Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Sunday, June 20, 92.

The Kanagawa Prefectural Gymnasium was packed with people, their heads bobbing up and down.

Yohei Mito sat in the first row of the stands, his arms resting on the railing in front of him, looking down at Shohoku's bench. Next to him were Nozomi Takamiya, Yuji Onan, and Tadashi Noma, the four of them lined up in a row.

"This is even more outrageous than the Shohoku match." Noma craned his neck and looked around, his voice muffled by the surrounding noise.

"Nonsense." Yohei's gaze swept across the opposite stands. "After all, today is the semi-final round-robin, and the opponent is last year's champion, Hainan."

Gao Gong stuffed popcorn into his mouth and mumbled something, but no one could hear him. Da Nan slapped him on the back of the head: "Swallow it before you speak!"

But Takamiya didn't have time to retort. Because even he had noticed that the composition of today's event was off.

The majority of the spectators were ordinary students and students from both schools, but those sitting in the middle rows of the stands weren't wearing the uniforms of Shohoku or Hainan. Some were wearing sports jackets, others had other schools' badges printed on their chests; quite a few teams that had been eliminated in the preliminaries of the county tournament had come.

The Shohoku fans occupied the best seats on the west side of the stands. Fujima Kenji sat in the very center, his handsome face expressionless. Next to him was Hanagata Toru, and Hasegawa Kazushi was on the other side, sitting upright. Ito, Nagano, and Takano were in the back row.

On the other side of the same tier of stands, in the area of ​​Takezono High School, Oda Ryusei sat in a seat near the aisle. Memories of his time at Koukou Middle School flashed through his mind like old photographs. Back then, Sakuragi was still a novice, able to do walking and committing fouls by bumping into people.

And right now this guy is playing in the Kanagawa high school basketball semifinals.

Shohoku locker room.

Akagi Takenori stood in the center of the room, while all the team members sat on benches, looking up at him.

Then Akagi spoke.

"Starting from the first year of high school, we trained until the basketball gym closed every day. We lost every year, never even making it to the quarterfinals, and watched Hainan go to participate in the national competition every year."

Kogure kept his head down, the reflection from his glasses obscuring his expression.

Akagi clenched his fist. "I've finally waited for this day. We've made it to the semifinals, and we can finally face Hainan."

The locker room was silent for two seconds, then a voice exploded out.

"Well said!" Sakuragi Hanamichi sprang up from the bench. "Captain Gorilla, don't worry! Hainan is nothing, with this genius here!"

"Last year's runner-up, Shohoku, was defeated by this genius! Today, watch me! This genius will lead you to victory over Hainan!"

The entire locker room fell silent for a moment.

Mitsui Hisashi slowly turned his head, leaned close to Kogure's ear, and whispered, "Kogure, is this guy just ignorant and fearless?"

Kogure Kiminobu pushed up his glasses, a helpless yet gentle smile playing on his lips.

He watched as Sakuragi was still gesticulating wildly, proclaiming his "genius declaration," the red-haired guy's eyes shining as if he didn't know how to write the word "lose."

"Actually, this is quite good." Kogure's voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself, "Being fearless means you won't be restrained."

His gaze fell on Sakuragi's arrogant and irritatingly smug smiling face.

"I really admire Sakuragi's mentality."

Mitsui paused for a moment. Then he turned to look at Sakuragi and remained silent for two seconds.

"Too."

Hainan locker room.

Unlike the high morale and encouragement from Shohoku, the locker room in Hainan was as quiet as a pre-match meeting room.

Gao Touli stood in the center of the locker room, his folding fan closed and held in his hand, his gaze sweeping over every face behind his glasses.

Gao Tou cleared his throat.

"This year's Shohoku team needs no introduction from me."

"A team that can defeat Shohoku head-on is not to be underestimated."

Takato's voice was calm and unhurried. "You all saw their level of strength in last week's game. Akagi's dominance in the paint, Mitsui's three-pointers, Miyagi's penetration, and Rukawa's all-around game. Individually, each of them is top-tier in the prefecture."

He paused.

Then tap the tactical board with a folding fan.

"But the key to their victory over Shohoku isn't these players."

The end of the folding fan points to a name on the tactical board: Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"This first-year rookie has an incredible jumping ability, the stamina to play the entire game, and the defensive skills to be used from point guard to center."

You all watched the second half of the Shohoku game. Anzai put him at point guard, and he dominated Fujima with his back-to-the-basket moves, drew fouls on drives, and also had a three-pointer and a mid-range jumper.

He tapped the folding fan and looked at Maki Shinichi.

"Amu," Takato's voice dropped a octave, "It's up to you in the match."

"The key to Shohoku is Sakuragi. This rookie's characteristic is that he's unpredictable; you never know what he'll do next."

