Educating Sakuragi

Did Wu Yufei really not know what Sakuragi Hanamichi was capable of?

Of course he knew, but he simply could not stop himself from wanting to go one-on-one with Sakuragi, even if Sakuragi was still just a complete basketball novice.

As for how long he had been exposed to basketball, Sakuragi Hanamichi had not even been playing for two full months. Whether it was his skills or his overall knowledge of the game, he was utterly lacking in every respect.

The same was true for ball-handling offense. Miyagi Ryota had yet to return to the team, and nobody on Shohoku's roster could teach Sakuragi how to play with the ball. Wu Yufei therefore did not defend very seriously, yet Sakuragi Hanamichi still had no way to deal with the person in front of him.

"Ugh... ugh... damn it!!"

After several consecutive drives ended in failure, Sakuragi Hanamichi angrily flung the ball toward the distant basket.

"Watch my genius dunk!!"

The instant the ball left his hand, Sakuragi darted around Wu Yufei and ran beneath the hoop.

"Heh."

Rather than immediately heading under the basket to battle Sakuragi for position, Wu Yufei glanced at the ball rebounding off the backboard, judged where it would land, then beat Sakuragi to the best spot and secured the rebound in one motion.

"Ahhhhh!! My rebound!!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi had actually spotted where the rebound would fall almost immediately as well, but Wu Yufei had already boxed him out, giving Sakuragi no chance at all.

"Then, it's my turn now."

Wu Yufei dribbled back beyond the three-point line, grinning at Sakuragi as he bounced the ball.

"Bring it on! I won't let you score even one point!"

Sakuragi did not lose heart because of his failed first possession. On the contrary, he focused with all his might as he guarded Wu Yufei.

The next moment, once he saw Sakuragi settle into his defensive stance, Wu Yufei moved.

He crossed the ball over to his left hand and drove past Sakuragi's left side!

"No way!!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi made an exaggerated sideways leap to the left, blocking what he believed was the unavoidable path of Wu Yufei's drive.

However, Wu Yufei did not drive left as Sakuragi had expected. Instead, he immediately crossed over again and cut into the paint from Sakuragi's right side.

"Total idiot..."

Rukawa Kaede said with a roll of his eyes, while the other teammates let out long sighs.

Having successfully broken through, Wu Yufei did not hold back, casually laying the ball in for a point.

"Let's continue."

Wu Yufei tossed the ball back to Sakuragi and said with a smile.

"Damn it!!"

On the second possession, Sakuragi tried to imitate Wu Yufei with a crossover move of his own. Unfortunately, his technique was not up to par, and Wu Yufei picked his moment perfectly to poke the ball away.

With offense and defense switching, Wu Yufei used the same crossover from the previous possession and toyed with Sakuragi Hanamichi once again.

The same familiar move, the same familiar result.

For four straight possessions, Wu Yufei used the exact same move to get past Sakuragi Hanamichi before scoring a layup.

"Damn it!! You lousy Chinese brat! If you've got the guts, stop using that move!"

When Wu Yufei beat Sakuragi with a crossover for the fifth time, scored the layup, and extended the score to 5–0, Sakuragi finally exploded.

Wu Yufei helplessly shrugged. "All right, then."

Sakuragi began his drive from outside the three-point line. This time, Wu Yufei deliberately let Sakuragi blow past him.

Yet the poor redhead thought he had finally succeeded in getting past his opponent. Thrilled, he took three steps, sprang up, and raised the basketball high, ready to give the hoop in front of him a long-awaited thunderous dunk.

Bang!!

A massive sound echoed through the gym, but sadly, it was not the groan of the rim after Sakuragi's dunk. It was the sound of a monstrous block smashing hard into Sakuragi's head.

Amid the astonished gazes of everyone in the gym, Wu Yufei had somehow leaped to nearly the same height as Sakuragi, swung his huge hand, and delivered a chase-down block straight onto him.

"Now, it's my turn."

After landing, Wu Yufei grabbed the rebounding ball in one motion and headed straight for the check spot at the top of the arc. Sakuragi hurriedly chased after him.

"We agreed that I wouldn't use a crossover this time, so..."

The moment he finished speaking, Wu Yufei took off.

This time, true to his word, Wu Yufei did not use a crossover to break through. Instead, he turned his back to Sakuragi and began backing him down.

Wu Yufei and Sakuragi were about the same height and had fairly similar builds, but Wu Yufei was clearly much more experienced. He also understood how to use his strength to steadily force his opponent closer to the basket.

Just as Wu Yufei had expected, although Sakuragi was exceptionally strong, he did not know how to use finesse. He could only be pushed backward step by step by Wu Yufei until he was forced into the paint.

Once he reached his ideal range, Wu Yufei used a shoulder fake to fool Sakuragi behind him, spun toward the basket, and easily rose for a finger roll.

"It's 6–0 now. By the rules, I only need one more basket."

Wu Yufei turned around and said with a smile to the furious Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"Quit talking! I'll score seven straight on you right away!"

That was probably Sakuragi Hanamichi's strength. No matter when it was, he could maintain an incredibly fierce desire to win.

But Wu Yufei had no intention of indulging that desire. On the next possession, he decisively stole the ball from Sakuragi, then went between the legs and followed it with a soaring slam, ending this one-on-one match against Sakuragi Hanamichi 7–0.

"After all, your position on the court is power forward, and offense is not what you're good at to begin with, so there's no need to be too discouraged. Practice your boxing out, shot-blocking, and rebounding properly, and you can still become the brightest star on the court. Keep it up."

After offering a few words of comfort to the dejected Sakuragi, Wu Yufei waved at Rukawa Kaede.

"The next time we play against each other, I hope you won't be late like you were in middle school."

After leaving those words behind, Wu Yufei left the gym with Naito Junko and walked out through the gates of Shohoku High School.

"So you came all the way here just to bully a rookie who only just started playing basketball?"

Several black lines seemed to hang over Naito Junko's forehead as she complained.

Junko had just learned from the other Shohoku players that Sakuragi Hanamichi was a rookie who had touched a basketball less than two months ago. She was now extremely puzzled as to why Wu Yufei had made a special trip here.

It would have made sense if he had come to find Rukawa Kaede, who had been as famous as him last year. Yet he had only exchanged a few words with Rukawa.

"You can't put it that way. If Sakuragi Hanamichi truly devotes himself completely to basketball, his future achievements definitely won't be any lower than Rukawa Kaede's. His talent is unquestionably the best among that group!"

Wu Yufei said with a smile.

"No way... He only started playing basketball this semester. Logically speaking, he should have already missed the golden age for training, right?"

"That only applies to ordinary people. For someone as gifted as Sakuragi Hanamichi, it absolutely isn't too late to start now. With his talent and personality, things that take others more than ten years to achieve would take him three months at most."

"That's really rare. Yufei, you actually praised someone that highly."

Hearing Wu Yufei speak so confidently of Sakuragi Hanamichi's talent, Naito Junko began to doubt her earlier judgment as well.

After all, she did not know much about basketball herself. Since the more knowledgeable Wu Yufei had judged it that way, Junko had no reason to insist on her own opinion.

Having finally met an idol from his childhood in his previous life, and having left such a deep impression on them, Wu Yufei was in an exceptionally good mood today.

"Junko, let's go have dessert! My treat!"

With the timing, place, and circumstances all in his favor, Wu Yufei planned to use this opportunity to launch an offensive against Junko.