Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 401 Sakuragi: This question is too difficult, I can't do it!
In this match, Morishige Hiroshi displayed amazing talent and strength, easily defeating Urayasu Commercial Team in a near-crushing manner.

Just like in the anime, a month later, his name will surely be known throughout the country, becoming the focus of everyone's attention.

Of course, Shigehiro Mori did not win the championship in Slam Dunk, a claim Takehiko Inoue vehemently denied in an interview.

Given that Hainan Affiliated High School won the runner-up position, this means that Meihou Industrial, led by Morishige Hiroshi, can only secure a maximum of four spots in the finals.

Kogure was not surprised by Morishige Hiroshi's performance.

With Mori Shigehiro's extraordinary physical abilities, his rise to power was destined.

In Kogure's view, the reason why Morishige Hiroshi was able to deliver a monstrous performance was largely because his opponents were too weak and fell down with a single collision, resulting in Morishige Hiroshi encountering no decent resistance during the match.

In short, it was a stomp on noobs!

If Morishige Hiroshi were to face a powerful center like Akagi, Naito, Kawata, or even Uozumi, the situation would be completely different.

They all possess excellent combat skills and outstanding defensive awareness, enabling them to cause considerable trouble for Morishige Hiroshi in one-on-one duels.

Morishige Hiroshi's offensive range is too narrow, and he can only score under the basket.

To score against them, Morishige Hiroshi would need to expend more effort and wouldn't be able to achieve such a high shooting percentage.

Against such an opponent, it would be almost impossible for Morishige Hiroshi to put up such dominant stats again.

Soon, Kogure led the Shohoku team away.

Along the way, they encountered their old rival, Sannoh Industrial.

Judging from their expressions, they had already finished the game, and the result was self-evident.

Given Sannoh Industries' strength, only Ryonan poses a threat to the second group.

According to the match schedule, Sannoh must go through the quarterfinals to face Ryonan.

"Looks like we're a step too late. Kogure, how did the match go?"

In his early works, Fukatsu's catchphrase was "yo," but this expression was gradually replaced by "le."

"Aiwa defeated Urayasu Commercial by a large margin, and only sent newcomer Morishige Hiroshi to participate. In this game, Morishige Hiroshi put up a phenomenal performance of 50+20+10."

"Nani!"

At this moment, all the Sannoh players, including Zebei, were taken aback.

Fukatsu and Okawata looked at each other in bewilderment.

With such exaggerated, dominant data, the only person they could think of was Kogure.

As for Zebei, he has never achieved such exaggerated statistics before.

"Senior Kogure, Shohoku mustn't lose to Aiwa Academy! I still want to beat you in the finals."

Zebei looked at Kogure with a confident expression.

Two months later, Zebei felt he was back to normal.

"Zebei, you should worry about yourself first. Ryonan might have a surprise for you!"

Kogure launched a timely counterattack.

Just kidding. So what if Aiwa Academy assembled a Big Four? Don't you even know what kind of lineup Shohoku has?
Shohoku has as many as six players of the core caliber of a strong team: Kogure, Akagi, Mitsui, Naito, Rukawa, and Sakuragi.

Not only in quantity, but also in quality, because Shohoku has Kogure.

"What a joke! How could Ryonan be a match for us?"

Sawakita never mentioned being defeated by Ryonan in the Winter Tournament; he always believed that Ryonan had gotten a lucky break.

If it weren't for Shoyo exhausting Sannoh Industrial's strength, Ryonan would have been no match for them.

To be honest, if they were all at their peak, Ryonan would not have been a match for Sannoh last year.

But this year may be different. With Nango in place, Ryonan is no longer what it used to be. At least on paper, its strength is no less than that of Sannoh Industries.

Without Minoru Matsumoto, Sannoh Industrial's strength is likely to be inferior to that in the original story.

As for whether Zebei is stronger than Sendoh?
That's not necessarily true!

Don't forget, Sendoh trained with Kogure for a while.

During that time, Kogure discovered that Sendoh possessed extremely high basketball talent.

In terms of talent, Sendoh is superior to Rukawa, especially in terms of awareness.

The title of "genius immortal" is not just empty talk!

Unfortunately, Xiandao was too lazy and did not fully convert his talent.

During this period, under Kogure's pressure, Sendoh's talent was further developed.

In Kogure's view, Sendoh's overall strength is no less than Sawakita's.

If Zebei underestimates the Immortal Path, he might really suffer a setback.

"Is that so? I hope so!"

Looking at Zebei's confident eyes, Kogure shook his head inwardly.

This guy never learns from his mistakes and shows no improvement whatsoever!
"Alright, let's head back now!"

