Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

April's tail slipped through our fingers, and May arrived. The cherry blossoms outside the classroom window had long since fallen, replaced by a tree full of lush green leaves.

A little over a month is neither a long nor a short time.

But for Sakuragi Hanamichi, this month was much more fulfilling than the previous aimless days.

Every day after school, he would train with the basketball team without fail. A thousand shots, dribbling shuttle runs, positioning drills, and rebounding practice—the training plan that Coach Takeda assigned him became heavier and heavier each day, but he swallowed it all.

I keep having that strange dream.

Almost every night, he would dream of that short man named Kawamura Eiki.

Sometimes the scenes in my dreams are empty practice fields, and sometimes they are giant stadiums filled with spectators.

Kawamura Eiki's dribbling, passing, shooting, and positioning—every movement seemed etched into Sakuragi's mind, and he remembered it clearly after waking up.

Then, during training, Sakuragi would subconsciously use his experiences from his dreams to challenge and train.

When dribbling, your fingers will unconsciously use the ball-sticking technique of Kazukawa, with your palm suspended in the air and your fingertips exerting force, as if the ball is tied to your hand by an invisible thread.

Before, I had to look down while dribbling, but now I look straight ahead and the ball follows me obediently.

A traveling violation? That's an old saying. Now his footwork is clean and crisp, even Teacher Takeda can't find any fault with it.

Those thousand shots I did every day, even if I gritted my teeth and persevered, weren't for nothing.

China Investment Corporation (CIC) is already quite well-established.

Receiving the ball near the free-throw line, jumping, shooting, the ball arcing through the air and swishing through the net with a sound better than any music.

Of course, not every shot goes in; the accuracy rate hovers around 40-50%. But for someone who could make airballs a month ago, this is already incredibly fast.

As for three-pointers... well, they were a disaster.

He had enough strength, but his accuracy was abysmal. Sometimes the ball would bounce off the front of the rim, and sometimes it would fly directly behind the backboard.

Coach Takeda said that three-pointers are something only short guys need to practice, and Sakuragi only needs to master the mid-range shot.

At the same time, Coach Takeda assigned him the position of center.

The reason is simple: he's the tallest on the team. At 1.86 meters tall, he's even taller than Xiao Tian, ​​with a wingspan of 195 cm and the ability to hold a ball with one hand.

Coach Takeda gave him special tutoring, teaching him how to box out, how to grab rebounds, and how to finish plays under the basket.

He sticks out his butt, trapping the defender behind him, reaches for the ball, turns, jumps, and lays it down. He's practiced this move hundreds of times, and now it's as natural as eating and drinking.

But not everyone on the team was happy to see this redhead getting stronger every day.

Oda Ryusei has been talking less lately.

During training, his gaze would always unconsciously drift to the other end of the court, where Coach Takeda was bending over to correct Sakuragi's positioning, one hand on Sakuragi's waist and the other gesturing the position of Sakuragi's feet.

"Lower your buttocks a little more, yes, just like that. Use your body's senses to control him, don't look back at him."

Sakuragi listened and nodded, sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor.

Mr. Takeda wasn't like this before.

In the past, Coach Takeda would focus most of his energy on him, arranging training plans for him, correcting his shooting posture, and telling him how to be a captain and how to lead a team.

He is the ace, the core player, and the person the teacher values ​​most.

But now, the name the teacher calls out most often is "Sakuragi".

"Sakuragi, rebound!" "Sakuragi, box out!" "Sakuragi, one more pass!"

Xiaotian couldn't quite describe the feeling. It was sour and a bit stuffy, like eating a bite of an unripe persimmon.

He knew he shouldn't be doing this. Sakuragi had indeed been training incredibly hard and improving rapidly, so it was normal for the teacher to spend more time on him.

But he was still unhappy.

One afternoon in May, the sun shone brightly on the playground. The boys from Class 3 and Class 6 happened to be having a physical education class together, and this time the subject was basketball.

The teacher in charge of the class was a young physical education teacher named Yamamoto. He had been at Wako Junior High School for less than a year. He had his hair shaved short, and a whistle was hanging around his neck. He stood in the middle of the field and blew the assembly whistle twice.

