Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Stepping into Ryonan's gymnasium again, Sakuragi Hanamichi felt like he was returning home.

He spent a whole month here last summer, and he could walk through every floorboard, whether it was slippery or rough, with his eyes closed.

Sakuragi grinned and strode towards the center of the court, his voice booming so loudly it shook the entire arena: "Yo! Boss Monkey! Sendoh! Long time no see!"

Jun Uozumi's face darkened instantly.

The words "Boss Monkey" bounced twice in the stadium. Several second-year players from Ryonan covered their mouths, their shoulders shaking, not daring to laugh out loud.

A vein bulged on Uozumi's forehead, but seeing Coach Taoka standing next to him, he swallowed his anger and just let out a heavy snort through his nose.

Sendoh Akira didn't seem to care at all, and even waved at Sakuragi with his signature lazy smile on his lips: "Hey, Sakuragi, you look like you've grown taller again."

Sakuragi chuckled, touched the top of his head, and looked smug.

Coach Anzai walked in at the entrance of the stadium, and Shigeichi Taoka's eyes lit up immediately.

He rushed forward, his back ramrod straight, hands at his sides, and gave a slight bow, his face beaming with respect: "Coach Anzai, it's an honor to meet you. Thank you for bringing your team to this exchange."

Coach Anzai chuckled a few times, his voice rolling out from his round belly, deep and kind: "Coach Taoka, you're too kind. Let's learn from each other."

The two coaches shook hands and exchanged pleasantries on the sidelines.

Taoka said things like "Shohoku's lineup is complete this year," his tone filled with undisguised envy.

Coach Anzai just laughed, chuckling like a contented fat cat.

On the other side, Jun Uozumi and Takenori Akagi stood face to face.

Uozumi looked down at Akagi, and Akagi looked up at Uozumi. Their four gazes collided in the air, crackling like two electric currents vying for dominance.

The air in the stadium felt thicker, and several players who were warming up unconsciously took two steps back.

Akagi spoke first, his voice steady: "Nice to meet you."

Uozumi gave a soft snort, his chin slightly raised: "Shohoku had a stroke of luck this year, getting Sakuragi. They should be able to make it to the semifinals this year."

When he said "top four," his tone carried a sour undertone, like he had just chewed on an unripe green plum.

Akagi's face remained expressionless, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly: "No, our goal this year is the championship, not just the semifinals!"

Sakuragi then approached Coach Taoka. He bowed slightly, his red pompadour flashing in front of Taoka's eyes: "Coach Taoka, long time no see!"

Taoka Shigeichi turned around and looked at Sakuragi's smiling face, feeling a mix of emotions, as if a spice rack had been overturned.

He reached out and patted Sakuragi's shoulder twice, the pressure neither too light nor too heavy. Beneath his palm were firm, hard muscles, even more muscular than last summer.

Taoka's lips twitched upwards, as if he wanted to laugh, but his smile carried an indescribable bitterness.

"You've gotten quite strong, kid. Good job." Taoka's voice was a little dry.

He turned his head and continued talking to Coach Anzai, but the knot in his heart had grown even bigger.

Mitsui, Miyagi, Rukawa, Sakuragi—all the players he set his sights on went to Shohoku. Coach Anzai did nothing but laugh and chuckle, and they all ended up in his lap.

Taoka took a deep breath and swallowed it down.

After exchanging greetings, the Shohoku team headed towards the locker room.

Kogure Kiminobu quickened his pace, catching up to Sakuragi, and asked curiously, "Sakuragi, how come you're so familiar with the people from Ryonan?"

Sakuragi, hands in his pockets, strode forward without turning his head: "Coach Taoka wanted me to come to Ryonan last year, but unfortunately, the special recruitment quota wasn't approved, so I ended up at Shohoku. I even trained with them for a month last summer."

Kogure paused for a moment.

He paused for a moment, his eyes behind his glasses widening in surprise.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed his words. So that's how it happened? Coach Taoka personally recruited Sakuragi?

He glanced sideways at Akagi, who was walking ahead of him.

Akagi's ears twitched slightly. His pace remained unchanged, his expression remained unchanged, and even his breathing remained unchanged.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If Sakuragi really went to Ryonan, an image flashed through Akagi's mind: Jun Uozumi and Hanamichi Sakuragi standing side-by-side under Ryonan's basket, forming a twin-tower formation, two rebounding monsters. Add to that Akira Sendoh orchestrating the offense from the perimeter…

Akagi banished the image from his mind and quickened his pace into the locker room.

The locker room wasn't large, with long benches, metal lockers, and gray rubber mats on the floor. Coach Anzai stood in the middle and began distributing jerseys.

Akagi’s No. 4, Mugure’s No. 5, Yasuda’s No. 6…

"Sakuragi," Coach Anzai continued, "you're number 10."

Sakuragi took the jersey Kogure handed him, flipped it over, glanced at it, and grinned, "Number 10? So I'm ahead of this fox then, not bad, not bad."

"Rukawa," Coach Anzai continued, "Number 11."

Others also received their jerseys one after another, but the iconic scene of the classic No. 16 duct tape jersey did not occur.

