Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 113 The Train to Hiroshima!

On the last day of July 92, the scorching afternoon sun shone on the plaza of Kanagawa Shinkansen Station.

Sakuragi Hanamichi turned the corner from the street corner, carrying a sports bag. His red buzz cut stood out in the crowd. Beside him was Yanai Yuri, who was carrying a small travel bag.

As soon as the two arrived at the station entrance, they saw a group of familiar figures. Akagi Takenori was checking tickets with his head down, Kogure was helping him count the number of people, Mitsui was leaning against the railing yawning, Miyagi was squatting in front of the vending machine choosing a drink, and Rukawa Kaede was standing next to a pillar with his eyes closed.

"Yo! Everyone's here!" Sakuragi's loud voice jolted Rukawa's eyes open a crack.

At almost the same time, the Ryonan team arrived at the other end of the square.

Jun Uozumi's massive frame stood out in the crowd, with Akira Sendoh following behind, his spiky hair swaying slightly in the morning breeze.

The two teams met at the entrance of the station hall, greeting each other and exchanging banter.

Both sides were tall and imposing figures. When they stood at the station entrance, passing passengers couldn't help but turn their heads to look at them.

As the Shinkansen train bound for Hiroshima pulled out of the station, the buildings and streets outside the window were gradually replaced by fields and distant mountains.

Inside the carriage, players from both teams sat on either side of the aisle, their sports bags filling the overhead luggage racks.

Hikoichi Aida pulled out the latest issue of a basketball magazine from his bag, with the words "National Tournament Special: Group Prediction" printed on the cover.

Holding a sports magazine, he looked at the Shohoku team across the aisle and asked, "Have you all seen the schedule for the National Tournament?"

Sakuragi Hanamichi was stuffing a rice ball that Yanai handed him into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel, and he shook his head blankly.

Mitsui leaned over and glanced at the magazine in Hikoichi's hand: "I just bought one, but I haven't had a chance to look at it carefully yet."

Yan Yi flipped the magazine to the match schedule page, his finger tracing back and forth among the densely packed team names: "In this national tournament, Ryonan is in the lower left division, and Shohoku is in the lower right division. If our two teams want to meet—they'll both have to make it to the finals."

Jun Uozumi and Takenori Akagi exchanged a glance across the aisle. Although they were currently on the same train, heading to the same national tournament, the only way for them to fight again was in the finals. That was incredibly difficult.

Miyagi and Kogure had already pressed their heads against the basketball magazine that Mitsui had just bought but hadn't had a chance to read yet, their three pairs of eyes fixed on the small print on the match schedule.

He pointed his finger around and muttered to himself, "I've never heard of this team before."

"This seems to be one of last year's top eight."

Rukawa Kaede leaned against the window with his eyes closed, but his ears were already perked up, tilted towards the direction of the three people's discussion.

Yan pointed a finger at the team list of the Lingnan division, his tone as solemn as a war correspondent: "Our first battle in Lingnan is against Jinshan Commercial. Jinshan Commercial's strength is average, so we should win easily."

The second opponent will most likely be Toyotama from Osaka.

He paused for a moment, then turned to a page of the magazine, which contained Toyotama's records and data from last year's competition.

"Fengyu was among the top eight in the country last year. They mainly use fast-paced outside offense and have a strong scoring ability."

The third match was against Tokyo's Jimbo University Affiliated High School, which had a bye in the first round. Also a quarterfinalist last year, Jimbo University Affiliated High School took the spot that originally belonged to Kanagawa's Hainan team, who had a bye in last year's semifinals, due to the Tokyo region's points system and Hainan Shohoku's failure to qualify for the national tournament this year.

After the third match, the fourth match will most likely be against another team that reached the quarterfinals last year, Kyoto's Luoan.

He moved his finger up to the very top of the entire match list, his voice trembling slightly: "After our Ryonan team has finished three quarterfinals, if we successfully make it to the semifinals, our opponent will be the champions of last year, the year before, and the year before that, Sannoh."

Although they already knew the schedule, listening to Yan Yi's analysis again, the Ryonan team members frowned, once again feeling the pressure of the national tournament. Even Sendoh's eyes no longer held any languor.

"Back then, things weren't much better for you guys at Shohoku."

Yan flipped the magazine to the bottom right section: "The first match is against Dashanbei, a weak team. Just like our Ryonan, they'll definitely win the first match."

But the second match will most likely be against Aihe Academy. They were among the top four in the nation last year.

When they heard that Shohoku's second match would be against Aiwa, last year's top four team, everyone on Shohoku was stunned.

"If we defeat Aiwa Academy and advance to the third match, our opponent will likely be last year's national runner-up, Hakata Commercial University."

Even if they manage to get through again, their opponent in the fourth match will most likely be one of the three strong teams: Daiei, Higashi Sakura, or Hori.

Daiei defeated Toyotama this year to become the No. 1 seed in Osaka.

Sakura Tokyo is the second seed from Tokyo and is quite strong. There are three teams in Tokyo, so the competition is fierce.

Hori was in the quarterfinals last year, and is said to be even stronger this year.

Yan Yi's finger continued downwards, "If you make it all the way to the top four and into the semifinals, you'll most likely encounter Meihou Industrial."

This year's top seed from Aichi Prefecture has produced a super rookie center. In this year's Aichi Prefecture tournament, Meihou defeated last year's semifinalist Aiwa Academy to secure the top seed and a bye in Aichi Prefecture.

