Aomine Daiki Template in Slam Dunk

The match between Shohoku and Miuradai was still going.

"That was just a fluke. Everyone stay sharp," Murasame Kengo shouted to rally his team.

As he spoke, he passed the ball straight to Naitou Tetsuya. "Naitou, show them what we're made of."

"Got it." Naitou Tetsuya caught the ball and responded.

But the next moment—

Slap...

A crisp sound.

Naitou suddenly felt his hand go empty.

When he looked down, the ball was already gone.

What?

Thud... Thud... Thud...

A rapid dribbling sound echoed from behind him.

Then a voice rang out. "Sorry, but you were taking way too long. I got tired of waiting."

Naitou turned around on reflex.

Aoi Kunisaku was already driving the ball toward Miuradai's basket.

None of the Miuradai players expected a steal that fast. No one could react in time.

In the end, Aoi calmly laid the ball in with a three-step layup.

The ball went in.

Shohoku 49 to Miuradai 44.

"Damn it, why is that guy everywhere?" Murasame Kengo wiped the sweat off his forehead. He had just regained his calm during halftime, but now it was starting to crumble again.

Naitou Tetsuya was visibly frustrated.

He glared at Aoi Kunisaku with fury burning in his eyes.

He told himself it was just a fluke, that Aoi had gotten lucky. He never considered that there might be a true difference in skill.

"You little punk, you've pissed me off. I'm gonna take you out," Naitou growled at Aoi.

But Aoi couldn't care less. His expression didn't change at all.

Time ticked by.

Naitou slowly started to realize something was wrong.

No matter what he did, he couldn't shake off Aoi Kunisaku.

It was like Aoi was glued to him, turning into his worst nightmare.

Every drive got cut off.

Every dunk got blocked.

Every defense got blown through.

No matter what he tried, he couldn't stop Aoi. He couldn't break past him. He couldn't even get a shot off.

It was eating him alive.

The confidence he once had was starting to crack.

The rest of Miuradai couldn't believe it either.

They'd put in their "secret weapon," and yet he was getting completely shut down.

Their coach was seething on the sidelines. Veins bulged in his neck, and his eyes were practically bloodshot.

And all the while, the scoreboard kept changing under Aoi Kunisaku's relentless attacks.

55 to 44.

60 to 44.

70 to 44.

80 to 44.

…

Then, once again, Aoi faced a triple-team from Miuradai.

Just like fate was hitting replay.

Aoi twisted his body in an unnatural pose and squeezed the ball through the tightest gap in the defense.

At the same time—whether by accident or intent—Naitou's body crashed into Aoi's.

Beep...

Before the ball even reached the rim, the referee's whistle blew.

He pointed at Naitou and signaled a foul.

Everyone in the gym—shocked, thrilled, confused—watched as the ball dropped cleanly into Miuradai's basket.

"Miuradai No. 9, defensive foul. Basket counts. One free throw," the ref declared coldly.

The scoreboard now showed 89 to 44.

Half of the second half had already passed.

What stunned the crowd most was that since Aoi Kunisaku stepped onto the court, Miuradai hadn't scored a single point.

And every single point Shohoku had earned since then—every single one—was by Aoi.

Even more shocking, Aoi hadn't missed a single attempt.

Swish...

The ball sank through the net again.

Aoi nailed the free throw.

The scoreboard ticked up once more.

Shohoku 90, Miuradai 44.

Beep...

Shohoku called for a substitution.

Everyone turned toward the whistle in confusion. No one understood why Shohoku was making a sub now.

Sakuragi Hanamichi had already stepped onto the court and walked up to Aoi Kunisaku.

Hands on his hips, he tilted his head back and laughed out loud. "Hahahaha! Useless, this genius is back on the court! Now scram and give me some room!"

Aoi looked toward the bench, where Coach Anzai was sipping tea without a care.

This had to be Coach Anzai's call.

Aoi didn't say a word.

This game bored him too.

Crushing a bunch of scrubs wasn't even fun.

Aoi Kunisaku stepped off the court.

Ten minutes had passed in the second half.

