Even so, anyone joining them would have to obey the team completely. If someone wanted special treatment, there was no way they would be tolerated.
In the current world of volleyball, victory and the team's honor were above everything else.
"Who the hell is that guy? How is he so strong?"
"He's a first-year just like me…"
Kentaro Kyotani stared at Hank on the court, and for some reason, he felt awful inside. They were both first-years, yet Hank could make the upperclassmen around him willingly give everything for him. That was definitely because of his overwhelming strength, but more importantly—
Hank had something Kyotani did not: leadership.
"They actually shut the other team out. Johzenji isn't exactly a powerhouse, but that's still insane."
Some upperclassmen from other teams in the stands could not help analyzing the match. All of them were extremely interested in the ace Aoba Johsai had produced. For someone this terrifying to appear in a prefecture like this…
His physical gifts were absolutely top-tier. Even on a global scale, he would still stand out.
Even though his technique was not fully polished yet, his future was limitless.
As long as he was given time to develop, he would absolutely have a chance to stand on the highest stage in the world and show everyone what he could do.
"Looks like he's definitely making it onto Japan's youth national team."
Some experienced fans came to that conclusion. In their eyes, even if Hank failed to win a ticket to Spring High, he would still have a chance to be recruited to the youth national team. His physical talent was right there for everyone to see. No matter how rigid the rules were, scouts would come looking for a player like him.
But those discussions quickly stopped when the next match began.
Date Tech High was up next.
After Aoba Johsai finished its round-of-16 match for a place in the quarterfinals, Karasuno High's volleyball club got the news immediately.
With Asahi back, they had finally put together their strongest lineup for the first time. After winning their first match, their momentum was fierce, so many of the Karasuno players who saw Aoba Johsai as a major enemy could not help paying attention to Aoba Johsai's results.
"What happened with Aoba Johsai? They won, right?"
Kageyama tossed out the question casually, but it instantly got everyone in the middle of practice fired up. Before long, a crowd had gathered around Kiyoko. They all wanted to know how Aoba Johsai had done—or, more accurately, how Hank had done.
After all, he had always found time to come train with Karasuno's club. Even though they argued a lot, and Nishinoya and Tanaka often wished Hank would just disappear—
at the end of the day, they had still grown pretty attached to him.
"The result of Aoba Johsai versus Johzenji is already out," Kiyoko said.
"The match score was 2–0."
"First set, 25:0. Second set, 25:4."
Kiyoko's voice was not loud, but everyone who heard it was shaken to the core. Many of them even started looking grim. A 25:0 and a 25:4 scoreline did not just mean Johzenji failed to reach double digits—
it meant even scoring at all had been incredibly difficult.
Aoba Johsai was actually that strong!?
"What!? They really shut a team out in the first set!? Is Hank on something or what!?"
Tanaka was the first to shout. He absolutely refused to believe it. How was that possible? How could a volleyball team completely blank its opponent like that? Did Aoba Johsai really make that few mistakes!?
And what was up with Hank anyway? You could not fully tell during practice with them, but the second he stepped into an official match, he became even more terrifying.
"A shutout… that's scary."
Sugawara laughed awkwardly, but his heart still trembled. The meaning of that result was simple enough: Aoba Johsai was absurdly strong, and they might already have a lock on a place in the final.
"We can't lose to him. If we run into him next, we have to beat him!"
Hinata had been holding that in for a while, but in the end he still blurted it out. He had thrown himself into volleyball for exactly this reason, and now that he had such a great team, no matter what kind of opponent they faced next, he had to beat them!
Besides, the match had not even happened yet, so who was to say they could not win?
"Seeing how confident your underclassmen are, you need to step up too, Asahi."
Daichi turned and patted Asahi on the shoulder. That single pat made him jump on the spot, his face turning pale at once. No matter what, he clearly did not want to get dragged into their commotion.
"You look big and tough, senpai, so why are you so timid? I'll clear away the extra obstacles as the decoy—you just focus on attacking!"
Hinata's words immediately won over the people around him. Deep down, none of them wanted to admit they were inferior to Aoba Johsai. They were all teenagers after all—getting them to surrender before the match even started was impossible.
From now until the match, they were going to keep training.
(End of Chapter)
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