Sakuragi Hanamichi lay in his hospital bed, feeling disoriented and groggy, as new memories started to seep into his brain. He struggled for about 10 minutes before finally getting rid of the pain, but he couldn't shake off the feeling of dizziness quickly.
As he began to process the new set of memory fragments he had received, a sense of unreal emotions washed over him. He was now a set of incomplete memories of an American man named John Smith. He was a basketball enthusiast during his lifetime and had in depth research in basketball allowing Sakuragi to have knowledge of basketball tactics, scientific workouts, famous players, and his own life as a character in the manga "Slam Dunk" - information that would surely come in handy in the future.
Sakuragi knew that he was only a character in a manga in a parallel world, but he couldn't help feeling excited for the new outlook on life that comes with it. Because of the soul fusion he became lot more mature compared to before. As he rests and go through some memories his love for basketball had been further strengthened and now he has a greater goal that had come with his newfound knowledge.
He is determined to work hard honing his basketball skills and enter the NBA to become the best, and he knew that the fusion of his soul and John Smith's soul fragments had caused some new changes in his body that would aid him in achieving his dreams. He knew it is extremely difficult to succeed, but he now has confidence to achieve his dreams.
As he adjusted his posture and sat up in the hospital bed, he thought about his recent situation. He had suffered a back injury at a critical moment as Shohoku High faced off against Sannoh High, one of Japan's top teams, led by the nation's best player, Eiji Sawakita. He's truly heartbroken to suffer such a loss at such an important match. The match had been intense, but Sannoh emerged victorious over Shohoku, leaving Sakuragi with a significant back injury. He introspected about his performance during the game and found about different methods he could've helped his team win. He knew these ways because of the newfound memories, though it came a step late. Nevertheless he's looking forward to start playing again after healing his injury.
According to the doctors, he had to recover for almost 3 months to get back in shape as his back injury was not serious and he was still growing. However, he knew that he couldn't participate in heavy exercises for half a year to completely cure his injury and avoid future complications. This meant that he would miss the winter tournament as well, causing him to feel dejected as he wouldn't be able to help his seniors Akagi and Mitsui reach their goal of dominating the country.
Despite this setback, Sakuragi was filled with anticipation for the future. He was determined to work hard and come back stronger, ready to take on any challenge that came his way.