"Boom!"
Ushijima opened with a thunderous spike. The first point of the fifth set was a huge boost to morale—both sides were desperate to take it.
With Matsukawa off the court, Hanamaki, Kindaichi, and Mad Dog all rushed in for the block. But was Ushijima's spike something you could just casually block?
The ball shot forward like a cannonball, smashing straight through the arms of Kyotani and Kindaichi.
Their block weakened the force slightly, but it was still nearly impossible to receive. The ball dropped straight into the backcourt.
Watari had already prepared to receive the moment Ushijima jumped to spike, but he was positioned too far from the block to reach it in time. Even if he had made it there, whether he could have handled the sheer power of that spike was another question entirely.
"Beep————"
"Ushijima-senpai is incredible!" Tsutomu Goshiki, who had been subbed out, stared at Ushijima on the court with shining eyes full of admiration. He really hoped that one day he could become someone like that too.
"Nice one, Ushijima!"
"Wakatoshi looks really fired up."
Tendo said it with a grin. Hearing that, Ushijima glanced over at him.
After moving around for a bit, some color had finally returned to Tendo's face. He looked much healthier now.
Seeing the healthy flush on Tendo's cheeks, Ushijima seemed reassured and turned back toward the court.
Tendo blinked in confusion.
What was that look from Wakatoshi-kun supposed to mean?
Even someone like Tendo, who relied on instinct, occasionally couldn't read Ushijima's thoughts. Perhaps it was simply because he never considered the possibility that Ushijima was worrying about him.
Reserved as he was, Ushijima remained the one person whose thoughts Tendo sometimes couldn't figure out.
Kindaichi rubbed his arm, eyes full of shock.
So Kunimi and Matsukawa-senpai had been fighting against someone this strong all this time… That's incredible…
Kyotani's frown was so deep it could probably kill a fly. His arm still burned painfully.
So damn annoying…
The more Kyotani thought about it, the angrier he became. His expression darkened, making him look even more fierce.
Kindaichi had wanted to say something to comfort him, but the moment he saw that expression, he froze in place.
Kyotani turned around, saw Kindaichi staring blankly at him, and shot him a vicious glare before walking away.
Kindaichi was so startled that he walked off stiffly, practically moving his arms and legs on the same side.
Ushijima stood in Position 1, so it was naturally his turn to serve.
His tall frame held the volleyball in one hand, making the ball look oddly delicate in comparison.
The players in front instinctively spread their arms to shield the backs of their heads. It was meant to block the opponent's line of sight so Ushijima could serve better—but the real reason was that no one wanted to get hit by one of Ushijima's serves.
If that missile-like ball hit someone's head, it would probably cause a concussion…
Ushijima tossed the ball high and began his approach.
His powerful build and explosive muscles perfectly embodied the brutal beauty of men's volleyball.
"Boom!"
The ball shot forward with a sharp whoosh, almost as if you could hear it slicing through the air.
Watari crouched low, his heart pounding uneasily.
No matter how tough a libero was, getting hammered repeatedly by the same player would inevitably wear down anyone's mentality.
Because Ushijima was left-handed, the ball curved slightly to the right as it flew.
Watari sprinted forward.
Even though he was afraid of the serve, after three years of high school volleyball, he wanted to at least be able to brag to his friends after graduation.
"I used to be the libero who could receive Ushijima's serves."
Even if they didn't make it to Nationals, that alone would be something he could stay proud of for years.
Watari dove toward where Kindaichi had been standing, sliding a long distance across the floor. Stretching his arm out as far as he could, he tried to save the ball.
"Bang!"
He misjudged the position.
The ball slammed into his wrist and flew out of bounds.
"Ah—!"
Watari felt as if his wrist had nearly snapped. The pain was intense.
Unfortunately, he still hadn't managed to receive the serve.
"Beep————"
The second serve.
Ushijima's movements were exactly the same as before—precise, almost like copy and paste.
"Boom!"
The ball rocketed forward again the instant the whistle blew. Watari barely had time to set his stance before he awkwardly lunged forward to receive it.
Oikawa's expression grew darker.
On Ushijima's calm face, he thought he saw something like excitement.
Ushijima still had that slightly mean streak in him—he must be doing this on purpose!
In reality, Oikawa had misunderstood.
