Kuroko's Basketball template: the king of slacking off, Shohoku's strongest sixth man.

August 2nd.

The mornings in Hiroshima are unreasonably hot.

Before the sun had even fully risen, the asphalt road was already distorted, and visible heat waves rolled through the air.

The cicadas on the treetops were chirping their hearts out.

The noise was so loud it felt like it was going to shake your brains out.

When I took a breath, my lungs were filled with scalding sparks.

The entire Xiangbei team gathered at the hotel entrance.

The bus revved its engine, its exhaust pipe spewing out smoke mixed with the dry, dusty smell, which was quite pungent.

"Is everyone here?"

Takenori Akagi was the last to step out of the gate.

Wearing the red and black Shohoku team uniform, with his backpack slung over his shoulder, his spine was as straight as a javelin.

The anxiety of last night had long since been blown away by the wind from that face that seemed to be carved from rock.

Instead, there was absolute calm.

And hidden deep in their eyes, there's a ferocity belonging to a top predator.

That was the look in the eyes of the "Wolf King" returning to his rightful place.

"cut."

A very discordant nasal sound rang out.

Sakuragi Hanamichi squatted on the curb, idly picking at the pebbles on the soles of his shoes, like a monkey who hadn't gotten a banana yet.

Upon hearing Akagi's voice, the guy suddenly sprang into action.

He stood with his hands on his hips, looking quite annoyed.

"Gorilla, are you incubating your eggs in the toilet?"

Sakuragi pointed to a watch that didn't exist on his wrist, his expression exaggerated:

"This genius of mine has practically turned into a dried-up corpse here!"

"Are you going to wear the toilet out of your body?"

As he spoke, Sakuragi suddenly brought his large face close to Akagi's nose, lowered his voice, but chuckled mischievously at a volume that the whole team could hear:

"Is it because the portion is too large and it's hard to rinse down?"

The air froze for a second.

A red "well" character suddenly appeared on Akagi Takenori's forehead.

The fist hardened.

This red-haired monkey, if you don't discipline it for three days, it'll be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

That was the crisp sound of an iron fist making intimate contact with a skull; it sounded painful.

"Whoa—!!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi covered his head and crouched down in defense, tears instantly streaming down his face.

"Damn it! That gorilla!"

"Committing a crime first thing in the morning! Is there no law?!"

"My genius brain cells are going to die out!"

Akagi withdrew his smoking fist, his face darkening as he blew out a breath:

"Shut up."

"If you say another word, I'll shove you down the toilet and flush you into the Pacific Ocean."

Rukawa Kaede walked by with his bag on his back, giving the red-haired guy a cold glance.

His lips moved slightly, uttering two cold words:

"You big idiot."

"You damned fox! Who are you calling a jerk?! Don't you dare run away!"

Sakuragi instantly regained his strength and rolled up his sleeves, ready to pounce on the fight.

Ryota Miyagi skillfully positioned himself between the two, casually handing Sakuragi a bottle of ice water.

"Let's finish this flower path and save our energy to deal with Toyotama's bastards."

"Don't waste mana on your own people."

……

The cicadas' chirping remained incessant.

Under the shade of the tree, Kiminobu Kogure adjusted his glasses, his gaze fixed on Akagi.

He observed very carefully.

From the rhythm of Akagi's walk to the volume of his voice, and even his large hands tightly gripping the backpack straps.

There was no trembling.

There was no confusion.

The steadfast and unwavering Akagi Takenori has truly returned.

"It seems..."

Mitsui Hisashi leaned against a tree trunk, twirling his wrist guard, a roguish smile playing on his lips.

"That idiot captain only took one night to adjust his mindset."

"Last night it was shaking like a sieve, and today it has evolved into the complete form of King Kong."

Kogure smiled, his glasses reflecting a gleam:

"Yes, not only has it recovered, it's even stronger than usual."

He turned to look at Sakuragi, who was still glaring at Rukawa, and Miyagi and Lin Bei, who were watching the show from the sidelines.

Everyone was laughing.

Although they were verbally attacking each other, this relaxed feeling couldn't be faked.

There was no fear, no retreat.

This team has sharpened their bayonets to a gleaming shine, ready to draw blood at any moment.

Kogure took a deep breath, the scorching air filling his chest, his heart beating steadily and powerfully.

"Single-elimination format."

He silently recited it in his heart.

"If we lose one game, we're going home."

"No resurrection armor, no second playthrough."

Kogure clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm.

"I will absolutely not retire this year."

"Even if I'm just waving a towel on the sidelines, I want to watch this team reach the point where they dominate the nation."

Just then.

The hotel owner rushed out of the lobby in a panic, waving a note in her hand, breathless.

"Guests of Shohoku! Wait! Don't go yet!"

Kogure turned around: "Boss lady? What happened?"

The proprietress ran up to Akagi and wiped her sweat:

"Phone! There's an urgent call from you!"

"Telephone?"

Akagi frowned. "At this time? Who?"

Everyone was stunned.

With a major battle imminent, who would call the hotel front desk?

The proprietress pointed to the landline phone in the lobby:

"It's a person named Yan Yi."

He said the matter was extremely urgent and the captain had to take over, otherwise he would commit seppuku!

"Hikoichi?"

Upon hearing this name, Sakuragi Hanamichi's ears twitched.

"Oh! It's that talkative intelligence agent from Ryonan!"

Miyagi raised an eyebrow: "That short guy who always carries a notebook? What does he want on the phone?"

"It's not just about telephones."

The proprietress waved a stack of thermal paper in her hand:

"There's also a fax, which they just said was a 'top secret file' for Shohoku."

The group returned to the main hall.

Takenori Akagi picked up the receiver and said in a deep voice, "This is Akagi."

"Captain Akagi!!!"

A roar that could pierce eardrums suddenly erupted from the receiver.

With an excited, adrenaline-pumped energy.

Akagi instinctively moved the receiver half a meter away, his brow furrowed.

"Yan Yi, did you put a megaphone in your throat?"

"Ah! Sorry, sorry! I was just too excited!"

The background noise on the other end of the phone was noisy, filled with the sounds of slapping a ball and shouting, like it was at some underground basketball court.

"Captain Akagi! Did you receive my fax?"

"That's what I compiled by studying the Osaka team's data all night!"

"Absolutely authentic! This is information I obtained in exchange for my receding hairline! Please take a look!"

Akagi took the fax paper handed to him by the proprietress.

The paper still carried the residual warmth from the machine.

The surface was covered with dense text, along with hand-drawn tactical diagrams.

The handwriting was so messy it looked like chicken claws scratching, and it was clear that it was written in a hurry, but the content was so detailed it was outrageous.

[Analysis of Toyotama High School's Tactics]

[Core System: Run & Gun (Run-and-Gun Tactics)]

[Captain Nan Lie: Ace assassin, incredibly accurate from three-point range, adept at using screens, watch out for his hand movements (there's something dirty on them)...]

[Kishimoto Minori: A hot-tempered guy, easily angered, but with an extremely strong sense of fast-paced offense...]

[Weaknesses: Lacks patience in defense, falls for feints, and is prone to mental breakdowns...]

Akagi quickly scanned the area, his surprise growing stronger.

"oh……"

This isn't data.

This is practically a "secret manual" for passing the game.