The arrogant swagger Sakuragi had been showing just moments ago instantly shrank by half.
For a brief moment, he had genuinely felt invincible.
But standing before Makino Juro, that instinctive sense of reverence buried deep within his soul still surfaced on its own.
Makino Juro yawned and looked him up and down.
As if he were admiring a perfect work of art that had just been completed.
"How does it feel?"
"How does it feel?"
Sakuragi froze for a second before exploding into excitement, gesturing wildly with both hands.
"It feels AMAZING, Master!!"
"Everything became so slow! The ball listens to me now!"
"That middle-aged guy looked like a snail!"
"Turns out basketball is this easy!"
"All those techniques I could never learn before—I suddenly understood them!"
"I really am a genius, right?!"
"Right?! I'm a genius, aren't I?!"
Watching Sakuragi babble incoherently like a child who had just received a brand-new toy, Makino Juro smiled.
He reached out and ruffled the red-haired monkey's head like he was petting a dog.
The texture wasn't bad.
"Yeah."
Makino Juro nodded.
For once, his tone was unusually serious.
"Sometimes you act like an idiot."
"But you really are..."
"A once-in-a-generation genius."
At that moment—
Sakuragi Hanamichi froze.
This seemed to be...
The first time his master had ever praised him so sincerely.
A tremendous wave of joy exploded inside him.
It felt a hundred times better than blocking Maki Shinichi.
"WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
"Even Master admits it now!!"
"I, Sakuragi Hanamichi, really am the savior of basketball!!"
Beside him, Rukawa Kaede silently drank from his water bottle.
A towel covered his head, hiding his expression.
"Big idiot."
He muttered under his breath.
But his fingers tightened around the bottle so hard it nearly burst.
I have to...
Catch up to that idiot.
And...
That monster.
Rukawa lifted his head and looked toward Makino Juro.
A fire unlike anything before burned in his eyes.
Makino Juro seemed to sense it.
He glanced toward Rukawa and curled his lips into an amused smile.
So this fox had been fired up too.
Now the waters of Shohoku had truly begun to boil.
Coach Anzai slowly rose to his feet.
The reflection on his glasses made him look remarkably like Colonel Sanders.
"We won."
Only after Coach Anzai reminded them did everyone finally react.
Yeah...
We won.
On the scoreboard, the crimson numbers were both cruel and beautiful.
88 : 52
The Shohoku bench fell silent.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody even dared breathe too loudly.
This silence wasn't fear.
It was the forced shutdown of brains overloaded by overwhelming stimulation.
Like a deep-sea diver bursting through the surface and experiencing a moment of blankness before their lungs exploded.
"Ohohohoho..."
Coach Anzai's signature laugh acted like a key, unlocking the Pandora's Box known as celebration.
Adjusting his gleaming glasses, his chin trembled with laughter.
"Everyone..."
"You worked hard."
With those words, the crowd-control debuff on the entire team was finally removed.
"W-We won?"
"Yeah... we won!"
Kogure Kiminobu ripped off his glasses and wiped them furiously before putting them back on.
Still 88:52.
"We WON!!"
Miyagi Ryota launched himself into the air and clung to Mitsui Hisashi like a koala.
Ignoring Mitsui's visibly disgusted attempt to peel him off.
"We won! We crushed Kainan!!"
"That 'King Kainan'..."
"We actually beat them!!"
The cheers exploded instantly.
The bench players charged onto the court like a herd of wild horses that had broken free of their reins.
Only Akagi Takenori remained apart from the chaos.
The nearly two-meter-tall iron tower stood with his back facing everyone.
His broad shoulders trembled violently.
Both hands covered his face tightly.
And between his fingers flowed not only sweat—
But tears.
Three years.
From being mocked as a lone dreamer in his first year.
To suffering an early exit in the prefectural tournament during his second.
Every late night, he had awakened from nightmares.
Terrified that his dream of "conquering the nation" would ultimately become a joke.
And now...
The mountain that had stood above every team in Kanagawa for seventeen straight years...
Kainan University Affiliated High School...
Had fallen.
Flattened by Shohoku's own hands.
Akagi cried like a hundred-kilogram baby who had lost his favorite toy.
Suppressed sobs escaped from his throat.
Bitterness.
Relief.
Joy.
Every emotion mixed together until his mental defenses completely collapsed.
"That gorilla..."
Sakuragi grinned widely, about to mock him.
Yet his own nose suddenly stung.
His eyes began to grow warm.
Makino Juro walked behind Akagi.
Looking at the iron-willed captain crying this hard, he couldn't help smiling helplessly.
SMACK!
A crisp, satisfying sound echoed out.
Without any mercy whatsoever, Makino Juro slapped Akagi squarely on the backside.
The feel was surprisingly excellent.
"Alright, Captain. Rein it in."
"If your snot drips onto the floor, it'll be a pain to clean up."
"The janitors might file a complaint."
Akagi's entire body stiffened.
His crying stopped instantly.
Like a duck whose neck had suddenly been grabbed.
Before he could explode in anger, Sakuragi had already thrown himself at him.
One arm locked tightly around Akagi's neck as he dangled from him like an oversized accessory.
"WAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Gorilla! You're so embarrassing!"
"This genius didn't cry at all!"
"Come on, come on! Time to line up!"
Rukawa Kaede walked past expressionlessly.
His gaze paused on Akagi for a second.
Then he delivered the finishing blow.
"Captain."
"Lineup."
Akagi took a deep breath and wiped his face hard.
When he turned around, his eyes were still red.
But they shone with a terrifying brilliance.
The light of a beast finally released from its cage.
In the stands.
Akagi Haruko had already cried herself into a mess.
Both hands covered her mouth.
Through blurred vision, she stared at that towering figure.
"Big Brother... finally..."
"Congratulations..."
Compared to Shohoku's carnival of madness, Kainan's side looked more like a funeral.
Maki Shinichi stood near the sideline.
His chest rose and fell violently.
Lost.
The word felt more foreign to him than an alien language.
Ever since he first put on that purple-and-gold jersey, he had been synonymous with invincibility in Kanagawa.
Kiyota Nobunaga knelt on the hardwood.
His fingernails dug into the floor.
He cried without restraint.
"Damn it... damn it!!"
"That red-haired monkey..."
"And that sleepyhead..."
Jin Soichiro's eyes were hollow.
As though his soul had been extracted, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell.
In one corner of the stands.
Fujima Kenji rose to his feet.
His gaze lingered on Maki's slightly hunched back.
The man he had always admired.
The rival he had considered the greatest obstacle of his life.
Had lost his crown.
"Maki..."
Fujima draped his jacket over his shoulder and turned away.
Leaving behind a quiet whisper.
"Don't collapse here, Maki."
"After all..."
"You still have another chance."
"And I..."
At center court, both teams lined up.
Even the referee felt the score difference was absurd.
The whistle sounded once more.
"SHOHOKU WINS!!"
"Thank you for the game!!"
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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