"Beep!" The final whistle sounded, and the scoreboard above the backboard displayed the score between Shohoku and Shoyo.
93-68. Shohoku had beaten last year's Kanagawa runners-up, Shohoku High School, by a wide margin.
Although the final whistle had already sounded, Kenji Fujima, who still held the ball, acted as though he had not heard it.
Charging across half court, Kenji Fujima hurled the basketball toward the hoop with all his strength.
The ball struck the backboard and bounced away, and Kenji Fujima sank helplessly to the floor.
"Damn it!" As someone with very gentlemanly manners, Kenji Fujima wanted to put on a brave face and congratulate Shohoku on reaching the final four.
But his tears would not stop flowing. Kenji Fujima could hardly believe he had actually lost, that his basketball journey this year had ended after just one game. (The winter tournament was much smaller in scale and was not included here.)
"Fujima..." Toru Hanagata had wanted to go over and comfort Kenji Fujima, but he was already awash in tears himself.
Like Kenji Fujima, Toru Hanagata was a third-year high school student and would be entering college next year.
Shoyo really had staked everything on this year. Most of their starters, along with their captain and coach, were third-years.
Next year, all of Shoyo's starters would leave the team. Unless some strong first-year newcomers joined, the entire basketball club would be left floundering.
Watching his old rival Kenji Fujima cry like that from the stands, Shinichi Maki felt awful too. Also a third-year, he understood exactly how Kenji Fujima felt.
Turning toward the other Kainan players around him, Shinichi Maki reminded them loudly, "Do you see that? If you don't want to walk off the court in tears like Shoyo, you'll have to work even harder from now on!
"Our goal at Kainan is to get out of Kanagawa undefeated, not to take that second-place qualifying spot!"
"Yes, Captain! Kainan will win!"
Unable to bear looking at the Shoyo players' expressions any longer, Shinichi Maki led the Kainan team away with a blank expression.
The joy of victory belonged to the Shohoku Basketball Team. Hanamichi Sakuragi raced excitedly all over the court, shouting that he was Rebound King Hanamichi Sakuragi.
Takenori Akagi and Kiminobu Kogure exchanged smiles. They had fought hard on the Shohoku team for three years, and no one knew better than they did how difficult it had been to get this far.
But the proper courtesies still had to be observed. As captain, Takenori Akagi walked up to Kenji Fujima and extended his hand in a friendly gesture.
"Thanks for the hard work, Captain Fujima. We both played very well today."
Taking Takenori Akagi's hand, Kenji Fujima stood up. He wiped away his tears and offered his well wishes in a slightly hoarse voice.
"Congratulations, Captain Akagi. I hope Shohoku can make it out of Kanagawa and go even further at the National Tournament."
Two days had passed since Shohoku's game against Shoyo ended, and the Shohoku players had returned from the joy of victory to their everyday lives.
As students, although basketball was important, they could not neglect their studies either. Ryota Kudo and Takenori Akagi were basketball players, but their grades were excellent.
Although most of the other players did not have excellent grades, passing was no problem for them.
Only three troublemakers had academic problems: Hanamichi Sakuragi, Ryota Miyagi, and Hisashi Mitsui. All of them were at risk of having to take makeup exams.
As a public school, Shohoku had a strict rule: students who failed their exams were not allowed to participate in the National Tournament unless they passed their makeup exams.
Ryota Kudo had reminded Hanamichi Sakuragi more than once and had even offered to tutor him.
But Hanamichi Sakuragi grew sleepy the moment he saw a textbook, so the tutoring had no effect at all.
Perhaps Hanamichi Sakuragi and the others would only take it seriously once the exams were over and they were told they could not participate in the National Tournament.
Ryota Kudo could only set the matter aside for now and begin focusing all his energy on preparing for Kanagawa's final-four round-robin.
This year's Kanagawa final four had been decided: Kainan High School, Ryonan High School, Takezato High School, and Shohoku High School.
Apart from Shohoku, the strong team that had risen unexpectedly and decisively defeated Shoyo, the other three had all been seeded teams.
Among these four teams, Kainan High School, Ryonan High School, and Shohoku High School were all very strong and were serious contenders for the qualifying spots.
Takezato High School, meanwhile, was going through a gap between generations after its older players left. Its core player was a second-year perimeter player, Naru Ishikawa.
Takezato High School's place in the final four owed quite a bit to luck. In fact, quite a few teams in Kanagawa were stronger than Takezato High School.
As the final-four round drew closer, the Shohoku Basketball Team's training grew more and more intense.
When Ryota Kudo walked out of the basketball gym after practice that day, it was already dark outside.
With his backpack on, Ryota Kudo was just about to head home when he spotted a handsome boy standing not far away, looking at him.
"Kudo, you're finally out!" The boy had snow-white skin and looked very cute, but his expression was cool, and he seemed a little rebellious.
Looking at the boy before him, Ryota Kudo wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Wasn't he supposed to be studying in Tokyo? What was he doing in Kanagawa?
"Yoshiki Anzai? What are you doing here? Why didn't you contact me before coming?"
The boy before him, Yoshiki Anzai, had been Ryota Kudo's junior in middle school. He did not attend school in Kanagawa, but at Akiba Junior High in Tokyo.
He was an extraordinary prodigy, so talented that even Ryota Kudo felt the pressure.
After Ryota Kudo graduated from Akiba Junior High, Yoshiki Anzai had taken up the baton as the new captain. With his ability, Ryota Kudo believed Akiba Junior High could continue dominating the Tokyo region.
In front of Ryota Kudo, Yoshiki Anzai still wore a cute expression. Smiling happily, he said,
"My trip to Kanagawa was last-minute too. My family insisted I bring the old man some local specialties, so I didn't contact you beforehand, Kudo."
The old man? Something suddenly occurred to Ryota Kudo. Yoshiki Anzai's surname was Anzai. Could he be...
Back in Tokyo, Ryota Kudo had thought the name Yoshiki Anzai sounded somewhat familiar, but Anzai was not an uncommon surname, so he had not thought along those lines.
Now that they had met again in Kanagawa, Ryota Kudo could not help thinking of Coach Anzai. He hesitated, then asked doubtfully,
"The old man you mentioned... you don't mean Shohoku's basketball coach, Coach Anzai, do you?"
"Yeah, that old man is my grandpa. He used to be really harsh with me. When I was little, he was always forcing me to practice basketball, and I was scared whenever I saw him.
"But after I started middle school, he became like a completely different person and stopped interfering with me. We get along okay now."
Sure enough, Japan really was a small world. Ryota Kudo's younger schoolmate was actually Coach Anzai's grandson.
But since when did Coach Anzai have a grandson? Ryota Kudo had never noticed one when he watched Slam Dunk.
And Yoshiki Anzai was in his third year of middle school this year. He would be entering high school next year.
In other words, in the year after the story's main year, when Takenori Akagi, Hisashi Mitsui, and the other third-years left their teams, the extraordinary prodigy Yoshiki Anzai would officially enter the story as well.
If Yoshiki Anzai joined Shohoku, the team would definitely be no weaker than it was this year. With a little anticipation, Ryota Kudo asked,
"Yoshiki Anzai, are you coming to Shohoku next year? Then we can play basketball together again!"
With a hint of mischief in his expression, Yoshiki Anzai flatly refused. "No! I'm not joining the old man's team. Maybe I'll join one of Kanagawa's powerhouses like Kainan or Ryonan instead."
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