Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

Chapter 92 Sakuragi's Lap-up!

Provoked by Sakuragi and Mitsui, Akagi Takenori's body stiffened for a moment.

Yes! What am I doing? Coach Anzai is away, and as the captain and the backbone of the team, this is the time when the team needs me the most. Yet, I'm daydreaming and making my teammates worry about me.

Akagi suddenly raised his head, and something in his previously dim eyes ignited again.

He patted his chest and calmly apologized to everyone, "It was my fault just now, I'm sorry for holding everyone back."

"That's right! Don't let the monkey boss on the other side laugh at you." Sakuragi patted Akagi on the shoulder.

Seeing the team's morale rise, Kogure's worries vanished instantly.

The referee blew the whistle, ending the timeout. The five Shohoku players returned to the court, with Akagi leading the way. He clenched his fist and roared, "Go! Defeat Ryonan!"

In the stands, Kenji Fujima sat up slightly. "Akagi seems to have pulled himself together; now the match can truly begin."

The match continued, and Takenori Akagi lowered his stance, leaning his back against Jun Uozumi. Uozumi pressed against him from behind, his chest against Akagi's back, and launched into a barrage of trash talk: "Akagi, if you're like this today, then Ryonan will gladly accept the championship. But beating someone like you and winning the championship doesn't feel like a real achievement—"

Akagi didn't answer. He simply lowered his center of gravity further, raised his left hand high, and spread his fingers towards Miyagi at the top of the key, calling for the ball.

Ryota Miyagi was dribbling at the top of the key when he saw Akagi's gesture of asking for the ball. He gritted his teeth and lobbed the ball in with both hands.

Akagi catches the ball, his back resting against Uozumi's chest, and the ball is tucked into his waist.

He leaned back to strike, and Uozumi withstood the first blow. The second blow, however, was heavier than the first, with Akagi's shoulder slamming into Uozumi's chest with a dull thud, causing Uozumi's right foot to slide back half an inch.

Akagi, with Uozumi on his back, moved step by step toward the basket, then gathered the ball and turned to shoot.

Uozumi instinctively jumped to block, raising his right hand high and leaning forward, but Akagi did not jump.

His knees only bent slightly, and the ball remained firmly in his hands.

Feint.

The moment Uozumi landed, Akagi moved to the side, pushed off the ground with both feet, and launched himself into the air, grabbing the basketball with both hands and raising it high above his head before slamming it down onto the rim.

"Gorilla dunk!" The Shohoku bench erupted.

But before Akagi could spike the ball, a blue and white figure rushed in from the side.

Sendoh Akira. He started from the weak side at the same time Akagi jumped, pushed off the ground, took off, and stretched out his arms, catching up with Akagi's release point in the air and slapping the ball away from Akagi's hand.

The ball flew towards the free throw line.

Sakuragi Hanamichi dashed forward and caught the ball with both hands.

The moment he received the ball, he took a step forward, pushed off the ground with both legs, and jumped. His red buzz cut bounced into the air under the lights, and he gripped the basketball in his right hand, ready to dunk.

Uozumi reacted extremely quickly under the basket, turning and jumping immediately, extending his right arm to block the ball in Sakuragi's hands.

Sakuragi collided with Uozumi in mid-air. Uozumi's palm struck Sakuragi's right forearm with a crisp sound, but the instant he was hit, Sakuragi switched the ball from his right hand to his left, tensed his core muscles in mid-air, and used his arm to bypass Uozumi's block, flicking his wrist lightly.

The basketball bounced off the backboard and went into the basket.

The whistle blew, and the referee pointed at Uozumi: "White number 4 committed a defensive foul. Goal stands, one penalty added."

Sakuragi fell from the sky, stumbled a step when he landed, but quickly regained his balance.

He glanced down at the red mark on his right arm where Yu Zhu had slapped him, then turned to Yu Zhu and grinned, "Boss Monkey, even if you fouled, you couldn't stop this genius."

"Well done, Hanamichi!" Mitsui and Miyagi rushed over and gave each other a high five.

The audience in the stands erupted in cheers.

Aerial battles, reverse layups, and penalty kicks – this red-haired rookie is redefining everyone's understanding of basketball every game.

Shouts of "Sakuragi! Sakuragi! ————" poured down from all sides of the stands, making the roof of the stadium vibrate.

