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

"Huh? What did you say?"

"No! It's nothing!" Sakuragi quickly coughed twice, trying to save face.

"but……"

Haruko's tone shifted, now filled with worry.

"We're playing against Sannoh Industrial tomorrow. I've heard they're invincible kings, even my brother is wary of them."

"Don't panic!"

"What 'Mountain King'? It's just a giant experience pack at best!"

"Tomorrow I'll show them how to drive them crazy!"

"Haruko, get ready to scream for me from the stands!"

Sakuragi thumped his chest loudly, his face full of arrogance.

"Yeah! I believe in you, Sakuragi! Good luck!"

After hanging up the phone, Sakuragi covered his face and twisted into a maggot-like shape on the spot, letting out a silly "hehehehe" laugh.

The receptionist gave him a look as if he were mentally challenged, and silently took two steps back.

Sakuragi, hands in his pockets, strode towards the door with an air of indifference.

"Tch, Sannoh Industrial? Who does it think it is?"

He pursed his lips, his mind starting to frantically belittle his teammates.

"The gorilla is probably so panicked right now that it's eating a banana peel to calm its nerves."

"Dad's double chin isn't even twitching anymore; he must be worrying about how to lose gracefully tomorrow."

"As for that dead fox... it's probably hiding under the covers, trembling with fear!"

"Of the entire team, only this genius... and his lazy master are as steady as old dogs!"

Just as he was feeling smug, Sakuragi glanced around and caught sight of a familiar face standing outside the hotel.

His forehead was wrapped in thick gauze, and he was wearing a floral shirt.

It's Nan Lie!

Sakuragi quickly hid behind a load-bearing pillar in the lobby, observing from the shadows.

"That sixth brother of Fengyu?"

"Coming here in the middle of the night to get yourself killed?"

Sakuragi stroked his chin. "Did he lose so badly during the day that he's trying to perform a physical exorcism?"

"Ding—" The door opened.

With his left eye covered by gauze, hands in his pockets, Rukawa Kaede walked coolly out the door without even looking around.

"Oh?"

Sakuragi poked half his head out, his gossip-loving spirit burning brightly.

"Good heavens, two blind men sneaking into the woods in the middle of the night?"

"This melon is guaranteed to be ripe!"

Sakuragi rubbed his hands excitedly, "You damn fox, today this genius will be in the front row to watch how you get beaten up!"

Sakuragi tiptoed after him.

The green belt outside the hotel was quiet.

Sakuragi, like a clumsy red gorilla, squeezed himself into a clump of holly trees, the leaves poking his nostrils.

Rukawa Kaede stopped in his tracks, staring at Nan Lie a few steps away, adopting a strategy of "if the enemy doesn't move, I won't move."

The air seemed to freeze.

"Go! Quickly use dirty tricks to kick him!"

Sakuragi frantically fanned the flames from behind the tree, wishing he could do it himself.

The next second, the style of the scene changed drastically.

Nan Lie put his feet together and bowed deeply to Rukawa Kaede at a 90-degree angle.

"sorry……"

Nan Lie's voice was low and trembling.

*Smack!*

Sakuragi was so shocked that his jaw dropped, and he fell headfirst into the bushes, making a loud noise.

"What the hell?"

"Is that your line?"

Sakuragi scrambled to his feet, alarm bells ringing in his head.

"No! This is definitely a trap! This old man is definitely going to unleash a series of attacks!"

Sakuragi stared intently at Nan Lie's pocket, imagining what deadly weapon he might pull out.

At this moment, Nan Lie straightened up, took out a small white plastic bottle, and handed it over.

"Here, take this."

Nan Lie's gaze was sincere. "I've used this since I was a child. It helps my injuries heal faster."

Sakuragi, standing behind the tree, was overjoyed; his grin almost reached his ears.

"Case solved! It was definitely poison!!"

"Typical Sixth Brother!"

"They're even blatantly poisoning people!"

"You damn fox, you're going to be eliminated as soon as you land!"

Rukawa Kaede looked at the medicine bottle without saying a word.