Shimizu Kanon quickly stood up and handed him a towel and water. "Saku-chan… good work."

Aoi took the towel and bottle out of habit, wiped the little sweat on his forehead, and replied, "This wasn't even enough to warm up. Totally boring."

Hearing that, Ayako blinked. "Oh? Our MVP's not satisfied? We've practically secured the win, you know."

Aoi curled his lips and scoffed. "With a team like Miuradai, winning is just the default."

Coach Anzai suddenly spoke up. "Aoi, you seem really unimpressed by this game."

Aoi shrugged. "Huh? I guess. It's not about being satisfied or not. They just didn't have anyone strong. Kinda dull."

"I see," Coach Anzai murmured, falling into thought.

Shimizu Kanon, who understood Aoi, quickly added, "It's just the first match. It's normal the opponent isn't strong. But we'll definitely face tough teams later."

She turned and winked at Ayako. "Ayako-senpai thinks so too, right?"

Catching her signal, Ayako immediately nodded. "That's right. We've got plenty of strong teams in Kanagawa! Forget Shoyo and Kainan—Takezono has Oda, and Tsukubu High's Godai isn't easy either."

Aoi didn't remember exactly how strong those players were.

Still, hearing that made him feel a bit more interested.

He didn't know when it started, but somewhere along the way, basketball had become dull to him.

He knew deep down it wasn't how he really felt. It had to be the influence of the template merging with him.

He'd been trying to suppress that mental shift, not wanting to end up like Aomine Daiki from the anime.

[Name: Aoi Kunisaku]

[Age: 16]

[Height: 192 cm]

[Weight: 85 kg]

[Character Template: Aomine Daiki (99% match)]

[Talent Abilities: Super High-Speed Dribble (Awakened), Formless Shot (Awakened)]

[Wild Instinct: Black Panther (Awakened)]

[Zone (Half-Awakened)]

Gazing at the system panel only he could see, Aoi fell into deep thought.

It seemed like his system didn't have any other functions besides this display.

As for the yet-to-awaken Zone, he'd tried all kinds of methods.

If this followed the anime, Aomine in high school could already enter the Zone on his own, right?

He felt like something was off, like he was missing something.

"Saku-chan… Saku-chan… Saku-chan…"

Suddenly, someone calling him snapped him out of his thoughts.

Aoi turned to see Shimizu Kanon calling his name. "What's up?"

Kanon stared at him with concern. "What do you mean, what's up? You were spacing out. I called you and you didn't respond. Are you feeling sick?"

Aoi shook his head. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

Hmm?

Kanon tilted her head and stared at Aoi for a moment.

She had the strange feeling that he'd seemed like a completely different person just now.

Was it just her imagination?

…

Time passed.

The match between Shohoku and Miuradai neared its end.

After Sakuragi Hanamichi came back in, not only was he ineffective, he basically contributed nothing.

With 4 fouls already, he played stiffly, scared to make any more mistakes.

Miuradai's players caught on and adjusted their tactics to target him.

Because of that, Miuradai managed to close the score gap a bit.

But it was like an ant pushing a tree.

Without Aoi Kunisaku on the court…

Rukawa Kaede, Mitsui Hisashi, and Miyagi Ryota seemed to have flipped a switch. One after another, they shredded Miuradai's players and racked up points.

Rukawa, in particular, showed what it meant to be a super rookie . He caught the eyes of scouts and reporters alike.

And notably, at the end of the match, Sakuragi pulled off a flashy dunk… that landed squarely on Naitou Tetsuya's shiny bald head.

Naitou collapsed on the floor, trembling, foaming at the mouth, completely knocked out.

Sakuragi received his 5th foul and was promptly thrown out of the game by the referee.

Beep...

The final whistle sounded.

Shohoku vs. Miuradai. The final score: 125 to 61.

Everyone on Shohoku's bench rushed onto the court, celebrating their first win.

No one noticed, though, that Shohoku scored fewer points in the last ten minutes without Aoi than they did in the first ten minutes with him.

Thus, Shohoku's first match in the prefectural tournament ended in complete success.