Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 115 The National Tournament Begins!

August 2nd, early morning.

At the entrance of the hot spring inn, the players from Shohoku and Ryonan, each carrying a sports bag, stood in two rows in the morning light.

"Hey Monkey King, good luck Sendoh! Don't lose the first game!" Sakuragi waved to the other side.

"You guys are the ones who should be more cautious. Don't think you can let your guard down just because the first team is weak," Uozumi replied without changing his expression.

The two groups parted ways at the hotel entrance, each boarding a bus bound for a different competition venue.

The venue for Shohoku's first game was a slightly old municipal gymnasium. The white tiles on the exterior walls had turned slightly yellow from the sea breeze, but the wooden floors inside were polished to a shine.

In the locker room, Takenori Akagi was bending over to tie his shoelaces, Kaede Rukawa had already changed into his jersey and was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, resting. Hisashi Mitsui was putting on his wristbands.

Coach Anzai stood in the center of the locker room, his gaze sweeping over each player's face. His voice was calm and unhurried, carrying a reassuring gentleness: "Hehehe. Today is your first match in the national tournament. The opponent isn't strong, so just relax and play yourselves."

"Yes—!" The response from the Shohoku team echoed several times on the locker room wall.

In the stands, four figures were stumbling and squeezing through the entrance.

Yohei Mito walked at the front, with two empty beverage bottles tucked under his arm.

Takamiya Nozomi, who was following behind, said weakly, "You just got off the bus and rushed over to cheer for Hanamichi. Isn't that a bit too much of a rush?"

Yohei stopped in his seat at the top of the table, turned around and looked at the court: "This is Hanamichi's first time on the national stage. I can't not come and cheer him on. I have to come even if my back is broken."

Gao Gong finally managed to squeeze his buttocks into the seat and it took him a while to catch his breath.

He looked around, his brow furrowing. Pointing to the rows of empty seats in the stands, his voice tinged with disappointment, "How come there are so few spectators for the first match? This is a national tournament!"

The huge stadium stands were only sparsely populated, with less than a third of the seats occupied. The Shohoku supporters were even fewer. There were four of them: Horita Tokuo, leading two guys with pompadour hairstyles, held up the "Flame Man" flag and occupied the front row; Akagi Haruko, Fujii, and Matsui sat in the middle; and several girls from Rukawa Kaede's fan club, dressed in their fan club cheerleading uniforms, sat in the back.

The opposing team, Oyama Kita, didn't have a large support group either. Instead, the majority of the supporters were local Hiroshima fans, scattered across the seats. A few basketball media personnel with press passes around their necks sat in the makeshift press area on the sidelines.

"Never mind," Noma patted Takamiya on the shoulder and plopped down, "When it's time for Hanamichi to go on stage, the few of us will shout louder than the whole stadium."

As the players from both sides ran out of the player tunnel, the moment Sakuragi Hanamichi's red buzz cut appeared under the stadium lights, a few suppressed murmurs rose from the stands, after all, the red hair was too eye-catching.

Akagi Takenori's towering 197cm frame startled the opposing center, Oyama Kita.

Several scouts sitting in the press box opened their notebooks, also attracted by Akagi's tall stature.

After warm-up, the players returned to the bench. Coach Anzai's voice remained calm and unhurried: "The starting lineup for this match is: Akagi, Rukawa, Miyagi, Kakuta, and Kogure."

Sakuragi Hanamichi was already ready to go on the court, but when he heard his name wasn't on the roster, he pointed at himself and shouted so loudly that the entire bench buzzed, "Dad—! Where's this genius? Why aren't you letting me play?"

Coach Anzai turned to look at him, his tone calm: "Sakuragi-kun. Tomorrow's opponent is Aiwa Academy, last year's national top four. Everyone needs to manage their stamina beforehand. Each of the main players will play half a game. You and Mitsui will play in the second half."

Sakuragi opened and closed his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that his father's words were watertight.

He plopped back into his chair, arms crossed, a wide smirk on his face, and kept muttering, "This genius can play the whole game without getting tired, so what's so special about that?!"

