Facing Tsukutake

After going to Shohoku and meeting the childhood idols from his previous life, fulfilling a long-held dream, Wu Yufei returned once more to his busy yet fulfilling daily routine.

Whether it was basketball or Naito Junko, Wu Yufei steadily moved forward according to his established plans.

As for the basketball team, there was naturally no need to say much. During every training session, Wu Yufei always completed the drills assigned by the coach both thoroughly and to standard. He also voluntarily stayed behind every day to keep practicing until he was the last one to leave the gym.

For others, having a father so busy with work that he forgot to communicate with his child might have been a source of distress, or even a tragedy. But for Wu Yufei, it was an absolute delight.

In this life, Wu Yufei's father was a workaholic who had no idea what family even meant. He devoted virtually all his energy to his company and career. In a week, Wu Yufei could count the number of times he saw his old man on one hand, and the two of them exchanged fewer than ten sentences.

Basically, by the time Wu Yufei got home, washed up, and went to bed each day, his father still had not returned. Every morning, when Wu Yufei got up early for morning practice, he could see his dad snoring away in his room or on the couch. If he still did not show up by morning, he had most likely spent the night at the company.

All Wu Yufei could do was prepare breakfast, leave it out, and head off for morning practice.

His dad was wholly devoted to the company, but wasn't he himself wholly devoted to basketball? In that regard, father and son were probably equally matched...

As for Junko, Wu Yufei was likewise making steady progress according to his plan.

Since all his actions were based on the premise of not affecting his basketball training, progress was not particularly fast, but it was enough for Wu Yufei.

Wu Yufei's alternately aggressive and unhurried pace gave Junko a faint sense that something was going on, but she could never be sure.

Just like that, the weekend arrived, along with the day of Miuradai's second practice game.

Today, Miuradai would host Tsukutake High School on their home court.

Miuradai's players arrived at the gym early. After warming up together, they each went through their pregame routines and waited for their opponents to arrive.

Tsukutake High School had also been one of last year's Prefectural Tournament quarterfinalists. They were a standard team-basketball squad. There were no genius-level players like Rukawa Kaede on the roster; the players at every position were relatively balanced, without any glaring weaknesses.

In the original manga, Shohoku's match against Tsukutake was only briefly mentioned. It simply stated that Tsukutake had once led Shohoku in the first half with their favored three-point tactics, but Miyagi's consecutive steals in the second half led Shohoku's counterattack. Faced with Shohoku's fierce comeback, Tsukutake, lacking stamina down the stretch, was ultimately crushed 79–111 and ended that year's Prefectural Tournament with another quarterfinal finish.

The anime-original movie, however, depicted the game in far greater detail. Sakuragi Hanamichi still scored zero points and fouled out with five fouls, but he excelled on another battlefield, grabbing 22 rebounds to tie the prefectural tournament group-stage record and becoming the brightest star on the court. Tsukutake's captain, Takushiro Tomokazu, also became too impatient after falling behind and was eventually ejected for arguing with the referee.

Since Naito Tetsuya was here, this parallel world should have been based on the anime version. That meant the guy on Tsukutake's team...

Whoosh!!

Just as Wu Yufei recalled information about Tsukutake while practicing his shots, the gym doors were pulled open.

"Sorry to disturb you!!"

A vigorous voice rang through the entire gym. When Wu Yufei turned and saw that distinctive hairstyle and hair color, the guess in his heart was finally confirmed.

Nango Koichiro, Tsukutake's freshman this year. At 192 centimeters tall and 89 kilograms, he was the tallest and strongest player on Tsukutake. He was one of the "three great freshman monkeys of SD" among anime fans: the blond monkey. The other two were naturally the red-haired monkey Sakuragi Hanamichi and the wild monkey Kiyota Nobunaga.

Sure enough, this important character from the original anime storyline had appeared as well.

Tsukutake's overall height was not impressive. They were a typical quick, agile team built around speed and finesse, and their tallest interior player was this Nango.

Like Sakuragi Hanamichi, he was simple-minded but gifted, with astonishing athleticism. He, too, immediately lit up at the sight of Akagi Haruko, and during the game, he challenged Sakuragi with Haruko as the prize.

He was practically a carbon copy of Sakuragi Hanamichi.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Kawasaki, coach of the Tsukutake basketball team."

The man leading them was quite a young coach, and Wu Yufei naturally recognized him. In the original work, he had been Coach Anzai's student during college, and he was an excellent coach. In three years coaching Tsukutake, without bringing in a single player worthy of being called a "genius," he had polished their team basketball and forcibly transformed Tsukutake from a bottom-feeding team that exited in the first round of the Prefectural Tournament into a quarterfinalist.

Give him a few more years, and he would surely mold Tsukutake into an even better team.

Coach Harada immediately stepped forward to shake his hand, while the captains of both teams also shook hands in greeting.

Now that the guests had arrived, the big show officially entered its countdown.

After Tsukutake's players quickly changed in the locker room, they returned to the court and began warming up.

