Visiting Shohoku

"Wu Yufei, where exactly are we going?"

On the train, Naito Junko asked curiously.

Today was Wednesday. After regular practice ended, Wu Yufei unusually did not volunteer for extra training. Instead, he mysteriously led Naito Junko away from the high school and onto a train headed somewhere unfamiliar.

"You'll know when we get there."

Junko asked several times along the way, but Wu Yufei brushed her off with the same answer every time.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the gates of a rather ordinary high school.

"Shohoku... High School?"

Naito Junko read the name of the school before them.

That was right. Wu Yufei had given up his evening extra training and brought Junko to Shohoku High School, the place where his basketball dream had begun in his previous life.

He had actually wanted to come here for a long time, but all sorts of things had kept getting in the way.

With the Prefectural Tournament drawing closer by the day, Wu Yufei finally made up his mind. He gave up a day of extra training and came here to see the childhood idols from his previous life.

"Why did we come here?"

Naito Junko was quite confused.

"An excellent team manager needs to know not only her own team's players inside and out, but also thoroughly investigate any opponents who could become formidable rivals."

Wu Yufei explained in a very convincing manner.

"Then shouldn't we be going to Kainan or Shoyo?"

In Naito Junko's eyes, Miuradai's biggest opponents this year were those two, perhaps with Ryonan added in. After all, they had been last year's final four, while Shohoku seemed to have been eliminated in the first round last year.

"Kainan and Shoyo are already among the strongest teams in the prefecture. If we want information on them, we can get it from newspapers and elsewhere. There's no need to go all the way there."

Wu Yufei continued, "On the other hand, although Shohoku's record last year wasn't impressive, their strength will definitely explode this year!"

Hearing the certainty in Wu Yufei's voice, most of Junko's doubts faded away.

She trusted Wu Yufei's judgment. Although they had not known each other for very long, Wu Yufei had never been wrong before, so Junko trusted him greatly.

"All right, let's head inside first. You'll understand why I came all this way soon enough."

After briefly explaining their purpose to the guard, Wu Yufei and Junko were allowed into the Shohoku campus and headed straight toward the basketball gym.

Thump! Thump!! Thump!!

At the entrance to the gym, Wu Yufei listened to the sounds of practice coming from inside and smiled as he pulled open the door.

"Sorry to interrupt~~"

In an instant, everyone in the gym turned their eyes toward Wu Yufei and Naito Junko.

"Who are they?"

"Don't know them... They aren't wearing our school uniforms either."

"...Wow, that guy is huge. He seems only a little shorter than Sakuragi Hanamichi, but he's just as built."

"Are they from another school's basketball team?"

"Hmm... I feel like I've seen him somewhere before. Let me think..."

Wu Yufei and Naito Junko's appearance made all the Shohoku players, who had been focused on practice, stop what they were doing and begin murmuring among themselves.

"Keep practicing!"

A roar like that of a great ape forcibly snapped everyone back to attention.

The next moment, a man with a build similar to Naito Tetsuya's, though with an even more imposing presence, walked up to them.

"It is basketball team practice time. Unrelated personnel, please do not come in and interfere with the team's training!"

Akagi Takenori's voice was not loud, but it carried an oppressive force that made him impossible to argue with.

So this was the real Gorilla!! Seeing him up close really felt completely different from watching him in the anime.

[Whoa, he's terrifying. Shohoku actually has a player like this?]

Naito Junko was startled for a moment and hid behind Wu Yufei like a frightened little rabbit.

"Well, well, I'm not some unrelated or suspicious person. I mainly came here to see an acquaintance."

Wu Yufei forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart and explained.

"An acquaintance?"

"Rukawa Kaede."

Wu Yufei pointed past Gorilla at Rukawa Kaede, who was practicing on the court and had not looked over at all.

"Hm?"

Only after hearing someone call his name did Rukawa Kaede turn around and see Wu Yufei standing at the entrance.

It's him?

Naturally, Rukawa Kaede knew Wu Yufei. At last year's middle school Prefectural Tournament, the final had been between Wu Yufei's team and the heavily favored Tomioka Middle School led by Rukawa Kaede. In the end, Wu Yufei's team won and entered the National Tournament as the top seed.

It had originally been a highly anticipated clash between evenly matched rivals. However, Rukawa Kaede overslept and vanished for the entire first half, instantly tilting the scales of victory completely. Tomioka was beaten 55–15 by Wu Yufei and his teammates in the first half alone.

The enormous gap was impossible for Rukawa Kaede to make up after he arrived at halftime. Though he put up a brilliant 30 points and 10 rebounds in just one half, it was still useless.

After the game, Wu Yufei had even approached Rukawa Kaede himself, shaken his hand, and arranged to face him again in high school.

"Ah!! I remember now! He's the exchange student Wu Yufei, who led his team to the National Tournament quarterfinals last year!!"

Kuwata Toki, who had come from Tōen Middle School, finally recognized Wu Yufei and shouted in surprise.