After finishing his analysis, Yan closed the magazine, looked up at the team members on both sides, his expression both excited and serious: "On our side, Ryonan fought against three quarter-final teams, and then against last year's champion Sannoh in the semi-finals. We fought our way up step by step, starting with the easier ones and then moving on to the more difficult ones."

"And your team in Shohoku started by playing for the semifinals and runner-up, so your start was even harder than ours —"

As soon as Yan Yi finished speaking, the carriage fell into deep thought. The fields outside the window flashed by in the sunlight, and the shadows of mountains in the distance were faintly visible through the thin clouds.

Miyagi and Mitsui huddled together, studying the match schedule and team information in the magazine. Rukawa had already opened his eyes, his dark pupils fixed on his reflection in the car window.

"It doesn't matter."

A loud voice shattered the silence.

Sakuragi Hanamichi stuffed the last rice ball into his mouth, puffed out his cheeks a few times, swallowed, and then wiped his mouth with his hand. Yanai slapped him and wiped his mouth clean with a handkerchief.

Sakuragi's voice was loud and clear, and everyone in the carriage turned to look: "Anyway, if you want to dominate the nation, you'll inevitably encounter strong teams sooner or later. Just beat them all! Who cares about the quarterfinals, semifinals, runner-up, or champion? We'll crush them all!"

Akagi and Uozumi, the two third-year centers, met each other's eyes again across the aisle. This time, there was no seriousness in their eyes, only the fighting spirit ignited by Sakuragi's words.

At the other end of the carriage, Coach Anzai and Shigekata Taoka sat side by side. Taoka had a notebook spread out on his lap, filled with densely written analysis of the characteristics and tactical points of the Ryonan Division teams.

He turned his head to the side, lowered his voice, and consulted Coach Anzai about the details of Ryonan's group assignments, Toyotama's outside firepower, Rakuen's inside strength, and Sannoh's full-court press tactics.

Coach Anzai nodded occasionally, offering a brief comment or two, his eyes behind his glasses calm and focused. He was pondering a problem: Shohoku's starting lineup was formidable, but their bench was weak, and the seven-day back-to-back schedule was Shohoku's biggest crisis.

Yan Yi had recovered from analyzing the battle charts and returned to his most proficient work mode: intelligence analysis.

He flipped to the magazine's special page on Toyotama: "In our second game against Toyotama, I specifically studied their playing style. Toyotama mainly uses a fast-paced offense from the outside, with their scoring concentrated on the guards and power forwards. Three-pointers and fast breaks are their lifeblood."

However, their interior strength is average, and rebounding and rim protection are weaknesses.

The light in Yan Yi's eyes had changed from tension to certainty. "As long as we focus on Captain Uozumi's inside advantage, play steadily, control the pace, and don't let them lead us, we should be able to easily defeat Toyotama."

Before he could finish speaking, an arm reached out from the side and hooked around Yan Yi's neck.

"Ha! You easily defeated Toyotama?"

A tall, ponytail-wearing person of similar age bent down and brought their face close to Yan Yi's head, asking with a displeased expression, "Which team are you guys from?"

Yan Yi's neck was tightened, his face flushed from its normal color to a deep red, and his voice was squeezed out from his throat: "I—"

We are Ryonan!

"Kid! Let go of my hand." Jun Uozumi stood up. The moment his massive 202-centimeter frame lifted off the seat, the light in the entire carriage dimmed by a shade.

Kishimoto Minori looked up and saw Uozumi. Her fingers unconsciously loosened their grip on Hikoichi's neck, and she took a half-step back.

Uozumi's height and physique were incredibly imposing, and his face startled Kishimoto.

But he wasn't at all verbally defeated, quickly adjusting his expression, switching back from brief shock to arrogant mode: "Ryonan? I know. You mean that genius player Sendoh Akira from Ryonan, Kanagawa, that Kanagawa sports magazine hyped up?"

He deliberately emphasized the words "genius player," saying, "Ha! A team that didn't even make it to the national tournament last year, how good can their so-called genius player be?"

The carriage erupted in chaos. Yueye Hongming was the first to stand up, veins bulging on his face: "What did you say?!"

Ryoji Ikegami also stood up, his usually cold face now filled with anger.

Even Fukuda Kichijou silently straightened up from his seat, looking at Kishimoto with a cold expression, his serpentine hand seemingly itching to strike.

At that moment, a voice quelled the commotion. "Enough."

Taoka Shigeichi stood up, glanced at Kishimoto, then at the Ryonan team members, and the flames dimmed slightly wherever his gaze swept over them.

At the other end of the aisle, Toyotama's coach also stood up, walked over, grabbed Kishimoto's arm, and pulled him to his seat, his tone stern and helpless: "Kishibe, don't cause trouble! You're here to play basketball, not to fight and cause trouble."

The carriage gradually quieted down. Sakuragi Hanamichi leaned to the right, getting close to Sendoh Akira, and lowered his voice, but the mischievous smile on his face was impossible to hide.

Sakuragi tilted his chin slightly towards Kishimoto, keeping his voice just loud enough for Sendoh to hear: "Hedgehog, this can't be tolerated. During the match, we'll teach them a lesson and crush them."

Sendoh leaned back in his chair, glanced at Sakuragi, and gave a wry, helpless smile.

He didn't respond, but simply turned his gaze to the outside of the car window. His aversion to trouble wouldn't change even at the national competition.

But he didn't completely ignore Sakuragi's words.

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