After changing their clothes, everyone came out of the locker room and returned to the court.

Coach Anzai stood on the sidelines, his arms clasped in front of his round belly, his gaze sweeping over the Shohoku players, and announced the starting lineup.

Starting lineup: Akagi, Rukawa, Kogure, Yasuda... Kakuta.

The names of the five people were announced one by one.

Sakuragi Hanamichi stood next to the bench, waiting confidently to hear his name called.

Five people reported, but he wasn't among them.

Sakuragi paused, thinking he had misheard. He turned to look at Yanai beside him, who was staring at him with an expression that seemed to say, "You heard me right."

"Dad!"

Sakuragi exploded, rushing to Coach Anzai in three strides, his red pompadour practically standing on end. "Why aren't you letting this genius play? With just that gorilla and that stinky fox, they can't beat the opposing team's Monkey King and Sendoh!"

His voice echoed throughout the stadium, drawing the attention of several Ryonan players. Upon hearing the words "Boss Monkey," Uozumi's face darkened further.

Coach Anzai looked up at Sakuragi's defiant face and laughed heartily.

His chin trembled with laughter, and his eyes narrowed into slits, the light shining through them both gentle and cunning.

"It's precisely because Sakuragi, you are so strong,"

Coach Anzai spoke slowly and deliberately, each word carefully considered before uttering, "So we'll save it for later, to come out at the crucial moment and turn the tide."

Sakuragi's ears twitched.

His mouth was still open, but all the words he had just shouted were stuck in his throat.

He blinked, his pupils reflecting Coach Anzai's smiling, round face. "Very strong," "critical moment," "turning the tide"—these words swirled in his mind, like honey poured over them, making him feel completely relaxed.

The anger on his face vanished in an instant, like a punctured balloon.

Instead, he wore a smug, arrogant expression, his chin held high, his mouth almost reaching his ears, and his nose practically pointing to the sky.

"Of course!"

Sakuragi plopped down on the bench, crossed his arms, and crossed his legs. "As a genius, I'm definitely going to be the last one to appear."

He sat there with an expression that seemed to say, "I'm not going up, I'm just letting you guys have a turn."

Yuri Yanai stood behind the bench, holding Sakuragi's jacket in her hand, and watched the whole scene clearly from beginning to end.

Coach Anzai calmed this fiery red-haired monkey down with just one sentence.

Yanai rolled his eyes inwardly.

She looked down at the back of Sakuragi's head; his red pompadour bobbed above the bench seat, looking quite imposing.

But actually... she bit her lip and held back her laughter.

My boyfriend is really naive.

The referee blew his whistle, the sharp sound echoing throughout the stadium.

The players from both sides walked to the center of the field.

First to come out from Ryonan was Jun Uozumi, then Akira Sendoh, followed by Ikegami, Uekusa, and Koshino.

The five players were dressed in white jerseys. Uozumi walked in front, his 202cm height making him look like a moving tower, his footsteps thumping on the floor. Sendoh followed behind him, his posture relaxed, but his eyes were much brighter than last year.

On the Shohoku side, Akagi was in the lead, followed by Rukawa, Kogure, Yasuda, and Kakuta.

Akagi and Uozumi stood facing each other in the center circle, ready for the jump ball. Their eyes met once again.

On the bench, Sakuragi Hanamichi suddenly stood up, cupped his hands to his mouth, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Sendoh! Go for it! Beat that arrogant fox!"

The sound was so loud that the entire stadium was shaking.

On Ryonan's side, Sendoh turned his head to look at the bench, grinned, and stretched out his hand to give Sakuragi an OK sign.

Rukawa stood next to Akagi, his eyelids not even twitching, as if he hadn't heard a thing. But his gaze was fixed intently on Sendoh across from him.

Ayako sat in front of the bench, holding a scoreboard. She turned to look at Sakuragi and couldn't help but slap him: "Sakuragi, I know you're close to Ryonan, but how can you cheer for the opponents like that?"

Sakuragi sat down again, crossed his arms, and looked incredibly smug.

"You just don't understand."

Sakuragi held his chin high, his voice carrying an air of "this genius is far-sighted."

"Only when the immortal path defeats the stinky fox can this genius step in and turn the tide. That's what real strength is."

Just imagine, when that stinky fox is beaten to a pulp, and I, the genius, can easily take care of Immortal Path, then who's stronger? It's obvious!

After he finished speaking, he nodded to himself, as if he were extremely satisfied with his brilliant plan.

Ayako opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again. She looked at Sakuragi's face, which seemed to say "I'm so smart," shook her head, turned away, and her lips twitched involuntarily.

The whistle blew again.

The referee tossed the ball high into the air, and the orange basketball traced a bright arc under the arena lights, rising to its highest point before beginning to fall.

Takenori Akagi and Jun Uozumi jumped at the same time.

Two large hands reached out towards the ball in the air at the same time, palms open and fingers taut.

Akagi's fingertips touched the ball first, and with a gentle flick, the ball changed direction and flew towards Shohoku's half of the court.

Yasuda received the ball steadily, bent down to protect it, and began to organize the first attack.

Shohoku's first attack has begun.