Just as the Shohoku Basketball Team's training enthusiasm was at its peak, an invisible bucket of cold water was poured over them.
Final exam.
Takenori Akagi stood solemnly in the center of the basketball court, holding the notice that had just been issued by the school.
"Ahem, everyone, please be quiet."
"The school just announced that final exams begin the day after tomorrow. This exam is very important; it not only affects college admission and credits."
He paused, his sharp gaze sweeping over everyone, especially the problem children.
"More importantly, according to school rules and the eligibility requirements for the national competition, students who fail four subjects and fail the make-up exams will lose their eligibility for club activities and will naturally be unable to participate in the national competition."
"What--?"
"No way!"
The basketball court erupted in chaos.
The key players, who had just been immersed in the enthusiasm of training, all showed expressions of despair on their faces.
"Boss Akagi! This... this is too sudden!"
Ryota Miyagi grabbed his curly hair, his face scrunched up.
Hisashi Mitsui seemed to recall his past struggles with textbooks.
Kiminobu Kogure his glasses, appearing relatively calm, but a hint of worry lingered in his eyes.
Kaede Rukawa remained calm and composed, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Hanamichi Sakuragi's face instantly turned pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead, as if he were facing imminent disaster.
"You guys aren't going to fail the test, are you?" Akagi's eyes widened in disbelief.
A few seconds later, the group of troubled children quickly adjusted their expressions.
"Ha! An exam? A piece of cake!"
Miyagi feigned nonchalance. "With my brain, dealing with a few questions is a piece of cake, isn't it?"
"Exactly! It's just a final exam; this genius could pass it with his eyes closed."
Hanamichi Sakuragi immediately followed, his voice even louder than Miyagi's, though his gaze was somewhat unfocused.
Hisashi Mitsui crossed his arms and sneered, "Back when I was the MVP, I was always among the top students in my grade—"
Koichiro Nango puffed out his chest. "This great man is skilled in both literature and martial arts!"
Even Yasuda, Shiozaki, and others nodded in agreement, indicating that they had no problem and would definitely do their best.
Akagi looked at the group of guys' confident expressions, though he had many doubts in his heart.
But seeing their high spirits, he swallowed his worries and simply instructed in a stern voice, "Take this seriously! There's no training for the next two days, so study hard! Anyone who messes up because of the exam will be severely punished!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Everyone spoke in unison, their voices loud and clear, as if they were truly confident of victory.
The first one to lose his temper was Hanamichi Sakuragi.
He practically followed Kawamoto Kazuki outside, he rushed forward and blocked Kawamoto.
With his hands clasped together and a mournful face, he wailed, "Brother Kawamoto, save me! Save the life of this basketball genius!"
"I'm doomed for this exam! Please, please tutor me!"
Kawamoto looked at Sakuragi, who was on the verge of tears, and asked, "Which subjects do you need remedial instruction on?"
Sakuragi immediately started counting on his fingers. "Modern Chinese, Mathematics, English, History, Geography, Biology..."
physics----"
His voice trailed off as he counted, finally looking up pitifully. "Well, it seems like we need them all—"
Kawamoto looked at him silently for a long while before finally uttering, "Exams start the day after tomorrow. Is it too late for you to cram for seven subjects now?"
Sakuragi was struck dumb, standing there stunned. "What am I going to do? If I can't participate in the national tournament, my life will be meaningless! I'll give up! Ahhh!"
Seeing Sakuragi's frantic state, Kawamoto pondered for a moment and said, "Captain Akagi said that if you fail the final exam, there will be a unified make-up exam in a week."
Passing the retake will not affect your eligibility to participate.
A glimmer of hope flashed in Sakuragi's eyes, only to dim again. "A re-examination? But even with an extra week—"
He himself lacked confidence in his learning ability.
"So," Kawamoto interrupted him, "You don't need tutoring right now. You just need to focus on your basketball training."
"Oh? Then the exam—"
"Practice writing my name until it's exactly the same as my handwriting."
Sakuragi froze, blinking, his mind not quite processing it. "Ren... Ren, what does your name mean?"
Kawamoto leaned closer and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "We're in the same class. I'll take your test for you, and I can take the makeup test later."
Sakuragi's mouth slowly opened wide, his eyes widening in disbelief.
The overwhelming surprise almost made him jump for joy; he covered his mouth tightly to keep from shouting out in excitement.
