Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 325 Qingtian's Undermining, and A Long's Advance
After watching the game, Kogure and the others went to Shohoku.

As soon as Kogure entered the basketball gym, he noticed that Rukawa was training as hard as ever.

He also discovered that an uninvited guest had arrived at the basketball court—Tatsuhiko Aota.

At this moment, Aota Tatsuhiko is flirting with Sakuragi!
Because Aota Tatsuhiko had his back to Kogure and the others, he naturally didn't notice Kogure.

Sakuragi's attention was completely focused on the stack of photos in his hand, and he wore a lewd expression.

"Sakuragi, you are a natural judo genius. If you join our judo club, I can make sure you become a vice-captain within a year and apply to the school for a tuition reduction."

By the way, there are quite a few girls in our judo club. As the saying goes, "being near the water tower makes it easier to catch the moon," and with your abilities, you're sure to be popular with them. This will be a great opportunity for you to find a partner.

At this moment, Aota Tatsuhiko was patiently persuading Sakuragi, explaining the many benefits of joining the judo team!

Judo team matches generally use a five-person system, consisting of a vanguard, a second vanguard, a middle guard, a vice-captain, and a captain. If one side is not evenly matched in strength or does not have enough people, four people can compete, with the captain participating in two matches.

In the judo club, the vice-captain's position is second only to the captain, which shows how much Aota Tatsuhiko values ​​Sakuragi.

Of course, this also reflects the 'weakness' of the Shohoku Judo Club.

This can be seen from the fact that Sakuragi single-handedly defeated the three main members of the judo club in the storyline.

Apart from Aota Tatsuhiko, the rest of the judo team's main players didn't have many outstanding achievements.

This means that Aota also doesn't have much support in the judo club where he belongs.

Under such conditions, Aota Tatsuhiko was still able to lead the Shohoku Judo Club to win the prefectural championship.

Aota Tatsuhiko's strength was well demonstrated in his match against Sakuragi.

As is well known, Sakuragi's fighting ability is among the best in Slam Dunk, but he was clearly at a disadvantage in his match against Aota Tatsuhiko.

If Aota Tatsuhiko's goal hadn't been to let Sakuragi experience the joy of judo and to always adhere to the rules of judo, stopping short of a point, Sakuragi wouldn't have been able to launch a counterattack.

A poem testifies to this: He could subdue Sakuragi with his martial prowess and amuse all the heroes with his literary talent!
Besides winning the prefectural tournament, Aota Tatsuhiko also contributed one of the most hilarious moments in Slam Dunk.

"Does your judo club really have a lot of girls?"

Sakuragi didn't look up; his expression grew increasingly lewd.

Seeing Sakuragi's expression, Aota Tatsuhiko revealed a smug smile.

Not long ago, Aota unexpectedly discovered that Sakuragi possessed extremely high judo talent.

Ever since the Shohoku basketball team won the national championship, Akagi has often boasted in front of him, which annoys him and fuels his obsession with dominating the nation.

Like Akagi, Aota Tatsuhiko's childhood dream was also to dominate the nation.

Provoked, Aota Tatsuhiko disregarded his friendship with Akagi and began trying to poach Sakuragi.

Sakuragi's talent not only increases his chances of dominating the nation, but also ensures that Shohoku Judo Club remains competitive even after he enters university.

Aota Tatsuhiko's offer would be tempting to anyone, let alone Sakuragi.

Beside him, Akagi stood with a gloomy face, his fists clenched, his eyes fixed on Aota Tatsuhiko like a volcano about to erupt.

Aota Tatsuhiko, his childhood friend and confidant, shamelessly poached players from the basketball team, which made him feel extremely embarrassed.

Just then, Rukawa Kaede's training came to an end, and he walked towards Kogure and the others.

"Seniors, you're back!"

As soon as Rukawa finished speaking, Sakuragi finally snapped out of his daze, noticed Kogure and the others, and hurriedly stuffed the photo in his hand into his pocket.

As everyone knows, Sakuragi has maxed out his freebie skills.

The shopkeeper with the mustache, Maki, the Sakuragi Army, Aota Tatsuhiko, and others are all victims.

"Qingtian!"

It was at this moment that Akagi's voice, filled with gritted teeth, rang out.

At that moment, Aota Tatsuhiko sensed something was wrong and turned around stiffly, only to be met with Akagi's eyes filled with rage.

