Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 32: Hanging Layup
If you are young, you don’t know Rukawa Kaede, but you are already middle-aged and understand him!
Rukawa Kaede is undoubtedly the purest and most hardworking player in SD!
The only thing he has eyes for is basketball. He is a true basketball fanatic.

At the same time, he is also a king of three-pointers. Even Kazuo Kamiso, who makes 500 three-pointers a day, has to admit he is better than him.

What’s even more terrifying is that Rukawa Kaede has no internal friction or self-doubt at all, and his mentality is frighteningly stable.

He was not interested in studies, entertainment or even women. Apart from basketball, sleeping and Sakuragi, he didn't care about anything else.

To what extent is Rukawa Kaede obsessed with basketball?
He is a very talented person and is the best example of talent + hard work.

In addition to daily training, he would stay in the gym alone to practice until late at night after training, and you might meet him on the outdoor basketball court early in the morning. The only thing that might interrupt him was bad weather.

Throughout the entire SD, no one's appearance rate on the court and training intensity can surpass Rukawa Kaede, including Sakuragi Hanamichi.

In order to focus more on training, Rukawa will consciously maintain the lowest energy consumption.

He sleeps in class, during breaks, and even while riding a bike, regardless of the occasion or place. He can be called a "sleeping god".

This is also why anyone who disturbs his sleep will be beaten, whether it is a teacher or a gangster.

I believe that Mr. Koike and the trio of Tokuo Horita, who like to wear flip-flops, have deeply experienced this!

Rukawa Kaede's schedule can probably be described as practicing - sleeping - playing games - practicing... a continuous cycle, and that's all he has.

This is also the main reason why Rukawa, although his talent is obviously inferior to those talented monsters, can still go head-to-head with them and even suppress them.

His skills have long become an instinct of his body. Judging from his singles skills alone, they can be described as a kaleidoscope.

In fact, Takehiko Inoue originally intended to make Rukawa Kaede the only protagonist, but later, at the suggestion of the editor, the protagonist was changed from Rukawa Kaede to the flawless Sakuragi Hanamichi.

The reason for doing this may be that Rukawa Kaede is almost perfect, making it difficult for people to feel empathy.

Soon, the two arrived at a nearby basketball court and began a one-on-one duel.

"Let me announce the rules first. Each person is limited to five attacks. Whoever scores more goals wins!"

Such rules can ensure that both sides have equal opportunities and avoid being swept away by a wave.

"Row!"

Rukawa Kaede remained concise and to the point, giving people a feeling of indifference.

Murasakibara didn't care about this because he knew that although Rukawa seemed cold on the outside, he was actually warm-hearted on the inside and was just not good at expressing himself and socializing.

Before the duel, Rukawa took off his coat and started warming up.

Murasaki had just finished a short-distance run and didn't need to warm up, but he wasted no time and started practicing three-point shots.

Swish~swish~swish~
Murasakibara's three-point shooting attribute does not seem to be very high, but when there is no one guarding him, his hit rate is still very impressive.

Rukawa observed for a while and concluded that Murasakibara's three-point shooting was better than his, which further stimulated his desire to compete.

"You attack first!"

After the warm-up was completed, Murasakibara passed the ball to Rukawa.

Rukawa Kaede didn't say anything, just nodded and launched an attack from outside the three-point line.

Murasakibara took a defensive stance and stared at Rukawa Kaede closely.

Rukawa dribbled the basketball skillfully, and suddenly made a fake move, pretending to break through to the left.

With his extreme reaction, Murasakibara was able to avoid being overtaken by Rukawa and successfully blocked his breakthrough route.

When he was about to collide with Murasakibara, Rukawa dribbled the ball behind his back and passed it to his left hand, trying to break through from the other side.

Suddenly, Murasakibara made a clean and neat steal.

Although Murasakibara's defense is not very good, thanks to his quick reaction, he can easily be intercepted if the opponent is not paying attention.

The most important thing is that Rukawa's basketball skills in the second year of junior high school were only okay, and he was still at the stage of relying on his body to play. Even in terms of physical fitness, Rukawa was not much better than him. He is now completely incomparable to him two years later.

In Murasakibara's opinion, the physical fitness of Rukawa Kaede, a sophomore in junior high school, is still at the second-rate stage, but it is very close to the first-rate, which is equivalent to half a step to the peak!

After Murasakibara completed the steal, Rukawa simply frowned and then regained his composure.

Next, it's Murasakibara's turn to attack.

Murasakibara discovered that there was a problem with Rukawa's defensive position, so he dribbled the ball between his legs continuously. When Rukawa subconsciously stepped back, he immediately took a step back, jumped and shot, making a clean three-pointer.

When Murasakibara was about to shoot, Rukawa Kaede jumped up, but because he was two steps away, he was unable to disrupt Murasakibara's shooting rhythm at all.

shuh~
The basketball went into the net, creating a splash of color on the net.

Watching the basketball fall to the ground, Rukawa touched his chin, feeling that he had learned a trick.

He didn't know that two years later, both Rukawa and Sendoh used this trick in the practice match between Shohoku and Ryonan.

"now you!"

Murasaki picked up the basketball and passed it to Rukawa.

Rukawa Kaede maintained a stable mentality and was not affected by the loss of the previous goal. Instead, he tried to counterattack with the same tactics.

Unfortunately, his skills were not as good as they were two years later. When he was about to step back and shoot, Murasakibara reacted immediately and stepped forward to block the shot.

Although the block was not successful, it disrupted Rukawa's shooting rhythm and forced him to raise his shooting height.

bang~
The basketball hit the rim and fell to the side.

"Ryukawa is too young now. He needs another two and a half years of hard training to reach his peak!"

Murasakibara was a little disappointed. With Rukawa's current strength, it was very likely that he had not yet mastered the skills that were in line with the learning mechanism.

The duel continues and it is Murasakibara's turn.

This time, Murasakibara used a tentative step followed by a cross step to easily break through Rukawa's defense.

Rukawa turned around and chased back, but Murasakibara made a quick stop and shook off Rukawa, then jumped up and shot.

shuh~
Murasaki scored another point.

"Senior, your skills are very strong!"

Rukawa had never seen such superb basketball skills. He was not frightened by this, but became more excited.

Competing with masters can be said to be one of Rukawa Kaede's few hobbies.

After catching the basketball passed by Murasakibara, Rukawa shook his shoulders back and forth, and then broke through with the ball in his right hand.

Murasakibara quickly moved sideways and blocked Rukawa, waving his arms to disrupt his dribbling rhythm.

This time, Rukawa took a big step, leaned forward, accelerated and forced a breakthrough.

Murasakibara chased closely, running parallel to Rukawa and increasing the physical confrontation.

Rukawa Kaede quickly rushed into the basket and jumped for a layup.

With his extreme reaction, Murasakibara also jumped up at the first moment.

In mid-air, with the help of his powerful core strength, Rukawa glided in the air, avoiding Murasakibara's block and steadily sent the ball into the basket.

shuh~
Rukawa Kaede finally scored a point!
Regarding such an amazing goal, Murasakibara acted indifferent because his mind was immersed in a sudden prompt.

(End of this chapter)