In the stands, the four members of Sakuragi's gang saw Sakuragi plop back down in his chair, arms crossed, looking defiant, and immediately started to disagree.

Takamiya Nozomi cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and boomed from the first row of the stands straight up to the Shohoku bench: "Hanamichi—! Why are you sitting on the bench?! Did we come all that way just to see you sit on the bench?!"

Da Nan added fuel to the fire: "Did you get into trouble again and get punished by the coach?!"

Noma, always eager for excitement, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hanamichi! Good luck sitting on the bench, and keep an eye on your towel!"

Sakuragi sprang up from his chair, turned around, and clenched his fists towards the stands. Before he could yell back, Yanai Yuuri turned her head and glanced in the direction of Sakuragi's team.

His gaze wasn't sharp; it even carried a touch of everyday gentleness. But it felt as if an invisible hand was gripping Takamiya's throat, and the hand he had raised to his mouth slowly lowered.

Da Nan and Noma both shut up at the same time, and the four of them looked away in unison. Takamiya began to pretend to straighten his collar, Da Nan looked down at the label on the beverage bottle, and Noma stared at the ceiling and whistled.

Yanai, who was standing by the basketball court, turned around again and tugged at Sakuragi's wrist. Sakuragi angrily sat back down in his chair.

The first half begins.

From the moment the ball was tipped over, the game became a one-sided affair.

During the jump ball, Takenori Akagi passed the ball to Miyagi. Miyagi dribbled across half-court and, facing Oyama Kita's defensive formation, glanced towards the inside. Akagi had already positioned himself in the low post.

Miyagi lobbed the ball in, Akagi caught it, his back against the defender, and he turned and jumped towards the baseline for a layup. The ball went in cleanly off the backboard.

In the next possession, Oyama Kita's center tried to regain some face on offense, receiving the ball with his back to the basket and attempting a hard drive to the basket. He tried to post up Akagi twice, but Akagi didn't budge. He could only turn and shoot, but Akagi's large hand came over from the front and slapped the ball away.

Miyagi retrieves the ball, initiates a fast break, and passes to Rukawa, who is following up on the wing. Rukawa receives the ball, cuts past the defender who is helping him, and pulls up for a jump shot that goes in.

Seeing Akagi wreaking havoc in the paint, Oyama Kita's coach frantically waved his arms on the sidelines, shouting, "Double-team! Double-team their number four!"

Then, when the double team came in, Akagi immediately passed the ball to the outside. Rukawa, who was left open, caught the ball and shot.

The next double-team rotation was a beat too slow, and Akagi passed the ball to Kogure Kiminobu on the other side. Kogure received the ball beyond the three-point line, blinked behind his glasses, bent his knees, jumped, and released the shot.

The ball traced a clean, crisp arc through the air. Swish, a three-pointer swished through the net. The Shohoku bench erupted in jubilation.

The whistle blew to end the first half. The numbers on the scoreboard made the scouts in the stands sit up straight: Shohoku was leading by 18 points.

Akagi Takenori's 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the first half were quickly copied down in notebooks by several basketball journalists in the press box, with one person drawing an asterisk next to his name.

A few local Hiroshima spectators whispered among themselves: "Shohoku is so strong, especially that number 4 center and that number 11..."

"These two must be the team's ace! How come I never heard of this team last year?"

Halftime. The voice remained calm and unhurried: "Second half: Sakuragi, Mitsui, Yasuda, Shiozaki, Ishii. Rotation."

Upon hearing that he would actually be playing, first-year student Ishii was immediately startled. This was the national tournament stage; he hadn't even played much in the prefectural tournaments yet, but he still gritted his teeth and went on stage.

When the audience saw that Shohoku had changed their lineup five times in and five times out in the second half, completely replacing the entire first-half lineup, the stands erupted in a buzz of excitement.

A journalist in the press box muttered to his colleague, "Rotating so early? They're too confident."

