As soon as Ryosuke moved aside, Tsutomu Goshiki ran toward the spot he had just vacated.
The volleyball rose high into the air. It looked like Tsutomu Goshiki intended to follow up immediately with a spike after that block.
Seeing this, Sakusa sensibly moved out of the way. Blocking wasn't his specialty, so he decided to leave that job to the professionals.
The moment Nishio and Kishimoto saw Sakusa move aside, they rushed toward the spot where Tsutomu Goshiki was preparing to attack.
The two of them planted themselves directly in front of him like a moving wall.
Tsutomu Goshiki had already finished his approach and jumped, but when he saw Nishio and Kishimoto in front of him, he still froze for a split second.
Two blockers around 190 centimeters tall.
Now that was intimidating.
The pressure of having something like that looming directly in front of him was no joke.
Even so, Tsutomu Goshiki's arm never stopped moving.
He raised it and swung hard at the descending volleyball.
Judging from his form, he was going for a line shot.
Ryosuke watched in surprise.
Normally, Tsutomu Goshiki would use his best attack on the first ball of a match. Why had he suddenly changed his choice today and gone for a line shot?
Nishio and Kishimoto jumped and braced their arms.
The moment Nishio saw Tsutomu Goshiki's swing, he knew it was a line shot.
So he and Kishimoto positioned their arms directly in front of the ball and held firm.
It was a direct contest between the spike and the block.
"Bang!"
Tsutomu Goshiki drove the volleyball straight into Nishio and Kishimoto's arms without the slightest hesitation.
It looked like he intended to force his way through.
The ball struck their palms squarely.
From a distance, it almost looked as though Nishio and Kishimoto had simply reached up and pressed the ball straight down.
The volleyball spun violently against their hands, the tremendous impact threatening to tear through their palms.
In the end, Nishio and Kishimoto forced their hands downward and stuffed the spike.
Ryosuke was already standing close to Tsutomu Goshiki.
The moment he saw the ball get blocked down, he darted forward and dove beneath Tsutomu Goshiki's feet, managing to send the volleyball back up.
Lying on the floor, Ryosuke clearly felt the ball rebound off the back of his hand.
But what worried him more was Tsutomu Goshiki landing on top of him.
They were far too close together.
Tsutomu Goshiki realized the danger too.
As he came down, he glanced at Ryosuke's position, then at the last possible moment, shifted backward and landed cleanly without stepping on him.
The moment his feet touched the floor, Tsutomu Goshiki quickly moved away.
Ryosuke, meanwhile, slid clear after his dive.
The instant Ushijima saw Tsutomu Goshiki land, his brow twitched repeatedly.
These two really were fearless.
If Tsutomu Goshiki's landing angle had been even slightly off, it would have turned into an accident.
Either he would have stepped on Ryosuke, or he would have twisted his own ankle.
Reon's heart nearly stopped as well.
Off the court, Coach Hibarida pressed his fingers against his forehead.
Then he turned to Tendo with a complicated expression.
"Do all of you play this recklessly?"
Tendo looked completely speechless.
Still, he could understand the question.
Anyone who had just seen that play would be shocked by how bold Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki were.
"Those two are like that. The rest of us aren't. Don't lump all of Shiratorizawa together with them, okay?"
Coach Hibarida stared at Tendo for several seconds.
Then, still only half-convinced, he looked back toward the court.
By now, Ushijima had realized that no one else was in position to attack.
His chance had arrived.
He ran toward the ball hanging in the air while thinking to himself that this was miserable.
Even his opportunities to spike now depended on picking up balls his juniors couldn't finish.
He was Shiratorizawa's ace.
When had he ever had to play like this?
When Nishio and Kishimoto saw Ushijima charging in for the attack, their brows tightened almost imperceptibly.
Nishio's original plan had been to gradually put pressure on Ushijima, eventually force him into a mistake, and maybe block a few of his spikes along the way.
But with the situation as it was now, forget blocking a few.
They might get blasted apart by Ushijima first.
The two exchanged a look.
Then, in perfect sync, they turned toward Ushijima as he approached.
Neither of them could take their eyes off him.
When Ushijima jumped, Nishio and Kishimoto jumped as well.
Their arms rose into blocking position.
The determination in their eyes was so obvious that anyone watching would have to call them brave.
