by the coach, he tested each rookie's shooting accuracy, dribbling feel, physical fitness, and movement speed, and he compiled all the records.
Although Coach Akai had traveled all over Kanagawa junior high schools to scout for promising young players, he hadn't found a single clue.
Mizuki paused for a moment, then continued, "Among them is a newcomer Naoto Shirota, who is particularly good at data organization and statistical analysis. He's the one who did all these ledgers."
Coach Akai glanced through the ledger and nodded, saying, "This is well organized, very logical, and clear."
Mizuki added that among these twenty-one people, there was one who stood out particularly, named Yo Aoki.
Coach Akai frowned, stroking his chin as he asked, "Yo Aoki? Never heard of that name in junior high basketball circles. Which middle school did you graduate from?"
Mizuki Hui Road, Eda Middle School.
Coach Akai interrupted, "Eda Middle School? I heard that school previously kept all the third-year players under wraps, only letting the first and second-year students compete. What kind of skills could those players possibly have?" His tone was full of disappointment.
Mizuki, eager to make a judgment, immediately raised her voice, "Coach, Yo Aoki is indeed amazing!"
He took Yo Aoki's test form and handed it over. He got an A grade in all four tests you arranged!
Coach Akai's eyelids twitched suddenly, and he quickly went over to look. Sure enough, there were four glaring A's, which startled him so much that he almost dropped the ledger on the ground.
Yo Aoki has been in the team for a full week, and he has spent most of his time doing various tests.
These tests were easy for him. He focused on observing the overall qualities of the newcomers, but was somewhat disappointed with the results, as he couldn't find any promising talents who could take on major responsibilities.
It's Sunday, and he rushed into the stadium as the sun was rising.
Put on your training clothes, stretch and press your legs to warm up, and after ten minutes, start practicing dribbling a ball with each hand.
He lowered his center of gravity extremely low, his knees slightly bent, and the two basketballs bounced on the ground with crisp "thump thump thump" sounds.
The gym door creaked open, and a chubby middle-aged man walked in.
Coach Akai paused for a moment when he saw Yo Aoki dribbling.
Yo Aoki turned his head and immediately recognized the basketball coach from Takezato High School, so he quickly gathered the ball.
He bowed and greeted, "Good morning, Coach!"
Coach Akai tapped his belly. "Hmm, you're a freshman? You're working hard."
Yo Aoki scratched his head and said sincerely, "Yes, I want to practice more skills and become a formal team member as soon as possible."
Coach Akai's face showed approval. "Very good. Keep training hard. The future of Takezato rests on your shoulders."
Yo Aoki's eyes shone like light bulbs as he loudly replied, "Yes!"
Coach Akai had a very good impression of Yo Aoki and asked with a smile, "What's your name?"
My name is Yo Aoki Yo Aoki.
Coach Akai slapped his thigh, suddenly realizing, "Oh, you're Yo Aoki! Not bad, you're a promising talent."
The other team members also entered the stadium in twos and threes. Mizuki also came and bowed to greet him, saying, "Good morning, Coach!"
Coach Akai nodded and said, "We'll train according to yesterday's plan today."
Mizuki shouted at the top of her lungs, "Everyone, gather together!"
The team members swarmed around and stood in neat rows.