Takato tapped Maki's shoulder with his folding fan. "In this game, you need to dominate him the entire time. As long as you limit Sakuragi, Shohoku's system will lose its biggest variable. The game will be much easier."

Mu Shenyi nodded.

"No problem." Three words, nothing more.

Kiyota Nobunaga swallowed hard. He had wanted to stand up and say something grand, but after glancing at Maki's profile, he swallowed his words back.

The moment the players stepped onto the wooden floor, the entire stadium erupted.

"Maki...!"

"Hainan...Hainan...!"

The cheers from Hainan came crashing down from the stands like a tsunami, almost drowning out all other voices.

The foundation of their three-peat lies entirely in these waves of excitement...

Kiyota Nobunaga walked in the group, puffing out his chest with a smug look on his face, his mouth open as if he wanted to shout something like "Super Rookie Kiyota Nobunaga".

Then his gaze swept across to the other side.

Rukawa Kaede walked among the Shohoku team, expressionless. In last year's junior high finals, Kiyota was completely outmatched by this guy.

Beside Rukawa, a tall figure with red hair stood with his hands on his hips; this was the person Captain Maki was personally keeping an eye on.

Kiyota silently shut his mouth.

Both teams' players began their warm-up in an orderly manner, preparing for the upcoming match.

The whistle blows. Warm-up is over.

The players from both teams returned to their respective benches. Coach Anzai stood in front of the Shohoku players. He held a tactical board in his hand, and his eyes, hidden behind his glasses, swept over everyone's faces.

"Starting lineup," Anzai said calmly. "Akagi, Mitsui, Rukawa, Miyagi, Sakuragi."

The five people whose names were called stepped forward.

Anzai looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"Sakuragi-kun."

"Here!" Sakuragi straightened his chest.

"On the defensive end, you don't need to guard the paint."

Sakuragi was stunned for a moment.

"You need to pull him out," Anzai said, pointing steadily in Maki Shinichi's direction, "to face off against number 4, Maki Shinichi."

Sakuragi blinked, then grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

"I see! Let this genius deal with that Hainan ace! No problem, just watch!"

"Akagi, you focus on protecting the rim and rebounding. As long as Sakuragi can contain Maki Shinichi, and with your rim protection, you'll find that Hainan is actually easier to beat than Shohoku." Coach Anzai's glasses lit up.

The whistle blew again, and the referee walked to the center circle. The players from both sides lined up and walked off their benches onto the field.

Shohoku was dressed in red, and Hainan in white. After the two captains bumped fists, the ten players spread out on the court and took their positions.

Takenori Akagi and Kazuma Takasago walked into the center jump ball area. The two centers stood face to face, 1991cm versus 197cm.

The referee put the whistle in his mouth and walked between the two players while holding the basketball in his right hand.

The whistle blows.

The ball was tossed high into the air.

Akagi and Takasago jumped at the same time. The moment Akagi's 197cm body took off, it was as if a mountain was lifted off the ground, and he slapped his right hand hard at the highest point.

Bang! The basketball flew diagonally backward.

At the same moment Akagi dribbled the ball, Miyagi had already started moving. The basketball flew towards him, and he took a step and caught it.

Two red figures caught my eye; the moment Akagi touched the ball, they began sprinting towards Hainan's half of the court. It was Sakuragi and Rukawa.

"Sakuragi!"

Miyagi flicked the ball with his hand, sending it flying through the gaps in Hainan's defensive line towards Sakuragi, who was running in the lead.

Sakuragi had just stepped into the three-point line when he turned around and received the ball.

"Great pass!" Cheers erupted from the Shohoku bench.

Sakuragi dribbled once, stepped onto the free-throw line, caught the ball, took two steps, and jumped, rising from a position one step in front of the free-throw line.

His body stretched out in the air, his right hand gripping the basketball high in the air, the muscles in his arm taut from his shoulder to his wrist.

"Don't even think about it!" Maki Shinichi's voice suddenly rang out as he leaped into the air in front of Sakuragi.

The instant Sakuragi started his move, he also began his run back to defend the basket.

At the same instant Sakuragi pressed the ball down, Maki Shinichi's large hand slapped down from the front, his five fingers spread, accurately pressing down on the basketball.

Catch the hat.

The entire audience was on the edge of their seats as Maki blocked Sakuragi's dunk in mid-air!

Before Sakuragi could even land, his right arm muscles bulged, preventing the basketball from slipping from Maki's grasp.

He grabbed the ball with both hands at the same time, his abdominal muscles tensed in the air, and then he used his arms to pull the ball out of Maki Shinichi's hands and swung it around in a circle again.

The second time, it slammed down hard.

"Bang...!"

A loud bang echoed as Sakuragi slammed the ball in with both hands.

(The original Sakuragi's first dunk was changed to Maki Shinichi's.)