Sanae continued, explaining the agency's next steps in a clear and logical manner. Michael Okita listened with shining eyes, thoroughly enjoying the presentation.
First, Sanae, as the agent, will continue to sign players, and she has explicitly told Michael Okita that she will not sign unknown players. In other words, the final team of players will consist of the elite of the elite. This is somewhat similar to the approach taken by Ryokufu High School, but the scope is completely different. In Sanae and Shirasawa's eyes, Ryokufu's so-called "lone strongmen" are no different from a rabble.
Upon hearing this, Michael Okita jumped up from his chair in excitement. The man next to him Ichiro Katsumi, also jumped around with wide eyes, but unfortunately his mouth was taped shut, so he could only mumble anxiously, and no one could understand what he was saying.
Next, Sanae explained the second step. Before the player team was fully assembled, she would seek sponsorships and then organize a series of challenge tournaments covering the entire prefecture and even the whole country. The format of the matches would vary depending on the situation, possibly 1-on-1, 3-on-3, or 5-on-5. As for the opponents, she would naturally invite top players from all over the country to compete. Putting everything else aside, with Shirasawa and Kaede Rukawa's current fame, there were plenty of players who could defeat them. By building the brand's reputation through these challenge tournaments, they could attract more top players to join, and the resulting commercial benefits would be self-evident.
Once the player team is fully formed, the third step of the plan will be launched. This step was something even Kaede Rukawa had never heard of before. Soon, he couldn't help but join Michael Okita and Ichiro Katsumi's team, his face filled with surprise and anticipation.
"Sign! You have to sign!" Michael Okita's voice trembled with excitement. "Thank you for finding me. I'll definitely do everything in my power!"
Sanae smiled slightly and pushed a contract in front of him. "You haven't proven yourself valuable enough yet, but I'll find a way to arrange it for you. Just be prepared."
Michael Okita took the contract, glanced at it quickly, and picked up a pen to sign it.
"Wait, I almost forgot to mention," Sanae stopped her, "After signing, you'll have to leave Ryokufu High School. There, you'll always be a nobody. You should know what level Ryokufu is at. As your agent, I'll arrange a new place for you, at least a competitive team."
Michael Okita hesitated for only a moment before a smile appeared on his face.
Without saying a word, he signed his name on the contract.
"I'll follow your arrangements." Michael Okita's tone was firm. "I'll handle the explanation with Ryokufu myself."
And so, Shirasawa and Sanae's agency signed their third player—the strongest mixed-race player, Michael Okita. Including the previous two, these three have both talent and good looks, and their future commercial value is simply immeasurable.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!!"
"Ugh!!!"
The commotion nearby made Shirasawa slap his forehead.
"Oh no... I forgot about this guy..."
Once the tape was torn off, Ichiro Katsumi was finally able to speak. He didn't dare to ramble on and quickly gave a brief introduction in his own way.
"I'm an excellent outside shooter! No... I'm good at everything, it's just that my physical abilities aren't as freakish as yours... Among normal people, I'm the best in the world, yeah, absolutely!"
He must have some talent to be chosen by Ryokufu; he just hasn't proven himself on the high school field yet. After hearing Sanae's words, he had already made up his mind that he would join this team even if he had to beg!
The fact that Shirasawa brought him along already makes his intentions quite clear. Currently, Ichiro Katsumi is essentially a weaker version of Hisashi Mitsui, but his weakness isn't talent, but rather his mentality and experience. With proper training, his potential is quite considerable. Moreover, his ability to liven up the atmosphere is incredibly useful, for example, acting as a team lubricant.
Even Kaede Rukawa, who usually considers "nobodies" a threat, didn't object this time. Perhaps in his eyes, Ichiro Katsumi wasn't even a core player on the team... probably just a benchwarmer. But in a place full of big shots, having a reliable underling is especially important. Besides, this underling is indeed better than many others.
In short, Ichiro Katsumi got his wish and, with trembling hands, signed the contract.
The fourth player, the promising newcomer Ichiro Katsumi, has officially joined the team. Sanae has temporarily tied his future to Michael Okita.
At this point, the Ryokufu Private High School Basketball Team was completely dismantled...
Shohoku Basketball Gymnasium.
"Alright, everyone gather!"
At Takenori Akagi's command, the entire Shohoku team quickly assembled.
"The semifinals start tomorrow, and our first opponent is Kainan, the team that has held Kainan top spot in Kanagawa for sixteen years."
Upon hearing this, several boys on the bench unconsciously swallowed hard.
But the starting lineup members' eyes lit up.
Akagi deliberately brought up Kainan's name to tell everyone that Shohoku is now qualified to stand on equal footing with them!
"Everyone knows Kainan is strong, that's right, strong enough to make it into the national top four." Akagi paused, then his voice suddenly rose, "But! What is our goal, Shohoku?!"
