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

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Before Murasame could even let out a scream, he rolled his eyes.

He fell backwards straight down like a wooden stake.

"thump!"

He fell heavily to the floor, foaming at the mouth and unconscious.

The basketball bounced high after hitting his head and flew out of bounds.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

Everyone gaped, their eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

Even the referee was stunned, and his whistle fell out of his mouth.

Sakuragi Hanamichi landed, maintaining the domineering pose he had just struck after the dunk.

"Did...did it get in?"

He looked up excitedly.

But they found that the basketball hoop was intact.

At his feet lay a "corpse".

"beep--!!!"

The belated whistle finally sounded, sharp and piercing.

"Shohoku's number 10! Foul!!"

"Five fouls! Off the court!!"

The referee rushed over and made that cruel gesture at Sakuragi.

Sakuragi Hanamichi froze.

"A foul...?"

"Leave?"

"My dunk..."

Just then.

Kiyota Nobunaga, who had just entered the stadium, witnessed this astonishing scene.

He was stunned for a full three seconds.

then.

"Pfft... Hahahaha!!!"

Kiyota Nobunaga clutched his stomach, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face, and he rolled around on the ground.

"Who is that?! Hahahaha!"

"Is that Shohoku's secret weapon?"

"Dunking a basketball on someone's head? Is that some new tactic? Hahahaha!"

"This is hilarious! He's such a clown!"

"This is hilarious!!"

Kiyota's unrestrained laughter sounded particularly jarring in the quiet gymnasium.

Sakuragi Hanamichi stiffly turned his head to look at the long-haired wild monkey who was laughing and rolling on the ground.

The fist hardened.

On the bench.

Hearing the commotion, Lin Bei lifted the towel off his face and glanced at the farce unfolding on the scene.

He glanced again at Kiyota Nobunaga, who was laughing so hard he was about to pass out.

"Ah... the wild monkeys are here."

Lin Bei shook his head helplessly and covered the towel back up.

"So noisy."

"but……"

"The match is over."

The time on the electronic scoreboard is reset to zero.

Shohoku VS Miuradai.

The final score was 135:50.

A massacre.

A farce.

And, the prelude to a new era.

The story unfolds slowly amidst this absurd yet shocking scene.

……

As the unlucky captain of Miura Dai was carried off the court after being "smashed in the head by a basketball".

Shohoku High School's debut ended in a way that was almost absurd yet extremely impactful.

Final score: 135 to 50.

This score was like a bombshell, sending shockwaves through the basketball community of Kanagawa Prefecture.

But this is just the beginning.

The next few qualifying matches.

Shohoku was like a bulldozer in berserk mode, sweeping all before them.

Kadono High School suffered a crushing defeat.

Tsukubu High School collapsed in the first half.

Lin Bei didn't even break a sweat.

The inner and outer cores consist of Rukawa Kaede and Akagi Takenori.

With the addition of Mitsui Hisashi and Miyagi's partnership, they are enough to destroy these weak teams.

However, behind this unstoppable winning streak, one person fell into deep despair.

"beep--!"

"Number 10 in red, pushing is a foul!"

"Five fouls, ejection!"

That damn whistle, it's like some kind of curse, it always sounds right on time for every game.

In the first game against Miura Dai, he fouled out after playing for less than ten minutes.

In the second game, he played diagonally and held on for twelve minutes before fouling out.

The third match...

Sakuragi Hanamichi is like a "foul-breaking machine" that has been programmed.

No matter how hard he tries, no matter how careful he is.

The referees seemed to be specifically targeting him.

Even the slightest touch to the opponent will trigger the whistle.

"The King of Exiting the Stage"

"The King of Fouls"

These nicknames began to circulate among the audience.

……

Time flies.

In the blink of an eye, Shohoku has made it to the final stage before the finals.

Their opponent is last year's second seed in the prefecture, a traditional powerhouse – Shoyo High School.

That was a legion of giants, all of whom were over 190cm tall.

It is also the first real mountain blocking Xiangbei's path to the national competition.

The night before the match.

The night was as dark as ink, and the streetlights cast long shadows of pedestrians.

Sakuragi Hanamichi walked home alone, the basketball in his hand bouncing idly on the ground.

"Bang... bang..."

His voice was muffled, much like his mood at that moment.

"hateful……"

Sakuragi stopped and looked at his reflection in the shop window.

The red-haired boy had a furrowed brow.

For the first time, a feeling called "self-doubt" appeared in his eyes.

"Could it be that this genius... is really just an amateur who only knows how to break the rules?"

Images of Rukawa Kaede dominating the court and Haruko cheering for him from the sidelines flashed through my mind.

And then there's Lin Bei, that lazybones. He's so lazy he can't even move, yet he can casually sink a super long-range three-pointer and is admired by everyone.

And what about yourself?

Each time, he was sent off in disgrace amidst the laughter of the audience.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Sakuragi slammed the ball into the ground, sending it bouncing high into the night sky.

"I don't want it to end like this!"

"Tomorrow is the game against Shohoku... If I get fouled out again..."

An unprecedented sense of crisis enveloped him.

Sakuragi Hanamichi suddenly raised his head, his eyes turning fierce again.

"No! I have to ask someone!"

"Looking for Lin Bei?"

"No way, that guy must have gone for a night run. He's been working incredibly hard lately."

"Looking for Rukawa Kaede? No way!"

A dark face flashed through Sakuragi's mind.

"Got it! The gorilla!"

……

The Akagi family.

Takenori Akagi was sitting at the dining table, enjoying a rare moment of peace.

A sumptuous dinner was laid out on the table: grilled fish, miso soup, and a large bowl of rice.

Tomorrow is the crucial battle against Shohoku, and as the captain, he must maintain his stamina.

"Xiangyang..."

Akagi picked up a piece of fish, his expression serious.

Kenji Fujima, the man who is both a coach and an ace defender, and Toru Hanagata, the flexible center.

This battle will not be easy.

"Knock knock knock!!"

A sudden, urgent, and violent knocking sounded, nearly knocking the chopsticks out of Akagi's hand.

"Who is it? It's so late."

Akagi frowned, put down his chopsticks, and got up to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, a huge face loomed over.

"Gorilla!!"

"puff--!"

Akagi almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Sakuragi Hanamichi stood at the doorway, his hands braced against the doorframe, a look of deep resentment on his face, his red hair appearing particularly eerie in the night.

"Sakuragi? What are you doing?"

A vein throbbed on Akagi's forehead. "If you're here to borrow money, forget it."

"It's not about the money!"

"Gorilla, I have something extremely urgent to ask you!"

Akagi closed the door helplessly, looking at the troublesome problem child in front of him.

"Speak, what is it?"

"If it's about Haruko, then get out of here."

"It's not Haruko!"

Sakuragi suddenly turned around, his face flushed red.

After holding it in for so long, he finally shouted it out:

Teach me!

"Teach me how to avoid getting sent off!!"