Slam Dunk: My physical abilities can be increased indefinitely.

Chapter 15 The night before the tournament, Uozumi knocked on my door.

Sendoh leaned against the bed and flipped through an old basketball magazine from last month. The cover featured a photo of Maki Shinichi making a layup, and the headline read, "King Hainan, Dominating Kanagawa for Seventeen Consecutive Years."

In the photo, Shinichi Maki's muscles are taut, his eyes are fierce, and his jersey is soaked with sweat and clings to his body.

Sendoh stared at the cover for a few seconds, his mind already simulating tomorrow's game. The first game against Buri was a foregone conclusion; Buri lacked height in the paint and didn't have any reliable scoring options on the perimeter. They could win if they played normally.

The key match is the second game against Hainan.

Knock, knock, knock, someone is knocking on the door.

"The door isn't locked." Sendoh closed the magazine and tossed it onto the bedside table.

Uozumi stood in the corridor, wearing a dark gray t-shirt.

"Can I come in?" Uozumi's voice was very low, probably because he was afraid of disturbing the people next door.

"Enter."

Uozumi walked in and sat down on the chair by the bed. The chair was a bit low; at two meters tall, his knees almost touched his chin. He looked at Sendoh, his lips moved, but he hesitated to speak.

"What do you want to say?" Sendoh spoke first.

"The first match is tomorrow."

"Um."

Are you nervous?

Sendoh thought for a moment, "I'm not nervous."

"I'm nervous." After saying those two words, Uozumi closed his mouth again, looked down at his hands, and placed his palms on his knees.

"Why are you so nervous?" Sendoh asked.

"It happened last year," Uozumi said in a low voice. "Last year against Hainan, the last play in overtime. You passed it to me, and I was unguarded under the basket, I..."

Sendoh knew what he was going to say. That ball had been stuck in Uozumi's heart for a whole year. Every training match, every internal scrimmage, every free throw practice would bring that image to mind.

"Not this year," Sendoh said.

How did you know?

"Because this year I will widen the score gap in the fourth quarter, and it won't go into overtime."

Uozumi looked up at him, his eyes filled with something indescribable—neither doubt nor complete belief, but rather a desire to confirm whether the Sendoh before him was the same person as the one from last year.

"You've changed recently."

"Um."

"When did it start?"

"Since that day when I went fishing at the beach."

"I'll grab the rebounds in tomorrow's game. Don't worry, just focus on playing your game."

"I know."

Uozumi paused at the doorway. "Sendoh."

"Um."

"Thank you for passing me that ball last year. I didn't catch it, but you still passed it to me."

Sendoh paused for a moment. Uozumi didn't wait for his response, opened the door and walked out.

Last year in the Hainan game, with 30 seconds left in overtime, Sendoh was surrounded by three players. He passed the ball through the gaps in the defense to Uozumi under the basket. The angle of the pass was very small and the force was very tricky, but Uozumi caught it. The problem was that he didn't put it in the basket.

The ball spun around the rim one and a half times and then rolled out. After the game, Yu stayed in the locker room and didn't move until everyone else had left before taking a shower.

Sendoh didn't know how to comfort him at the time, because he himself was wondering if he would have made the shot if he had taken it himself.

Forget about it this year.

He picked up the magazine, flipped to Maki Shinichi's cover, stared at it for two seconds, then closed it and threw it back on the bedside table.

When I went out this morning, I ran into Yueye coming out of the next room. He had dark circles under his eyes.

"You didn't sleep last night?" Sendoh asked.

"I tried to sleep, but I couldn't." Yueye yawned, his mouth wide open, you could see his throat. "I was so excited thinking about the game today. I tossed and turned in bed, counting sheep until I had over a thousand. All I could think about was that point guard from Wuli."

What's the name of Buri's point guard?

"have no idea."

"You don't even know their name, what are you so nervous about?"

"I'm not nervous about him, I'm nervous about the competition itself. What if we lose the first match?"

"We can't lose."

"Are you that sure?"

"Sure."

Koshino stared at Sendoh for two seconds. "You're really different now. You used to say, 'If we lose, we lose, we'll try again next year.'"

Sendoh thought for a moment, "The past is the past."

"And now?"

"I don't want to wait any longer."

The two went downstairs and found that the cafeteria was already quite full of people, all wearing training uniforms, with rice, miso soup, fried fish and a small dish of pickled radish on their plates.

"Did Uozumi come to see you last night?" Fukuda asked.

Sendoh looked up at him. "How did you know?"

"I was getting water when he came downstairs and saw him coming down from your side."

