Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 369 Can a young person be called a young person if they're not arrogant?
PS: I forgot Matsumoto Minoru in the previous chapter. Ryonan's main lineup has been replaced by Ajin with Matsumoto.

Beep~
With the referee's whistle blowing, the friendly match officially began.

The temporary referee for this friendly match was Hiroaki Koshino, Mitsui's younger brother.

During the jump ball phase, Naito and Uozumi jumped up almost simultaneously.

slap~
Taking advantage of his jumping ability, Naito passed the ball to the Tsurumi brothers first.

Don't ask why they are the Tsurumi brothers. The reason is that Naito couldn't tell the twins apart and could only identify them by their jersey numbers.

These two look so alike, except for their hairstyles; one has bangs to the left, and the other has bangs to the right.

Upon receiving the ball, Tsurumi Seiji immediately launched a fast break.

Shohoku's tactics are simple: a combination of one star player and four shooters, along with run-and-gun offense.

In this Shohoku lineup, all the players are very fast, making them well-suited for a run-and-gun offense.

Of course, this lineup also has its flaws, namely the Tsurumi brothers' relatively weak physical fitness.

This may be related to their congenital deficiencies.

Ryonan's defensive speed is very fast, and apart from Uozumi, the other Ryonan players have excellent athleticism.

Even for Uozumi, his speed is within the normal range.

This can be seen from the quality of the Uozumi's defensive support.

Seeing no chance, Tsurumi Seiji paused for a moment and began to organize the team's attack.

"Tsurumi-senpai, over here!"

At that moment, Sakuragi leaned against Nango Koichiro and reached out for the ball.

Originally, Tsurumi Seiji wanted to pass the ball to Naito, since Naito was the ace of this lineup.

Now that Sakuragi is asking him for the ball, Tsurumi Seiji has no choice but to pass it to him for the sake of teamwork.

"Golden-haired monkey, I'll beat you up first, then I'll go defeat the Immortal Path!"

Sakuragi caught the ball with both hands and immediately blurted out a trash talk.

"Red-haired monkey, you're too arrogant!"

Koichiro Nango's eyes blazed with fury; he felt utterly disrespected.

"Can you call yourself a young person if you're not arrogant?"

Upon hearing this, Koichiro Nango was rendered speechless.

"Kogure-senpai's witty remarks are really something!"

Sakuragi silently gave Kogure a thumbs up, because those words were indeed spoken by Kogure.

The next moment, Sakuragi started a back-to-the-basket move.

Besides his excavator breakthrough, this is also his best one-on-one technique.

Since Nango Koichiro's physical abilities are not much inferior to Sakuragi's, the excavator's breakthrough efficiency is not high.

Koichiro Nango put up a fierce resistance, and under his tenacious resistance, Sakuragi's attack seemed to encounter obstacles, making it difficult for him to easily advance to the basket.

Sakuragi didn't give up and started swaying left and right, trying to confuse his opponent with feints.

Compared to a month ago, Sakuragi's back-to-the-basket post-up game has improved significantly.

Despite Nango Koichiro's best efforts in defense, Sakuragi's convincing feint caused him to lose his balance.

After sensing Nango Koichiro's changing position with his back, Sakuragi immediately seized the opportunity, quickly turned around, and broke through.

“These mere grains of sand are not even half as good as me.”

As he brushed past Koichiro Nango, Sakuragi grinned smugly, ready to score with a tomahawk dunk.

However, just as Sakuragi jumped, a huge figure suddenly rushed in from the side and behind.

Uozumi quickly covered for Sakuragi, using his amazingly long arms to deliver a relentless block.

The basketball bounced off the backboard, and Naito, who arrived shortly after, easily grabbed the rebound with both hands.

Facing the basket so close to him, Naito was also filled with the desire to dunk.

As soon as Uozumi landed, he appeared in front of Naito and once again blocked the shot with his long arm.

Although Uozumi completed the block, the basketball didn't fly very far due to Naito's great strength.

After a scramble, Rukawa Kaede grabbed the basketball first and prepared to shoot for a score.

However, as if he had foreseen this, Uozumi appeared in front of Rukawa Kaede just in time.

Rukawa Kaede showed a slight look of surprise and subconsciously wanted to lean back, but it was too late.

pop~
Uozumi blocked Rukawa's attempt to score again.

This time, Minoru Matsumoto got the basketball.

"Who else!"

Uozumi roared to the sky, exuding an aura of dominance.

Seeing Uozumi's outstanding defensive performance, the Ryonan players were in high spirits and became even more aggressive.

"Hahaha, you red-haired monkey, you're so lame!"

At this moment, Kiyota Nobunaga, sitting on Ryonan's bench, pointed at Sakuragi and laughed heartily.

Sakuragi made a fool of himself, and he was overjoyed.