Kogure didn't linger and led his teammates away from the court.

Their first match was in the afternoon, against Hojo Yosho from Fukuoka Prefecture.

Hojo Shisho is known as the perennial runner-up in Fukuoka Prefecture, with Hakata University of Commerce and Industry naturally ranking first.

Looking at the whole country, the Hojo Four Merchants seem quite ordinary.

In the original story, Hojo Shisho was eliminated in the first round.

Because of Kogure's influence, the match schedule for this year's National Tournament changed significantly, allowing Hojo Shisho to advance smoothly through the first round.

Unfortunately, they faced the defending champions, Shohoku, in the second round!
Fukatsu watched Kogure's figure disappear, then solemnly said to Sawakita, "Sawakita, don't underestimate Ryonan. After all, Ryonan defeated us before."

"Captain, I understand!"

Zebei waved his hand, still holding a grudge about that match.

Because that was the first time he had been defeated by Sendoh!

However, he always believed that if Ryonan hadn't taken advantage of them, they would have won that match.

This is a real headache!

Seeing Sawakita's casual expression, Fukatsu felt a headache coming on.

He acknowledged that Sawakita was very strong, but also had many flaws.

To prevent Sawakita from being careless, Fukatsu gave Okawada a wink.

Read my eye and do as I say! (jpg)

Kawada made an OK sign, then revealed a sinister expression.

He's a professional at teaching Zebei a lesson!
Soon, Sawakita was pinned to the ground by Okawada and subjected to torture once again.

"Damn it, I don't want to stay in this school for another second longer, I want to go to America!"

In order to escape the clutches of Kawada, Sawakita made up his mind.

Coach Domoto probably never imagined that what prompted Sawakita to leave Sannoh was not any other factor, but Kawada!
School bullying is terrifying!
……

Soon, it was 2:30 PM.

National Stadium!
The two teams have already entered the game: Shohoku and Hojo Shisho.

"Go Shohoku!"

"Kogure, you're amazing!"

"Mi-chan, Mi-chan!"

"Rukawa Kaede, I love you!"

……

At this moment, the entire stadium resounded with cheers for Shohoku, creating an incredibly powerful atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the fans from Hojo Shisho, who had traveled a long way, could only huddle in a corner, trembling with fear.

It's not that they didn't want to cheer for Shohoku, but that their voices simply couldn't get through.

Because the number of Shohoku fans is at least a hundred times greater than theirs, this place has completely become Shohoku's home court!
With such momentum, the Hojo Shisho players became increasingly nervous.

too crazy!

They've seen big scenes before, but they've never seen such a frenzied fan. As the perennial runner-up in Fukuoka Prefecture, they've faced Hakata many times, but even Hakata has never witnessed such a terrifying display of support.

After warming up, both coaches began their final preparations.

"Rukawa will lead the first half, and Sakuragi will lead the second half!"

Coach Anzai did not intend to field his strongest lineup; it was unnecessary to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

With the strength of Hojo Shisho, they could win even with their reserve lineup.

After two years of strengthening, Shohoku's bench strength has risen significantly, boasting several substitute players who are at the level of starting players for strong teams.

Coach Anzai came up with this idea in order to further unleash the potential of Sakuragi and Rukawa.

"Yay, fox, watch how I defeat you!"

Sakuragi stared at Rukawa with a defiant look, determined to prove in this match that his leadership skills were superior to Rukawa's.

But just then, Rukawa asked in a consultative tone, "Coach, I want to play point guard!"

Standing to the side, Miyagi couldn't help but frown.

If Rukawa plays point guard, wouldn't he be unable to play in the first half?

Furthermore, this also made Miyagi feel a strong sense of crisis.

If Rukawa performs as well as Sendoh, then his chances of becoming a starter are extremely slim.

He was finally about to outlast Kogure and get a chance to become a starter, but then Rukawa wanted to play point guard. So tiring!

"Row!"

Coach Anzai eventually agreed.

He wanted to see if Rukawa Kaede could handle the point guard position. Since the opponents weren't strong, why not give it a try?

"Dad, I want to play point guard too!"

Seeing that Rukawa had gone to play point guard, Sakuragi became anxious. In order to defeat Rukawa in every way, he also had to play point guard.

Standing nearby, Mitsui couldn't help but chuckle: "Sakuragi, are you sure you can do it?"

Akagi and the others shook their heads, because they knew very well that Sakuragi wasn't cut out for this.

"How can a man say he can't do it? You bastards can't stand to see others do well."

Sakuragi retorted, then patted Coach Anzai's neck again, saying, "Dad, you have to believe me."

"Okay, I agree!"

Coach Anzai had no choice but to agree; it would be worth a try, and it would also dispel his idea beforehand.

