Full-time comic artist

"Oda-san is not dead." Yoshii Sanjiu reminded.

Higashino rolled his eyes at him. "You'd be better off dead."

Holding the dehumidifier, Higashino Hibiki walked toward the storage room.

"What's going on?" Yoshii Yamahisa asked, puzzled.

"Oda-kun's One Piece is doing very well; it's recently won first place in the main story several times," Tanaka reminded Yoshii.

"I see." Yoshii Yamahisa nodded.

In the latest One Piece storyline, the high-level fighter, Hawkeye, makes an appearance.

During his battle with Mihawk, Zoro's line, "A scar on the back is a swordsman's shame," instantly won him countless fans.

After being easily defeated by Hawkeye, he tearfully made a promise to Luffy: "I will never lose again. I will never lose until I defeat him and become the greatest swordsman! Do you have any objections, Pirate King!"

This is one of Eiichiro Oda's greatest strengths: creating images of passionate men in his stories.

Zoro's defeat did not affect his popularity; on the contrary, he became the tough guy character that countless men dreamed of becoming.

The popularity of One Piece has thus reached a new level.

He won first place in the small class several times in a row.

"As for 'Slam Dunk'..." Tanaka shrugged.

In the storyline that has been serialized for the past two months, there has been a match between Shohoku and Ryonan.

At the beginning, the two sides were evenly matched, but when Takenori Akagi focused his attention on his injured ankle, this pillar of Shohoku became unreliable.

Therefore, Shohoku fell behind Ryonan by a significant number of points.

In adversity, Rukawa Kaede also acted out of character, scoring only one goal for two points.

He once scored 25 points in the first half of a game against Hainan, but he is not at that level now.

It seems that he couldn't unleash his full power against Sendoh's defense.

After Akagi recovered, Ryonan targeted Shohoku's defensive weakness, Sakuragi, and launched an attack led by Fukuda, scoring consecutively and widening the gap to more than ten points.

In the most crucial match, the Shohoku players all encountered many problems. Readers had hoped to see a fierce battle, but instead, they were unilaterally suppressed, which was very unsatisfying.

The readers were unhappy, and the sales figures became mediocre.

Recently, Xiaozheng's ranking in "Slam Dunk" has mostly hovered around third place.

"Higashino-kun, sometimes you care too much about grades, hahaha." Yoshii Yamahisa said with a laugh, scratching the back of his head.

Tanaka also laughed along, not being very kind of him.

Just then, they slowly heard footsteps and immediately shut their mouths.

However, Higashino Hibiki still faintly heard laughter.

"What bad things are you saying about me?" Hibiki Higashino asked suspiciously as he returned.

"I say the teacher's opinion is excellent."

"You're absolutely right."

The two answered.

"Oda is probably dead."

……

Upon learning that he had come in first place again, Oda chuckled to himself.

Back when I was at Bird Autumn Studio, I was particularly envious of my teacher's achievements, and now I can finally enjoy them.

"After Toriyama-sensei came Akino-sensei, and now it's finally my turn, Eiichiro Oda's turn."

He was drawing comics while thinking.

"Now is the era of Eiichiro Oda!" he thought smugly.

"It's just that Toriyama-sensei's short manga 'COWA!' has ended, and I feel very lonely without him."

A seasoned bird enthusiast shed tears.

But the thought that as long as he continued to grow, he would one day meet Akira Toriyama filled him with fighting spirit again.

Ignoring his own weight gain from drawing comics day and night, and his face full of acne, the chubby Eiichiro Oda is immersed in the "Nami" arc.

……

On the weekend, Oda was watching Jump.

"Laozi's comics are still so interesting."

Looking at One Piece, Oda felt that even the transitional chapters were still captivating.

Suddenly, I felt full of confidence.

After that, he started watching "Slam Dunk".

In comics.

As always, Sakuragi Hanamichi was powerless against Fukuda.

"When we're on defense, we're always anticipating the opponent's next move. Will they pass? Or dribble? If they dribble, will they go left or right? Will they use a fake move? Or will they shoot directly?"