Sakuragi stepped to the free-throw line. He received the ball from the referee, patted it, bent his knee, and flicked it with his wrist.

The ball swished through the net. A three-point play (2+1) was executed.

Taoka Shigeichi stood on the sidelines, the smile on his lips completely gone.

He felt like he was chewing on an extremely sour lemon. Sakuragi was his top choice, but the school board wasn't cooperating—

And now this guy, wearing a red jersey, is showing off his skills against Uozumi on the other side. He took a deep breath and swallowed back the acid that had risen to his throat.

The game transitioned from offense to defense, and Ryonan was on the offensive. Sendoh controlled the ball at the top of the arc, glancing at the situation inside. He saw Uozumi calling for the ball in the low post, and he also saw Akagi Takenori standing behind Uozumi. Although he felt that Akagi was different from before, Sendoh still lobbed the ball in.

Uozumi received the ball and leaned back to hit it. The first time, Akagi didn't budge. The second time, Uozumi's shoulder rammed into Akagi, and Akagi's foot was nailed to the floor, like an iron stake driven into concrete.

Uozumi sensed that the person behind him had a completely different center of gravity than a few minutes ago. Seeing that his attack had no chance, he no longer coveted possession of the ball and decisively passed it back to Sendoh on the outside.

Sendoh received the ball, and Rukawa immediately closed in, his eyes fixed on Sendoh. Sendoh gestured to Fukuda Kichijou, who came up from the baseline and positioned himself next to Rukawa to set a screen.

Sendoh lowered his center of gravity and cut past Fukuda, momentarily blocking Rukawa's path. Sendoh passed the ball to Fukuda, who cut inside and jumped to face Akagi's help defense.

Without hesitation, Akagi jumped up and slapped the ball away from Fukuda's hand.

A volleyball block. The ball flew towards the center of the court, and Rukawa was the first to react, taking long strides to rush over and grab the ball.

"Yay! The gorilla swattes the fly!" Kogure Kiminobu shouted from the Shohoku bench, cupping his hands around his mouth, his glasses almost flying off his nose.

Shohoku launches a fast break. Rukawa dribbles the ball from the left side of the court, and Sendoh stops in front of him as he chases after him. Rukawa doesn't force a drive, but catches a glimpse of a figure coming up from the right side out of the corner of his eye: Mitsui Hisashi.

Rukawa passed the ball across the box. Mitsui received the ball outside the three-point line, his heel firmly planted on the line. Facing Koshino Hiroaki, who was desperately trying to get back, he pulled up for a jump shot. With a flick of his wrist, the ball arced high through the air.

Swish—a three-pointer goes in.

The 12-point deficit was quickly closed by 6 points in just a few minutes by Shohoku.

"Whoosh—!" Taoka Shigeichi decisively stood up and called for a pause.

The Ryonan players formed a semi-circle again in front of the bench.

"Akagi's form is back." Taoka looked at everyone, his voice steady. "The intensity of our interior defense has clearly increased by a level."

He tapped the tactical board with his pen.

"But that doesn't affect our plan. The next offensive will proceed as planned, with our outside attack."

Uozumi, you take charge of defense and support.

Ikegami, guard Mitsui well and exhaust his stamina as much as possible.

Shohoku is still using man-to-man defense. Whenever they're on man-to-man, the main offensive play is handled by Sendoh and Fukuda. When setting picks and switches, Sendoh and Fukuda are matched up against Miyagi.

He lightly touched the name of Miyagi with the tip of his pen, the pressure gentle, but the meaning profound. "Take points from him."

On the Shohoku bench, Takenori Akagi turned to Mitsui: "Mitsui, how's Ikegami's defense?"

Mitsui wiped his sweat, gritted his teeth, and spat out two words: "Clingy."

He paused, then added, "Even harder to shake off than Hasegawa."

Akagi was silent for a moment, then he put his water glass on the chair. "I'll set screens for you. Shoot when you're open. Don't hesitate."

Then he turned to Sakuragi and said, "Sakuragi, after I pull him out, you cover the basket and defend the rebounds."

Sakuragi patted his chest confidently: "No problem, leave it to this genius!"

The referee blew the whistle, and the timeout was over. Both teams' players returned to the field.

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