After Hank successfully defeated Inarizaki, his achievement spread throughout all of Miyagi Prefecture.
Almost everyone who knew Hank was completely shocked by the news.
After all, only they knew what kind of opponent Hank had defeated.
As long as they could successfully defeat Inarizaki, then it was basically the same as putting one foot directly into the final match.
For a team that had come out of Miyagi Prefecture, this was definitely an enormous success. It might even allow Miyagi Prefecture to have another championship-winning team.
Including Shiratorizawa, which had previously won Spring High, the current Aoba Johsai had a very real chance of winning again.
For them, this was absolutely good news.
It was even entirely possible that Miyagi Prefecture would directly become one of Japan's major volleyball regions.
...
Not long after Hank successfully defeated Inarizaki, the matches from the round of sixteen to the quarterfinals had completely ended.
Aside from Inarizaki, which had suffered an upset and gone home early, the teams that successfully entered the top eight were basically the strong teams from before.
There had not been many changes at all.
Every year, it was basically these same teams entering the final top-eight competition.
No one found that surprising.
If anything, they would have been surprised if some of those teams had failed to enter the top eight.
Some people felt exactly that way about the current Aoba Johsai.
After all, no one had expected that Aoba Johsai, who had only just entered Spring High, would actually defeat the long-established powerhouse Inarizaki.
They had even sent Inarizaki home early in the round of sixteen.
A dark-horse team like this was something they had not heard a single thing about before.
"This really is rare. Look at this Aoba Johsai. They had never entered Spring High before, but the moment they got in, they directly eliminated Inarizaki. This kind of thing is truly uncommon."
"I feel like it was probably luck. After all, they only just entered Spring High, and the team's foundation is still lacking. It's very possible Inarizaki underestimated them."
"Exactly. I'd rather believe Inarizaki took them lightly. Anyone would be surprised running into a situation like that, let alone with the current Aoba Johsai. In truth, they don't really have the level of a first-rate team."
Although many people at the venue were shocked by Aoba Johsai, the team Hank belonged to, because they had just defeated Inarizaki—the strongest championship candidate—there still were not many people who believed they could win this year's Spring High championship.
After all, judging from the current situation, Aoba Johsai still did not seem qualified to take the title.
If nothing unexpected happened next, they might even be eliminated directly on the road to the finals.
That kind of thing was entirely possible.
(End of Chapter)
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