Ushijima extended his left arm.
With overwhelming force, he drove the volleyball downward.
The ball smashed into Nishio's arm and knocked it aside like a tree branch being snapped.
Kishimoto barely managed to keep his own arm firm.
But once Nishio's side of the block collapsed, the wall was no longer complete enough to threaten Ushijima.
The volleyball flew cleanly past Kishimoto's arm.
Komori rushed forward to save it.
But he had reacted just a little too late.
By the time the ball was about to hit the floor, he was already a step behind and couldn't reach it.
"Bang!"
The volleyball struck the floor.
"Beep!"
Another point for Shiratorizawa.
"What a rally! Ushijima serves, and Itachiyama's Komori receives it! Komori sends the ball to Sakusa, and Sakusa charges toward the net for the spike, only to be blocked by Ryosuke! The ball drops down off Ryosuke's block.
"Then, in an incredible turn, Ryosuke uses his foot to send the ball back into the air! After Ryosuke clears the way, Tsutomu Goshiki comes charging in from behind and jumps for the spike! Itachiyama's two middle blockers stuff the attack, sending the ball back toward Shiratorizawa's front court, but Ryosuke dives and saves it again!"
The commentator barely paused for breath.
"Then Tsutomu Goshiki and Ryosuke both clear the way, revealing Shiratorizawa's ace, Ushijima, charging in from behind! Ushijima goes head-to-head with Nishio and Kishimoto and breaks through Itachiyama's block with a powerful left-handed spike! A successful point! He truly lives up to his reputation as the 'Left-Handed Cannon'!"
After the referee's whistle, the commentator spent nearly two full minutes recapping the rally.
The audience could only stare in amazement.
"Ushijima-senpai really is incredible."
Tsutomu Goshiki stood beside Ryosuke, looking toward Ushijima near the net with envy and admiration shining in his eyes.
Ushijima seemed to notice their gaze.
He turned around and gave the two of them a small smile.
Ryosuke patted Tsutomu Goshiki on the shoulder.
"You should've realized a long time ago how strong Ushijima-senpai is. Someday, you'll be just as good. But speaking of which, why did you suddenly decide to try a line shot?"
Ryosuke finally asked the question that had been bothering him.
Tsutomu Goshiki immediately looked embarrassed.
He lowered his head.
"Well... my timing felt really good today. I thought I could get that ball through, but I didn't jump high enough, so it went straight into their hands."
By the time he finished, his face felt burning hot.
He covered it with both hands.
How embarrassing.
He had wanted to show everyone something impressive, only for it to fail completely.
Ryosuke couldn't help smiling.
"It's fine. We still got the point, didn't we?"
But Ushijima-senpai had been the one who scored.
Not Tsutomu Goshiki.
Compared with Ushijima, Tsutomu Goshiki couldn't help feeling just a little inferior.
When he looked up again, however, that feeling had already disappeared from his face.
He grinned at Ryosuke.
"Got it~ Next time, I'll only try a new move when I'm confident I can score with it. Though my line shot really isn't that good."
Ryosuke wanted to say more.
But when he saw Ushijima walking over, he decided to leave it for later.
Komori looked at Nishio and Kishimoto as they approached and sighed.
He had reacted just a little too slowly earlier.
Otherwise, he might have been able to save that ball.
Those two had worked hard on the block too.
Nishio and Kishimoto saw Komori's expression, exchanged a glance, then walked over.
"Oh? Komori-senpai isn't feeling guilty, is he?"
"Probably. After all, he missed that ball just now."
"Hopefully Komori-senpai can get the next one."
"Exactly."
Komori froze.
He had actually been about to apologize to them.
Instead, these two little brats had the nerve to mock him!
He was furious.
Komori decided right then and there that neither of them would receive a single first pass from him for the rest of the match.
This was what happened when you offended your libero.
Nishio and Kishimoto clearly hadn't realized just how serious their mistake was.
Komori stormed back into position.
Iizuna had watched the entire exchange and rubbed his forehead with a headache.
This year's first-years were excellent in almost every respect.
Their skills were good, their height was good, and they followed instructions well.
For some reason, though, they absolutely loved provoking people.
Even someone as easygoing as Komori could be driven into a rage by them.
Fortunately, those two hadn't tried the same thing with Sakusa.
