Ryota Miyagi stared fixedly at Ryota Kudo, who held the ball. His expression was full of confidence; he did not think he would lose to a pretty boy.
But Ryota Kudo, standing beyond the three-point line, was also a little troubled. He did not know what approach he should use to conquer Ryota Miyagi.
As a speed-oriented point guard, Ryota Miyagi stood 168 cm tall and weighed 59 kg. Those measurements were far below Ryota Kudo's.
In fact, in Ryota Kudo's eyes, even though Miyagi was taking this seriously, he offered no defensive resistance at all. Kudo could easily take a three-point shot.
But finishing that way was clearly inappropriate for a one-on-one game. Ryota Kudo decided to beat his opponent in the area he was best at.
Without any tricks, Ryota Kudo drove left at full speed, moving like a streak of yellow lightning.
By the time Ryota Miyagi reacted, Ryota Kudo had already blown past him.
He chased back desperately, but by the time Ryota Miyagi caught up with his opponent, Ryota Kudo had already leaped for a dunk.
Only when he saw how high Ryota Kudo jumped did Ryota Miyagi learn what despair was.
Ryota Kudo felt even harder to guard than Kainan's Shinichi Maki. For a moment, Ryota Miyagi was at a loss.
But one of Ryota Miyagi's greatest strengths was his unbeatable competitive spirit and cool head. Even against an opponent far stronger than himself, he would not give up.
Ryota Miyagi had already begun thinking about how to stop the terrifying Ryota Kudo, only for his opponent to toss him the ball of his own accord.
"Let's alternate possessions. It's your turn to attack now."
Alternating possessions meant that during a one-on-one game, the player who had just been scored on would start the next possession, giving both sides more opportunities.
Ryota Miyagi did not fuss any further. He took the basketball and began his attack.
Using his speed, Ryota Miyagi tried to shake off the much taller Ryota Kudo.
But to his astonishment, he discovered that Ryota Kudo was not a bit slower than him. In fact, his explosiveness was considerably greater.
Moreover, Ryota Kudo's defensive skills were excellent. With him not holding back, Ryota Miyagi could not score a single point against him.
Three minutes later, Ryota Kudo ended the game with an easy layup. The score was 5-0.
After losing, Ryota Miyagi wore an ugly expression. Without saying much, he simply took off his jersey and headed out of the basketball gym.
This worried Ryota Kudo a little. If his arrival caused Ryota Miyagi to quit the team for good, this Slam Dunk journey would become incomplete.
Ryota Kudo was just about to go over and stop Ryota Miyagi when Ayako caught his hand.
"It's all right, Kudo. Miyagi isn't a sore loser. Give him some time. He'll come back."
Looking into Ayako's serious eyes, Ryota Kudo silently nodded. He stopped thinking about the matter and went back to concentrating on training.
That was how the world of basketball worked: the strong preyed on the weak. If your ability could not keep up, a stronger newcomer would immediately push you out.
Although Ryota Kudo liked Ryota Miyagi very much, he would not foolishly hand him the starting point guard position because of that.
Besides, he believed that with Ryota Miyagi's pride, he would never accept that kind of "charity."
Ryota Miyagi still had not appeared by basketball practice the next day.
However, Ayako told Ryota Kudo not to worry. She had already gone to talk with Ryota Miyagi, and he would officially return to the Shohoku team tomorrow.
Now there was only one problem facing Ryota Kudo: Hisashi Mitsui's gang, which would soon appear.
The current Hisashi Mitsui was different from Ryota Miyagi. He had already become a full-fledged gang leader.
And because of his conflict with Ryota Miyagi, Hisashi Mitsui would soon bring a group of thugs to attack the Shohoku Basketball Team.
Ryota Kudo was not afraid of fighting, but he did not want something like that to happen either.
Everyone on the Shohoku team was a basketball player. Having them take part in a brawl would definitely be a very risky business.
Moreover, Ryota Kudo remembered that Hisashi Mitsui had a very formidable fighter at his side. His name seemed to be Tetsuo, and he was an extremely muscular man.
To deal with these people, finding a powerful helper became very important.
Ryota Kudo actually knew just the person.
In the original story, Shohoku High School's strongest club was not basketball, but the Judo Club.
Judo Club Captain Tatsuhiko Aota had explosive physical ability and top-class judo skills. He had led the Shohoku Judo Club into the National Tournament as the number one team in Kanagawa Prefecture.
With Tatsuhiko Aota's help, Hisashi Mitsui's gang would be no problem at all.
On the next training day, Ryota Kudo took leave. At three in the afternoon, he sat in the Judo Club's Reception Room.
Sitting across from him was Tatsuhiko Aota, who was as powerfully built as a bear. Contrary to his appearance, however, he actually had quite a good temper.
"So, Kudo, you're saying you want me to come help when thugs attack the basketball club, right?
"But this is our first meeting. If there's nothing in it for me, that doesn't seem quite reasonable, does it?"
As he spoke, Tatsuhiko Aota actually revealed a merchant's crafty smile. At that moment, he did not look like a judo master at all.
Ryota Kudo had long since prepared for this.
As he remembered it, Tatsuhiko Aota was a lecher who liked collecting photographs of beautiful women, especially Haruko Akagi. He had liked Haruko Akagi since elementary school.
To get Hanamichi Sakuragi to join the Judo Club, Tatsuhiko Aota had even brought out photographs of Haruko Akagi to tempt him.
Ryota Kudo took two photographs from his schoolbag and placed them in front of Tatsuhiko Aota. They were photographs of two stunning beauties.
Tatsuhiko Aota, who had initially thought little of the two photographs, merely glanced at them before finding himself unable to look away. As though he had found treasure, he immediately clutched both photographs to his chest.
"How do you have photographs of Akina Nakamori and Momoe Yamaguchi? And such clear candid shots, too?"
"Because I know them, of course. Not only do I have photographs of more female celebrities, I also have their contact details. Would you be interested, Aota?"
Under Ryota Kudo's temptation, Tatsuhiko Aota soon succumbed. He declared that if he could exchange just one sentence with his goddess, Akina Nakamori, he would even be willing to die on the spot.
Of course, Tatsuhiko Aota was certainly exaggerating, but Ryota Kudo's plan to find outside help could be considered complete.
As it turned out, Ryota Kudo had been right to prepare ahead. Three days later, in the afternoon, a group of people stormed into Shohoku High School's basketball gym.
Leading them was none other than the long-haired Hisashi Mitsui. With a fierce expression, he shouted, "Hey! Where's that bastard Ryota Miyagi?"
As for Hisashi Mitsui causing havoc in Shohoku's basketball gym, on the surface, he was there to take revenge on Ryota Miyagi.
In truth, the underlying reason was that Hisashi Mitsui had complicated feelings about basketball and the Shohoku Basketball Team.
Since his own basketball career had already been ruined, he might as well destroy the entire Shohoku Basketball Team too!
Before you continue