The victory over Tokonami was already a fading memory, muffled by the hum of the gym's air conditioners. We had one hour of rest. One hour where we weren't athletes in a competitive trance anymore, but just a group of sweaty teenagers sitting on concrete steps at the back of the building, far from the chaos of the stands.
The final whistle against Tokonami still echoed in my ears, but there was no time to celebrate. In the Miyagi Prefectural Tournament, the first day is a slaughter: if you win in the morning, you have to play again in the afternoon. And our next opponent wasn't just any team.
As we walked toward the rest area to eat something light, we crossed paths with a group of giants heading toward the main court. They wore white and forest green uniforms. They were massive, silent, and radiated a coldness that made the arena feel like a walk-in freezer.
"The Iron Wall," Asahi whispered, and I could see his hands trembling slightly. The previous year, that team had destroyed his will, blocking every single one of his spikes until he broke down.
"Stop it, Asahi-san!" Nishinoya shouted, slapping him on the back.
System, analyze the opponents, I thought, looking toward the court where Date Tech was starting their warm-up.
[TARGET ANALYSIS: Datekogyo High School] [WARNING: Average Physical Strength and Blocking level above the prefectural average] [KEY PLAYER: Takanobu Aone] [TEAM ESTIMATED STATS: Strength 28, Agility 22, Endurance 30] [SPECIALTY: Blocking (A)]
"Thirty...?" I muttered, nearly choking on my bar. "The system said the average for monsters is 25, but that guy in the wall goes over thirty?"
[NOTE: The Sharingan (1 Tomoe) may be unable to process the reaction speed of Aone's "Read Blocking" without causing immediate neural overload to the Host's body.]
"Yuya, look at your face," Hinata said, sitting next to me with a strangely serious expression. "Are you scared of that guy with no eyebrows?"
"It's not fear, Hinata. It's just that that wall looks like a reinforced concrete building," I replied.
"Then we'll have to knock it down," Kageyama intervened, appearing out of nowhere with his gaze fixed on Aone. "Kazuki, if Ukai puts you in, don't try to be a hotshot. If you try to challenge their brute force with yours, they'll break your arms. We have to use speed."
"I can't feel my toes anymore," Tanaka murmured, slumped with his back against a pillar. He had a towel over his face and was breathing steadily. "Is it normal that after just one game I feel like I've been run over by a truck?"
"It's the adrenaline wearing off, Tanaka-senpai," Kageyama replied. He was the only one who hadn't sat down. He paced back and forth in a three-meter space, like a caged animal. "If you relax too much now, your muscles will lock up. Don't do it."
I was sitting a short distance away, my water bottle between my legs. The headache hadn't gone away. The Sharingan wasn't just a technique; it was like having a processor running at twice the speed allowed by the cooling system. I felt my temples throbbing.
While the others joked around, I sat on a bench and called up the System. Analyze Sharingan strain, I thought.
[PREVIOUS PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS] Sharingan Usage: 3 minutes and 12 seconds. Neural Load: High. Muscle Fatigue: 68%. Note: Risk of tears or micro-lesions in case of sudden movements not supported by the Host's physical condition.
In plain English, I was cheating with my eyes, but my body was paying the price. I had predicted Ikejiri's attack, but to move in time, I had to force my legs beyond what my body could comfortably handle. I felt a dull tremor in my calves.
"Fantastic," I whispered to myself.
"Yuya-kun?" Kiyoko had approached without me noticing. She handed me a plastic container with orange slices. "Eat. You need sugar. You look... exhausted. More than the others."
"I'm fine, Kiyoko-san. Just a bit of pressure for the debut," I lied, taking a piece of fruit. She stared at me for a second too long, with those calm eyes that always seemed to understand more than I said. Then she nodded and walked back toward Coach Ukai.
Ukai was sitting on a ball bag, staring at some crumpled sheets of paper. You could tell he was tense. Every now and then, he looked toward the corridor leading to the main courts.
"Listen up," Ukai said, catching our attention without raising his voice too much. "We go back in forty minutes. Dateko isn't Tokonami. They don't wait for you to make a mistake; they create the mistake by blocking you in the face until you start doubting yourselves. Asahi, I'm talking especially to you."
Asahi, who was trying to drink juice with slightly shaking hands, nodded in silence. The weight of the "Iron Wall" was a shadow that had followed him for a year.
Time passed in a tense silence, broken only by the sound of other teams entering or leaving. Every team that passed looked at us with curiosity or condescension. We were Karasuno, the "Fallen Crows." No one expected us to get past the second round.
"Five minutes," Daichi announced, standing up and shaking his legs to get the circulation going. "Shoes back on. Check your kneepads. I don't want to hear excuses."