"Wu Yufei? That super rookie?"

Several Shohoku players beside him also wore astonished expressions.

After all, this was still only the 1990s, not twenty years later, when information traveled at incredible speeds.

As for Wu Yufei, many people had only heard his name and never seen him in person.

Kuwata Toki had recognized Wu Yufei because Tōen Middle School had faced him last year. Kuwata had been a substitute at the time, so among the entire Shohoku team, he and Rukawa Kaede were the only two people who had personally seen Wu Yufei play.

Wu Yufei walked over to Rukawa Kaede, picked up a basketball by his feet, and dribbled as he said with a smile, "I heard you lost your practice game against Ryonan by only one point. That's really surprising. Looks like Shohoku is taking off this year too."

"We could have won."

Rukawa Kaede said it without much concern.

"I see. That's impressive. How strong is Sendoh?"

"Very strong."

"Stronger than you?"

"I'm stronger!!"

"Then what about compared with me?"

"..."

After chatting briefly with Rukawa Kaede and Gorilla, Wu Yufei had finally fulfilled a childhood dream from his previous life.

"All right, then keep working hard. If we meet in the Prefectural Tournament, I'll definitely go all out!"

Wu Yufei waved as he walked toward the gym entrance.

"Huh?! We're leaving already?"

Naito Junko was confused.

"Well, I've seen what I wanted to see, so there's no reason to stay any longer."

Wu Yufei responded, then prepared to open the door and leave.

Swish!

"Hm?"

Wu Yufei turned around, saw the basketball flying toward him, and reached out to catch it steadily.

"You come whenever you want and leave whenever you want. What do you take Shohoku for?"

Flaming red pompadour, unruly expression, tall and powerful build.

Yep, Sakuragi Hanamichi. It still had that familiar feeling.

"So, you stopped me with a basketball. What exactly are you planning to do, Sakuragi Hanamichi...?"

Wu Yufei spun the basketball in his hand and asked with a smile.

"Huh?! You know me?"

"Of course. I have my own unique intelligence network! And in there, you're in a league of your own."

"Ahahahaha~ Is that so, is that so! So the great genius's fame has already spread throughout the entire prefecture?!"

"..."

His teammates watched Sakuragi Hanamichi's antics helplessly.

"So, what are you planning to do by stopping me, Mr. Genius?"

Wu Yufei asked again.

Sakuragi put away his goofy expression and replaced it with a serious one.

"Your name is Wu Yufei, right? I don't care what country you're an exchange student from, but since they call you a 'super rookie,' play me!"

Whoosh—!

The moment Sakuragi Hanamichi finished speaking, the gym immediately erupted into noise.

Bang!!

The next moment, Gorilla's iron fist of justice landed on Sakuragi's head.

"You idiot! His ability is no weaker than Rukawa Kaede's. Challenging him with your level, what's the difference between that and asking to be humiliated?"

"Ow... Ow, Gorilla, what are you doing?! That punch out of nowhere really hurt!"

Sakuragi completely ignored Gorilla's explanation and continued challenging Wu Yufei.

"Well! Do you dare play a game against this genius?! I'll let you know that Shohoku has someone a hundred times stronger than that stinky fox, Rukawa Kaede!"

"A hundred times stronger? That really is impressive."

Wu Yufei pretended to be amazed.

"All right, I did come here and get some information from your school. If I just left like this, it would be a little rude."

Smiling, Wu Yufei took off his jacket.

"Then let's play around for a bit."

Handing his jacket to Junko, Wu Yufei picked up the basketball and looked at Akagi Takenori nearby.

"That's fine, right? Captain Akagi."

"Hmph. Do whatever you want."

In truth, Gorilla was also very curious about Wu Yufei's ability.

After being teammates with Rukawa Kaede for a month, Gorilla believed he already had a pretty good understanding of Rukawa Kaede's strength.

Yet such a powerful player as Rukawa Kaede was not Kanagawa Prefecture's universally recognized number-one super rookie. Above Rukawa Kaede stood another super rookie: Wu Yufei, who was right before him.

That was why Gorilla was extremely curious about just how strong Wu Yufei was.

Leading a team to the National Tournament quarterfinals in less than a year was not much of a reference point for Gorilla. After all, he had never believed basketball was a one-man sport.

Although Rukawa Kaede looked calm and indifferent, as if he did not care about Wu Yufei and Sakuragi's match, he had actually stopped practicing and was watching from the side.

Soon, half the court was cleared, and Wu Yufei and Sakuragi took their positions beyond the three-point line.

"Then we'll use standard streetball rules. No objections?"

Wu Yufei asked.

Sakuragi immediately replied, "No problem!"

"All right, then you go first, Sakuragi."

With that, Wu Yufei tossed the ball to Sakuragi and took up his defensive stance.

The showdown between Wu Yufei and Sakuragi Hanamichi was about to begin.

On one side stood the universally recognized super rookie; on the other stood a self-proclaimed super genius.