Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

The game continued, and the rhythm on the field picked up again.

The third class serves the ball, Oda Ryūsei receives it, uses a crossover to get past the sixth class's double-team defense, and easily scores a layup.

"Swish." The net made another crisp sound.

The girl outside the barbed wire fence screamed again, the sound like a knife piercing straight into Sakuragi's ears.

"Oda-kun! That's amazing!"

"Another one! Another one!"

"As expected of the basketball team's ace!"

Sakuragi stood outside the three-point line, hands on his hips, watching Oda Ryusei's retreating figure as he ran back from under the basket, feeling even more annoyed.

Possession changes, Class 6 serves.

Defender Inoue dribbled the ball slowly forward.

Sakuragi stood outside the three-point line and reached out his hand to Inoue.

Inoue glanced at Sakuragi and the empty seat next to him, and hesitated for a fraction of a second.

Then he turned and passed the ball to another person.

Sakuragi's hand froze in mid-air.

Inoue pretended not to see him and ran forward with his head down.

"..."

Sakuragi took a deep breath and began to make his move.

He didn't know what positioning was; he just followed those blurry fragments in his dream, running towards empty space. He ran to the left, then to the right.

Nobody passed the ball to him.

The ball was passed around among the other four players, and none of them even glanced at him.

Sidelines.

Gao Gong's voice was already hoarse from shouting: "Three no-sticks... one more..."

Da Nan shouted, "Please welcome Sakuragi Hanamichi to perform... a triple attack!"

Noma laughed, clinging to Takamiya's back: "I'm already looking forward to the third one!"

Yohei sat on the steps, his hand supporting his chin, a smile on his lips, but his eyes were fixed on Sakuragi on the field.

On the court, a ball bounced off the rim and landed right in Sakuragi's direction. He reached out and caught it securely in his hand.

The position is still outside the three-point line.

Memories from his dream flooded back. Kawamura Eiki stood beyond the three-point line, raised his hand, released the ball, and it went in.

Without a second thought, Sakuragi bent his knees, flicked his wrist, and the ball flew out.

The movements were still as beautiful as ever, the arc still as high as ever, and then, "Clang!"

The ball hit the neck of the rim, bounced up, fell back down, spun twice on the rim, and finally rolled out.

It didn't go in, but at least it touched the basket.

Sakuragi stared at the ball bouncing under the basket; it was just a hair's breadth away.

The Sakuragi Army on the sidelines were laughing hysterically. Takamiya rolled down the steps and climbed back up, then rolled down again. Ooku was laughing so hard his stomach hurt that he was squatting on the ground, unable to get up. Noma simply lay down on the grass, kicking his legs in the air.

"You've improved! You've gone from not touching anything to actually getting a good bite!" Gao Gong shouted, wiping away tears.

"At this rate, he'll make it after another hundred shots!" Da Nan added.

Yohei laughed so hard his shoulders shook.

Sakuragi's forehead started twitching again.

But he didn't have time to pay attention to those four people. He ran back and forth with the group twice, his mind preoccupied with one thing.

It was clearly possible to throw it in during the dream.

The posture was the same, the force was almost the same, and even the feeling of the wrist shaking was exactly the same.

Why can't I get in?

The screams of girls filled the air again as Oda Ryusei scored another goal.

Sakuragi turned his gaze away from Oda, gritting his teeth.

do not care.

He absolutely had to put the ball in the net.

Just then, a memory from the dream flashed by again.

It's not a memory of shooting hoops.

It was another scene: a guy named Stephen Curry, holding the ball, jumped up and slammed it into the basket with both hands. The rim was torn apart in that instant, making a huge sound, and the glass of the backboard shattered.

There seemed to be a few words floating next to that image. Although he didn't recognize them, someone in his dream told him what they were called.

Slam dunk, yes, slam dunk.

It wasn't a shot, it was dunking the ball directly into the basket.

Sakuragi's eyes lit up.

If you can't shoot, then dunk! Just shove the ball in; it won't go astray, right?

He thought he was a genius.

But then he discovered an even more serious problem.

Nobody passed the ball to him.

The ball was passed around among his teammates. He ran back and forth three times, raised his hand five times, and shouted "Here!" twice, but no one passed it to him.

Inoue was dribbling the ball, and Sakuragi was standing three meters to his left, with no defenders within a two-meter radius.

An open space, a huge open space.

Inoue glanced at him, then quickly looked away.

Sakuragi's hand, raised in mid-air, slowly lowered.

His expression changed, from "somewhat annoyed" to "very annoyed".

Sunlight shone on his face, his brows furrowed into a deep frown, and his gaze shifted from confusion to... murderous intent.

That kind of look that struck fear into the hearts of all the delinquents in the Hokwang Middle School community.

He strode up to Inoue.

Inoue was bending over and bouncing the ball when he suddenly felt a darkness above his head, as if a dark cloud was drifting over.

He raised his head.

