Chapter 40: Scouting Intelligence and Watching the Show
The Yukigaoka players who had just finished their match heard from the staff that their finals opponent tomorrow had yet to be determined—Kosen Academy was still locked in a fierce third-set battle with Hakusui Academy Middle School.
They were instantly intrigued.
"Going home can wait—we're not in any rush anyway."
Hoshino Masaru rested his chin on his hand, making what appeared to be a thoughtful pose, but his eyes were scanning his surrounding teammates.
''Let's go watch! Let's go watch!"
The first to respond was Hinata Shoyo.
"That's right! Let's go watch! They're our finals opponent! We should see their playing style! This is a perfect chance to scout intelligence!"
Hinata Shoyo took the lead heading toward the other court, even making the surprisingly smart decision to go up to the second floor to watch, giving everyone the feeling that 'Hinata has evolved.'
But looking back—he hadn't taken his clothes, hadn't changed his shoes, and had left his water bottle on the ground.
Everyone: "As expected, still a little monkey."
"You guys go ahead, I'll have Ayasaki-san help us take care of these things."
Ichise Guren said to his teammates, who all looked eager to move but were just speeding up their packing.
"Long live the captain!"
Hoshino Masaru, who had no presence after leaving the court, was already dozens of meters away by the time he said this.
Only Hyakuzawa Yudai continued packing unhurriedly. Even the three first-years excitedly bowed to Ichise Guren before quickly running off.
"Hyakuzawa, you should go watch too. Kosen's attackers aren't much shorter than you."
Hearing Ichise Guren's one-on-one advice, Hyakuzawa Yudai nodded and still put on his jacket before going to observe the match.
After Ichise Guren sent a text to Ayasaki Hayate, thirty seconds later, Ayasaki Hayate wearing Yukigaoka-branded clothing appeared at the entrance with three burly men they'd seen at lunch. After showing their work IDs to the staff, they jogged in.
"As expected of Ayasaki-san, your speed hasn't changed from your days as the hurricane butler."
"You're too kind, this is what I should be doing."
When Ichise Guren arrived at the second-floor stands, the third set between Kosen Academy and Hakusui Academy had already been going for a while.
Kosen Academy 6, Hakusui Academy 5.
Noticing Ichise Guren's arrival, the three first-years closest to him very consciously made way, letting Ichise Guren take the center position to watch the match.
Hoshino Masaru also began explaining to Ichise Guren what they'd observed and his analysis. As for Hinata Shoyo, who had arrived first—there was no point expecting this guy, who described technical moves with sound effects, to articulate what he'd seen.
"Kosen's blocking and spiking are both excellent, but compared to their blocking and spiking, their ground defense and setter coordination are somewhat lacking."
"Currently, Kosen is definitely a team focused on scoring. Block kills and power spike scores are their two main scoring methods and their absolute strengths."
"They have two tall players around 188cm, plus a middle blocker around 185cm with very intuitive movements."
"Looking at Hakusui Academy on the other side, their average height is noticeably shorter. Aside from their tallest captain at around 183cm, everyone else is basically around 175cm. Conversely, their libero isn't actually that short—should be around 171cm."
"They're a team that has perfected ground defense, with their 183cm captain's adaptive blocking as the front line and ground receiving as the core, especially their libero."
"His footwork is incredibly quick, his hand-eye coordination is first-rate, and most ridiculous is his wingspan. At 171cm tall, his wingspan might be around 180cm. This wingspan combined with his footwork and receiving technique means he can dig up balls that most liberos can't even touch. When facing spikes, his strength is very stable—he can absorb power without needing rolling motions."
"Don't let their single-digit score fool you—every point they score requires multiple rallies. Just watching from the sidelines makes me tired."
After carefully listening to Hoshino Masaru's analysis, Ichise Guren nodded.
"Good work, Hoshino. Your analysis is very useful to us. As expected from someone with national tournament experience—well done."
Suddenly being praised by Ichise Guren like this, Hoshino Masaru actually seemed a bit embarrassed, scratching his chin as his gaze returned to the court.
"It's nothing... I was the second one here, and I came to analyze intelligence anyway. Not like a certain monkey who came to watch the show."
Hoshino Masaru clearly transformed his embarrassment from being praised into an attack on Hinata Shoyo.
Everyone looked at Hinata Shoyo, who was still staring intently at the court and excitedly bouncing up and down, all showing meaningful expressions.
Hyakuzawa Yudai quietly interjected: "Don't be like that. Maybe Shoyo is just excitedly thinking about the teams' playing styles. He wouldn't forget we came to scout intelligence."
Hinata Shoyo, who had just been watching the match, suddenly whipped around to look at his teammates. With one finger pointing at Kosen's middle blocker, somewhat teary-eyed and with a tone of dissatisfaction, he said:
"That guy is so cool!"
"Just now he went like this..."
He started imitating the Kosen middle blocker's movements.
"Swoosh! Bang! Wham!"
"That's way too cool!"
"His height spike is so cool too!!!"
"I want to be that cool too!!!"
Hinata Shoyo's bouncing around caught the attention of staff downstairs, who then reminded him:
"Hey there, little guy! Where are your guardians! You can't play by yourself near the railing!"
"Little... guy..."
Looking at Hinata Shoyo's petrified expression, then thinking about Hyakuzawa Yudai's obviously weak defense earlier:
"Ahahahahahaha!!!" x5
A joyful atmosphere filled the second-floor stands.
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