Creak!
After the referee's whistle, Shiratorizawa serves!
"Kawanishi! Serve a good one!"
"Yes!"
Bang!
Taichi Kawanishi's serve shot straight toward the corner of Karasuno's court!
Yū Nishinoya dashed forward and picked it up!
Tobio Kageyama, who was in the front row, didn't hesitate and sent a quick set directly toward Akira!
At that moment, everyone on Shiratorizawa's side rushed toward Akira the moment they saw the pass!
"Here it comes!"
On the coach's bench, Tanji Washijō's eyes lit up.
It's that same unsolvable spinning spike from Akira again!!
But this time, he had drawn some inspiration from Karasuno's previous match against Inarizaki—he already knew how to respond!
Use the three-setter tactic!!
They had practiced this strategy heavily leading up to the match!
But until now, Washijō hadn't used it in the game.
He needed to take a closer look.
What changes had Akira's attacks gone through during this time?
Bang!!
With a resounding crack, Akira's spike tore through Shiratorizawa's block and landed squarely inbounds!
This time, even their back-row defenders didn't get a hand on the ball!!
Seeing this, Washijō couldn't help but frown.
Their front-row block and back-row defense had been working in tight coordination, but Akira still found a gap!!
He couldn't have done that in their last match!
Don't tell me...
He's already figured out our defense??
The thought sent a jolt through Washijō's chest.
From earlier observations, he knew—
As the game progresses, Akira gradually pinpoints the weaknesses in his opponent's formation.
But...
The game has barely started!!
How could this already be happening?
Was it just a coincidence?
Washijō didn't want to believe it.
But for now, all he could do was take it one step at a time.
...
As soon as the set began, both sides scored one point each, neither giving an inch!
Then the match intensified!
However, as the game progressed, the more Washijō watched, the deeper his unease grew.
Shiratorizawa's various defensive tactics weren't working against Akira!
No matter how seamlessly the front and back rows coordinated, he could always exploit a gap!
Washijō furrowed his brow.
Thinking back, he realized what might be going on.
Toward the end of the last match between Karasuno and Shiratorizawa, this pattern had already begun to emerge!
It was just incredibly subtle.
And since they were on the verge of losing at the time, no one paid it much attention.
So it had gone unnoticed!
But now that he thought about it, even their back-row coverage had started to miss Akira's spikes back then!
"Could it be..."
Washijō rubbed his chin.
"Has he been reading our defense since then?"
It made sense, in hindsight.
Since the last match, most of Shiratorizawa's adjustments had focused on offense and scoring—not defense!
And that meant Akira could still use insights from the previous match to target Shiratorizawa's formation!!
As soon as the realization hit him, Washijō quickly turned toward the bench.
"Eita! Get over here!!"
"Yes!"
A flicker of confusion passed over Eita Semi's face.
The coach had previously told him he'd probably be subbed in during the second set—why the sudden change?
But he jogged over immediately.
"Get ready!"
"You'll be going in after a few more rotations!!"
...
On the court, the match was heating up!
Akira's jump serve flew directly over Hayato Yamagata's shoulder!
Just as Yamagata assumed it was heading out of bounds...
The ball suddenly dropped sharply!!
Thwack!
It slammed straight onto Shiratorizawa's sideline!
Creak!
Off the court, the referee's whistle blew!
Karasuno scored again!!
Now the score stood at Karasuno 9:6 Shiratorizawa!
They had built a solid lead!!
Across the net, every player on Shiratorizawa wore a grim expression.
Compared to their last match, they could all feel just how much Karasuno had improved!
Whether in fundamentals or advanced techniques...
They had evolved on every front!
"What a magical national tournament..."
In the rest area, Satori Tendō—who had been substituted out—murmured to himself.
The atmosphere on the court was vastly different from that off the court!
Everyone on Shiratorizawa stared seriously across the net!
When they had previously observed Karasuno's match against Inarizaki, they had been amazed by Akira's powerful serve!
