Master-Disciple Combo Technique

The referee's whistle blew.

Hanamichi Sakuragi flung off his jacket, revealing his number 10 jersey.

Head held high and chest puffed out, he strutted onto the court with a gait that acknowledged no one.

"Pfft..."

"What's that redhead coming on for?"

"Is that Shohoku's mascot?"

"He looks like a complete amateur."

Laughter rose from the stands again.

Hanamichi's steps stiffened for a moment.

He was nervous.

More nervous than he had ever been before.

Hanamichi walked onto the court, moving his arms and legs in sync like a rusty robot.

"Hanamichi! Stop spacing out!" Takenori Akagi roared.

"Y-Yes! Gorilla Captain!" Hanamichi snapped into a salute.

"Hahahaha!" The Ryonan players laughed so hard they could barely stand straight.

Just as Hanamichi was at a loss, a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hanamichi."

Lin Bei's voice sounded beside his ear.

Hanamichi turned and saw Lin Bei looking at him with a solemn expression.

"M-Master..."

"Don't be nervous."

Lin Bei pointed at Akira Sendoh across from them. "See that broom-headed guy?"

"I see him! That arrogant bastard!"

"I told him earlier that you're my secret weapon, specially brought on to deal with him."

"Really?!" Hanamichi's eyes widened.

"Of course."

Lin Bei continued his nonsense with a straight face. "Now, I'm going to teach you a combo technique."

"A combo technique?!"

An image of Ultraman combining flashed through Hanamichi's mind.

"This move is called Copper Wall, Iron Wall."

Lin Bei lowered his voice and pointed to Sendoh's rear flank.

"When I dribble over in a moment, you stand in that spot and block him like a wall."

"As long as you stop him for one second, I can score with my finishing move."

"This is a play that only master and disciple can pull off together."

Hanamichi's blood boiled as he listened, and two streams of white vapor shot from his nostrils.

"Leave it to me, Master!"

"This genius is Copper Wall, Iron Wall!"

The game resumed.

Shohoku was on offense.

Lin Bei had the ball, facing Sendoh.

Sendoh still wore that relaxed, easygoing posture, his eyes locked onto Lin Bei's center of gravity.

"Another change in tactics?"

Sendoh looked at Hanamichi, who was planted beside him like a wooden post, utterly unable to make sense of it.

Then Lin Bei moved.

There was no flashy crossover. He simply accelerated to the right.

Sendoh immediately slid over to cut him off.

"Too slow."

Just as Sendoh was about to steal the ball, he suddenly felt his body slam into a wall.

Bang!

It was genuinely hard.

Hanamichi Sakuragi protected his groin with both hands and rooted his feet to the floor.

He blocked Sendoh's path completely.

The posture was ugly, and his expression was ferocious.

But he really was like a mountain, stopping Sendoh in his tracks.

"What?" Sendoh was startled.

This amateur was incredibly strong!

Using that brief opening, Lin Bei had already shaken off his defender.

The path ahead was wide open.

But instead of driving, he stopped abruptly.

He pushed off with both feet and rose high into the air.

That pose again.

[Formless Shot]

Uozumi tried to rotate over, but he was too far away.

Lin Bei hung in the air and flicked his wrist lightly.

The basketball traced an absurdly high arc over everyone's heads.

Everyone looked up, their eyes following that orange planet.

Swish!

The crisp sound of the net was like heavenly music.

The ball went in.

27:14.

"Yeah!!!"

Hanamichi Sakuragi leaped up excitedly and rushed over to high-five Lin Bei.

"Master! It went in! It went in!"

"Copper Wall, Iron Wall is amazing!"

Lin Bei sidestepped Hanamichi's high-five, which looked capable of shattering a shoulder blade, and merely bumped fists with him.

"Good job."

"Keep it up."

"As long as you block them, I can score."

Lin Bei turned toward the somewhat stunned Sendoh.

At last, a genuine smile curled across his lips.

Scoring without working so hard really was great. Slacking off felt amazing.

"Sendoh."

"A two-on-one isn't a foul, right?"

Sendoh froze for a moment, then smiled as well.

He looked at the red-haired boy grinning foolishly, then at Lin Bei, whose gaze had sharpened.

The fighting spirit in his eyes finally ignited completely.

"Interesting."

"Then let's give it a try."

At the sidelines, Taoka Moichi's tactical board had somehow been crushed out of shape in his grip.

Watching that "freshman duo" work together so seamlessly, a powerful unease rose within him.

Shohoku...

Had truly changed.

Tweet—!

The referee's whistle announced the end of the first half.

The scoreboard froze at a glaring 50:45.

Shohoku was only five points behind.

The entire Ryonan Gymnasium sank into a strange, oppressive silence.

The Ryonan students who had come expecting to laugh at Shohoku.

Now looked like ducks with their throats clutched, mouths hanging open without a sound coming out.

That perennial bottom-feeder Shohoku...

That Shohoku with only Takenori Akagi...

Was actually close to tying the score?

"Huff... huff..."

Takenori Akagi braced both hands on his knees as sweat dripped from his chin onto the court, splashing into tiny droplets.

He was exhausted, but his eyes shone with a frightening brightness.

"Great job, everyone!"

"Keep up this pace! We can win!"

Akagi's voice trembled slightly with excitement he had suppressed for far too long.

On the other side, in Ryonan's rest area.

Taoka Moichi's tactical board was nearly crushed to pieces in his hand.

Coach Taoka, who had once calmly planned everything out with a confident smile on his face, now looked as black-faced as the bottom of a pot.

Smile?

Even if someone told him a hundred bad jokes right now, he would not be able to laugh.

"Is this what you call defense?!"

"You let Kaede Rukawa score 20 points! You let Akagi wreak havoc in the paint!"

"And that..."

Taoka's gaze swept toward Shohoku's bench, toward number 16, who was sprawled shamelessly in his chair drinking water.

"That number 16! Why do you keep losing him?!"

"He disappeared right in front of your eyes!"

Uekusa lowered his head, his face filled with shame, yet he had no way to defend himself.

He really could not see him!

"We have to change our strategy in the second half!"

Taoka Moichi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He turned toward Akira Sendoh, who was wiping away sweat.

"Sendoh."

"Yes, Coach."

Sendoh raised his head, his signature spiky hair still standing tall.

But his usually lazy eyes now carried a hint of gravity.

"Stop playing around."

"Show me what you're really capable of."

"If you don't start taking this seriously, I'll snap every one of your fishing rods and throw them into the sea to feed the fish," Taoka said in a low, serious voice.

Sendoh's smile stiffened. "Coach, isn't that threat a little too cruel..."

"Then win it back for me!"

"Listen. In the second half, we're focusing on the inside."

"Uozumi, you need to play tougher!"

"And Sendoh, you..."

Taoka picked up his tactical board and began drawing frantically.

While Taoka Moichi was passionately laying out the strategy.

A red head suddenly appeared outside the circle formed by the Ryonan players.

That head had a white towel draped over it.

It peeked around sneakily, occasionally nodding along with Taoka's words.

"Mhm, mhm, makes sense."

"So that's it. You're focusing on the inside."

"You old man really know your stuff."

Taoka Moichi was in the middle of an animated explanation when he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

That voice... Why was it so unfamiliar?

And that red hair... Did Ryonan have someone like that?

He abruptly stopped writing and turned around.

Their eyes met.

Hanamichi Sakuragi blinked and gave him an awkward yet polite smile.

"Hi, old man."

"Keep going. This genius was really getting into it."