"Really? Brother Kawamoto! You're my god!"
He was so excited he was incoherent, gripping Kawamoto's hand tightly. "From today onwards, I'll pass all the rebounds I get to you!"
"Don't give yourself away on this. Make sure your name sounds appropriate."
"Understood! Mission accomplished!"
The day before the exam.
A tense atmosphere of review permeated the campus.
Hanamichi Sakuragi, however, strolled around the floors like a king surveying his territory, hands in his pockets, with an air of indifference.
He first sneaked over to Class 10 of Grade 1 and peeked inside through the back window.
Sure enough, Kaede Rukawa was fast asleep, slumped over the table, probably dreaming about shooting hoops.
Sakuragi curled his lip. "Hmph, you stinky fox, all you do is sleep. Just wait until you have to retake the exam!"
Then, he looked at Koichiro Nango was sitting next to Rukawa.
Nango had a white headscarf with the word "[Struggle]" written on it tied around his head, and a tall pile of textbooks and exercise books was in front of him.
He was scratching his head, looking as if he were mortal enemies with knowledge.
"Puff-
Sakuragi almost burst out laughing.
He swaggered over and knocked on Nango's desk.
Nango looked up and saw it was Sakuragi. She glared at him, annoyed. " Sakuragi, instead of studying, what are you doing wandering around here?"
Sakuragi, with his nostrils flared towards Nango, adopted an air of supreme superiority and said disdainfully, "Hmph, how could a mere mortal like you, still stuck in rote memorization, possibly comprehend the wisdom of a genius like myself?"
"The final exam was a piece of cake for me!"
He imitated a strange tone he'd picked up from who-knows-where. "You'd better work hard, or you might fail the exam and miss the national competition with me! Sigh, you're such a worry."
"You--!"
Nango was speechless, looking completely bewildered.
He knew all too well how abysmal Sakuragi's academic performance was.
But his current arrogant demeanor makes him highly suspicious.
Could he really be a hidden academic genius?
That's impossible!
Sakuragi, brimming with a sense of superiority, strolled into his second year.
In the corridor, he happened to run into Ryota Miyagi, who was sighing over mathematical formulas.
"Hey, Ryota ~ How's your revision going? Want this genius to give you some pointers?"
Sakuragi leaned closer and asked with a grin.
Miyagi looked up and saw Sakuragi. Annoyed, he waved his hand dismissively, "Go away! Go play somewhere else! I'm already overwhelmed with work, I don't have time for you! By the way, have you finished your studies? Don't hold us back!"
"Review? What's that?"
Sakuragi feigned surprise, then burst into laughter, hands on his hips. "Hahaha! Does this genius need to study? Ryota, it seems you know nothing about true wisdom!"
Miyagi frowned suspiciously at Sakuragi's terrified expression.
But my own math crisis was more pressing, and I couldn't be bothered to delve into it. I simply waved my hand like shooing away flies. "Get out of here, don't bother me!"
Next, Sakuragi made his way to the vicinity of the third-year classroom.
From afar, I could see Hisashi Mitsui holding an English book, leaning against the end of the corridor, staring blankly at the sky outside the window.
The two years of missed studies are not so easy to make up for.
Sakuragi's eyes darted around, and instead of directly mocking him, he deliberately spoke loudly enough for Mitsui to hear, "Oh dear, the exam was too easy, not challenging at all."
"Some people are great at playing sports normally, but their true colors are revealed during exams. It's really worrying whether they can make it to the national competition."
Hisashi Mitsui stiffened and slowly turned his head to look at Sakuragi.
Sakuragi immediately pretended to admire the scenery, whistling as he slipped away.
Mitsui clenched his fist, crumpling the English book in his grip.
Sakuragi's words pinpointed his anxiety.
Throughout the morning, Hanamichi Sakuragi, with his mysterious composure and arrogant remarks, successfully created countless questions among the main players of the Shohoku Basketball Team.
Aside from Kawamoto, who knew the truth, and Rukawa, who was still sleeping, almost everyone felt extremely uncomfortable with the sudden burst of academic aura from this Red-Haired Monkey.
When the exam bell rang the next day, the exam papers were distributed.
Hanamichi Sakuragi looked at the section at the beginning of the document where he needed to fill in his name and took a deep breath.
He recalled the characteristics of Kawamoto's handwriting, and then carefully wrote down the four characters "Kawamoto Kazuki ".