"Dominate the whole country!!" The whole team roared.
Takenori Akagi nodded, quite satisfied.
"Remember this: third and fourth place are utterly useless! To me, third place is no different from being at the bottom." He looked around. "Because only the top two get tickets to the national competition!"
Before he could finish speaking, Hanamichi Sakuragi had already straightened his back and shouted, "We only want the championship!"
His teammates cheered and agreed enthusiastically.
Akagi smiled slightly; the morale of this Shohoku was currently at its peak.
"We are!"
"The strongest!!"
The first day of the Kanagawa Prefecture Tournament semifinals.
All four top teams will be making their appearances today.
Shohoku vs. Kainan, Ryonan vs. Takezato.
Everyone wants to win; every additional victory brings you one step closer to the national tournament.
Leading the charge are Shohoku and Kainan.
These two teams are also the ones that everyone is most optimistic about.
Although this is the first time Shohoku has made it into the top four, they snatched that spot from Shoyo.
Before they knew it, they had become the number one contender to challenge for the throne of Kainan.
The media had been hyping up the match two days in advance.
All things considered, this match has almost been hailed as the "Battle of the Century" in Kanagawa.
Shirasawa was naturally compared to Shinichi Maki.
The media is now giving Shirasawa the nickname "[A New King Should Rise]!"
To put it bluntly, whoever wins between Shirasawa and Shinichi Maki will be the true boss of Kanagawa right now.
The audience's expectations were already sky-high.
so,
The Kanagawa Prefecture Gymnasium simply set up a huge screen in the outer field to broadcast the game live.
This allows those who didn't manage to snag inner-circle tickets to gather in the nearest spot, creating a "second venue" where they can all watch this epic battle together.
The stadium obviously has a calculation in mind when it does this; they can make a fortune just from advertising fees alone...
It will also boost the reputation of Kanagawa basketball.
"My God... this is terrifying!" Hikoichi Aida exclaimed, craning his neck. "If our team didn't have a match later, we probably wouldn't even be able to get in and would have to watch it on the big screen from outside."
Amidst his shouts, the entire Ryonan team walked into the stands and took their seats.
Their match against Takezato will be held on the same field after this one is over.
At this moment, Kiccho Fukuda was already safely and peacefully staying in the line.
Yesterday, Coach Moichi Taoka personally brought him back to the team.
His teammates were quite welcoming of his return; even Uozumi and Sendoh didn't say anything.
Fukuda's offensive prowess was already evident a year ago, and his return now will undoubtedly be a great boost to Ryonan.
To help him regain his form quickly, Moichi Taoka intra-team scrimmage.
Fukuda and Uozumi led one team to fight against another team led by Sendoh and Kaede Rukawa.
In that game, Fukuda faced off against Sendoh and Kaede Rukawa quite a bit.
As a result, they got a pretty bad beating...
In the end, Sendoh and Kaede Rukawa's team won.
However, this also made Kiccho Fukuda fully understand his place in the team.
Theoretically speaking, he should be Ryonan's third scoring option.
Besides Ryonan and Takezato, teams from Shoyo, Tsukubu, and Miuradai also all came.
Although they were allowed into the field as a team, they had no seats and could only stand in the uppermost stands.
Aside from my legs being a little sore, there's nothing else wrong.
They wanted to see with their own eyes whether Shohoku could dethrone Kainan and whether the throne of Kanagawa was truly about to change hands.
At the same time, it also gave me some psychological comfort—if Shohoku really beat Kainan, wouldn't they have lost to the team that ultimately defeated Kainan?
Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem so shameful after all?
Of course, deep down, they didn't really believe that Shohoku could really defeat Kainan.
This is the deep-rooted dominance that Kainan has accumulated over the years.
"Wow... the scale of the semi-finals is definitely different." Michael Okita and the entire Ryokufu team sat down in the stands.
For Ryokufu, even if the inner area only has twenty seats, they have the ability to get ten...
"Hehehe, it's such a wonderful feeling to watch our own people compete!" Ichiro Katsumi rubbed his hands excitedly. " Shirasawa, you absolutely have to beat Shinichi Maki!"
The girl sitting next to him was of average appearance, but her outfit screamed "money is no object"...
This is Eri Fujisawa, the team manager of Ryokufu.
At this moment, she had no idea that her two key generals were about to "run away".
Michael Okita are waiting for news from Sanae.
As soon as Sanae makes arrangements for her next client, they will immediately confront Eri Fujisawa.
Based on what Michael Okita of her, this young lady would most likely just throw a tantrum and say a few harsh words.
Then she turned back to tinkering with her "dream invincible fleet"...
On the other side,
Yayoi Aida here again in the media section.