Ryosuke raised an eyebrow. A three-man block? Were they really going all out like this?
Two 1.9-meter giants and a 1.8-meter Wing Spiker jumping in perfect formation to block was honestly a pretty impressive sight.
Even Coach Washijō was sweating for Ryosuke from below the court. He knew this kid was not especially good at spiking. If Ryosuke failed to get this ball through, he wondered whether he would feel upset.
As it turned out, Coach Washijō had overthought it. First of all, Ryosuke would absolutely not let this ball fail. Second, even if, taking ten thousand steps back, the ball really did not get through, Ryosuke would not be upset. At most, he would feel a little disappointed.
During the short gap as he jumped, Ryosuke was still thinking about how he should hit this ball.
The three blockers on the other side had jumped fairly high. Hitting over the block might not work. A tip was worth trying, but it would definitely be received by the opposing Libero. Ryosuke's wide field of vision had already spotted the Libero hovering near the backcourt.
Ryosuke was currently in position two. The position itself was not especially troublesome, but against a three-man block, the difficulty immediately doubled.
As he thought, Ryosuke made his move.
Since neither a tip nor hitting over the block would work, then he would use a cross-court shot.
The spot Ryosuke had chosen for his approach and jump was extremely clever. He had taken off facing the net head-on, which was the ideal route for hitting a line shot.
After jumping, he saw the ball arrive right in front of him and continue drifting forward. Ryosuke decisively cut it off and struck quickly, catching them off guard.
"Bang!"
Ryosuke put strength into his wrist, his palm wrapping over the upper right side of the volleyball before pressing down along the path of a sharp little cross-court shot, finishing the spike in one swift motion.
The ball brushed through the arms of Naoharu Ezota and Nozomu Mami. The gap was barely there, but Ryosuke really had aimed for it and spiked it through.
Haruma Bishin had originally thought this ball would be a line shot. If it was a line shot, he did not need to receive it, since Nozomu Mami was an old hand at blocking the line. He never expected Ryosuke to trick them. The ball was a cross-court shot, but his form had looked like the setup for a line shot, causing Haruma Bishin to react too late and miss it.
"Beep-----------"
"That was beautifully handled."
Seeing Ryosuke score that point, Reon could not help clapping.
Out of all the ways to break through a block, Ryosuke had chosen the simplest one with the highest success rate.
And that kind of sharp little cross-court angle came with side spin. If the downward press of the wrist was not accurate or precise enough, a sharp cross-court shot without side spin could easily fly out of bounds.
It really was an incredibly brilliant shot.
"Shiratorizawa's Ryosuke scores again. This point wasn't from a block, but from a spike. He used the approach and takeoff for a line shot, then hit a sharp cross-court shot instead, fooling both the three-man block and the Libero behind them!"
"Yes, that was a highly technical ball. If Ryosuke had hesitated even slightly on that spike, he would not have taken this point. As expected of someone from a powerhouse like Shiratorizawa. The student has truly surpassed the teacher!"
The two commentators had clearly enjoyed that last play, and every word they said was praise for Ryosuke.
The three Mujinazaka blockers and their Libero, however, looked a little awkward after hearing the commentary.
Usuri felt indignant. It really was not that they were easy to fool. That kid was just too cunning.
Haruma Bishin also fell silent. He really had been careless. For some reason, whenever he faced that kid from Shiratorizawa, he could not help underestimating him.
Naoharu Ezota had already stumbled against Ryosuke so many times in this match that he felt numb. No matter how incredible Ryosuke turned out to be, he could accept it now.
"Didn't see that coming. You're pretty good at acting."
Kawanishi looked at the awful expressions on the faces of the players across the net and almost laughed, then waggled his eyebrows at Ryosuke as he spoke.
Ryosuke put on an innocent face.
"It's really not that I'm good at acting."
"So you're saying they're just stupid?"
Kawanishi said the next line with absolute ease. Ryosuke curled his lips into a smile and said nothing.
He had not said anything, but it felt like he had said everything.
The two of them had not avoided the people standing in front of the net at all. Nozomu Mami and the others heard them clearly, and their faces turned dark, then pale, then red.
Kawanishi really felt that Ryosuke was becoming more and more interesting. At first, he had thought Ryosuke was shy and timid, but after spending more time with him, he realized the kid was a little black-hearted beneath that innocent surface. He smiled while doing the things other people hated most, and still left them unable to say a word against him. Truly impressive.
Ushijima walked over and saw that the Mujinazaka players did not look too good. He gave Ryosuke and Kawanishi a warning glare, signaling them not to talk so much.