"Making certain predictions based on experience and then deciding how to defend requires a series of actions that rely on accumulated experience."

What Sakuragi Hanamichi lacked most was experience in playing basketball.

In the first half, Fukuda scored 15 points by hitting several shots on Sakuragi.

The gap between Shohoku and Ryonan has widened to 12 points.

There are only two minutes left in the first half.

Inside the stadium, the audience cheered for Ryonan and applauded Fukuda.

Sakuragi's defense faltered, he slipped, and his head slammed hard against the wall, causing him to bleed profusely.

"I won this game, Sakuragi."

When Sakuragi fell to the ground, clutching the wound on his forehead, looking utterly disheveled, Fukuda said to him.

As Sakuragi was leaving the field, Ayako noticed him trembling with resentment while treating him.

When Haruko showed concern for Sakuragi, he lay on the ground, silent, his fists clenched.

"Without even a word of warning, Sakuragi has completely failed, and there's no excuse whatsoever," said Yohei Mito.

On the field, Mitsui replaced Sakuragi.

Mitsui was very experienced, and he saw through Fukuda's actions.

Fukuda's defense was insignificant to Mitsui, who scored consecutive three-pointers.

The stadium was filled with cheers for Mitsui, while Sakuragi Hanamichi remained silent, his body trembling.

In the first half, Shohoku finally stopped falling behind by six points.

“Sakuragi Hanamichi’s inner turmoil and his pain were not directly depicted by Tori Akino-sensei,” Oda said with a serious expression as he looked at the manga. “He only used indirect methods to make me understand Sakuragi’s resentment.”

"He was thinking of using his newly learned layup to shock the entire stadium, surpass Sendoh, and suppress Uozumi, but his performance was like that of a clown, making him the team's liability. I felt his frustration. The drawing by Akino-sensei here is truly amazing."

How will Sakuragi Hanamichi unleash his full potential?

"And then there's Mitsui Hisashi's three-pointer. The pent-up emotions from the past two months in the manga are released here, and it's sure to attract readers' attention in the second half."

"I want to watch Slam Dunk so badly right now."

Oda looked up, took a deep breath, and said, "I underestimated Akino-sensei."

……

July has arrived, and Musashino Art University has begun its summer vacation.

Hibiki Higashino, a fourth-grader, sees his classmates all busy working towards their future, while he continues his ordinary life, going back and forth between home and school.

Now, he doesn't even need to go to school anymore, and he's focused entirely on drawing comics.

"The following content is very important, so be sure to draw it carefully!"

Higashino Hibiki values ​​the Ryonan match even more than the Hainan match.

Not only is this part of the story the climax of "Slam Dunk", but also, the current Jump is not like it used to be, there are many more masters now.

"Yes," Yoshii nodded.

“Teacher,” Tanaka raised his hand, “do you need me to bring my bedding?”

He thought he could use the air conditioning to his advantage and save on air conditioning costs.

"Then...then that's not necessary..."

Higashino Hibiki's stammering words disappointed him.

"I can't let you interfere with my activities tonight," Higashino thought to himself.

"Everyone's here except for Mr. Akimiya. Let's start drawing manga now." He changed the subject.

"Is there something you need, Mr. Akimiya?" Yoshii asked curiously.

Hibiki Higashino replied, "She went home and will be back tomorrow."

……

Today is Mr. Akimiya's 60th birthday. He didn't celebrate it in a grand way, declining invitations from his subordinates and only celebrating the day with his daughter.

Happy Birthday, Father!

Akemi Akemi held a painting, a traditional Chinese ink painting she had created, depicting cranes dancing gracefully.

“Hmm,” Mr. Akimiya looked at the painting, and after a while, a smile appeared on his serious face. He nodded, “Your skills have not declined. I am very satisfied.”

He carefully put it away and placed it aside, intending to display it in his office.

Akemi Akemi breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, Mr. Akimiya asked with a stern face, "You're 29 years old this year, aren't you?"

"Isn't it impolite to talk about age with a girl?" she asked tentatively.