"One-two-one, one-two-one…"
Kaijo High School — Basketball Club
The newly arrived first-year members were running laps around the court as part of their endurance training.
According to Kaijo's long-standing club tradition, all freshmen were supposed to play a training match against the upperclassmen. However, because the number of new recruits this year was absurdly high, they had no choice but to temporarily cancel the practice games.
Gym Corner
Kota sat on a yoga mat, stretching his leg muscles while watching the freshmen circle the court. As Kaijo's current captain, scouting and developing promising newcomers was part of his job.
Beside him, Takeuchi frowned deeply as he stared at the notebook in his hands — the same one Kota had given him yesterday.
"Run-and-Gun… Kota, are you sure you didn't write this just to mess with me?"
Takeuchi stroked his chin suspiciously.
"Abandoning a traditional center-based system and running a smaller, faster five-guard lineup? You actually dared to write this down? If you posted this online, you'd get roasted alive!"
It wasn't that he didn't trust Kota — it was just that the strategy he proposed was way too ahead of its time for the current KNB world.
Kota leaned forward, stretching his upper body downward until his head nearly touched his toes. While compressing his ligaments, he calmly explained, "The 'five-guard lineup' is just a metaphor. The core idea is to speed up the four and five positions, raising the pace of the entire court."
"If we move fast enough and capitalize on openings, the opponent's center, who lacks foot speed, becomes a walking liability."
Kota's tone was steady and confident, completely unfazed by Takeuchi's doubts — which left the coach momentarily speechless.
"Then let me ask you — without a center, who protects the rim? Who grabs rebounds for us on defense?"
Even if Takeuchi often acted lazy in daily practices, his coaching sense was sharp — and his point hit the heart of the issue.
The biggest weakness of a Run-and-Gun system was its defensive fragility. Without a true big man, the team lacked a natural rim protector.
Kota shrugged. "Then we have no choice. Our five small guys will just have to fight harder for rebounds."
Takeuchi: "???"
Seeing Takeuchi's forehead twitch, Kota stood up leisurely and stretched his body, chuckling. "Relax, coach. I didn't bring you this tactic to make fun of you."
"Honestly, this strategy is best used as a trump card mid-game — a sudden shift in formation that takes the opponent completely off guard. It's not meant to be our standard system."
"But still…"
Kota placed a hand under Takeuchi's chin, turning the coach's head toward the court. Dozens of Kaijo freshmen were running in formation.
Takeuchi frowned, confused, about to speak—when Kota interrupted:
"We might not have a choice anymore."
Kota sighed and pointed toward the back of the formation.
In a normal running line, shorter players would naturally be in front, taller ones in back — forming a smooth wave. But Kaijo's freshmen lineup looked… unique.
From the front to nearly the middle, all the players were roughly the same height. Some had mild differences, but overall, they were all in the same range.
Then at the back—four tall players stood out dramatically. Even from a distance, Kota and Takeuchi could easily tell who they were.
Kota cleared his throat. "Allow me to introduce you. On the left — that tall kid is Sato. He's from a remote mountain village in the west. The place is so underdeveloped they don't even have a basketball court back home. He's been playing with rubber balls since childhood and has tons of passion for basketball…"
"And today marks the first full month of his basketball career! By the way, he still gets confused counting steps on a basic layup."
Kota's expression turned nostalgic as he recalled reading Sato's application. His face that day had been… something.
Takeuchi's lips twitched. "How did a kid like that get into Kaijo? Don't tell me he got in through a sports recommendation!"
Kota waved a finger. "Nope. The Ministry of Education is pushing a poverty-support policy this year, encouraging kids from mountain regions to attend city schools. Students from those areas only need half the usual exam score to get in."
Takeuchi: …
"Next."
Kota licked his lips and pointed to the tall kid on the right. "That's Momura. He's played basketball for about two years, but he has a congenital heart condition, so he can't maintain high-intensity gameplay. Apparently, he even fought with his family when he insisted on joining the basketball club."
"In short, he joined Kaijo purely on passion too!"
"And that one over there — he's got his own tragic story…"
…
"And that's the last one—"
"Stop!"
Takeuchi cut him off with a dark expression. "This one—what's his issue? Is he poor or terminally ill?"
Kota blinked
. "Neither. Actually, among the four, he's the only one I think might be able to play as a Kaijo starter!"
"…assuming our goal isn't winning the championship."
Takeuchi's eyebrows nearly fused together. "Explain."
Kota said, "He started playing in middle school but doesn't have much talent. He works hard and all, but asking him to help Kaijo win the championship would be too cruel. As a bench player, he's okay. As a starter, he's not enough."
Takeuchi exhaled heavily. "We're four-time consecutive champions. Why are our freshmen this bad?"
"Ah! Now that's where you're wrong!"
Kota slung an arm around his shoulders and pointed at the running freshmen. "See that short kid? Don't underestimate him — he's last year's National Middle School Championship winner! A starting player!"
"And that baby-faced one — three-time Middle School Best Shooter. Statistically, his three-point rate is almost 60%. Nearly higher than mine!"
"Left side — that's Fukuhara, the only guy who scored against Yuki in their one-on-one!"
"And and and—"
"STOP!!"
Takeuchi roared, face darkening. "What good are a million perimeter players?! Are they going to replace you and Yuki on the court? Without a center, how are we supposed to compete this year?!"
Kota simply looked at him quietly.
"I told you, coach. Aside from Run-and-Gun… we have no better choice."
…
…
One Week Later
All major schools had completed their freshman intake and were now choosing starters to prepare for the Interhigh.
Under harsh reality, and after much persuasion from Kota, Takeuchi finally accepted Run-and-Gun as this year's tactical core — and handed the responsibility of selecting starters to Kota.
Meanwhile, the National Team training camp organized by the Japan Basketball Association officially began.
Five third-year high school players were invited:
Kise (Kaijo)
Aomine (Too Academy)
Kagami (Seirin)
Mibuchi (Rakuzan)
Nebuya (Rakuzan)
The Interhigh hadn't even started, yet several teams had already lost their aces and were practically out of the championship race.
The teams with full rosters, on the other hand, were ecstatic.
On the very first day the training list was announced, both Seirin's and Too Academy's coaches posted a giant "WE FORFEIT" sign on Twitter.
They would still participate, of course—but with their star players gone, it was basically an away-game formality.
Shutoku's coach, meanwhile, posted:
"This might be my one and only real chance to win a title in the next three years."
Thousands of Shutoku fans replied underneath:
"SHUTOKU CHAMPIONSHIP!!"
The other fully rostered team was Yosen, led by Araki. She didn't tweet anything, but from Kota's observation, Yosen's training frequency had doubled. He hadn't seen Araki at the Shark Gym in ages.
Clearly, she believed this was their best shot at the title as well.
On a basketball talk show, when asked about the Interhigh, Rakuzan's head coach Shirogane said:
"To be honest, our yearly plans never change. We'll aim for the championship as always."
"As for Nebuya and Mibuchi's absence… it's not really a problem. A coach's job is to maximize the abilities of the players available."
At the end of the interview, Shirogane added meaningfully:
"If a coach collapses just because they're missing one player… well, I'd say that coach must be truly terrible."
Host: "Are you… referring to Kaijo coach Takeuchi?"
Shirogane smiled innocently. "Of course not. Hahaha, why would you think that? I wasn't talking about anyone specific. Just a little personal opinion. Please don't overthink it."