The moment Kawanishi saw Ushijima come over, he shut up. Although Ushijima could be a little unreliable, his authority as captain was not just for show.
This point was extremely important, because Ryosuke had rotated into position one. Now it was his turn to serve.
It seemed Shiratorizawa's only bad luck today had been at the initial draw. After that, everything had gone smoothly, as if the god of luck were standing on their side.
Seeing Ryosuke walk to the service line, everyone on Mujinazaka became alert, especially Haruma Bishin.
Ryosuke had made a name for himself in the prefectural tournament. Quite a few newspapers had interviewed him, especially Volleyball Weekly, which had given him an entire page. The headline, enlarged and bolded, had read: "The Genius Who Chased Down Seven Points Alone at the Miyagi Prefectural Tournament: The Hook Serve Returns to the Court."
That short headline had shocked everyone more than once. Scoring seven consecutive points off serves was already rare, and on top of that, it was the unprecedented Hook Serve. Because of that, plenty of people had remembered Ryosuke.
Although the Mujinazaka players had never personally seen his spiking, that did not stop them from being wary of Ryosuke's serve.
Ryosuke stepped onto the service line. For the first time, he felt what it was like to have everyone watching him. He felt a little shy, but also a little excited.
Ryosuke rolled his shoulders and checked his current condition. His arm was not tired, and his field of vision was wide open. Everyone was waiting for his serve.
Taking the volleyball from the ball boy, Ryosuke took a deep breath, turned sideways with his shoulder facing the block, and tossed the ball.
Haruma Bishin was tense. The moment he saw Ryosuke begin his serve, he snapped fully into focus and started moving.
He had only seen the Hook Serve in videos before, so he had a rough idea of how to receive it. But this was his first time facing it in an actual match. After all, no one around him could serve like this.
"Bang!" Ryosuke loosened his shoulder blades, then struck the ball with force.
The ball was fast. It looked almost on par with Ushijima's powerful jump serve. Ever since Ryosuke learned the Hook Serve, he had been training his back and shoulders nonstop. Compared to the prefectural tournament, he was stronger now, so it was easy to imagine how troublesome this serve would be.
This ball was a little high, unlike when Ryosuke had first learned the Hook Serve and always sent it skimming close to the net.
Haruma Bishin widened his eyes, desperately searching for a weakness in the ball.
Beneath the volleyball's flight path, there was a tiny current of air. Unless someone had especially sharp eyes, they would never notice such a small detail. Being able to see airflow at all was ridiculous no matter how you thought about it.
The curve was extremely subtle. The ball had an upward arc and carried high-speed spin.
As it neared the net, it looked like it was about to drop into it. Haruma Bishin's eyes lit up. Wasn't this his chance? This had to be a mistake.
He immediately sprinted toward the front court to receive it, only to have his path unexpectedly blocked by Naoharu Ezota in position three. Haruma Bishin's eyebrow twitched, and he was just about to shout at him to move.
Naoharu Ezota panicked too. He heard the footsteps. Without even turning around, he knew it was Haruma Bishin, and yet he was still standing in the way.
Then Naoharu Ezota sidestepped at once, moving so quickly it was almost like he had flashed out of the way.
Only then did Haruma Bishin let out a breath of relief and dive to receive the ball.
At this point, he thought he would definitely get the ball up, but underestimating it made accidents far too easy.
Haruma Bishin had already judged where the volleyball would fall, but something unexpected happened. Any Hook Serve with spin would keep spinning, and the spin on this ball was so slight that Haruma Bishin truly had not noticed it. By the time he went to receive it, the ball landed two or three centimeters beside his hand and bounced up again.
"Bang!"
"Beep-----------"
The sound of the volleyball hitting the floor and the whistle announcing the point rang out one after the other.
Haruma Bishin was still sprawled on the floor, stunned.
"What a brilliant serve from Shiratorizawa's Ryosuke Hanyu! Ever since the prefectural tournament ended, Ryosuke's Hook Serve has become well known.
"But hearing about it is nothing compared to seeing it in person. Today, on the court against Mujinazaka, Ryosuke has brought out his signature technique, the Hook Serve! Mujinazaka's Libero went for the receive, misjudged it, and lost the point."
When introducing Ryosuke, the commentator said plenty, but when it came to Mujinazaka, it was just that light little sentence. The Mujinazaka players all felt a little sour inside.
"So cool!"
In the stands, Haruki Komi and Michinari Akagi watched that serve with identical starry-eyed expressions, looking exactly like puppies spotting a meat bone.