In their last regional matchup, it had been Akira's jump serve that ultimately sealed their defeat.
So naturally, it was his serve that left the deepest impression.
Just after the referee's whistle sounded again, Akira launched powerful serve toward Shiratorizawa's court!!
This time, it was a high jump serve!
Bang!
Before anyone on Shiratorizawa's side could react, the ball slammed straight into their court!
Tweet!
Off-court, the referee's whistle blew again!
Karasuno scores!
"What a terrifying serve…"
Back when they watched it on TV, they'd only thought it looked scary.
At that time, everyone on Shiratorizawa had even believed that if they were the ones facing it, maybe they could receive it?
But now, standing on the court and facing Akira's serve for real...
Only then did they realize: only by being in it could one truly understand how unsolvable this serve was!!
On the other side of the net, Akira, who had just scored another point, slowly walked back to the service line.
Keep serving!!
…
"That was amazing!!"
In the stands outside the court, Naoto Kunimura and the others were visibly excited.
"Even though I've seen his serve in videos before, being here in person... it's a completely different experience!"
"I just wonder…"
Heiji Yoshino's eyes lit up with anticipation.
"What it'll feel like when it's us on the court receiving that kind of serve!!"
Hahaha!
Takeshi Mitsuda laughed heartily from beside them:
"Even Mr. Arai had a hard time receiving that kind of serve at first!"
"He gave up three points straight!"
"And honestly, I think if that match had gone on longer, Akira could've scored way more than just three points off his serves!"
Hearing that, Kunimura and Yoshino were stunned for a moment.
"Sounds like…"
"Exactly!"
…
Tweet!
Back on the court, Akira's serve continued!
Now, the score was Karasuno 14:6 Shiratorizawa!
Karasuno held a commanding eight-point lead!!
Across the net, the Shiratorizawa players were visibly tense!
With Akira alternating between two different types of jump serves, they were struggling to keep up!
Bang!
Another explosive jump serve!
But this time, Hayato Yamagata in the back row clenched his jaw!
He instinctively dove forward!!
Smack!
The ball was on track to hit the ground!
But because of Yamagata's desperate dive, it smacked squarely against his back and bounced up!
"Nice receive!!"
Kenjirō Shirabu's eyes lit up instinctively!
He moved directly beneath the falling ball!
Jump!
"Ushijima-senpai!"
The ball sailed toward Wakatoshi Ushijima in the back row!!
At that moment, Ushijima's focus locked in on the ball, holding his breath in concentration.
He knew—there was absolutely no room for error on this one!!
Bang!!
Ushijima's back-row attack rocketed toward Karasuno's side!!
Even though Karasuno's front line had done everything they could to block, they still underestimated Ushijima's sheer power when he went all out!
The ball punched straight through the defense and slammed into Karasuno's court!!
Tweet!
The referee's whistle blew.
Shiratorizawa finally clawed a point back!
On the sidelines, Coach Tanji Washijō let out a deep breath of relief.
His serve is finally over.
But still…
Now that the score gap had widened this far, did they really still have a chance at a comeback??
An eight-point gap!!
In a standard matchup, Karasuno already had a slight edge over Shiratorizawa!
And now, how hard would it be to close that massive eight-point difference??
Sure enough, just as he feared…
Even with Akira rotating to the back row, that eight-point gap didn't vanish so easily!!
Shōyō Hinata, now up in the front row, was also showcasing how much he'd improved recently!
Whether it was his evolved quick attack with unpredictable running routes, or his now-consistent wipe technique, he was giving Shiratorizawa all sorts of trouble!!
Under these circumstances, not only did Shiratorizawa fail to narrow the score…
The gap stretched even further!!
And then, when Akira rotated back into the front row, Karasuno's score continued to climb!
Until…
Tweet!!
The referee's whistle rang out!
Karasuno reached 25 points and took the first set!
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