After leaving the station, Shoyo headed to the opening ceremony venue with Toyotama. Because of Coach Kitano and Kudo, the players from Shoyo and Toyotama's two teams got along quite well. After all, they were both teenage high school students with common interests, and Shoyo and Toyotama were not in the same half of the bracket. If their two teams were to meet, it would only be in the finals. Therefore, with no direct competition between them, both teams wished each other good luck and hoped for strong performances.
The National High School League, often referred to as the Summer Competition, is officially known as the [National High School Comprehensive Sports Conference] and is called [InterHigh] in English. It is also referred to as the IH Competition. This event is held simultaneously for basketball and other major sports such as track and field, billiards, judo, and more. It is one of the three major tournaments in high school basketball and is considered the most prestigious high school basketball tournament in Japan.
At the opening ceremony, after a group of leaders finished their speeches, the captain of last year's championship team—Hakata Shogyo University Affiliated High School Basketball Team, one of the tournament hosts—led all the players in taking the oath:
"Oath!!!! All of us participating players--"
"Tomorrow is the first game against Kakuzuru from Kagawa Prefecture. Kagawa is in Shikoku, which has historically been at the bottom of the national rankings in basketball. All you need to do tomorrow is stay calm and play to your true strengths." That night at the hotel, Kudo analyzed their upcoming opponent for the players.
"We got it," replied the Shoyo team in unison.
"Remember, don't get nervous," Kudo emphasized again. "Alright, you've all had a long day of travel, so get some rest." With that, he dismissed the players.
Although Shoyo wasn't short on funds, the sheer number of students participating in the national league—combined with the influx of tourists—meant that finding good accommodations was challenging. Basketball wasn't the most popular event, and Shoyo's team wasn't yet nationally famous. As a result, they couldn't secure a high-end hotel and had to settle for a few large rooms with tatami mats for sleeping. Fortunately, sleeping on tatami mats is common in Japan, and the hotel they rented, while not top-tier, was decent, equipped with TV and air conditioning to keep everyone comfortable.
On August 2nd, the first round of the tournament began. Since the seeded teams were playing that day, Hainan came to watch Shoyo's game, while the Akizuki team, scheduled to play after Shoyo and Kakuzuru, also attended to observe.
"They're out! The Shoyo team is out!" Shoyo's cheerleaders, organized by the school, had traveled to Fukuoka to support the team. This was Shoyo's first appearance in the national league in three years, and without the school's efforts, there would have been no one to cheer for them in Fukuoka. Of course, since the basketball atmosphere in Shikoku was weak, few spectators were there to support Kakuzuru either.
"Go, Shoyo!!!"
"Shoyo will win!!!"
The cheerleaders were as enthusiastic as ever.
"Shoyo's cheerleaders are impressive!" remarked an Akizuki player.
"It looks like their school has a strong basketball culture!"
"I heard they played against Hainan in the preliminaries and even defeated Takeshi, one of last year's top eight teams. I wonder how good they really are."
"They must be strong. Kanagawa is a fiercely competitive region, so any team that emerges from there is likely to be formidable." Being from Tokyo, which neighbors Kanagawa, the Akizuki players were familiar with the strength of Kanagawa teams.
The match began, and it quickly became clear that Kakuzuru's team from Shikoku was no match for Shoyo. While Kakuzuru had more national league experience, their skill level was comparable to that of the top eight teams in Kanagawa. After some initial nervous mistakes, Shoyo adapted to the game and played at their usual level. By halftime, the score was 63:25, and Kakuzuru was ready to concede.
"Shoyo's strength is impressive. It looks like we'll have a tough match tomorrow."
"Yeah, tomorrow's game won't be easy."
"I didn't realize Shoyo was this strong. Kanagawa truly is a competitive region!"
"Alright, it's our turn to warm up," called Akizuki's captain.
At that moment, the seeded team in Shoyo's half of the bracket, Luo An, arrived at the venue. Seeing the scoreboard, one of their players asked, "Shoyo? What's going on here?"
After Akizuki warmed up, the match between Shoyo and Kakuzuru resumed. To conserve the starters' energy, Kudo substituted all the main players and put the reserves on the court, giving them a chance to experience the national competition atmosphere. The game ended with a final score of 114:61, as Shoyo easily advanced to the next round. However, the team stayed behind to observe their next opponent. Meanwhile, Kudo received a system reward of 200 SD points.
"Congratulations, guys," Otsu said when he saw the Shoyo team.
"Thank you. We'll be cheering for you tomorrow morning as well," Nakamura replied modestly.
After the game, Hainan exchanged a few pleasantries with Shoyo before heading to another court to observe their own opponents for the next day.
After watching Akizuki's halftime performance, Kudo asked the team, "What do you think of Akizuki?"
"They're decent—a bit better than Musashi but not as strong as Hainan or Chang Cheng," Sugiyama said first.
"Sugiyama's right. We're confident we can beat them," Nakamura added, his confidence growing after a few matches.
"It's good that you're confident, but don't get careless," Kudo warned. "I've arranged for someone to bring over the tapes of Akizuki's three matches from the Tokyo Qualifiers. We'll analyze them thoroughly this afternoon." In addition to Akizuki's tapes, Kudo had also obtained recordings of Luo An and King of the Hill's qualifier matches. Tapes of Hakata Shojo's matches were also prepared, though Hainan's weren't necessary since both teams were already familiar with each other.
Akizuki's game ended with a dominant 97:54 victory, setting up their match against Shoyo for the following afternoon.
That afternoon, in the hotel, the Shoyo team reviewed the tapes of Akizuki's three matches in detail.
"Now that you've watched Akizuki's matches and analyzed the tapes, share your thoughts on your respective opponents," Kudo instructed.
Sugiyama spoke confidently, "Akizuki's center is no match for me."
"I'll handle Akizuki's power forward," Oshima added eagerly.
"I'm confident against Akizuki's small forward," Nakamura chimed in.
"When it comes to three-pointers, I won't lose to Akizuki's guards," Ikeda declared.
"I'll do my best," Saionji said, though he seemed less confident facing Akizuki's captain, who was also their ace point guard. "Even if I can't match him, I won't let him dominate."
"Good. Nakamura and Ikeda, support Saionji tomorrow," Kudo instructed. "But Saionji, I want you to learn from Akizuki's captain. Remember, you're not far behind him."
"Understood!!!" the team replied in unison.
"Alright, let's go eat."
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, Akizuki was also analyzing Shoyo's team. After all, as the saying goes, "Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can win a hundred battles." The logic was clear, but even with a clear understanding of Shoyo's strength, what strategies could they effectively employ?