Ushijima had simply been holding back for too long.
As the ace, he'd barely gotten the spotlight in the first four sets. The freshman players had taken most of it, and Shirabu had deliberately limited sets to him for the sake of overall strategy.
Simply put, Ushijima's hands were itching.
And now Watari had unfortunately walked straight into the line of fire.
Ushijima even had the strange thought of ending the entire match with his serves.
"Boom!"
"Beep————"
"Boom!"
"Beep————"
Point after point.
5:0.
Watari's face began to turn pale, and the others didn't look much better either.
This was practically leaving them no way to survive.
"Boom!"
The sixth serve.
Ushijima jumped high.
Originally, he had thought scoring three points would be enough… but he hadn't expected the opposing libero to struggle this much.
Ryosuke was definitely better.
After making that silent comparison in his mind, Ushijima unleashed another powerful jump serve.
This time, Watari didn't even need to track the ball.
The moment Ushijima hit it, he already knew where it was going.
Experience gained from being repeatedly blasted.
"Bang!"
Watari dove again.
This time he had positioned himself correctly. His palms met the ball as if he were lifting a heavy stone.
Gritting his teeth, he forced his arms upward and leaned his upper body back.
The ball shot high into the air.
Ushijima glanced at it, then returned to position with a hint of regret.
He had originally planned to score a few more points.
Seeing that expression, Oikawa nearly exploded.
What exactly are you regretting, huh?!
Oikawa darted across the court toward the net, still irritated.
"Slap!"
From the first pass to Oikawa's hands to the second touch took only two or three seconds.
His second attack was clean and decisive, without a single unnecessary motion.
Even Tendo didn't have time to react.
The ball had already hit the floor.
Tendo's mouth fell open in surprise.
Is Oikawa in a bad mood?
That spike looked powerful enough to bruise someone's arm.
Tsk tsk.
"Sorry, sorry!"
Tendo bent his knees and called out loudly as he prepared for the next play.
"Don't mind!"
That point made it Iwaizumi's turn to serve.
From the stands, Tsukishima clicked his tongue internally.
Aobajosai really doesn't play fair.
As soon as Oikawa's rotation ends, Iwaizumi comes up to serve.
If Ryosuke hadn't been helping with receptions, Shiratorizawa's libero might have already collapsed mentally by now. The score might even have been reversed.
How underhanded.
This lineup had indeed been Oikawa's deliberate arrangement.
However, he hadn't accounted for Ryosuke or Tendo.
When he saw Tendo appear, Oikawa had assumed Ryosuke would be subbed out. After all, Ryosuke looked completely exhausted.
Oikawa knew Ryosuke's receiving ability very well. They had played together plenty of times.
So if Ryosuke had left the court, he and Iwaizumi could have completely broken the libero's mentality together.
Once that happened, Shiratorizawa's floor defense would collapse.
But fate had favored Shiratorizawa this time.
As Iwaizumi cleared his mind of the messy thoughts, he slammed his arm into the ball.
"Boom!"
With Ryosuke sharing half the burden, Yamagata now felt much lighter.
A mere jump serve wasn't a problem.
He stepped forward to receive.
Iwaizumi's serve came a little too far forward.
Tendo stepped aside, making space.
Yamagata slid in on his knees from behind, carefully avoiding Tendo's feet.
"Bang!"
Still kneeling, he leaned back and received the ball.
The ball floated up in front of Tendo.
Tendo stepped back a few steps.
Honestly, it was exhausting sometimes. During matches he constantly had to give way to others, doing it carefully so he wouldn't block their vision or trap his own movement.
After years of doing this, Tendo had developed his own unique footwork.
Behind him, Shirabu smoothly stepped into position beneath the ball.
Reon was standing very close beside him.
Shirabu sent a quick, flat short set.
Reon jumped up to spike.
Hanamaki, who had been watching Ushijima closely, suddenly snapped to attention like a small universe exploding inside him.
In a flash, he rushed over.
His speed was shocking.
Reon blinked in surprise.
He hadn't been this fast earlier.
Hanamaki thought smugly:
I'm fully rested now. Peak condition.
Tsk. Since you came to block—
Then let me break that block.
"Boom!"
"Ugh…!"
Hanamaki's arms and legs had suffered a lot today. It hurt like hell.
