The morning light gradually gave way to increasingly hot sunshine.
The air inside the basketball gym had grown warm from the continuous exercise.
Takenori Akagi temporarily suppressed the tremendous turmoil within him.
He began guiding Kawamoto Kazuki through defensive drills under the basket more systematically.
As he taught him, Kawamoto's performance shocked him even more.
Kawamoto did not seem like a complete beginner who needed to be taught from scratch.
He grasped the fundamentals and essentials of defense with barely a hint.
Akagi felt even more delighted.
The only pity was that Kawamoto seemed to have more talent at center.
With Akagi the undisputed starting center of Shohoku, Kawamoto's greatest use would be as his backup.
At least, that was how things stood for now.
"Footwork! Kawamoto, watch your footwork!"
"Your base is very stable, but you need to move more nimbly!"
Akagi called out instructions as he backed into him.
"Feel the shifts in my center of gravity! Use your body to guide me instead of just bracing against me!"
Kawamoto focused and steadied himself, working to adjust to the twenty jin of weights on his limbs.
He tried to keep up with Akagi's rhythm.
To Akagi, Kawamoto's strength and defensive awareness were both quite impressive.
But his movements were indeed on the slow side.
His jumping height was unremarkable, too.
Leaping ability did not seem to be his strong suit.
Still, Akagi was not too worried about that.
Speed and jumping ability could be improved through extensive specialized training.
But that terrifying core strength Kawamoto possessed-
That was a one-in-ten-thousand talent, something one could only encounter by chance.
"Good! Nice positioning this time!"
When Kawamoto successfully used his body to keep Akagi far from the basket, Akagi could not help praising him.
He found that Kawamoto's learning ability and concentration were exceptional.
He seemed to grasp every key point with barely a hint.
His improvement was practically visible to the naked eye.
As the two continued training, time passed.
The basketball club members arrived at the gym one after another.
They were surprised to see their captain, Takenori Akagi, personally giving the newcomer Kawamoto Kazuki one-on-one training.
And he was taking it exceptionally seriously.
There even seemed to be a faint, rare urgency about him.
Kaede Rukawa glanced over. Yamamoto's performance could only be described as gradually moving beyond beginner level.
But it still did not warrant much of his attention.
He looked away and indifferently began his own warm-up shots.
Though the other players, including Satoru Kakuta, were surprised,
they merely watched silently without saying much.
They could also clearly sense Kawamoto's improvement.
With Akagi's help, Kawamoto Kazuki's defensive skills were developing at an astonishing rate.
He gradually began to understand how to use his powerful lower-body strength.
How to use his body to keep pressure on an opponent without losing position.
Something stirred in Akagi's mind, and he nodded unconsciously.
Kawamoto was looking more and more like a center.
An idea occurred to him.
He blew his whistle and gathered all the players.
Except, of course, Hanamichi Sakuragi, who was still battling basic dribbling in the corner.
"All right, next we're playing a twenty-minute intrasquad scrimmage!"
"First-years and reserves on one team, starters on the other!"
"Kawamoto, join the first-years. You're playing center!"
Akagi quickly divided up the teams.
He deliberately put Kawamoto into a live-game setting.
He wanted to see how he performed within a team.
Especially what he could do on defense.
The scrimmage began.
Compared with perimeter positions, which required plenty of running and driving,
a center had a relatively smaller area to cover in half-court offense and defense.
It involved more physical battles and jockeying for position under the basket.
To some extent, this happened to mask Kawamoto's slow movement caused by the weights.
He focused all his energy on defense and rebounding.
On one possession, a reserve-team guard had the ball stolen, and the starters launched a fast break.
The ball went to Kogure as he cut toward the basket.
Facing an open basket, Kogure jumped easily for a layup.
Yet just as the basketball was about to leave his fingertips,
a tall figure slid into help position like a phantom.
Although he did not jump to block the shot,
his solid chest and precisely anticipated positioning put tremendous psychological pressure on the attacker.
It threw off his layup motion.
The basketball struck the rim and bounced away.
"Great help defense, Kawamoto!"
Akagi shouted from the court, a flash of approval in his eyes.
That defensive play had relied not on jumping or shot-blocking, but purely on defensive positioning and awareness.
Immediately afterward, the starters missed a shot, and the basketball bounced off the rim.
Using his experience, Takenori Akagi secured his position, ready to collect the rebound easily.
Suddenly, he felt an irresistible force from behind.
Kawamoto leaned solidly against him like a mountain.
Although he did not jump very high,
with better positioning and an astonishing wingspan, he actually reached above Akagi's head.
With a light touch of his fingers, he tipped the basketball to a teammate on the perimeter!
"Ooh-"
A low chorus of surprised cries rose from the sidelines.
It was only a tipped rebound,
but getting the better of Captain Akagi over his head-
that was not something just anyone could do!
"Nicely done, Kawamoto!"
"He's improving so fast!"
The players voiced their admiration one after another.
In just a day or two, he had gone from an outsider who could barely dribble to someone who could contribute effective defense and rebounding in an intrasquad practice game.
Kawamoto's rate of improvement really did turn heads.
Yet those words of praise were like matches tossed into the heart of the redheaded powder keg in the corner.
Holding his basketball, Hanamichi Sakuragi was alone on the sideline, repeating the tedious stationary dribbling drill.
He watched Kawamoto Kazuki not only receive personal instruction from Gorilla, but even join an intrasquad game so soon.
And he was even getting praised by everyone!
Meanwhile, a genius like him was still stuck here bouncing a ball like an elementary school kid!
It wasn't fair!
Why did that dull-looking, slow-moving Kawamoto get to play as soon as he joined?
Why did he get to play with Gorilla, Rukawa Fox, and the others when his dribbling was even worse than mine?
Jealousy, grievance, frustration...
The emotions mixed together and finally overwhelmed Hanamichi Sakuragi's already fragile patience.
Bang!
He slammed the basketball hard against the floor.
The tremendous noise made even the ongoing scrimmage pause for a moment.
Everyone looked toward him in surprise.
"I've had enough!"
His face flushed red, Hanamichi Sakuragi pointed at Kawamoto Kazuki on the court and roared at Takenori Akagi.
"Gorilla! Why?! Why does this guy get to play a game as soon as he joins?!"
"While a genius like me has to stay here dribbling forever! It's not fair!"
His furious shouts echoed through the gym, filled with resentment and anger.
At that moment, all the discontent he had been suppressing erupted.
Everyone's eyes settled on Sakuragi and Akagi.
Kawamoto Kazuki stood under the basket, watching the agitated Sakuragi with a calm, unruffled gaze.
He gently flexed his wrists beneath the heavy forearm guards.