Sendoh didn't say anything, but drank a mouthful of miso soup.

"What did he say to you?" Fukuda asked.

"I was talking about that ball from last year."

Fukuda didn't ask any more questions. It wasn't just Uozumi who remembered that play last year; the whole team remembered it. Fukuda was on the other side of the field, blocked by a defender, and couldn't even touch the ball.

Taoka walked into the cafeteria with a folder in his hand containing the match schedule and today's roster. He stood next to Sendoh and clapped his hands.

"The bus departs at 8:30. You've all eaten, so don't eat too much. Grasshopper, eat more, you'll be playing the whole race today. Off-road, eat less, you'll be running a lot, you won't be able to run if you eat too much."

The chopsticks froze in mid-air. "Coach, can you please stop saying these things while we're eating? I'm holding this piece of fish and I don't even know whether I should put it in my mouth or not."

"Put it down. Get in the car after you've finished eating."

At 7:50, the bus started moving.

Yueye pulled a magazine out of his bag. "Sendoh, take a look at this."

Sendoh glanced down and saw it was Aida Yayoi's "Basketball Weekly." The latest issue had a cover with a large headline: "The New King of Kanagawa? Sendoh Akira of Ryonan's Ambition."

"She actually wrote it." Sendoh flipped through the magazine.

Yueye leaned over to look. "She didn't delete a single word of your passage, 'Because our defense is better this year than last year, so good that Maki Shinichi won't be as relaxed as last year.' Sendoh, that's like slapping Maki Shinichi in the face in public."

Sendoh remained silent and continued reading. Aida Yayoi's article was very detailed, outlining Sendoh's growth trajectory over the past three years and his technical characteristics this year, and even specifically mentioning his performance against Rukawa Kaede in the practice match.

The final point is that if Akira Sendoh truly fulfills his ambitions, the landscape of Kanagawa will be completely rewritten this year.

"That's a really well-written sentence." Yueye pointed to the last line, "'Fulfill your ambitions,' you make your big talk sound so elegant."

"The Path of Immortality".

"Um."

Do you think we can beat Hainan this year?

Sendoh looked out the window at the stadium that was getting closer and closer. The sunlight shone on the roof, and the reflection was so bright that it hurt his eyes.

"able."

"Why do you always say 'yes'? Can't you just say 'maybe' or 'perhaps' to make me feel better?"

"Maybe" and "perhaps" are both lies.

After a three-second silence, Yueye said, "Well, you can at least lie to me."

Xian Dao did not continue to answer, choosing to remain silent.

He brought up the system panel and glanced at it: Speed ​​A, Jump B+, Reaction B+, Flexibility B+, Strength B, Endurance B+, PP balance 20.

Sendoh turned off the control panel and followed the team into the stadium. A few early spectators were scattered in the stands, and someone was holding a sign that read "Ryonan will win" in white letters on a blue background.

Off-road stood next to Sendoh to change his shoes, and he tied his shoelaces three times but still couldn't get them tied properly.

"What happened to your shoelaces?" Sendoh asked.

My hands are shaking.

Why are your hands shaking?

"I don't know either. It's just shaking. Look," Yueye stretched out both hands, and his fingers were indeed trembling slightly.

Sendoh tied his own shoelaces, stood up, bent down to tie Koshino's shoelaces, tightened them, and knotted them quickly. Koshino looked down at Sendoh's fingers twirling around his shoelaces, and his lips twitched slightly.

Thanks.

"My hands stopped shaking after I went on stage."

How did you know?

"Because you simply don't have time to shake."

Taoka clapped his hands. "Gather everyone. First team, come over here. I'm going over the tactics one last time."

Five people gathered around: Uekusa, Sendoh, Koshino, Fukuda, and Uozumi. Taoka squatted down and drew a half-court on the floor with his hand.

"Wu-zato's interior defense isn't tall enough, Uozumi, you can dominate under the basket. Fukuda, face up and attack your defender, his lateral movement is slow. On the perimeter, Koshino, take your three-pointers whenever you have the chance, don't hesitate. Uekusa, slow down the pace."

The grass planter nodded.

Taoka stood up, patted Sendoh on the shoulder, and said, "You can do whatever you want."

Sendoh took the racket and bounced it twice; the sound of the ball hitting the floor echoed throughout the stadium. Several spectators in the stands turned to look at them upon hearing the sound.

The referee blew his whistle and tossed the ball up.

Fish jumped up, touched the ball with his fingertips, and passed it to the grass.

The ball spun once in Sendoh's hands.

The game started.