"As expected, Dad had a good eye. Just wait and see how I perform!"

"Oh ho ho ho!"

Hearing Sakuragi's shameless words, Coach Anzai couldn't help but let out his signature laugh.

For Shohoku, the outcome of this match was already predetermined.

Poor Hojo Shisho became the target of Shohoku's training.

Soon, the starting lineups for both sides began to take the field.

Shohoku sent out Yamamoto Kuma, Okamoto Nobuhiko, Tsurumi Seiji, Tsurumi Keiji and Rukawa Kaede.

In this lineup, the tallest player, Rukawa Kaede, is a point guard.

Seeing the lineup that Shohoku sent out, Hojo Shisho visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Their biggest fear is that Shohoku will field their strongest lineup, as that would result in a crushing defeat, with the margin of victory potentially exceeding 100 points.

As long as it's not a crushing defeat, it's fine!

Beep~
During the jump ball phase, Rukawa Kaede, who replaced Yamamoto Kuma in the jump ball, first passed the ball to Tsurumi Seiji.

Both sides began to move, with the Hojo Shisho players tightly entangled with the Shohoku players.

After dribbling the ball past half-court, Tsurumi Seiji passed it to Rukawa Kaede.

Beyond the three-point line, Rukawa Kaede began to orchestrate the team's offense.

Seeing that Rukawa seemed distracted, point guard Hojo Shisho quietly moved forward and suddenly slammed to the ground to steal the ball.

Just as he was about to touch the basketball, the basketball's trajectory changed.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Rukawa Kaede brushed past him in an instant.

After drawing the opposing center's help defense, Rukawa assisted Yamamoto Kuma for a layup.

Offense and defense reversed!

As soon as point guard Hojo Shisho arrived outside the three-point line, Rukawa Kaede immediately went to meet him.

With Rukawa Kaede's long arms harassing him, point guard Hojo Shisho had to turn sideways to control the ball.

Rukawa Kaede seized the opportunity to get close and unleash his Death Coil.

Under Rukawa's pressure, Hojo Shisho, the point guard, was in a sorry state and tried to pass the ball in a panic.

slap~
Because the pass was too obvious, Rukawa Kaede easily made a steal with his left hand.

Fast break!

Rukawa Kaede grabbed the basketball and rushed towards the frontcourt.

Hojo Shisho's players quickly returned to defense, but some still faltered.

Shohoku's lineup lacks height, but its strength lies in speed and agility.

In the short span of two breaths, Rukawa Kaede chose to pass the ball again.

At this moment, Nobuhiko Okamoto had an open spot.

Beyond the three-point line, Nobuhiko Okamoto easily sank a three-pointer.

The game continues, and Rukawa's brilliant performance continues.

Rukawa Kaede lacks Sendoh's boundless imagination, but his performance is more steady.

Compared to his performance in the county tournament, Rukawa Kaede is clearly much more well-rounded.

Of course, Kogure's guidance was indispensable in this process.

Rukawa's playing style is more like Maki's, mainly relying on breakthroughs and passing.

Under Rukawa's leadership, Shohoku has completely suppressed Hojo Shisho, taking whatever they want.

Rukawa's outstanding performance left the Hojo Shisho players in a state of constant distress.

In just ten minutes, Shohoku took a lead of nearly 20 points, while Hojo Shisho's score remained in single digits!
This is also related to Rukawa Kaede.

Since it was only the first half of the game, he chose an all-out attack and defense strategy, and he also made great achievements on the defensive end.

Soon after, Rukawa scored another goal, extending his lead to 20 points.

"Damn it, is this really a first-year student? How can he be so strong!"

The Hojo Shisho players looked increasingly desperate.

Fortunately, Rukawa Kaede did not play in the second half.

In the first half, Rukawa Kaede had already achieved a near triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds.

Such outstanding data left Miyagi speechless.

He probably won't have a chance to rise to power!
Sakuragi noticed that Miyagi wasn't in a good mood, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Miyagi, watch this genius's performance."

Miyagi couldn't help but roll his eyes, not wanting to pay any attention to Sakuragi.

After the start of the second half, Sakuragi led his team onto the court.

Apart from Sakuragi, the Shohoku lineup remained unchanged.

Soon, Sakuragi dribbled the ball across half-court.

His dribbling skills are undeniably excellent, after all, this is one of Sakuragi's signature abilities.

However, he has no idea how to organize the team's offense.

For a moment, Sakuragi was stunned.

What's the next step?
Wait online, hurry!
This question is too difficult, I can't do it!
With Sakuragi's brute-force mentality, he is simply not suited for the point guard position.

(End of this chapter)