In his mind he had already cursed Reon and Ushijima's entire family tree.
But even in pain, his blocking arm stayed firm.
The ball spun along his arm.
The force was slowly absorbed.
It was about to drop.
Hanamaki's face twisted.
Don't mess up now!
"Bang!"
Just as the ball was about to hit the floor, Kyotani suddenly dove beside Hanamaki's feet and lifted the ball back up.
The ball flew up again.
"Nice one, Mad Dog!"
Hanamaki's hands trembled with excitement.
If they had lost that ball after his arm suffered like that, he would've been so frustrated he might wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it.
"Nice one, Kyotani," Iwaizumi nodded approvingly.
Good.
He finally understands teamwork.
On the sidelines, Matsukawa watched with a complicated expression.
That unruly Mad Dog… actually diving to save a ball?
Even Kyotani himself didn't fully understand why he did it.
He had been standing close to Hanamaki. When the ball fell, it felt like time slowed down frame by frame.
At that moment he only thought:
If I don't save this ball… I'll regret it.
Deep down, Kyotani had always envied how close everyone else seemed.
But he knew he looked unfriendly and had a stubborn temper, so he had gradually become someone who didn't fit in.
Aobajosai was the first team that truly accepted him.
That meant something.
This play has nothing to do with Aobajosai.
Kyotani kept telling himself that.
The opponent was simply too strong. If he stayed uninvolved, the match would end quickly.
It definitely wasn't because he didn't want to see Aobajosai lose.
Yes.
That had to be it.
After thoroughly brainwashing himself, Kyotani nodded stiffly at Hanamaki.
When Hanamaki blocked earlier, Oikawa had already prepared to set.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mad Dog running over and curled his lips in satisfaction.
Oh my.
Has this wild dog finally been tamed?
Coach Irihata watched the saved ball and smiled.
Under Mizoguchi's confused gaze, he spoke slowly.
"When Oikawa first brought Kyotani here, I actually opposed it.
"That kid has incredible talent, but he's arrogant and has a terrible temper. It was obvious he wouldn't get along with others.
"Oikawa persuaded me for several days before I agreed.
"Kyotani doesn't like talking to people, and the team didn't like him either. Even when they communicated, it felt distant.
"But just now… the moment Kyotani started caring about Aobajosai, he finally became part of the team.
"Oikawa… really took a risky gamble."
Mizoguchi suddenly understood and quietly muttered,
"Maybe we should let Oikawa wander around more often. He might bring back more geniuses."
Irihata shot him a glare.
"Do you think geniuses grow like cabbages on the roadside?"
Mizoguchi laughed awkwardly.
He just hoped Aobajosai could climb even higher.
Oikawa really did have a good eye for talent.
Oikawa set a long, fast ball to the back row.
Iwaizumi was preparing for a back-row attack.
Hanamaki, Kyotani, and Kindaichi were already watching the net, ready to block at any moment.
Watari waited behind them to receive.
Iwaizumi sprinted in from the back row and jumped.
"Boom!"
Back-row attacks were the kind of play Tendo hated most.
For a blocker who relied on instinct, they were extremely troublesome. It was easy to misjudge the position.
Tendo jumped.
His arms straightened.
His bandaged hand reached out.
"Bang!"
He blocked it perfectly.
The ball spun against his palm.
But Tendo's stamina and durability were weak points.
Compared to Iwaizumi's spike power, he could only slow the ball.
"One touch!"
The ball's force dropped sharply.
Yamagata was still near the edge of the court.
Rather than forcing him to rush over, Ryosuke chased the ball from behind Tendo.
He moved so fast it was almost a blur.
Ryosuke even overtook the ball and positioned himself directly in its path, turning to receive it head-on.
"Shirabu-senpai!"
Shirabu nodded and moved into position to set.
In the stands, Futakuchi rubbed his eyes.
"Did his speed get faster again…?"
He thought he must have seen wrong.
That was a blur, right?
It had to be.
Damn it.
Why is everyone so strong?
Aone didn't understand the bitterness in Futakuchi's tone and simply nodded honestly.
Futakuchi got even more annoyed.
Futakuchi: Aone, I hate that you're such a blockhead!
Meanwhile, the rally on the court was about to continue.
Both Aobajosai and Shiratorizawa were ready.
...
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