Nan Lie scratched his face and explained awkwardly, "My family... owns a pharmacy, and this is a special medicine that we make ourselves."

Sakuragi clutched his bald head in pain.

"What the hell is this pharmacy?!"

"Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe that excuse!"

Unexpectedly, Rukawa Kaede reached out and took the medicine bottle directly.

Thanks.

The voice was cool and clear, but it lacked a certain defensiveness.

Nan Lie was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting it to go so smoothly, and then breathed a long sigh of relief.

Sakuragi was laughing so hard he was shaking behind the tree.

"We've been tricked!"

"That damn fox just gave up for free!"

"Tomorrow, this genius will carry the entire team to victory!"

After delivering the medicine, Nan Lie felt much more relaxed.

He looked intently at Rukawa Kaede, his tone suddenly becoming extremely fatalistic:

"Rukawa Kaede, you must become the best in the nation."

Rukawa Kaede gripped the medicine bottle tightly, a fervent fighting spirit igniting in his right eye.

"Um."

No fluff, just pure confidence.

Nan Lie took a deep breath, and the terrifying figure who had knocked him away with Bajiquan during the day flashed through his mind.

"Tomorrow's Sannoh Industrial... that's a monster from another dimension." Nan Lie's voice tightened.

"Perhaps... only you and that Lin Bei have a chance to beat Ze Bei."

"He's number one in the country."

"Only the two of you have a chance."

A night breeze blew by.

Nan Lie's words dissipated in the sweltering summer breeze.

Hidden in the bushes, Sakuragi Hanamichi gritted his teeth.

He squeezed the green juice out of the holly leaves in his hand.

"Zebei? Number one in the country?"

Sakuragi silently made exaggerated mouth shapes, his back teeth grinding together with a creaking sound.

What is that dead fox anyway!

And then there's that lazy master who only knows how to sleep all day.

Why should they be the only ones with a chance to win?

Sakuragi's imagination has run wild.

He immediately imagined the game-winning shot on the field tomorrow.

Rukawa Kaede was so dazed by that guy named Sawakita that he questioned his existence, while Lin Bei was exhausted.

And him! The genius Sakuragi Hanamichi!

Like a god descending to earth, a massive, sky-covering hot pot sent Zebei flying, ball and all!

Then, amidst the deafening cheers of ten thousand people in the stadium.

Amidst Haruko's screams that made her eyes sparkle.

A buzzer-beating dunk that turned the tide of the game!

We've won so many times we're practically mad!

"Hmph! What's so great about it!"

Sakuragi pouted unhappily and pulled the branch that was stuck in his waistband.

"With this genius around, who dares to claim to be the best in the country?"

"Tomorrow I'll see how I uproot that Mountain King!"

He disgustedly brushed the dirt off his floral shirt, hunched over like a thieving gorilla, and slipped into the back garden along the shadow of the green belt.

He didn't want to go back and face Rukawa Kaede's sour face right now.

Turning past a wall of roses, the view suddenly opens up.

Under the streetlights by the artificial lake, two very familiar figures stood.

The girl wore her baseball cap backwards and habitually fiddled with a folding fan in her hand.

The boy had his hands in his pockets, his signature curly hair swaying slightly in the night breeze.

It was Ayako and Miyagi taking a walk.

"Why?"

Sakuragi gasped, covering his mouth tightly with both hands, afraid of letting out even the slightest exclamation of surprise.

He slid out and landed behind a huge artificial rockery, the Bagua radar above his head beeping frantically.

It's the middle of the night!

A lone man and a lone woman!

Could it be that Xiao Liang, that kid, secretly got a girlfriend behind this genius's back?!

"Unforgivable!"

"We agreed to stay single together, but you secretly held hands!"

Sakuragi poked half his head out, ready to jump out and shout "Caught in the act!" at any moment.

But when he saw the situation in the distance, his legs froze.

The atmosphere is off.

There was no pink bubble, no flirting.

The palace's silhouette appeared unusually somber under the streetlights.

Some of them even have hunchbacks.