"Shut up! What right do you, a substitute, have to laugh at me!"

Sakuragi disdainfully extended his middle finger, directly attributing Fujima's nickname to Kiyota Nobunaga.

Substitute!

Kiyota Nobunaga's laughter stopped abruptly, his smile instantly froze, and he looked as if he had been petrified.

Kiyota Nobunaga's defenses have been breached.

Sometimes, the truth is the most hurtful!

"Red-haired monkey, if the third-year players hadn't been sidelined, you'd be a substitute too!"

"Hmph, that's not necessarily true!"

Sakuragi appeared confident on the surface, but was actually a little flustered inside.

He's not stupid, he just doesn't like to use his brain much.

Sakuragi did some quick calculations and realized that he really might become a substitute.

He seems unable to compete with Akagi, Naito, Rukawa, Mitsui, and Kogure.

In terms of overall strength, he became the sixth man in Shohoku.

"I must perform well. If I can defeat Sendoh, I'll have a chance to surpass Rukawa and become a starter!"

In this lineup, Rukawa Kaede became an easy target in Sakuragi's eyes.

Because Rukawa Kaede, like him, is a first-year player.

"You big idiot, get back to defend!"

Suddenly, Rukawa Kaede's cold voice rang out.

Sakuragi then realized that Ryonan had already served the ball, and quickly turned around to return to defense.

"Pity!"

Sendoh sighed inwardly, realizing he had originally intended to seize the opportunity to launch a quick attack.

Seeing that he had lost the opportunity for a fast break, Sendoh slowed down his pace and dribbled the ball across half-court.

During this process, Sendoh glanced at the Shohoku bench.

"We must force them onto the field!"

Sendoh's spirit was ignited, and his eyes became noticeably serious.

Although he was a fisherman, fishermen also have their pride.

If they can't catch any fish all night, they'll go to the market and contribute to the fishmongers' business.

Rukawa appeared in front of Sendoh, and under Coach Anzai's arrangement, he was to guard Sendoh in this game.

However, Sendoh had no intention of a one-on-one fight, and instead passed the ball to Matsumoto Minoru.

In terms of head-to-head matchups, both Matsumoto Minoru and Ikegami have a clear advantage.

In terms of both height and physical strength, the Tsurumi brothers were inferior to them. Matsumoto Minoru used a powerful shot to break through, attempting to overpower the Tsurumi Seiji with his speed.

Tsurumi Seiji moved sideways to block him, but Matsumoto Minoru chose to charge headlong into the enemy.

During the collision, Tsurumi Seiji was easily knocked away by Matsumoto Minoru.

Tsurumi Seiji immediately turned and gave chase, while Naito was ready to provide backup defense.

Matsumoto Minoru first made a passing feint, causing Naito to stop and instinctively look at Uozumi.

Chi~
With the sound of his shoes scraping against the floor, Minoru Matsumoto pulled up for a jump shot.

sigh~
The basketball traced a beautiful arc and fell straight into the net, creating a splash of white.

Since transferring to Ryonan High School, Minoru Matsumoto has made further progress as he is no longer forced to play without the ball.

Minoru Matsumoto is definitely stronger than in the original work, and he is also full of fighting spirit.

Offense and defense reversed!

Shohoku quickly served the ball, and in the blink of an eye, all of Shohoku's players had entered the frontcourt.

Their speed is almost on par with the Shohoku team, but their weaknesses are a lack of teamwork, not yet grasping the essence of run-and-gun tactics, and a lack of a commander like Fujima.

Of course, if Kogure were to play, he would definitely perform better than Fujima.

After dribbling the ball past half-court, Tsurumi Seiji pretended not to see Sakuragi asking for the ball and passed it directly to Naito.

In this lineup, Naito is the boss.

He has to abide by certain unspoken rules, or he'll likely face dire consequences.

Naito caught the basketball steadily, quickly adjusted his footwork in the low post, and launched an attack with his back to Uozumi.

Feeling Naito's pressure, Uozumi quickly lowered his center of gravity, his legs like tree roots rooted to the ground, doing his best to resist Naito's impact.

Bang ~ bang ~
As the sounds of muscles clashing echoed continuously, Uozumi gritted his teeth and persevered, trying his best not to take a single step back.

Compared to Sakuragi Hanamichi, Uozumi's weight is closer to Naito's, which gives him no significant disadvantage in confrontations.

However, Naito is faster and more agile than Uozumi.

Naito pretended to continue his back-to-the-basket move, and just as Uozumi was ready, he quickly turned around, brushed past Uozumi, and drove straight to the basket.

Seeing this, Nango Koichiro quickly prepared to cover and try to stop Naito from scoring.

Unfortunately, Naito had already fully charged forward.

His impact was astonishing. Unafraid of facing Nango's help defense, he delivered a brutal dunk over him, smashing the ball into the basket.