Otherwise, they definitely would have received a round of "loving discipline."
Looking at this troublesome group, Iizuna felt like he was going bald.
After scoring with his spike, Ushijima returned to the service line.
Seeing that, Sakusa turned toward the others.
"We have to receive this one. We need to get Ushijima off serve."
Fujino hesitated and opened his mouth to say something.
Then Sakusa glanced at him.
Fujino immediately shut it again.
What he had wanted to say was that if they managed to end Ushijima's serving run, Itachiyama would get the serve.
And once Itachiyama's own serving turn ended, Ryosuke would be the next server for Shiratorizawa.
Fujino had seen Ryosuke serve before.
He just didn't know whether Komori-senpai had ever received one of Ryosuke's serves.
Forget it.
He could remind Komori-senpai later.
After thinking all that through, Fujino couldn't help complaining inwardly.
What was wrong with these people?
Why did none of them ever remember who was serving next?
The camera turned back toward Ushijima.
He was already standing at the service line with the volleyball in his hands.
From nearby, Yamagata shouted,
"Ushijima! Ushijima! You said five points! You still need three more! Keep it up!"
Yamagata was loud enough that even Itachiyama heard him.
Kishimoto rolled his eyes without the slightest concern for appearances.
Three more points?
If Ushijima really got another three, this set would be in serious trouble.
Hopefully they could finally stop his serving run here.
The referee checked both sides and blew the whistle.
Ushijima raised the volleyball.
Yamagata had just said he still needed three points.
Ushijima made a conservative estimate.
Getting three more would already be good enough.
Anything beyond that was probably unrealistic.
Even while thinking that, his hands never stopped moving.
He tossed the volleyball into the air.
Ushijima followed it into his approach and jumped.
When the ball reached the right position, he swung his arm down.
"Bang!"
The volleyball shot off Ushijima's hand.
It flew at high speed from Shiratorizawa's side toward Itachiyama.
Komori watched the serve and immediately noticed something.
It was still fast.
But compared with the previous two serves, it was noticeably slower.
He jogged forward, quickly adjusted his footwork, then waited for the ball to reach him.
At the last moment, Komori bent his knees, lowered his body, and received.
The volleyball was aimed at his arms.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that Komori had placed his arms exactly where the volleyball was headed.
"Bang!"
The ball slammed into his forearms.
Just as Komori expected, the impact was still heavy.
But compared with the previous two serves, this one was much easier to handle.
Without hesitation, Komori lifted his arms.
A perfect first pass rose into the air.
Seeing his serve successfully received, Ushijima sighed inwardly in disappointment.
So Komori got it after all.
It looked like he still needed to practice his serves more.
In the past, he could at least keep Komori under pressure for three or four balls.
Komori's receive this time didn't fly nearly as high as the previous one.
Instead, it was a perfectly normal first pass.
When Iizuna saw it, he felt almost moved.
Komori had received that beautifully.
Iizuna ran forward toward the ball.
The pass had gone slightly too close to the net.
But that was fine.
Iizuna would handle it.
He glanced at Sakusa.
At that exact moment, Sakusa looked back.
The two met each other's eyes and immediately understood what the other intended.
Sakusa rushed forward.
The moment Ryosuke saw him move, he ran directly across from him.
As far as Ryosuke was concerned, Sakusa was the only attacker on Itachiyama who truly required his full attention.
The others weren't nearly as threatening.
As for Fujino, Reon and Tsutomu Goshiki were watching him.
With both of them handling Fujino, Ryosuke had nothing to worry about.
Seeing Ryosuke appear directly across from him, Sakusa immediately changed direction and ran sideways, trying to shake off Ryosuke's block.
But when he reached the position where Iizuna was preparing to set, Sakusa realized he had a little shadow following him.
Ryosuke was still right there.
Sakusa frowned.
What a pain.
Now he truly understood just how troublesome Ryosuke could be.
He simply couldn't shake him.
Iizuna noticed that Sakusa still wasn't in position.
But the volleyball was already coming down into his hands.
He had to make a play.
He glanced around.
There was no attacker immediately available on his side.
Only Shirabu was hovering near the net on the opposite side.
Iizuna decided he could handle that himself.
With everyone locked in place, Iizuna clenched his left hand into a fist.
Then he struck the volleyball toward the net.
The ball flew over.
...
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