Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

The final whistle blew throughout the stadium, and then the entire Shohoku bench exploded like a powder keg.

"We won...!" Mito Yohei and the other three jumped up from their chairs.

Sakuragi Hanamichi stood in the center of the field, and before he could react, he was overwhelmed by a crowd of people.

"Flower arrangement! Amazing!"

"We won! We won! We won!"

Miyagi was the first to jump onto his back, and Mitsui squeezed in from the side, grabbing Sakuragi's neck and shouting hoarsely, "What did you eat today, you brat? We beat Shohoku!"

Sakuragi was so tightly constricted he could barely breathe, but he couldn't suppress the urge to smile.

Rukawa Kaede stood on the outskirts of the crowd, his expression as blank as ever, but his sweat-dampened black hair clung to his forehead, and his chest heaved violently.

Akagi Takenori stood motionless beside the basketball hoop, his shoulders trembling slightly. His expression remained serious and expressionless, but his eyes were already red-rimmed.

Starting from the first year of high school, for three years. Countless nights spent practicing alone in the empty gymnasium after training sessions, the sweltering smell of sweat in summer and the icy floor in winter.

All of it rushed to his head at that moment, and he wiped his eyes hard.

Kogure Kiminobu, standing next to him, was already sobbing uncontrollably. His glasses were askew on his nose, and the lenses were completely fogged up. He simply took them off and held them in his hand, tears streaming down his cheeks, but a smile he couldn't stop spreading across his face.

"Akagi," Kogure's voice was hoarse and trembling, "we...really..."

Akagi didn't say anything. He simply stretched out his large hand and pressed it hard on Kogure's shoulder. The two old guys from the third year were both crying and laughing amidst the cheers of the crowd.

The referee blew his whistle twice, signaling both sides to line up and salute.

The players from both teams shook hands in turn. When Hanagata Toru passed in front of Sakuragi, he paused for a moment, adjusted his glasses, and nodded without saying anything.

Finally, there's Fujima.

Fujima looked up at the tall, red-haired man, his face showing no resentment, but rather a serious gaze.

"Sakuragi, you're really strong. I hope you can keep winning and take down Hainan."

The last four words were pronounced very clearly.

Sakuragi's lips slowly curled up into a very irritating smile. He released his grip, put his hands on his hips, puffed out his chest, and his chin almost reached the sky.

"Absolutely! Watch this genius's moves; Hainan is nothing to me!"

Mitsui rolled his eyes behind him, and Miyagi covered his face. Rukawa uttered two words expressionlessly: "Idiot." But his voice was so soft that only he could hear it.

In the stands.

Taoka Shigeichi watched the Shohoku players celebrating on the court, and the Shoyo players walking back to the tunnel dejectedly. The inside game was a complex mix of emotions.

He knew very well that although Akagi, Mitsui, Miyagi, and Rukawa were strong, they were simply a natural counter to Shohoku's formation and tactical system this year.

If Shohoku hadn't had Sakuragi Hanamichi, who could play both inside and outside and support Coach Anzai's tactical adjustments, it would have been virtually impossible for them to defeat Shohoku now.

(In the original story, Mitsui was given a lock-on kill, and Fujima was too arrogant and only appeared later, leading to a crushing 2-point defeat in the end, giving it a plot-driven feel. At the same time, if Fujima and Hanagata used the "15 pick-and-roll + short roll offense system," they could easily defeat many strong teams even in the national tournament.)

Taoka took a deep breath, his face bitter. Mitsui, Miyagi, Rukawa, Sakuragi... he didn't manage to get any of them; they all ended up in Shohoku's pocket.

The thought of Shohoku reaching the semifinals filled Taoka with immense pressure. If Ryonan wanted to go to the national tournament, there was only one way: to defeat Hainan.

Taoka knew that Shohoku now had Sakuragi, a huge bug, and with Coach Anzai's experienced tactical arrangements, he could play on the perimeter and inside. Apart from the bench being a bit weak, he had almost no weaknesses.

On the opposite side of the field, the Hainan University Affiliated Team was leaving the field. The players, wearing purple jerseys, walked out in neat rows.

Coach Gao Touli, who was walking at the front, seemed to sense something and stopped.

He turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the entire stadium, and looked straight in their direction.

The eyes of the two middle-aged coaches met in the air, across the entire basketball court, and sparks seemed to fly.

on Monday.

The moment Sakuragi Hanamichi stepped into the school gate, he sensed that something was off about the air.

On the road lined with ginkgo trees near the school gate, students who should have been rushing to their classrooms slowed down in twos and threes.

Some people were secretly observing him from behind, some were whispering to their companions, and someone pointed in the direction he had just walked and whispered something, only to be tugged at by their companion.

