Hanamichi's 0 Points

Meanwhile.

On the street outside the gymnasium.

The sun was bright, and cicadas chirped in waves.

A bicycle wobbled its way up the slope.

"Hey! Kiyota! Stop moving around!"

The rider was a tall, lean boy with gentle eyes—Kainan's Soichiro Jin.

Squatting on the back seat was a wild monkey with long hair and an arrogant expression.

Kainan's first-year super rookie, Nobunaga Kiyota.

Nobunaga Kiyota gripped a can of soda and shouted unhappily:

"Ahhh! Jin-senpai! Pedal faster!"

"Shouldn't a slope like this be flat ground to a Kainan man?!"

"And I seriously don't get it!"

Kiyota complained with a displeased look. "Why did we come all this way to watch a team like Shohoku play?"

"And against a team like Miuradai, no less."

"What's there to watch in a bunch of weaklings pecking at each other?"

"No matter who wins, once they face Kainan, they'll only get slaughtered!"

Jin smiled helplessly and pushed harder on the pedals.

"Didn't Coach say that Shohoku brought in several promising rookies this year?"

"Especially Kaede Rukawa. I heard he was already famous in middle school."

"And that mysterious Number 16 who defeated Ryonan in a practice match."

"They all have the potential to become super rookies."

The moment he heard the words "super rookie," Nobunaga Kiyota bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Huh?!"

"What potential? What Kaede Rukawa? What Number 16?"

"Who the hell do they think they are?!"

Kiyota stood up on the bicycle's back seat and pointed at the sky as he shouted, nearly making Jin fall over.

"There's only one super rookie in Kanagawa!"

"And that's me!"

"Kainan's future ace! The great Nobunaga Kiyota!!"

"Everyone besides me is trash! Trash!"

Jin sighed and steadied the handlebars.

"Alright, alright, strongest rookie king. Sit down already. We're here."

Ahead, the outline of Fujisawa Gymnasium had come clearly into view.

Faintly, they could even hear earth-shaking cheers coming from inside.

"Tch, yelling that loudly? It must be those Miuradai gorillas making noise."

Kiyota jumped off the bicycle, fixed his hair, and strode toward the entrance with a disdainful expression.

"Let this true genius inspect the performance of these mortals."

Swish!

Another three-pointer.

Lin Bei landed and glanced at the scoreboard.

129:47.

The gap had reached a despair-inducing eighty-two points.

The entire game had practically become Lin Bei's personal show.

Whenever he got the ball, he scored.

Miuradai's players had completely given up on defense.

Kengo Murasame braced his hands on his knees and gasped heavily, sweat pouring down him like a waterfall.

His eyes had gone unfocused. As he looked at the still-relaxed Lin Bei, nothing remained in his heart but deep fear.

"Monster..."

"This guy... isn't human at all..."

In the stands.

The Ryonan players' expressions had also turned extremely grim.

"129 points..."

Hiroaki Koshino swallowed. "And the game isn't even over yet."

"This is way too ridiculous..."

"Even Kainan might not be able to crush Miuradai like this."

"Shohoku... Their offensive firepower this year is terrifyingly strong."

Jun Uozumi crossed his arms, his face so dark it looked ready to drip water.

"It's not just Lin Bei."

"That Kaede Rukawa scored forty points, and Mitsui scored thirty..."

"This team no longer has any weaknesses."

Sendoh said nothing.

He merely watched quietly as the figure on the court headed toward the bench.

Lin Bei raised a hand and made a substitution gesture toward Coach Anzai.

"That was about enough."

Lin Bei panted heavily and closed the template.

Mission complete.

Beeeep—!

The referee blew the whistle.

"Shohoku requests a substitution!"

"Number 16, Lin Bei, out! Number 4, Takenori Akagi, in!"

When they saw Lin Bei leave the court, Miuradai's players actually let out a collective sigh of relief.

The suffocating mountain pressing down over their heads had finally been moved away.

"Good work, Lin Bei."

Coach Anzai smiled as he handed him a towel.

"Yeah."

"I'll leave the rest to the gorilla."

Lin Bei took the towel and draped it directly over his head.

Then he dropped into a chair and gulped down water.

There was only one minute and a half left in the game.

Although Lin Bei had left the court, Shohoku's offense did not stop.

Takenori Akagi, the gorilla who had been holding back for half the game, now rampaged through the paint like a ferocious beast released from its cage.

Bang!

Akagi threw down a two-handed slam and changed the score once more.

However.

Amid this celebration, one person seemed completely out of place.

Hanamichi Sakuragi.

He stood at the edge of the key, his face filled with anxiety as his entire body trembled.

"Damn it... Damn it!!"

Hanamichi stared at the glaring numbers on the scoreboard.

Everyone was scoring.

That damn fox Kaede Rukawa had stolen all the spotlight.

The gorilla had dunked several times too.

Even Glasses had made a mid-range shot just now.

Only him!

Only this "genius"!

His score was still—zero points!

"What kind of joke is this?!"

"How can this genius's debut end with zero points?!"

"I want to dunk! I want that earth-shattering dunk!!"

Hanamichi's eyes had turned blood-red, filled with an overwhelming desire to score.

Just then.

Ryota Miyagi stole the ball!

"Fast break!!"

Miyagi shouted as he pushed the ball upcourt.

Hanamichi Sakuragi exploded forward in an instant, charging toward the frontcourt like an out-of-control Ferrari.

"Ryota!! Pass it to me!!"

Hanamichi waved and roared as he ran.

Miyagi glanced at Hanamichi's position.

Though he felt it was a little forced, he still flicked his wrist and lofted the ball high into the air.

"Catch it, Hanamichi!"

"Perfect chance!!"

As Hanamichi watched the basketball fly toward him, his heart pounded violently.

This was the moment he had dreamed of!

An alley-oop!

A dunk!

The finishing blow!

"I'm a genius!!!"

Hanamichi planted hard and leaped from a step inside the free-throw line.

His terrifying jumping power sent him soaring in an instant, as if he had broken free of gravity itself.

He caught the basketball one-handed in midair, his body stretched taut like a drawn bow.

And beneath the basket.

Kengo Murasame, whose mentality had long since collapsed from the beating, saw this and finally erupted in rage.

"Don't get too cocky, red-haired monkey!!"

"This is my territory!!"

Murasame roared as he jumped, raising both hands high in an attempt to block Hanamichi.

But he had underestimated Hanamichi's jumping height.

Hanamichi had jumped far too high!

His head was already level with the rim.

"Out of my way!!"

"Haahhh!!"

Hanamichi roared, swung his arm in a full arc, and slammed the basketball down with every ounce of strength in his body!

This shot contained all his rage, unwillingness, and desire!

However.

Just as the basketball was about to be smashed into the hoop.

Murasame's body began to descend because he had not jumped high enough.

While Hanamichi was still rising.

And so.

That basketball, carrying tremendous force, did not go into the hoop.

Instead, it flew straight and true toward...

Thud!!!

An incomparably dull, thunderous impact rang out.

The basketball smashed brutally into Kengo Murasame's forehead!