"Um, Akagi, listen to my trick..."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Aota Tatsuhiko tried to explain while instinctively wanting to retreat.

"Qingtian, you bastard! I never thought you were this kind of person!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Akagi delivered a powerful punch that came crashing down from the sky, hitting the bullseye perfectly.

"Wow!"

Aota Tatsuhiko crouched on the ground, clutching his head in anguish, too afraid to resist.

Kogure, Mitsui, and the others stood aside, acting as spectators.

Actually, Kogure quite admires Aota Tatsuhiko.

Comparatively speaking, Aota Tatsuhiko was more competent than Akagi. Aota Tatsuhiko valued the development of the judo club more, placing its honor and future development on par with, or even above, his own interests.

The best example of this is the effort to win over Sakuragi.

In order to win over Sakuragi, he was willing to give Sakuragi a photo of Haruko that he had treasured.

Even after Sakuragi joined the basketball team, he still didn't give up.

As for Akagi, he valued his own feelings more than the team's, putting his own likes and dislikes above the team's interests. He once refused to let Sakuragi join, almost ruining Shohoku's bright future.

Until the match against Sannoh, Akagi stopped being so fixated on winning and chose to do something more meaningful for the team's victory.

Only at that moment could Akagi be considered a proper captain.

In addition, there are team leadership achievements.

In the story's final year, even with the strong addition of the "Bad Boys Army," Shohoku barely managed to secure second place in the county tournament, and almost got eliminated.

Aota almost single-handedly led Shohoku Judo Club to win the prefectural championship, clearly demonstrating the difference in skill.

Despite admiring Aota Tatsuhiko, Kogure could not condone his actions from his own perspective.

Therefore, Kogure did not stop Akagi from beating up Aota, and even gestured to Naito with his eyes to close the door.

Kogure: Read my eye!
As a result, Aota Tatsuhiko could only obediently accept a good beating from Akagi to prevent him from poaching players from the basketball team again.

In addition, it can also prevent the situation from escalating and avoid Akagi being punished by the school.

Inside the stadium, Aota Tatsuhiko held his head, silently enduring Akagi's brutal beating without retaliating.

Although he could defeat Akagi with his strength, he would be in the wrong, he would want to maintain his friendship with Akagi, and this was the basketball club's headquarters. Even if he defeated Akagi, Kogure and the others would definitely not stand idly by.

No matter how you look at it, retaliating will not only fail to quell the situation, but will instead cause it to escalate rapidly.

Since Aota Tatsuhiko never fought back, Akagi soon lost interest and stopped attacking.

Aota Tatsuhiko sat on the floor with a bruised and swollen face, looking like he had been badly beaten.

Despite Akagi's fierce beating, he consciously controlled his strength and tried his best not to hit Aota Tatsuhiko's vital points.

Well, the brain doesn't count!

"Qingtian, if you dare to poach players from our basketball team again, don't blame me for turning against you."

Akagi suppressed his anger and made a threat, still feeling uneasy.

"I see!"

Aota Tatsuhiko stood up from the ground, wanting to find Sakuragi to retrieve the photos, but Sakuragi had disappeared.

The world where only Qingtian was injured, having lost both the photos and been beaten, has been achieved!
It turns out that while Akagi was beating up Aota, Sakuragi cunningly chose to leave first.

After failing to find Sakuragi, Aota Tatsuhiko had no choice but to leave the basketball club, limping.

After this incident, everyone lost interest in training and went home.

……

At night, in a dark alley, several figures were squatting on the ground, puffing on cigarettes.

The leader was none other than Ah Long, the little brother who betrayed Tie Nan!
Arlong is unique as the only character in Slam Dunk who has not been redeemed!

At this moment, a tall, burly man entered the alley and stood in front of Ah Long.

"Ah Long, thanks to you, I got out of there ahead of time!"

That's right, he was Ah Long's childhood friend, who was imprisoned for a crime.

Thanks to Ah Long's efforts, the renovation was finally completed six months ahead of schedule.

"I've come to you today because I need your help with something!"

"What's the deal?"

"Beat up a few people!"

"Okay, when?"

Ah Long's childhood friend patted his chest and agreed without hesitation.

It's just beating up a few people; with his strength, he can easily take them down.

"Wait a little longer, I want them to face failure just when they're about to succeed!"

In the darkness, Ah Long revealed a sinister smile, his eyes filled with deep hatred.

(End of this chapter)