My gaze focused on the Aoba Johsai match in the distance. It was Oikawa on the court. Every one of his sets was a symphony of precision.
I decided to test the Sharingan on him from the stands. Just for an instant. My pupils shifted imperceptibly. Suddenly, Oikawa's world broke apart. I saw the tension in his fingertips, the way he distributed his weight on his ankles before jumping, the micro-rotation of his shoulder that indicated exactly where he would send the ball.
ZAP!
A sharp pain, like a needle driven into my brain, forced me to close my eyes and lower my head.
"Damn it..." I whispered, gritting my teeth.
[WARNING: Analysis attempt on target with Superior Statistics (Average 40+)] Energy Consumption: Doubled. Neural Feedback: The brain cannot process the amount of technical data from an elite player without adequate Intelligence and Perception stat support.
The Sharingan was giving me the illusion of being a god, but I was still a beginner playing with fire. If I really wanted to face the "Grand King," I couldn't rely solely on my eyes.
"Hey, Yuya? You okay? You're as pale as a sheet," Hinata said, approaching with his usual energy that almost gave me motion sickness.
"Yeah... just some post-game fatigue," I replied, massaging my temples.
We lined up. The tunnel leading to the main court was dark, lit only by the reflections of the gym lights at the end. As we moved forward, the roar of the crowd grew clearer. And with it, a rhythmic sound that made the floor vibrate.
Go! Go! Dateko! Go! Go! Dateko!
Date Tech's organized cheering had already begun. They were there, lined up on the other side of the net. White and green jerseys, massive physiques, and that human wall that looked like a cliff ready to shatter our every wave. Aone stood still in the center, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the tunnel we were emerging from.
BOOM!
The official warm-up had begun. The gym was a chaos of whistles and balls bouncing everywhere. There were no stadium-style introductions, just the loudspeaker crackling the names of the teams distractedly. But when they announced "Date Kogyo," the school's cheering exploded.
Go! Go! Dateko! Go! Go! Dateko!
That rhythmic chant wasn't just encouragement; it was a hammer striking the hardwood. We lined up for the quick greeting.
"Good game!" we shouted in unison.
As we crossed paths to head to our respective halves of the court, Aone stopped a second too long in front of Hinata. He looked down at him without a word, then raised his arm and pointed his index finger straight between our number ten's eyes. Hinata stood petrified.
"Hey, move it," Kageyama muttered, pushing Hinata by the shoulder. "Don't let him psych you out."
The warm-up at the net began. The two teams took turns for practice spikes. It was the moment the tension truly began to escalate.
Ukai called us together. "Kazuki, Tsukishima, you two will block Aone. Don't try to be heroes; just focus on touching the ball. If the ball slows down, Nishinoya will get it. Understood?"
"Yes, Coach!"
We lined up. I positioned myself next to Kageyama, right in front of that green and white wall. The first referee climbed onto the chair. Silence fell over our half of the court, broken only by the incessant chanting of the Dateko fans.
[WARNING: Enemy Threat Level - HIGH] [System Suggestion: Do not force the Sharingan in the early rallies. Study the mechanical rhythm of their block.]
Bip!
The referee's whistle started the match. Kageyama went to serve. It was time to see if that concrete wall could truly be broken.
[EPIC MISSION ACTIVATED: The Iron Wall] [OBJECTIVE: Win the match against Datekogyo] [LIMITATION: Sharingan autonomy reduced to 1 minute due to physical overload] [REWARD: +40 Sharingan]
"1 minute..." I thought, clenching my fists. "I'm practically blind for 90% of the game."
The referee called the teams to center court. The crowd gathered around Court 3. Word was spreading fast: Karasuno, the team of reborn crows, was about to clash against the tallest wall in the prefecture.
Ukai gathered us in a huddle. "Listen well. They use 'Read Blocking.' They don't jump until they see where the ball is going. This means you can't fool them with normal feints. You have to be faster than their thoughts." He looked at me and Tsukishima. "You two are our first line of defense. If you can't stop them, we at least need to touch the ball to allow Nishinoya to recover it. Clear?"
"Yes!" we shouted in unison.
But as I stepped onto the court, I felt the limit of my statistics. Strength 20. Against a wall of 30. It was like trying to kick down an armored door barefoot.
The opening whistle pierced the air. BIP!
Karasuno to serve.
Kageyama hit it hard, but Datekogyo's libero, Kōsuke Sakunami, received it with glacial precision. The ball went to their setter.
"Now let's see how strong they really are," I thought, positioning myself at the block in front of Aone as he sprinted toward the center.