Sakuragi frowned. What's going on?

He tossed his red hair and continued walking towards the teaching building with an air of indifference.

The same thing happened in the hallway. When he passed the second-grade classroom, several girls he didn't recognize poked their heads out of the windows to look at him, then ducked back in and burst into laughter.

"What's going on..." Sakuragi muttered as he walked into the classroom.

Before I even reached my seat, four dark figures pounced on me with lightning speed.

"ikebana……!"

Takamiya Nozomi's round body rushed to the front, the newspaper in his hand rolled into a tube, and shoved it directly at Sakuragi's face.

Behind him were Yuji Oonan and Chuichiro Noma, each holding one of Sakuragi's arms as if afraid he would run away. Yohei Mito followed behind at a leisurely pace, his hands in his pockets, with his signature gentle smile on his face.

"Look, look, look!" Takamiya's voice was filled with excitement, as if he had discovered a new continent, his face trembling. "Hanamichi, you're in the newspaper! The newspaper! It's a...paper!"

Sakuragi snatched the newspaper and unfolded it.

The sports section of the Kanagawa Shimbun. Front page headline.

The huge headline read: "Shohoku pulls off a major upset, eliminating Shoyo! Reaching the semifinals for the first time!"

Below is a large photo that takes up almost half the page, showing the moment when he dunked over Hanagata and Nagano, slamming the ball into the basket.

Sakuragi froze for two seconds.

then.

The laughter could be heard throughout the entire school building.

"Hahahahahahaha...!"

The red-haired guy had his hands on his hips and his head almost tilted back.

His face was completely red from his ears to his neck, his mouth was stretched so wide it almost reached his ears, his eyes were narrowed into slits, and he looked like a peacock with its tail feathers spread.

"A mere newspaper! It's a piece of cake for a genius like me! Hahaha!"

Takamiya clapped enthusiastically from the side, exclaiming, "Amazing! I've never met anyone in my life who's in the newspapers! Ikebana is awesome!"

"What's the big deal about me being in the newspaper? This genius is amazing!"

Sakuragi slammed the newspaper on the table, pointed a finger at the ceiling, and said, "This will be on the newspaper ten times, a hundred times! Just you wait and see what happens in the national tournament newspapers!"

"Ho..." Da Nan led the commotion.

The students who had been observing the room suddenly all crowded around. The girls in the front row turned around and craned their necks to look, while the boys in the back row simply left their seats and squeezed next to the cherry wood table.

A tall, thin boy wearing glasses squeezed to the front, glanced at the photo in the newspaper, and let out an exaggerated exclamation.

"Sakuragi-kun, you're amazing! That's Shohoku High!"

"By the way, Sakuragi, our class is organizing to watch all the remaining semifinal matches!"

"Bring us the championship then!"

"Sakuragi-kun is so cool..."

I don't know which girl shouted the last sentence.

But he couldn't hide his smug expression; instead, his laughter became even more exaggerated. He put one foot on the chair, crossed his arms, and held his chin higher than the window frame: "No problem! Leave it all to this genius!"

Meanwhile, in Yuri Yanai's classroom.

A dozen or so girls' faces formed a circle, completely sealed off.

"Yuli! Yuli, look!"

A short-haired girl shoved the same copy of the Kanagawa Sports Daily into Yanai's face, pointing her finger at the image on the front page with the button.

"Is this Sakuragi Hanamichi really your boyfriend?"

"It's him! Didn't Youli mention him before?"

"Who said Yuuri was dating a red-haired delinquent?"

"I knew it, it was definitely something special."

"Who said it before, 'How come Yuuri has a boyfriend who looks like a delinquent?' And now?"

A girl with a ponytail approached Yanai, her eyes sparkling.

"Yuli, your boyfriend is amazing!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's in the newspapers. He's the rebounding king, and he even blocked that superstar center from Shohoku!"

"I'd heard before that the red-haired guy looked like he was a really good fighter, so I thought..."

A girl was speaking when someone next to her nudged her with their elbow. She immediately covered her mouth and swallowed the rest of her sentence.

Previously, I thought that the eldest daughter of the Yanai family had a boyfriend who seemed to be a delinquent and a violent fighter, which was "the rebellious phase of a rich girl".

Now? On the front page of the newspaper. Kanagawa semifinals. MVP of the match.

What do you call that? You call that having a sharp eye.

Yuri Yanai looked at the classmates who were crowding around her, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

She didn't look at the newspaper, nor did she say much to the constant stream of compliments. She simply turned her head, rested her chin on her hand, and looked out the window toward the playground.

Hmph! My own judgment goes without saying, doesn't it?