Shohoku's Secret Weapon

And so, a bizarre scene appeared on the rooftop.

Lin Bei was lying down, asleep.

Beside him crouched a red-haired delinquent, his hands forming seals, his eyes shut.

At the same time, he muttered under his breath, "I am a rock... I am a rock..."

Five minutes later.

The rooftop door was pushed open again.

Haruko Akagi came upstairs carrying a lunchbox.

"Sakuragi? Lin Bei?"

"Is Sakuragi... constipated?" Haruko stared at the scene in surprise.

Hanamichi's expression was indeed twisted. His face was red from holding it in, and veins throbbed on his forehead.

"Waaah! Miss Haruko!"

"N-No!"

"This is training!"

"It's the ultimate basketball technique Master Lin Bei taught me!"

Hanamichi instantly broke his concentration and hurriedly straightened up.

"Master?"

Haruko blinked her large eyes and looked at Lin Bei, who was still asleep.

Lin Bei rolled over, turning his back to them, and waved a hand.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. He's constipated."

That afternoon, in the basketball gym.

Takenori Akagi stood at the front of the team, looking solemn.

"Next week, we're going to Ryonan High School for a practice game."

The words were like a pebble tossed into a lake.

"Ryonan? That Final Four team?"

"I heard Akira Sendoh is insanely good..."

The freshmen whispered among themselves.

Akagi coughed and took out a list.

"This practice game is mainly to build team chemistry."

"I'll now announce the traveling roster."

"Takenori Akagi, Kiminobu Kogure, Yasuharu Yasuda, Tetsushi Shiozaki, Satoru Kakuta..."

At that point, Akagi paused.

His gaze swept over Lin Bei, who stood at the back of the line leaning against the wall and yawning, then shifted to the expectant Hanamichi.

"Kaede Rukawa."

"Here." Rukawa responded coldly.

"And... Lin Bei."

"Here..." Lin Bei weakly raised a hand.

The list was finished.

The air froze for three seconds.

"What about me?!"

"Gorilla! Where's this genius's name?!"

"Why are that fox and this sleepyhead both going, but not me?!"

Hanamichi Sakuragi charged out of the line, pointing at his own nose, his face flushed liver-red.

"You're a beginner!"

"You don't even know the rules. Do you want to go embarrass yourself?" A vein bulged on Akagi's forehead.

"Damn it! I've got secret training!"

"I've already learned how to kill with my eyes, and instantaneous movement too!"

Hanamichi refused to back down and even tried to grab Akagi by the collar.

Bang!

Akagi showed no mercy as he gave him a hard knuckle to the head.

Hanamichi clutched his head, tears welling in his eyes as he turned to Lin Bei.

"Master!"

"You tell him! This isn't fair!"

Lin Bei sighed.

What a pain.

If I don't calm down this single-celled organism, there's no way I'll be able to slack off properly later.

He walked over and patted Hanamichi on the shoulder.

"Hanamichi, you're wrong."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. Would a powerful weapon be casually brought out for display?"

Lin Bei lowered his voice, looking mysterious. "A true trump card only appears at the most crucial moment."

"The captain sees you as a 'secret weapon.'"

"Secret... weapon?"

Hanamichi froze, repeating the words under his breath.

"That's right."

Lin Bei pointed at Rukawa. "Kaede Rukawa is a conventional weapon, a consumable used to wear down the enemy's stamina."

"And you're the one who delivers the final blow."

"If they put you in from the start, what if the Ryonan players get scared and run away?"

The logic was full of holes.

Yet in Hanamichi Sakuragi's mind, it formed a perfect closed loop.

His expression shifted from anger to shock, then from shock to wild delight.

Finally, he planted his hands on his hips and threw back his head in laughter.

"Wahahaha! So that's how it is!"

"The gorilla really does have a good eye!"

"I'm the secret weapon! The secret weapon!"

Akagi's mouth twitched as he looked at Lin Bei. "Doesn't your conscience hurt, tricking an idiot like that?"

Lin Bei shrugged. "Captain, this is called tactical psychological counseling."

"Alright, start training!"

Akagi let out a roar. "Lin Bei, step forward!"

Lin Bei's heart skipped a beat.

"Captain, I'm not feeling well today. My period—"

"Cut the crap."

Akagi tossed him the ball. "I watched your offense yesterday. You do have some skill."

"But basketball isn't just offense."

"Let me see your defense."

Akagi walked beneath the basket and set himself up with his back turned. "Come on. Stop me."

The entire gym fell silent.

Takenori Akagi, 197 centimeters tall, 90 kilograms, a human-shaped gorilla.

Lin Bei, meanwhile, was 188 centimeters tall and rather lean.

This was like riding a bicycle straight into a freight truck.

"Captain, if I get hurt, does that count as a workplace injury?" Lin Bei approached with a pained expression.

"Less talk. Come on!"

Akagi held the ball and violently backed into him.

An enormous force crashed into him.

Lin Bei felt as if he were pushing against a wall.

"He's too heavy..."

He simply could not withstand Akagi's post-up.

Akagi turned, preparing to leap for a dunk.

At that very instant.

A glimmer of blue flashed through Lin Bei's dead-fish eyes.

[Passive Skill: Gaze Induction activated]

Just as Akagi was about to exert himself and jump, he suddenly felt his hand grow light.

Where was the ball?

He turned around in astonishment.

Lin Bei was somehow already standing behind and to his side.

He held the orange basketball in his palm and was about to pass it to Kiminobu beside him.

"Senior Kogure, could you hold this for me? It's heavy as hell."

Silence.

Dead silence.

Kaede Rukawa's pupils contracted sharply.

Even he had not seen how Lin Bei had slipped around him in that instant.

It was as if he had... vanished into thin air, then reappeared out of nowhere.

Akagi landed and stared at his empty hands, disbelief written all over his face.

"You... when did you..."

"When you turned around."

"Captain, your movements are too big. You're full of openings."

"And your eyes were fixed only on the basket. You weren't watching me at all."

"Since you weren't looking at me, I took your ball." Lin Bei rubbed his aching chest where he had been rammed.

Those words were not very damaging, but they were incredibly humiliating.

Akagi took a deep breath and looked at the lazy-looking boy before him.

A premonition unlike any he had ever felt rose in his heart.

This year's Shohoku...

Perhaps they really could overturn Kanagawa.

"Very good."

Akagi said in a deep voice, "Lin Bei, you'll come off the bench against Ryonan."

"Awesome!" Lin Bei raised both arms in celebration.

"But," Akagi abruptly changed course, "if the situation turns unfavorable, you must enter the game immediately."

"If we lose..."

Akagi clenched his fists, making them crack.

"You and Hanamichi will scrub the gym floor until graduation."

Lin Bei's smile froze on his face.

This is court bullying, right? It definitely is, right?

He howled inwardly.

For that damn undefeated bonus, and to avoid scrubbing floors.

It seemed he would not be able to sleep through the entire trip to Ryonan.

"Akira Sendoh, huh..."

The image of that broom-haired guy surfaced in Lin Bei's mind.

"I hope he's at least a little interesting."

"Otherwise, I really... will fall asleep."