The players from Oyama North stood on the field, looking at the five completely different faces walking towards them. Their expressions changed from confusion to bewilderment. Their coach had just set up a whole set of double-team tactics against Akagi and Rukawa during halftime, and now those two were sitting on the bench drinking sports drinks.

The coach from Dashanbei stood on the sidelines, the tactical board slipped from his hands and he caught it again, his lips moving for a long time but he couldn't form a complete sentence.

The game restarted, and Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had been holding back for the entire first half, was bursting with fighting spirit the moment he stepped onto the court.

Yasuda dribbled the ball across half-court, and before he could even make a gesture, Sakuragi was already on the wing, his right hand raised high, fingers spread, calling for the ball. Yasuda passed the ball to him.

Sakuragi receives the ball. Facing the defender from Oyama Kita, he doesn't even make a feint. He lowers his center of gravity, pushes off with his right foot, and drives straight through the defender's left side.

One step, two steps, three steps, he cut into the free throw line, and the defensive formation of Oyama North collapsed in panic, with two people rushing over to double-team him at the same time.

Sakuragi didn't pass. He jumped directly over the two players' heads, grabbed the ball with his right hand, raised it high, and slammed it down onto the rim.

Clang! The basketball hoop shook violently, and the two defenders from Dashanbei were knocked back half a step by the impact.

He dunked over two players right at the start of the second half, leaving the spectators in the stands stunned.

There are still experts!

Takamiya Nozomi and the others cheered excitedly, shouting that Sakuragi was awesome!

In the following possession, Sakuragi went on a rampage. Oyama Kita began to double-team him, double-teaming him whenever he received the ball in the low post and collapsing to help defend when he drove to the basket.

But Sakuragi relied on his physical strength to drive to the basket and finish the game, and no one could stop him.

In the next possession, Sakuragi grabbed the defensive rebound, dribbled the ball across half-court, and stopped abruptly beyond the three-point line. The defender stepped back two paces to prevent a drive, but Sakuragi pulled up for a three-pointer. The ball arced through the air and swish. The three-pointer went in.

On defense, Sakuragi was positioned at position five. Oyama Kita's center attempted to back him down under the basket, but Sakuragi didn't budge. Oyama Kita's center tried again, but Sakuragi didn't move. Oyama Kita tried twice, but Sakuragi still didn't retreat.

Oyama Kita's center turned and shot, Sakuragi leaped into the air, stretched his right arm to its limit, and slammed the ball into the backboard.

A large hat with nails.

The ball bounced back and was caught by Yasuda. Sakuragi was already rushing towards the frontcourt, shouting "Pass the ball!" as he ran.

Yasuda made a long pass, Sakuragi caught the ball, and jumped from just inside the free-throw line for another powerful dunk.

The entire audience stood up. The journalist in the press section who had just said "too confident" was now dumbfounded, his pen hovering above his notebook, forgetting to put it down.

The second half ticked away. Sakuragi Hanamichi dominated the paint, driving to the basket, pulling up for jumpers, and dunking on offense, while protecting the rim, blocking shots, and grabbing rebounds on defense, single-handedly turning Oyama Kita's paint area upside down.

Mitsui Hisashi ran countless times to open spots on the wing, raising and lowering his hand repeatedly. Finally, after a dead ball, he walked over to Sakuragi with his hands on his hips, panting heavily: "Hanamichi—ball! Give me the ball! I barely even touched the ball a few times in the second half!"

Sakuragi turned his head, his face innocent but a smile clearly playing on his lips: "Huh? You're still on the court, San? I thought you'd been substituted and were resting."

The veins on Mitsui's forehead almost burst.

Yasuda couldn't suppress the smile on his face; his assist record had broken his personal career record.

The final whistle pierced the stadium. The score remained a lopsided 20/20 split.

Sakuragi Hanamichi's stats of 36 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the second half were repeatedly circled by the scouts in the press box with different colored pens, and someone wrote "First-year student, top talent" next to it.

As the local spectators left the stands, they were still discussing who that red-haired guy was.

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