The fifteen-minute warm-up quickly ended. With the referee's whistle, both sides temporarily left the court. After receiving their coaches' final pep talks, the starting lineups of both teams officially stepped onto the court.

Miuradai's starting lineup:

Center Naito Tetsuya,

Power forward Ohno Kazuki,

Small forward Murasame Kengo,

Shooting guard Ishiyama Jun,

Point guard Wu Yufei.

Tsukutake's starting lineup:

Center Nango Koichiro,

Power forward Izumi Takashi,

Small forward Takushiro Tomokazu,

Shooting guard Mine Kenta,

Point guard Natsume Hiroshi.

When Tsukutake's players saw the height of Miuradai's five starters, everyone except Nango wore grave expressions as though facing a formidable enemy.

When he saw Wu Yufei standing across from him at point guard, Natsume Hiroshi, who was only 165 centimeters tall, broke out in a cold sweat.

Damn it, someone that tall plays point guard?

Although height was not everything in basketball, it had to be said that this sport truly required height.

When you were shorter than your opponent, many tactical options were forcibly erased from the board.

Fortunately, Tsukutake was not a team that relied on height. Under head coach Kawasaki Kazumi's guidance, every Tsukutake player had maximized the disadvantage of their height and turned it into an advantage.

No need to panic. Small teams have their own unique advantages. As long as you can display those advantages, this game is still winnable!

Coach Kawasaki naturally understood Miuradai's height advantage. The reason he had chosen to schedule a practice game against Miuradai was to let his players better adapt to playing against tall teams.

Beep—!

With the referee's whistle, the game officially began!

"Haaahhh!!!"

At the jump ball, Nango Koichiro displayed his outstanding talent. Though he was clearly shorter and smaller than Naito Tetsuya in front of him, he still managed to leap to nearly the same height.

However, Naito got his hand on the ball first and successfully tipped it toward Wu Yufei.

"Good, let's go!"

Catching the flying basketball securely, Wu Yufei began organizing Miuradai's first possession.

Swish!

Thump!!

Facing Natsume Hiroshi's pressure defense, Wu Yufei blew past him with a behind-the-back dribble. Then he put the pedal to the floor and charged straight toward Tsukutake's paint.

"Get back on defense!!"

Having witnessed Wu Yufei's speed, Tsukutake captain Takushiro immediately led his teammates in a rapid retreat.

By the time Wu Yufei broke into Tsukutake's interior, three Tsukutake players had already gotten into position, watching him charge at them as though facing a formidable enemy.

First, Izumi Takashi!

Reaching Izumi, Wu Yufei did not slow down in the slightest. He used a lightning-fast crossover to fake his opponent off balance, then changed direction and drove past him.

Second, Mine Kenta!

Facing Mine Kenta as he rushed forward, Wu Yufei remained calm. He first feinted left, forcing his opponent to slide over, then used a behind-the-back dribble to make a perfect move right. He smoothly got past him and drove straight into the paint.

Last, Takushiro Tomokazu!

Facing Takushiro, who had tensed his entire body beneath the basket, Wu Yufei showed no fear. He took one step inside the paint and rose for a forceful layup.

"Whew..."

In midair, Wu Yufei used a slight double-clutch to evade Takushiro Tomokazu's extremely strained block attempt, then casually tossed the ball into the hoop.

One against three, what a dazzling display!

"Well done!!"

Applause and cheers immediately erupted from Miuradai's bench and the stands.

The game had only just begun, yet Wu Yufei had already displayed scorching form. He showed the visitors who had come from afar absolutely no courtesy, opening with a heavy blow as his greeting.

No wonder he was recognized as last year's super rookie in middle school basketball. His individual ability truly stands alone on this court.

In Tsukutake's rest area, Kawasaki Kazumi could not help but praise Wu Yufei's sequence just now.

To be fair, as a scorer who had once gained some renown in college basketball, he did not believe he himself could casually pull off such a play whenever he wanted.

It may indeed be difficult to stop him, but Tsukutake won't be defeated so easily.

The possession changed, and it was Tsukutake's turn.

Having fully recognized Wu Yufei's ability, Natsume Hiroshi did not let his guard down in the slightest. The moment he crossed half court, he passed the ball away, giving Wu Yufei no chance to steal it or apply suffocating on-ball defense.

And Tsukutake's most familiar and favored offensive tactics were finally activated.

Aside from center Nango, who stayed inside, Tsukutake's other four players constantly moved without the ball, tearing at Miuradai's defense.

"Give it to me, give it to me!!"

"Good!"

After Nango Koichiro muscled his way under the basket, he dramatically held out his hand for the ball, successfully drawing the attention of several Miuradai players, including Naito and Ohno.

Are they going to focus on the center?

Miuradai's players all collapsed inward toward the paint, but that gave Takushiro Tomokazu a perfect opportunity.

Slap!

The next moment, Takushiro had just gotten open beyond the three-point line at the right-side forty-five-degree angle when the basketball immediately arrived.

Without the slightest hesitation, Takushiro caught the ball and fired.

Swish!

The three-pointer went cleanly through the net. In less than twenty seconds, Tsukutake had taken a 3–2 lead.