Bang~

With a loud bang, the entire basketball hoop trembled violently under Naito's impact.

At the same time, Nango, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, was directly knocked out of bounds by Naito.

Naito landed on the ground, glanced down at Nango, and a smug smile appeared on his face.

The Ryonan players gathered around, asking with concern, "Nango, are you alright?"

Their eyes were filled with worry; the collision they had just witnessed had sent chills down their spines.

That was Naito at full power; even Uozumi had to avoid his attacks.

"Do I look like something is wrong?"

Nanxiang jumped up from the ground quickly; he was a man who cared a lot about his reputation.

"Damn bald guy, how can the impact be so strong!"

Nanxiang couldn't help but rub his chest. Although his ribs weren't broken, his chest still felt a dull ache.

After confirming that Nango was alright, the Ryonan players returned to the court and continued playing.

Soon, Ikegami used a screen to get a step ahead of Tsurumi Keiji and appeared outside the three-point line.

Sendoh immediately passed the ball, and Ikegami caught it and shot.

Keiji Tsurumi tried his best to interfere, but due to the height difference, his interference was extremely limited.

sigh~
After making the three-pointer, Ikegami was not surprised.

After years of hard training during the holidays, his three-point shooting percentage has improved even further, especially in terms of his ability to withstand interference.

When it was Shohoku's turn to attack, after a series of passes, Rukawa Kaede received the pass.

Faced with Ikegami's tight defense, Rukawa did not attempt to break through.

With Naito's screen, Rukawa dribbles and drives to the basket.

Uozumi immediately switched positions with Ikegami, maintaining a two-step distance from Rukawa Kaede at all times.

Rukawa Kaede didn't force his way through Yu-chan; he paused for a moment before tossing the ball toward the basket.

Bang~

Naito cut to the basket and executed an alley-oop, easily dunking the ball into the hoop.

Ikegami was helpless in the face of this!
The game continued, with both sides exchanging attacks and the score climbing steadily.

As time went on, the match entered a heated phase, with both sides showcasing their tactics and strategies to the fullest.

The audience's emotions rose and fell with each offensive and defensive transition.

As a result, neither side could do anything about the other.

After ten minutes of competition, thanks to the outstanding performances of Naito and Rukawa, the two sides were tied again.

Coach Taoka frowned, his eyes fixed on the situation on the field.

Seeing that he had not been able to establish a lead for a long time, he felt a little anxious.

He never expected that Ryonan, the runner-up in the Winter Tournament, could only manage a draw against the combined first and second-year team of Shohoku.

As everyone knows, the strongest players in Shohoku are the third-year students.

Beep~
During a dead ball situation, Coach Taoka decisively called a timeout.

As the players from both sides began to leave the court, the Ryonan players quickly surrounded Coach Taoka.

Looking around at the players, Coach Taoka's expression was serious. He said, "Guys, you've tied with the Shohoku first and second-year 'all-star' team. Don't you think that's a disgrace? You must achieve a double-digit lead before the end of the first half. Do you all understand?"

He wanted to put pressure on the Shohoku team to force them to field their third-year players.

Only by facing off against the main force of Shohoku can he more clearly see the gap between them and formulate more effective tactics.

At the same time, he hopes that the team can grow through this friendly match.

Only with enough pressure can players be motivated to work harder to improve themselves.

Except for the path of immortality!

This guy needs to be severely disciplined, otherwise he'll go back to being lazy like before.

"Hi!"

The Ryonan players responded in unison, saying they also had their pride.

Nearby, Sendoh was squatting on the ground, munching on a lemon slice.

Coach Taoka instantly lost his composure and roared, "Sendoh...Sendoh, did you even hear me?"

Sendoh waved his hand and said, "However, the Shohoku first and second-year 'all-star' team is also very strong. Even if you remove the third-year players, they are still enough to compete for the national championship. So, this is not a disgrace at all!"

After he finished speaking, Sendoh took another bite of a lemon slice.

"very sour!"

Sendoh gave a sour look, which infuriated Coach Taoka.

"Idiot, why are you saying that!"

Coach Taoka was furious and instantly transformed into a roaring emperor, scolding Sendoh.

He had finally managed to boost the team's morale, but Sendoh poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

Coach Taoka took a deep breath and then gave the players instructions: "Listen carefully, Uozumi, keep an eye on Naito, and Ikegami, keep an eye on Rukawa. As long as you keep an eye on them, Shohoku's offensive efficiency will be greatly reduced."

We need to adjust our defensive strategy and create more easy scoring opportunities…

But just then, Yueye pointed to the side and shouted, "There's a spy!"

The next moment, the Ryonan coaches and players all looked at Sakuragi, who was wearing a 'ghillie suit,' with eyes that said he was an idiot.

Your disguise is a bit too much!

(End of this chapter)