Their enthusiasm made their teammates shudder. How terrifying. These Liberos really were something else. If they saw a ball like that, they would not want anything to do with it, but the Liberos were practically rushing forward to receive it. They were one step away from pointing at their own faces and telling Ryosuke to serve at them.
Shinsuke Kita stared at the serve in thought for a while, then turned to ask Michinari Akagi,
"Are you confident you could receive a ball like that?"
Shinsuke Kita's question made everyone who had been discussing it turn to look at them.
Akagi handled everyone's attention just fine, but he did not know how to answer Shinsuke Kita's question either.
Akagi hesitated before speaking.
"Not very confident. I've never received this kind of serve before. Going by verbal explanations or videos can't compare to facing it in an actual match. And during a match, no one can guarantee the condition of the server or the Libero. I really can't say I'm confident."
Hearing that, Shinsuke Kita said nothing more. He only nodded, then sat there by himself, lost in thought.
If someone asked who among the teams in this IH was most likely to receive Ryosuke's serve, it would probably only be Komori and Yaku. That was not based on their individual skill.
It was because only Yaku and Komori had received Ryosuke's serve during the national youth camp. After going back, they had definitely put in effort to study his serve.
Keiji Akaashi was still wondering whether, after this match ended, he could bring Haruki Komi over to Ryosuke and let the two of them practice for a short while. Ryosuke definitely would not mind, but for Fukurōdani, he had no idea whether this last-minute effort would help at all.
Everyone was still caught up in the question Kita had just asked, and for a while, no one spoke.
"Five points in a row!" Tsutomu Goshiki was so excited that he could not help standing up from the bench and shouting.
Yunohama reacted quickly and tried to cover his mouth, but he was too late.
Then Tsutomu Goshiki saw that not only his own teammates, but even the people from Mujinazaka had turned to look at him.
Yunohama really wanted to tear this kid's mouth off right then. They were still in the middle of a match, and Mujinazaka was in a bad situation. Saying that out loud was practically no different from provoking them. Wasn't that just stabbing them right where it hurt?
Haruma Bishin's gaze landed on Tsutomu Goshiki, then shifted away again.
In the instant he failed to receive the ball, he had actually panicked. Ever since entering high school, he did not think he had ever come up empty-handed like that. This feeling, something he had not experienced in a long time, genuinely shook him for a moment before he quickly calmed himself down again.
He had known for a long time that this day would come. He would eventually run into a ball he could not receive at all. But he had not expected that day to arrive so soon.
The whistle for the serve sounded again, and the referee reminded Ryosuke that it was time to serve.
Ryosuke rotated his wrist and stepped up to the service line again. That last ball had been a tiny mistake.
He had barely touched a volleyball these past two days, had he? Aside from the short while before the match, he had not practiced much, so it was normal for his feel to be a little rusty. When that serve went out, Ryosuke himself had panicked for a moment too. He really did not want to embarrass himself in a match like this, or Coach Washijō would definitely punish him with extra practice.
Coach Washijō snorted coldly from below the court. He had seen that ball just now. This kid had gotten lucky, or else he would be in for it.
Ryosuke had no idea he had escaped disaster.
Then he stood calmly at the service line, preparing to hit the serve.
"Bang!"
"Beep-----------"
"Bang!"
"Beep-----------"
......
There was only the sound of the volleyball hitting the floor and the referee's whistle announcing the point. To Haruma Bishin, this scene was nothing short of a nightmare.
Coach Washijō looked at Ryosuke with a complicated expression. He had already chased down six points in one go. If he kept serving like this, Mujinazaka's mentality might really collapse. He truly had not expected this kid to be such a final boss.
Haruma Bishin threw himself to the floor again, panting hard.
Wakatsu Kiryū ran over and pulled him up. Then he saw the bruises of all sizes on Haruma Bishin's arms, along with the reddened, congested skin on the inside of his forearms. He sighed softly, then asked worriedly,
"Are you okay? Why don't we send in a substitute?"
"No need."
Haruma Bishin lowered his head, his voice muffled and full of self-blame. He felt that if they lost this match, the responsibility would be entirely his. As a Libero, he had failed to defend even a single point. What a complete failure.
Nozomu Mami walked over and slapped Haruma Bishin hard on the back.
He had noticed right away that Haruma Bishin was overthinking things again. He was definitely taking all the blame onto himself in his head.
"Ow! What was that for!"
Haruma Bishin yelped after being slapped, then rubbed his shoulder. This guy really hit hard. Then he turned around and glared at Nozomu Mami.
...
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