After brief greetings, Shohoku headed to the locker room. Everything unfolded as in the original story—except Nango claimed jersey number 13, bumping out Sasaoka Satoshi.
"Number 13, huh? Nash's number. Not bad—I like it."
Back in his old life, Nango had admired shorter NBA stars, and "the Son of the Wind" Nash had been a favorite. Wearing his number felt like fate.
Once dressed, Shohoku trotted back out for warmups.
On the other side, Sendoh finally stumbled in late, still sweating from sprinting. Coach Taoka yanked him aside and gave him a tongue-lashing.
"Sakuragi, see that guy with the spiky hair? That's Sendoh—the one you want to beat." Nango pointed.
"Oh, so that's him."
Sakuragi puffed up his chest, ready to storm over, but Nango caught his arm.
"Hm? What are you doing?"
"Think about it. Rukawa and I can handle Sendoh. Doesn't that make you Shohoku's secret weapon? Just wait in the shadows."
Without giving Sakuragi time to argue, Nango stepped onto the court first.
Sakuragi froze. What if… what if Sendoh really beats those two? Hikoichi hyped him up so much…
The thought made his stomach churn.
[Mission: Win the practice match]
[Reward: 1000 reward points]
"Win? That's obvious." Nango smirked. If I can't help beat Ryonan, what's the point of being here?
The starting lineups formed:
Shohoku:
C: Akagi
PF: Nango
SF: Rukawa
SG: Kogure
PG: Yasuda
Ryonan:
C: Uozumi
PF: Ikegami
SF: Sendoh
SG: Echizen
PG: Uekusa
The referee signaled, the ball soared, and the match began.
Akagi won the tip, flicking the ball to Yasuda. As expected, Shohoku's plan was to feed Akagi early.
"Come on, Shohoku!" Uozumi roared suddenly.
The shout boomed like thunder, rattling Yasuda into freezing up. Uekusa pounced, snatching the ball away.
"…Tch." Nango grimaced. Being stuck at power forward meant he couldn't bring the ball up himself—and Yasuda's nerves were already showing.
Uekusa pushed the ball but lacked speed. He passed to Sendoh, who squared off with Rukawa at the 45-degree wing.
Though locked on Rukawa, Sendoh's vision flicked toward Ikegami, trailing into position. With one sharp cross-pass, the ball swung.
Ikegami caught it in rhythm, ready to fire—until he noticed Nango looming with a huge size advantage. He hesitated, then passed back out.
Ryonan reset, this time dumping the ball into Uozumi.
"Akagi, let's settle this!" Uozumi growled, slamming his weight into Akagi.
Catching him off guard, Uozumi bulldozed deep and muscled up a hook shot—score! Ryonan 2, Shohoku 0.
"Uozumi! Nice one!" Ryonan's bench erupted. Everyone knew how hard he'd worked since last year's loss. This bucket was personal.
"Brother…" Haruko wrung her hands nervously.
"Didn't expect that Ape King to push even Gorilla back." Sakuragi's gang muttered in awe.
"Old man! Sub me in already! Gorilla can't handle him!" Sakuragi begged, tugging on Coach Anzai's chin.
Shohoku regrouped. Yasuda brought the ball up again—but this time Nango motioned for the pass.
Ikegami followed him out, expecting a screen. Instead, Nango rose up and launched a clean three-pointer.
"A big man shooting from outside?!" Ikegami gaped.
Coach Taoka's eyes narrowed. "Beautiful form… a stretch big, huh? With him, Shohoku's offense is much more versatile. This isn't the easy win I expected…"
Swish! Nothing but net. Shohoku 3, Ryonan 2.
"Nice shot, Nango!" Akagi barked. Calm under pressure, reliable—Shohoku's captain already saw how valuable this first-year would be. With Nango spacing the floor, his own battles in the paint grew simpler.
The crowd murmured, reassured. But Sakuragi was stewing.
This isn't right! If Nango and Rukawa hog all the spotlight, I won't even step on the court! Haruko's watching… I can't let that happen!
Grinding his teeth, he scanned every play, desperate for an opening.
Back on defense, Ryonan again worked through Uozumi. This time, Akagi braced himself. Uozumi tried to bully inside, but Akagi planted his feet and refused to budge. Forced into a bad shot, Uozumi went up—only to be stuffed clean!
"Block!" Haruko leapt up, fists pumping.
"Gorilla's block!" Sakuragi's gang howled into megaphones they'd somehow smuggled in.
Shohoku regained possession. Nango calmly stepped forward. "Yasuda-senpai, pass it here. Please."
"…" Yasuda hesitated but handed it over, pride stinging.
Nango didn't force anything. Instead, he fed Akagi, letting the captain cook inside.
Determined to recover from his earlier mistake, Uozumi pressed tight—but Akagi outfoxed him. A smooth fake sent Uozumi airborne, and Akagi spun into a clean layup.
Shohoku 5, Ryonan 2.
"Beautiful footwork… Akagi's post skills are on another level compared to Uozumi's." Even Taoka, arms crossed, had to admit it.
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