Creak!
In the front row of Karasuno, Shōyō Hinata once again coordinated with Tobio Kageyama to launch a quick attack!
Even though Satori Tendō managed to catch up for the block, Hinata's spike still went off his hands and out of bounds for the point!
And now, Shiratorizawa Academy has clearly entered the period of physical decline.
Especially Wakatoshi Ushijima, who is currently in the back row.
He had been carrying the team earlier with consecutive points.
Even from the back row, he was launching powerful attacks, keeping Shiratorizawa in the game.
But the cost of that is his stamina is being drained far quicker than anyone else's.
So right from the start of the set, he's been showing signs of exhaustion.
"Ushijima-senpai!"
After seeing the receive from the back row, Kenjirō Shirabu instinctively sent the ball in Ushijima's direction.
It was a pass born of trust—trust built through long hours of practice and matches.
In a deadlock like this, only Ushijima could be trusted to score that 22nd point.
That desperate need to break through pushed Shirabu to send the set straight to him without much thought.
And when he saw Shirabu's toss, Ushijima didn't hesitate for a moment.
Even as he gasped for breath and sweat poured down his face...
He charged straight in from the back row!
Boom!!
A powerful back-row spike tore through Karasuno's block and slammed straight into the court!
Creak!
The referee's whistle blew again!
Point for Shiratorizawa!
But Ushijima, who had just scored, staggered and nearly lost his balance.
"Ushijima!"
Seeing this, the rest of Shiratorizawa immediately rushed forward to support him.
"I'm fine."
Ushijima steadied himself and gently pushed away their arms.
"Ushijima-senpai... I..."
Shirabu stood at the side, guilt clear on his face.
This wasn't the first time this had happened during the match.
And now in the third set, the effects of physical fatigue had shown themselves more than once.
As the team's secondary setter, he should be constantly aware of every player's condition.
But clearly, he hadn't read Ushijima's state properly.
That last toss—he shouldn't have made it.
He hadn't considered Ushijima's limits at all.
"It's fine."
Ushijima fell silent for a moment as he looked at Shirabu's remorseful face, then shook his head slightly.
"For the next one, keep setting it to me."
"I..."
Shirabu blinked in surprise at his words.
Seeing his hesitation, Ushijima let out a soft sigh and said:
"Didn't we talk about this already?"
"No matter the situation, believe in me—unconditionally."
"Yes!"
Shirabu's expression lit up as he remembered. He nodded firmly, moved.
"I will!"
...
"At the end of physical strength, all that's left is faith."
Outside the court, Coach Tanji Washijō watched the scene unfold with a faint sigh.
It wasn't just Ushijima. Even Shirabu had reached the limits of his endurance.
This match with Karasuno wasn't like the last one.
Back then, Eita Semi had shared the burden with him.
So even if Shirabu had pushed himself hard, there were moments where he could step off the court to catch his breath.
But now—he's survived nearly three full sets on his own.
Even with others helping here and there, the majority of the setting still fell on him.
After all, no one else on the team specialized in setting. Their technique wasn't as refined as Shirabu's.
So he had no choice but to take on most of the burden himself.
And the price of that was rapid and brutal fatigue.
"Can we still win?"
By Washijō's side, Coach Saito spoke with visible concern as he watched the match.
"Just keep watching."
Washijō shook his head slightly, his voice filled with quiet resignation.
At this point, anyone watching could see it.
The odds of victory were slipping out of reach.
But even so, they couldn't just give up—not until the very end.
After all, they had poured months of preparation into this.
They had trained, strategized, and built up their team with the sole goal of defeating Karasuno in the prefectural preliminaries.
But what no one had expected was—
Even though Shiratorizawa had improved tremendously, Karasuno was no longer the same team from before.
Now, the strength of every Karasuno player had undergone a transformation.
They had become something else entirely.
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