Slam Dunk:Starting with perfect copy

The score was 5:0 at the start.

Ryonan's players were elated. This was an excellent start—proof that their opponents had paid a price for underestimating them.

However, Tanaka, seated on the bench, still wore a stern expression. His dissatisfaction was palpable. Before the game, he had declared, "We must beat Luoan!"

Luoan initiated their attack. Aida Shusuke pushed the ball forward. Nearly two minutes into the game, they still hadn't scored. Aida Shusuke felt a growing anxiety. As the point guard, offensive pressure weighed heavily on him. Yet Ryonan's defense was seamless, leaving no opening for an effective play.

Feeling cornered, Aida suddenly spotted Takai Akihiro on the left side of the three-point line signaling for the ball. Trusting in Luoan's ace player, Aida quickly calculated a viable passing route and delivered the ball. Takai Akihiro wasted no time. He launched into his signature skill: a swift, side-to-side dribble interspersed with deceptive feints. This was a move reserved only for formidable

opponents, and it worked. Even Sendoh struggled to keep up. Exploiting a moment of distraction, Takai Akihiro surged past Sendoh on the right.

Dribbling at lightning speed toward the basket, Takai Akihiro drew the attention of Ikegami, who abandoned his own defensive assignment to intercept him. Despite anticipating a pass to Takahashi Shin, who was now unguarded, Ikegami was stunned when Takai Akihiro pressed forward instead. Fueled by indignation, Ikegami leapt to contest the dunk. Mid-air, he realized his miscalculation: "This guy jumped too high!"

Though their heights were nearly identical—183 cm versus Takai's 184 cm—Ikegami found himself utterly outmatched. With a cold snort, Takai Akihiro slammed the ball through the hoop, overpowering Ikegami.

"Beautiful! The captain just dunked over him!" "Captain is incredible! He broke through Ryonan's defense singlehandedly!" "So dominant! They'll think twice before underestimating us again!"

Ignoring Ikegami, who lay sprawled on the court, Takai Akihiro turned to Ryonan's players and declared coldly, "From now on, we fight back."

To Ryonan, his arrogance was infuriating. Scoring a single basket didn't erase their deficit. Still, Tanoka Shigekazu, observing from the sidelines, remained cautious. Takai Akihiro was no ordinary player; as Luoan's ace, he had often spearheaded critical comebacks. His initiative gave Kasahara, the coach, a sense of reassurance. Surely, a reversal was imminent.

The game continued. Uekusa advanced the ball into the front court, deliberating whether to pass to Kenichi Uesugi or Sendoh. After weighing his options, Uekusa opted for Kenichi Uesugi, reasoning that the latter faced weaker opposition in Fukaohara. This was the safer play to maintain their lead and avoid a momentum shift.

Receiving the ball, Kenichi Uesugi immediately launched into an offensive maneuver, mirroring Takai Akihiro's earlier display. He executed a series of rapid, side-to-side dribbles, catching Fukaohara off guard.

"Isn't that the captain's signature move? How does this kid know it?" Fukaohara thought, stunned. Before he could react, Kenichi Uesugi had already broken past him and charged toward the basket.

Luoan's power forward, Takahashi Jin, quickly stepped in to defend. But Kenichi Uesugi didn't falter. Instead, he accelerated, leaping toward the hoop with the ball in one hand, clearly intent on a dunk. Takahashi Jin jumped to block him but found himself outmatched, just as Ikegami had been moments earlier. The ball slammed through the hoop with a resounding clang as Uesugi Kenichi soared above him.

Takai Akihiro, still outside the three-point line, froze in disbelief. The same left-right dribble, the same emphatic dunk, and another defender left floored. This was a direct response to his earlier play—a challenge.

Under the basket, Kenichi Uesugi stood tall. Turning to face Takai Akihiro, he smirked and said, "Your counterattack is over."