The Winter Cup had ended.
This meant the year had also reached its conclusion.
With senior players from various high schools retiring, the high school basketball world officially entered a recovery period.
During days without basketball, Tendou returned to his original routine.
While maintaining daily training, he occasionally made time for some filming work.
Following his dominance in the Winter Cup, his popularity had skyrocketed to new heights.
Now the entire nation knew that the entertainment industry had produced a handsome male high school student who was incredibly skilled at basketball, as if he had walked out of a manga.
Many people who came to see him were instantly captivated by Tendou's incredibly high looks—as if someone had personally designed his face while playing a character creation game.
Thanks to this, Tendou's work now included not just photo shoots and commercial filming.
Television stations had already contacted him, inviting him to film TV dramas.
A new entertainer with such low cost and high popularity was rarely seen.
Tendou treated it as entertainment, and driven by curiosity, accepted the invitation to film his first TV drama.
The result was that with his crude acting skills yet devastatingly handsome face, he became a nationally famous heartthrob.
The kind of guy who had nothing going for him except his looks.
Male viewers demanded he get out of the entertainment industry and return to basketball, but his first TV drama, while not becoming a breakout hit, mysteriously made it into the year's top five ratings.
With just a twelve-episode TV drama, Tendou proved to people that being ridiculously handsome could really overcome acting ability.
The market decided everything.
After this TV drama, despite Tendou's crude acting being criticized mercilessly by viewers, more and more production teams came looking for him to film dramas.
His agency immediately arranged a new persona for him.
Star among stars!
This referred to his success in both basketball and the entertainment industry, attempting to prove he was talented in every area.
He was now an undeniable rising sensation.
...
This day.
Summer.
The temperature was scorching—at least 30 degrees Celsius outside.
An outdoor court was packed with thousands of fans dressed for the heat.
Hyuga Junpei and Aida Riko were among them, wearing hats and waiting for an exhibition game to begin.
The opposing sides were: a representative team composed of college league players from Japan, facing the internationally renowned Jabberwock basketball club.
It wasn't a professional basketball club.
All members of the Jabberwock club came from American street basketball, representing street basketball culture.
A female reporter was already excitedly introducing the upcoming game to the camera.
"Hello everyone watching on TV!"
"I'm currently at the scene of a street basketball super exhibition game."
"Please look at the court behind me—the stands are already packed with enthusiastic fans."
The host stepped aside, allowing the camera to capture the scene.
"Shortly, our domestically selected college representative team will face the super street basketball team, Jabberwock, right here..."
Following the host's words, the camera cut to footage of the Jabberwock team emerging from the airport.
The members were all Black players, led by Nash Gold Jr.
He wore a suit and sunglasses, walking out of the airport with his head held high, completely ignoring the passing crowds.
That attitude—he really looked like a superstar.
Seirin Basketball Club.
Except for the team captain and coach who had gone out on a date, and Kiyoshi Teppei who had gone for medical treatment, everyone else was gathered together.
"Getting to see authentic street basketball in Japan is really exciting."
They enthusiastically discussed the upcoming game.
Street basketball was a special basketball style that, compared to professional style, emphasized performance aspects more.
They had their own culture and fan base.
Just like those rap artists in the country who constantly talked about "this is my attitude" and such.
So in many fans' eyes, street basketball was just an unorthodox style.
But undeniably, compared to professional basketball that existed purely to win, street basketball was indeed much more entertaining to watch.
"But speaking of which, that Tendou guy is really everywhere."
The Seirin players suddenly all felt depressed.
Because at the game venue, several billboards displayed products Tendou endorsed and promoted his TV dramas.
On the billboards, Tendou rested his chin on one hand, sunglasses pulled down to his nose bridge, revealing half of his captivating eyes while smiling at the camera.
Many women were completely enchanted by his face that could bewitch all living beings.
This made the Seirin players feel even more that the gap between themselves and Tendou had grown even wider.
Tendou was simply their dream version of themselves.
"Let's just watch the game first," Izuki Shun helplessly touched his hair.
The women in their families were now all members of "Tendou's legion."
Die-hard fans at that!
If he and Tendou both fell into water someday, Izuki Shun had no doubt that his sister and even his mother would choose to save Tendou without hesitation instead of him.
"If only little Shun were half as outstanding as Tendou-kun."
Such phrases had been constantly on his mother's lips for the past six months, until his ears had grown calluses from hearing them.
"That's right, I wonder what kind of team this Jabberwock team is today."
"I heard it's a very famous club with high recognition globally. Captain Nash Gold Jr. is supposedly one of the key figures carrying American basketball's future."
"Eh, isn't that incredible?"
American basketball was acknowledged as the world's best.
To be labeled as such, their strength definitely wouldn't be simple.
On the other side.
Too Basketball Club.
Aomine and others were also gathered together, coincidentally stopping their training to crowd around the television.
"There's no question about their strength, but they're probably not quite what the TV station describes as being able to carry America's basketball future."
"Oh? Momoi, you know about Nash?"
"Mm-hmm, I've looked into it."
Momoi's small hand reached behind her—who knew how she did it—and a thick notebook appeared in her hands.
"Nash Gold Jr., born in New York State, former student at Clinton High School and also the main point guard of Clinton High's basketball team. In his senior year, he was selected by ESPN as a five-star high school player nationwide. Before graduation, he received an invitation from UCLA's basketball team and became UCLA's main point guard."
"However, for unknown reasons, Nash voluntarily withdrew from UCLA's basketball team before the NCAA season began."
After finishing, Momoi forcefully closed her notebook.
The others all looked at her with different expressions.
"You can even gather intelligence from overseas?"
"Hehe, it's just basic information available online."
Momoi didn't take credit.
She didn't have the powerful connections of professional agents—gathering intelligence from there wasn't realistic. What she could collect was just publicly known information.
If this were in Japan, she might have been able to find out the reason Nash left UCLA.
"But regardless, it sounds quite troublesome."
The others' expressions became serious.
UCLA was a famous basketball powerhouse in the NCAA—their status there was equivalent to basketball giants like Rakuzan, Shutoku, Yosen, and Kaijo here.
This was just a comparison—in terms of actual status, they were far inferior.
Because UCLA was world-class.
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