Chapter 124 (The End) (Part 2)

Kogure pushed up his glasses: "Sakuragi's breakthrough isn't about getting past people at all; he's using his body to create an 'offensive corridor' for Rukawa!"

Kakuta: "Rukawa's unusual step-back! He calculated that Sendoh wouldn't be able to intercept Sakuragi's ball!"

Yasuda: "Sakuragi didn't look back the whole time, but he knew Rukawa would definitely appear in that spot."

Ayako shook her head with a smile: "These two...it's like they share the same basketball brain!"

Haruko clasped her hands together: "Sakuragi-kun has finally found his rhythm~"

......

The situation on the field can change in an instant.

Miyagi intercepted Uekusa's pass, and Shohoku instantly switched from defense to offense! Mitsui had already rushed towards the opponent's half, but Miyagi flicked his wrist, and the basketball crossed the court—

"Back up!!" Uozumi shouted, but it was too late.

Beyond the three-point line, Mitsui received the ball. Fukuda rushed towards him desperately, but Mitsui smiled slightly, faked a shot, and knocked him away. He then calmly took a step and adjusted his rhythm.

"Whoosh!"

A long-range shot! Shohoku is now in the lead!

"Beep—!"

The referee blew the whistle, and Ryonan called a timeout.

The atmosphere on Ryonan's bench was heavy. Taoka Shigeichi slammed his hand on the tactical board: "Listen up! Sendoh! You're the main attacker from now on. Fukuda, be ready to cut in at any time!"

Sendoh wiped his sweat, glanced at the scoreboard, and then looked to his side.

Hanon Haruka was clutching Ryonan's support flag, his long golden hair stuck to his cheeks with sweat, his lips pressed tightly together, unusually not shouting.

Tsk, this guy is even more nervous than me...

He chuckled and reached out to ruffle her hair: "Don't make that face. I haven't even had the best tuna yet."

Boeing was taken aback for a moment, then exploded: "Who, who's nervous! I'm afraid you'll lose too badly!"

......

The game continues.

Sendoh took a deep breath, his eyes sharpening. He received the serve and his dribbling pace quickened dramatically. Rukawa's defense was relentless, but Sendoh suddenly executed a crossover dribble behind his back, tearing open a gap in the defense!

"Don't even think about it!" Sakuragi tried to cover from the flank, but Sendoh had already anticipated it and flicked his wrist—

The basketball pierced through Shohoku's defense and was passed straight to Fukuda under the basket!

"Drink up!!" Fukuda roared as he leaped into the air and slammed the ball down with both hands! The backboard shook violently, and the entire arena erupted!

The score is tied!

Rukawa stared coldly at Sendoh, but Sendoh just smiled lazily: "Don't glare at me, the match isn't over yet."

Sakuragi rushed over and grabbed Rukawa by the collar: "You stinky fox! Why didn't you cover for me?!"

Rukawa slapped his hand away: "Idiot, you missed someone."

The two were on the verge of exchanging blows when Miyagi quickly intervened: "Hey! If you want to argue, wait until you win!"

In the stands, Maki Shinichi crossed his arms and pondered, "Shohoku's teamwork has improved, but Ryonan's resilience is stronger... This game will probably not be decided until the very end."

Kiyota was exasperated: "How are they so strong?!"

......

Back on the field.

"You stinky Sendoh! I'm definitely going to steal the ball from you this time!" Sakuragi stared intently at Sendoh, the disastrous experience of defending him with Rukawa flashing through his mind—

The two were completely fooled by Sendoh's feints and finally collided with each other with a "bang," almost sending each other flying!

But things are different now! Rukawa alone can stop Sendoh's breakthrough, so I'll focus on stealing the ball!

The immortal path has moved!

He used two feints to shake his shoulder, followed by his signature right-cut pullback, but this time the movement was much smaller, clearly indicating he was wary of Sakuragi's sneak attack from behind.

Rukawa tacitly blocked the left side, forcing Sendoh to change direction, while Sakuragi—

"Smack!"

He made a lightning-fast move and swatted the ball away!

"Got it! A genius's perfect steal!" Sakuragi laughed wildly as he sprinted with the ball.

Sendoh immediately gave chase, and Fukuda also rushed up to intercept him.

"Hmph! So what if there are two people!"

Sakuragi switched his hand from right to left, making a gesture as if to pass the ball to Rukawa.

Sendoh teleported instantly, almost touching Sakuragi's back, and stretched out his arm to steal the ball!

"Watch out!" Haruko was so excited she almost fell off her chair, but Kanon quickly grabbed her.

"Hahaha! You've fallen for it!"

Sakuragi suddenly swerved to the side, taking a step back to create space! Sendoh braked sharply, blocking Sakuragi and Rukawa's path—

"If it can't get out, then don't send it!"

Sakuragi grinned and made a wide cross pass!

The basketball slid across half-court and landed steadily in Mitsui's hands!

Uekusa lunged forward desperately, but Mitsui had already jumped—

"Whoosh!"

Hollow-core netting!

"It's in!!!" The Shohoku bench erupted.

Mitsui clenched his fist, exhaled, and smiled: "Yes! Another goal..."

Sendoh sighed, hands on his hips: "Seriously, we got tricked by that red-haired monkey."

Sakuragi pointed triumphantly at Sendoh: "See that! That's the tactic of a genius!"

Rukawa said coldly, "Idiot, it's because I blocked it well."

Hanon sighed, "These two... they're working together so well, why do they have to argue?"

Haruko's eyes lit up: "Sakuragi-kun is amazing! Rukawa-kun is amazing too!"

......

"Idiot, catch!"

