Jin's blatant provocation made Kageyama furious. He could no longer view Shirogane Jin as just an ordinary player.
Bad timing, bad position, bad setup, but Jin had still pulled off a perfect spike. In his three years of middle school, this was the first time Kageyama had seen such a powerful spiker.
After scoring, Hinata's turn to serve, he forced himself to calm down and fortunately sent serve across.
Although Kitagawa Daiichi's libero picked it up easily.
"Chance ball!" someone shouted.
The ball went straight to Kageyama. At the same time, Kindaichi and another spiker both started their approach, one left, one right, making it unclear who would be the target.
From the back row, Jin wasn't allowed to step up and block. Instead, he stayed grounded, sharp eyes following every detail of Kitagawa's formation.
The moment the ball touched Kageyama's hands, Jin's body shot into motion. With Kageyama's personality, Jin knew exactly what he'd do, he'd go for a setter dump himself.
Sure enough, Kageyama leapt, his right wrist snapping downward to push the ball over. But the ball never touched the court.
Jin had already read him. Sliding forward, he scooped it cleanly back into play, sending it toward Yukigaoka's stand-in setter.
"Tch! He read me!?" For the first time, Kageyama's calm expression cracked.
"Heh." Jin smirked.
The nervous stand-in setter caught the ball, but his timing was off, it floated too high above his head.
Jin didn't panic. With quick steps, he positioned himself perfectly under it.
This time, Kitagawa reacted. Kageyama, Kindaichi, and another blocker leapt together, forming a three-man wall.
But Jin's eyes locked directly on Kageyama. 'This one will break you.'
Kageyama felt a chill down his spine. In that instant, his left palm stiffened, just enough to weaken his block.
"The King has weaknesses too. I saw it."
*Boom!*
Jin's spike blasted straight past Kageyama's left hand, landing deep in Kitagawa's court.
Kunimi jogged back halfheartedly before letting the ball drop. "Couldn't reach it," he muttered.
"Be serious!" Kageyama snapped. "Chase it to the end!"
Kunimi scratched his head. "Sorry… but I really couldn't get there."
Kageyama clenched his fists. Jin wasn't just fast, his ability to read the game was terrifying. He could have gone for a soft tip, but instead he saw the tiny flaw in Kageyama's form and drove the spike straight through.
A terrifying ace. That was Kageyama's only impression now.
---
"Hey, isn't Kitagawa Daiichi a seeded team? Why are they getting suppressed like this? It's 10–5 already."
"Those five points were Yukigaoka's errors. That silver-haired spiker scored nine points himself!"
As the rotation came around, Jin stepped up to serve.
He bounced the ball twice, focused his breathing, and stared at Kitagawa's court. The whistle blew.
The ball soared high, Jin charged, leapt, and unleashed a jump serve.
"Jump serve!" Kageyama barked. "Libero, watch it!"
*Boom!*
The spinning ball crashed into Kitagawa's backcourt before anyone could react.
In modern volleyball, serving was the one attack that ignored any block. And right now, Kageyama understood that truth far too well.
The serve left Kitagawa's players speechless.
There were two kinds of jump serves: one relying on pure raw power, and one on explosive speed with relaxed control. Jin's was the latter sharp, fast, unpredictable.
"Jin! That was awesome! Another point!" Hinata cheered.
"Unbelievable! Come on, Jin!" Yukigaoka's players shouted.
Jin smirked and made a scissors-hand victory sign toward Kageyama, pure provocation.
Kageyama's fists trembled. Against this guy, he had no answer.
The whistle blew again. Kitagawa's coach walked to the referee and whispered something.
Jin already knew what it was. He wasn't on Yukigaoka's official roster. What else could they do but call him out?
Sure enough, the referee announced: "Player Shirogane Jin of Yukigaoka Middle is not registered on the team list. Please leave the court immediately. The match will resume."
Kageyama glanced at his bench. No doubt, they had reported it.
"What the hell! I have to settle this with him!" Kageyama shouted furiously.
On the other side, Hinata and the others froze. It was their first real tournament, they had no idea about such rules.
"Jin…" Hinata muttered, stunned.
Jin patted him on the shoulder. "Don't be so down. I gave you a good start. Now keep it going."
Then he walked toward Kageyama again, raising his brows. "Your coach is smart. Otherwise, I'd have broken that King's crown today."
At that moment, a cold voice rang in Jin's mind:
"System task released. Task location one kilometer away. Time limit: 30 minutes."
Task: Rescue Kiyoko Shimizu
Jin's expression shifted. He couldn't ignore this.
No matter how much Kageyama tried to provoke him now, Jin simply turned and sprinted out of the gym. Within seconds, he vanished from sight.