Kuroko's Basketball template: the king of slacking off, Shohoku's strongest sixth man.

Street courts.

The wind stopped.

The only sound was the hissing of moths flying into flames under the distant streetlights.

The duel is over.

fast.

too fast.

It's so fast that even blinking feels like a luxury.

Rukawa Kaede stood in the center of the field, his chest rising and falling slightly, a few glistening beads of sweat clinging to his forehead.

And Sakuragi Hanamichi...

At this moment, it is lying sprawled on the ground in a "T" shape.

His eyes were fixed, staring intently at the dark night sky.

His bald head was covered in dust and sweat, and his chest heaved violently, like a broken bellows being pulled.

Fiasco.

A brutal massacre with no suspense whatsoever.

3:0.

Sakuragi barely even touched the ball a few times.

Every time, his speed and jumping ability, which he was so proud of, seemed clumsy and superfluous in the face of Rukawa's textbook-like technique.

Ryota Miyagi squatted by the sidelines, the grass root he'd been chewing on long ago now spat out, looking utterly astonished.

"Hey, Rukawa, you went too far!"

Rukawa tossed the ball to Miyagi and picked up a towel to wipe his face.

He coldly uttered, "Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit."

After saying that, Rukawa Kaede slung his bag over his shoulder and left.

His back view remained aloof, but his steps were heavier than usual.

Although he won, he could sense that the idiot's strength and reaction speed were even more abnormal than during the Hainan battle.

If I hadn't given it my all, and had even relaxed for a moment, the ball would definitely have been blocked.

"Not enough..."

Rukawa Kaede clenched his fist, his figure disappearing into the night.

On the court, Sakuragi was still lying there, as if his soul had been ripped out.

He raised his hands, looking at his trembling fingertips, his eyes filled with confusion.

Why...?

He muttered to himself.

He knows there's a gap, but he's stubborn and not truly honest about it.

But he never expected to lose so quickly and so completely.

Like a toddler trying to challenge a fully armed soldier.

That feeling of powerlessness is despairing.

"ikebana……"

Mitsui and Miyagi stepped forward to offer their comfort.

"It's okay, Rukawa... losing to him isn't shameful."

"Exactly, you've only been learning for a few months, and you're already very good."

Sakuragi ignored him and suddenly turned his head, his gaze fixed on Lin Bei, who was sitting on the bench drinking water.

In those eyes, it was as if something had shattered, or as if something was being put back together.

"Master."

Sakuragi's voice was hoarse, carrying a vulnerability he had never shown before:

Why can't I get in?

"That door...that feeling..."

"Why couldn't I find that feeling no matter how hard I tried or how hard I thought about it?"

Lin Bei put down the water bottle and looked at Sakuragi, whose face was ashen.

He knew what Sakuragi was talking about.

Zone.

That is the absolute domain that only the chosen ones, the darlings of the basketball god, can enter.

During the match against Hainan, Sakuragi, in a state of extreme anger and focus, did indeed accidentally push open that door.

But that was just a fleeting stroke of luck.

Sakuragi at this point is far from qualified, both in terms of technical skills and mental fortitude.

Forcing it to open will only ruin it.

Lin Bei stood up and walked to Sakuragi's side.

Instead of reaching out to pull him, she looked up at the vast night sky just like him.

"Because..."

Lin Bei put his hands in his pockets, his tone unusually deep:

"Because it's not the right time yet."

Lin Bei lowered his head, looked at Sakuragi, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips:

"When will you be able to hone your fundamentals to the point where it's as natural as breathing?"

"When will you start playing basketball purely for the sake of basketball, instead of for the sake of so-called 'face' and 'favor'?"

"That door will open by itself without you having to push it."

Sakuragi was stunned.

He looked at Lin Bei with a half-understanding, and subconsciously touched his bald head.

Basic... Nature...

……

On the other side of the street, the streetlights cast long shadows of two people.

Shota Sugiyama and Coach Karasawa walked side by side.

A cold glint flashed across Tang Ze's glasses as the night wind blew by.

"That Akagi Takenori..."

Tang Ze broke the silence:

"The technique is still somewhat rough..."

"But his leadership qualities and his ruthless, fearless spirit are exactly what Fukasawa Sports University lacks right now."

"With a little refinement, he could be the best center in the country."

"Ambitious enough."

Shota Sugiyama, hands in his pockets, looked at the moon with a playful smirk.

"To dominate the entire country?"

"Ha, in this era overrun by monsters, anyone who dares to shout such a slogan is either a madman or a true powerhouse."

"I'm really looking forward to seeing how far they can go."

Tang Ze stopped and glanced back in the direction of the Akagi family's residence:

"The quarterfinals are just the threshold."

"If he can really lead that so-called 'Shohoku' team to the end..."

"This summer is going to be very interesting."

……

The balcony of the Akagi family home.

The night wind howled.

Takenori Akagi leaned forward, his hands resting on the railing, as if trying to embrace the entire night sky.

The bold words he had just uttered in the living room were still surging through his veins, burning him with fervor.

Fukasawa is large.

To dominate the entire country.

These words collided wildly in his mind, sparking brilliant ideas.

The dream suppressed for three years is finally no longer just a dream, but a reality within reach!

"roar!!!!!"

Akagi took a deep breath and roared at the endless sky.

The sound, like a raging lion awakening, shattered the tranquility of the night, unleashing the wildness within.

The stray cat downstairs was so frightened that it meowed and scurried up a tree.

The neighbor's light came on, the window was opened, and a grumbling sound came from inside:

"What's wrong with you doing this in the middle of the night?!"

"No need to sleep!"

But Akagi didn't care.

His gaze pierced through the darkness, as if he could already see himself standing at the pinnacle of the nation.

Even if it's hell ahead, I'm going to brave it!

Just wait, the national competition!

Shohoku, here we come!

……

"Hello!"

"You damned fox, don't go!"

"Don't go!!"

A roar exploded in the classroom.

The volume was so high that it almost lifted the ceiling off.

Then came a loud "bang".

Sakuragi Hanamichi sprang up from his seat like a zombie that had risen from the dead.

The large hand that had tried to grab Rukawa Kaede in his dream slammed hard onto the desk.

The entire class fell silent.

The air seemed to freeze for three seconds.

On the podium, the math teacher's chalk snapped in two with a "crack".

He slowly turned around, veins bulging on his forehead like a few happier earthworms dancing disco.

Behind the thick-rimmed glasses, a menacing light gleamed, a light known as "Nuclear Benevolence."

Sakuragi maintained the Erkang hand gesture, his gaze gradually focusing.

Instead of that dead-eyed, expressionless man, there were dozens of eyes staring at the rare gorilla, and Ms. Xiaochi, who was emanating black energy.

Mito Yohei, a classmate, covered his face and chuckled silently, his shoulders shaking like a leaf.

"Sakura...ki...hana...michi..."

Ms. Koike's voice sounded like shards of ice squeezed out from between her teeth.

Sakuragi scratched his bald head, trying to get away with his signature silly grin:

"Haha...that..."

"Teacher, I'm practicing tactics...yes, tactics!"

"Tactics?"

The teacher pushed up his glasses, and a cold glint flashed in the lenses.

"Perfect timing, the final report cards have come out."

"I think your tactics would really need it."