With a flick of his wrist, Rukawa sent the basketball soaring into the sky—completely different from Sendoh's low-flying passes, this ball flew ridiculously high, almost as if it were about to smash through the roof of the stadium!

Sendoh landed and instantly sped off to intercept the ball, but his pupils suddenly contracted—

"ah--!!!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi burst forward two steps inside the free-throw line! His body arched backward like a fully drawn bow, his leg muscles taut to the limit, as if he were stepping on invisible stairs—

Aerial catch!

He took off and dunked from just inside the free-throw line!

"Is that jumping ability monstrous?!" The entire Ryonan bench team held their heads in disbelief.

Time seemed to have been paused.

Everyone craned their necks, watching the basketball, caught by Sakuragi with one hand, carry the force to crush everything in its path—

"boom!!!"

The basket backboard shook violently, and the net was smashed and flipped upwards!

Sakuragi staggered two steps when he landed and sat down on the ground with a thud.

The stadium was engulfed by deafening screams.

"Shohoku...won?"

Kiyota, clutching his afro, exclaimed, "Is this the height a high school student could jump?!"

Shinichi Maki loosened his grip on the deformed railing: "The ending was as expected... but the process was more insane than I imagined."

Kogure's glasses were completely fogged up: "We really... became the national champions?"

The entire Shohoku team charged forward frantically, shouting, "We won! We won! We really won!"

Rukawa Kaede stood under the red light of the scoreboard, beads of sweat rolling down his Adam's apple and into his collar.

—We won.

It wasn't about winning the game, or defeating Sendoh; it was about taking away the breath, the heartbeat, and all the clear-headed reason from the person on the sidelines.

The entire stadium was in an uproar.

The Shohoku team members were roaring, hugging, and celebrating with pounding their chests.

Rukawa's gaze pierced through the boiling crowd, cutting through the noise, and went straight to Hanane on the sidelines.

She stood there, her lips trembling slightly, her eyes reddening.

—She is crying.

Rukawa's breath hitched.

The next second, he took a step.

It wasn't running, it wasn't sprinting, but a stride that was almost predatory—firm, sharp, and carrying an irresistible sense of oppression.

Hana watched him approach, her heart pounding as if it would shatter her ribs. She wanted to speak, but something seemed to be blocking her throat, and she could only open her mouth in vain—

Then, the world spun around.

Rukawa grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her into his arms.

His hand pressed down on the back of her head, the pressure almost causing her pain. Hana's face was forced into his chest, the rapid pounding of his heart ringing in her ears—

Thump, thump, thump, like war drums, like thunder, like his silent declaration:

"I won."

Not for the championship, not for glory, but for this moment—

She could hear his heartbeat.

Hana's fingertips gripped his jersey, her heart inexplicably moved, as if her entire world had been captured in Rukawa Kaede's eyes.

Rukawa lowered his head, his lips pressed against Hana's earlobe, his voice low and husky:

"Did you see that?"

It wasn't a question, but a declaration of victory, concealing an undiminished offensive drive.

He saw her eyelashes flutter, saw her nod, and felt her clutch the number 11 jersey tightly to his back—

Then, he tightened his arms around her, holding her even closer.

—We won, the whole world.

......

"National High School League Champions - Shohoku High School!"

The broadcast blared throughout the stadium, and golden ribbons poured down like a torrential rain.

Sakuragi Hanamichi lay sprawled on the floor, his chest heaving violently, his ears ringing as if he had just finished a race against ten thousand Tyrannosaurus Rex. He stared at the ceiling, the glaring light making him squint.

—Until both hands were extended in front of him at the same time.

On her left was Hana's warm and bright smile, and on her right was Rukawa's perpetually grumpy face.

"Hey, stop playing dead," Rukawa said.

Sakuragi grabbed their hands and jumped up.

"Hanamichi! You did it!" Kanon exclaimed, her voice trembling slightly. "You really did it!"

Sunlight streamed down through the stadium's skylight, and Sakuragi smiled brightly, giving himself a thumbs-up: "Because I'm a genius~"

I caught a glimpse of Kanon and Rukawa's fingers intertwined.

"...Hey!!" Sakuragi's face darkened instantly, and he grabbed Rukawa by the neck and pulled him away. "You stinky fox! Your pass just now was actually pretty decent!"

Rukawa staggered as he was being restrained, and nudged back with his elbow: "Idiot, let go."

"It hurts so much! You definitely did it on purpose!"

Kanon laughed as she watched the two idiots wrestling. Her laughter blended into Akagi's deafening roar, Mitsui's hysterical screams, Ayako's frantic pounding on Miyagi, and Haruko's tearful screams—

"Sakuragi-kun—he's so cool!!"

—This is the noisiest and most dazzling summer in Shohoku.

On the other side, the Ryonan bench.

Fukuda blinked, looked up at the score, and tears streamed down his face.

He lowered his head, his shoulders trembling.

Uozumi raised his hand and cupped his head, rubbing it hard: "Why are you crying?"

"We...we lost..."

Everyone came over and hugged and comforted each other.

Boeing stood there blankly, still clutching the crumpled support flag in his hand.

She grabbed a towel and slammed it over Sendoh's wet, spiky head—

"Hey~ fisherman~" Her voice trembled slightly, "How about I treat you to tuna?"

He suddenly bent down and covered both of them with the towel.

In the darkness, Sendoh's breath, warm from exercise, brushed against her earlobe:

"Whether I win or lose, I get tuna..." he chuckled. "So, I'm guaranteed to make a profit?"

Just as Boeing was about to explode, he heard him say the next thing—

"So, it's my turn to treat you."

"How about a lifetime of sushi?"

The members of Ryonan: "..."

I feel like crying even more, you bastard!

—The End—

Tip: Come here to find good novels to read!