"How about this! Class 3 and Class 6 will have a match, 20 minutes per half."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Tian walked out of the third class's line.

He walked straight to Class 6 and stood in front of Sakuragi.

"Sakuragi," Oda's voice wasn't loud, but everyone around heard it, "Do you dare to have a match?"

Sakuragi was stunned for a moment.

"You take Class 6, I'll take Class 3." Xiao Tian raised his chin slightly, a sharp glint in his eyes that he rarely showed. "Let's see who's stronger."

Before Sakuragi could speak, Takamiya Nozomi spoke first.

"Compete! Of course we'll compete!" Gao Gongwang suddenly appeared out of nowhere, his voice so loud that it could be heard across half the playground.

Da Nan followed closely behind: "If you don't compete, you're not a man!"

Noma went even further, slapping Sakuragi on the back: "Hanamichi, get him!"

The three of them chatted excitedly, as if it were New Year's Day. They were always professionals at stirring up trouble and watching the excitement.

Sakuragi, listening to his best friend's encouragement, looked at Oda across from him and spoke.

"Okay."

After a month of basic training, Sakuragi couldn't wait to test his skills.

Mr. Yamamoto stood on the sidelines, looked at Oda and then at Sakuragi, knowing that they were both on the basketball team, and blew his whistle to test the sound.

"Alright, I'll be the referee. Both teams, get ready and take the field."

On the other side of Class 3, Xiao Tian brought four boys who usually played basketball with him, and they were all eager to get started.

Class 6's squad was rather meager. Apart from Sakuragi, the rest of the players were just temporarily brought in to make up the numbers; all they had was some basic basketball skills and knew how to play.

Outside the barbed wire fence, a group of people had gathered, seemingly out of nowhere.

Most of them were girls. And most of them were fans of Oda.

"Oda-kun...do your best..."

"Go Class 3! Oda-kun is the best!"

The girls screamed incessantly.

Sakuragi stood near the center circle and looked up at the beautiful young girls outside the barbed wire fence.

They were all looking at Xiaotian.

A thought flashed through my mind: once this match is over and I defeat Oda, they will abandon Oda and look to me.

Mr. Yamamoto walked to the center circle, holding the ball in one hand, looked at Oda on his left, and then at Sakuragi on his right.

"Are you ready?"

Xiaotian slightly bent his knees, lowered his center of gravity, and stared intently at the ball.

His jumping ability isn't top-notch in the basketball team, but his reaction speed is fast and his timing for jumping is excellent, so he's rarely lost a jump ball.

Sakuragi stood opposite him, bent his knees, and raised his arms.

His eyes were fixed on the basketball in the teacher's hand.

A moment of silence fell over the playground. A breeze blew by, carrying the heat of summer and stirring up a small cloud of dust. The girls outside the wire fence stopped shouting, and the boys on the sidelines fell silent.

All eyes were focused on the two figures in the center circle.

Mr. Yamamoto took a deep breath, strained his wrist, and tossed the ball high into the air.

The orange-red ball spun and rose into the sky under the sunlight, pausing briefly at its highest point.

Then it began to fall.

Oda's toes suddenly exerted force, his body springing up like a spring, his arms outstretched, and his fingertips reaching for the ball.

But out of the corner of his eye, a red shadow had already risen to eye level with him.

Then the red mass continued to rise, past his head, past the highest point his fingertips could reach.

Sakuragi Hanamichi's body stretched out completely in the air, his right hand raised high, fingers spread, and he firmly grasped the ball at its highest point.

His hand was about half a meter higher than Xiaotian's hand.

The ball seemed to be sucked into his hand, held firmly in one hand without moving an inch.

Then he landed.

"Bang."

He stomped both feet on the ground simultaneously, the sound dull and powerful. Dust rose in a circle around his feet.

"Holy crap..." Takamiya's mouth formed an "O" shape.

"Hanamichi jumped so high..." Da Nan's neck was sore from looking up.

Noma didn't say anything, and the blade of grass he was holding in his mouth fell to the ground.

The girls outside the barbed wire fence fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a louder scream than before, but this time the names in their screams were different.

"Who is that person...? He jumped so high..."

"The red-haired one! Sakuragi Hanamichi from Class 6!"

"He actually jumped higher than Oda-kun!"