Kiyota Nobunaga suddenly turned his head.
His eyes widened.
"Martial Arts?"
"Maki-senpai, you're joking, right?"
"This is a basketball game!"
Maki shook his head, his expression extremely serious.
"Did you clearly see how Makino Juro generated force?"
Kiyota froze.
After thinking back, he could only shake his head.
"He was too fast. All I saw was Minami flying away."
Jin Soichiro pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and calmly analyzed the situation.
"At the moment of impact, Juro made an extremely small twist with his body and avoided Minami's elbow."
"Then he used his shoulder to strike Minami in the chest," Jin added.
Maki nodded.
"That's right. It was an incredibly sophisticated method of generating force."
Maki took a deep breath.
"I once saw it on television. It's called the Iron Mountain Lean."
Kiyota sucked in a cold breath.
"Iron Mountain Lean? Isn't that a fighting technique? How dare he use it on a basketball court?"
Maki sneered.
"Because he calculated the referee's angle."
"From the referee's perspective, Minami was the one who ran into him. Makino Juro only made a normal move to protect the ball."
Coach Takato opened his folding fan again.
"This Makino Juro isn't just terrifying when it comes to basketball."
"His mind is even more frightening."
He glanced toward Toyotama's bench.
"That pack of mad dogs from Toyotama has finally kicked an iron wall."
…
The door to Shohoku's locker room was suddenly thrown open.
Bang!
Sakuragi Hanamichi strode into the room and punched the metal locker with all his strength.
The hard locker door immediately caved inward.
The harsh sound of twisting metal echoed throughout the room.
"Damn it!"
Sakuragi roared through gritted teeth.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his chest rose and fell violently.
The atmosphere inside the locker room was oppressive to the extreme.
No one spoke.
Every player was consumed by anger.
Makino Juro walked over to the bench and sat down.
He twisted open a bottle of mineral water and took a large gulp.
The cold water slid down his throat.
Makino Juro raised his head and broke the silence.
"How's Rukawa Kaede?"
Yasuda swallowed and stood up from the corner.
"He's still in the infirmary. I'll go check on him."
He turned toward the door, but then stopped and asked tentatively.
"Should Sakuragi come along?"
Sakuragi suddenly turned his head.
He strode behind Yasuda and wrapped his thick arm around Yasuda's neck.
"Huh?"
"Why do I have to go see that dead fox?" Sakuragi roared.
Yasuda's face turned bright red as he struggled desperately, waving both hands.
"Because… because when Rukawa got hurt on the court, you were the first one to rush over."
"I thought you were worried about him…"
Yasuda struggled to breathe.
Several veins bulged on Sakuragi's forehead.
He immediately slammed his forehead into Yasuda's.
Thud!
A dull impact rang out.
Yasuda crouched down while clutching his head, tears almost spilling from his eyes.
Sakuragi pointed down at him and shouted.
"Listen carefully!"
"One day, I will defeat Rukawa Kaede!"
Sakuragi put his hands on his hips and raised his head with a cold snort.
"I was studying Rukawa's weaknesses just now. That clueless bastard ruined my good work."
He pointed toward Toyotama's side outside the door.
"That's why I got so worked up! Do you understand now?"
Yasuda held his head and nodded repeatedly.
"I understand, I understand."
Akagi Takenori approached with a dark expression and unceremoniously punched Sakuragi on the head.
"Stop acting crazy in here!" Akagi roared.
Sakuragi crouched on the floor while clutching his head.
"Gorilla, what was that for?!"
Akagi ignored him and turned toward Juro.
"How are we going to play the second half?"
Makino Juro lowered the water bottle in his hand, stood up, and walked over to the tactics board.
"Toyotama will definitely become even more vicious in the second half."
Makino Juro picked up a marker and drew several circles on the board.
"They'll shift their targets to either me or the captain. Everyone needs to be careful and protect yourselves."
Miyagi Ryota clenched his fists.
"Those bastards don't deserve to play basketball."
Mitsui Hisashi leaned against the wall and wiped the sweat from his face.
"We'll answer them by putting points on the board."
Coach Anzai sat in his chair and pushed up his reflective glasses.
"Everyone, remain calm."
He spoke slowly.
"Winning the game is the best revenge."
Makino Juro nodded.
His voice was cold enough to freeze.
"Leave it to me. I'll show them what despair really means."
Sakuragi suddenly stood up.
Without saying a word, he walked toward the door.
"Where are you going?" Akagi asked.
"To the bathroom!"
Sakuragi pushed open the door without looking back.
As he walked through the empty corridor, however, he did not head toward the bathroom.
Instead, he went straight to the infirmary.
The infirmary door was half open.
Sakuragi stopped and peered inside through the gap.
Rukawa Kaede was sitting on a hospital bed.
The doctor was using gauze to clean the wound above his brow.
Blood had stained the white gauze red.
Rukawa's face was pale, but his right eye still held a cold fighting spirit.
Sakuragi pushed open the door and walked inside.
The two exchanged glances.
The air instantly fell silent.
"What are you doing here?" Rukawa asked coldly.
"I came to see if you were dead yet," Sakuragi shot back without hesitation.
The doctor looked at the two of them.
"The wound is deep. He needs stitches."
"He absolutely cannot play in the second half."
Rukawa suddenly stood up and gritted his teeth.
"I can still play."
The doctor immediately pushed him back onto the bed and scolded him sternly.
"Stop fooling around!"
Sakuragi walked to the bedside and crossed his arms as he looked at Rukawa.
"Dead fox, just lie there obediently."
"Leave the rest of the game to this genius."
Rukawa snorted.
"Idiot."
A vein bulged on Sakuragi's forehead.
He forcibly restrained himself from exploding.
"Keep your eyes open and watch carefully."
"I'll crush those bastards and leave them scattered like fallen flowers."
"And I'll win for you, too!"
After saying that, Sakuragi turned around and walked out of the infirmary.
Rukawa watched his retreating back and clenched his fist.
He muttered under his breath.
"Don't lose, idiot."
At the same time, the atmosphere inside Toyotama's locker room was filled with a strange kind of excitement.
Several players were laughing without the slightest restraint.
Itakura Daijiro slapped his thigh.
"Captain, you slid way too far just now! Hahahaha! I can't believe that referee actually fell for it!"
Yasaka Kyohei also chimed in.
"Those Shohoku guys must be furious!"
Kishimoto Minori leaned against the locker, his face full of arrogance.
"That number sixteen from Shohoku is nothing but a clown."
"I'm going to cripple him in the second half!"
Minami Tsuyoshi sat on the bench in the corner.
He did not join in with his teammates' celebration.
He held a white towel tightly against his chest.
The laughter around him sounded especially grating.
Minami lowered his head and stared at his slightly trembling hands.
His mind was filled with confusion.
How did I suddenly go flying?
When he recalled the moment of impact, he still could not understand it.
That force had been completely impossible to resist.
It had felt like crashing into a moving steel wall.
His sternum was still faintly aching.
Every breath brought a tearing pain.
There was even a metallic taste of blood in his throat.
That had definitely not been a flop.
The other player had really sent him flying.
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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