Sakuragi Hanamichi stood before him, his 1.86-meter height completely blocking out the sunlight. His face was very close, his eyes staring straight at him, without a trace of a smile in his pupils.

Give me the ball.

The voice wasn't loud, but every word sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth.

Inoue felt a chill run down his spine from his tailbone all the way to the back of his head.

His hands move faster than his brain.

"Smack."

The ball was shoved directly into Sakuragi's arms.

Sakuragi caught the ball and turned around.

The basketball lay steadily in his right palm, his five fingers spread out, gripping the ball tightly.

He glanced at the basketball hoop.

Beyond the three-point line, about... he couldn't say exactly how far, but it was quite far.

In his dream, Kawamura Eiki would shoot a basketball at this moment.

But Sakuragi didn't want to vote anymore.

He held the ball in his right hand and stepped out with his left foot.

A giant leap forward.

Step up with your right heel.

The second major leap forward.

Then the third and fourth steps.

He held the ball with one hand, like he was holding an apple, and with his four long legs, he strode towards the basket.

His footsteps echoed across the concrete floor. Thump, thump, thump, thump, each step making the ground tremble.

The defenders from Class 3 were completely caught off guard. One of them tried to block him, but seeing the momentum of Sakuragi charging towards him, he instinctively took a step to the side.

That's terrifying.

That redhead looked like a runaway truck.

Sakuragi rushed to the basket and jumped, his whole body bouncing up.

His body stretched out completely in the air, his red hair blowing wildly in the sunlight, the hem of his school uniform billowing in the wind. His right hand was raised high, the basketball nestled firmly in his palm, aimed at the rim…

"Bang!!!"

A loud bang.

The basketball hoop shook violently, and the metal rim emitted a lingering buzzing sound.

The ball fell straight down from the basket, hit the ground, and bounced two meters high.

The entire playground fell silent.

The girl outside the barbed wire fence stopped screaming.

The players on the court stopped moving.

A breeze blew by, carrying cherry blossom petals as they drifted over the stadium.

Everyone stared at the red-haired guy hanging on the basketball hoop.

Sakuragi Hanamichi, gripping the basketball hoop with one hand, was suspended in mid-air. The hoop bent slightly downwards under his weight, and the vibration of the metal ring transmitted through his arm to his shoulder, making a buzzing sound.

He released his grip and fell back to the ground.

The soles of my shoes stepped on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

He turned around.

The entire venue remained silent.

Takamiya's popcorn fell to the ground for the second time, and this time he forgot to even pick it up.

Da Nan's eyes were wide open like copper bells, and his mouth was so open that a fist could fit inside.

Noma lay on the grass, his neck twisted at an incredible angle as he stared at the basket, his jaw almost dropping to the ground.

Yohei's smile finally froze. He slowly stood up, squinted at the basketball hoop, and then looked at Sakuragi.

The whistle in Mr. Takeda's mouth fell out and dangled from the rope, swinging back and forth. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

He jumped too high.

That height, that hang time—even among all the members of the Wako Junior High basketball team he had ever seen, no one could achieve that. Even the current ace, Oda Ryusei, couldn't do it.

Then, Mr. Takeda came to his senses and recalled Sakuragi's four-step dunk. He put the whistle back in his mouth.

"Beep...!"

The whistle pierced the air sharply.

"Traveling violation! Goal disallowed!"

Coach Takeda crossed his arms and gestured, then loudly repeated, "Dribbling the ball more than three steps! That doesn't count!"

"what?"

Sakuragi's expression instantly changed from displeasure to bewilderment.

He blinked, looked at Mr. Takeda, and then at the basketball hoop.

"Why doesn't it count?" he asked, his tone filled with genuine incomprehension. "Didn't the ball go in?"

Mr. Takeda's lips twitched.

Sidelines.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

The Sakuragi Army has been resurrected.

Gao Gong laughed so hard he rolled down the steps, landing face-first on the ground and pounding the floor, kicking up dust. The four of them burst into laughter.

Sakuragi stood on the court, and the veins on his forehead started throbbing again.

Looking at his increasingly dark face, Teacher Takeda sighed and patiently explained.

"Sakuragi, basketball requires dribbling," Coach Takeda gestured with his hands. "You can't just run with the ball. After you receive the ball, you must dribble it while moving, otherwise it's a traveling violation. If you take more than three steps after receiving the ball, it's a foul."

Sakuragi looked down at Takeda-sensei's hand gestures on the ground.

He nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

A thought suddenly popped into my head: in my dream, Kawamura Eiki seemed to be constantly dribbling a ball, dribbling it incredibly fast, and the sound was like rain.

"Well..." Sakuragi frowned, "How many steps did I just take?"

Mr. Takeda thought for a moment.

"Four steps."

"Are four steps too many?"

"Taking more than three steps is a violation."

Sakuragi fell silent.

It was just one extra step and a half, and the ball still went in, didn't it? Why is it so complicated?