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“Is Sengoku Junior High School strong?”
“Eh, I am not sure.”
“I think I’ve heard of this school before. They’re probably about the same level as us, first-round elimination.”
“Eh! Then that means we have a good chance of making it to the second round this time!”
The members of Yuishi Junior High School’s volleyball club lit up in the waiting area. Although their school was weak and usually got eliminated in the first round, underdogs have dreams, too.
“All right, don’t overthink it. No matter who our opponent is, we’ll play steady and win the first set.” The captain of Yuishi Junior High School stood up, clapped his hands, and shouted encouragement.
“Yes!”
“Let’s go! Let’s give it our all!”
…
The Yuishi team walked out of the passageway with momentum, each of them looking confident and spirited.
Until…
Boom!
With an explosive sound, the volleyball above the block carried an unimaginable force, piercing straight through six arms before slamming heavily onto the floor.
In an instant… The expressions of everyone from Yuishi Junior High School froze.
“It went through a triple block!”
“So strong!”
“Who is that guy? Why haven’t we heard of him before?”
After a brief silence, the audience watching the Sengoku vs. Yuishi match erupted into a heated discussion.
“It’s okay; it’s okay. That last point might’ve just been luck. Don’t think too much about it. We just need to focus on our defense.” Yuishi’s captain was the first to recover from the shock. He quickly clapped his hands to reassure his teammates.
Hearing this, the rest of the team also snapped out of it.
That’s right.
That last point might have just been luck.
Tweet!
Soon, the referee blew his whistle. The point began with Sengoku’s opposite hitter, Oda Miki, serving. It was an ordinary overhand serve without much power, and the opposing team easily received it.
They quickly organized an attack.
The setter passed the ball to the wing spiker. The two middle blockers, Omae Masato and Kazama Jujirō, rushed forward and jumped to block.
However, the opposing wing spiker didn’t hit the ball.
From just behind him, a figure leaped high into the air under the gym lights.
“It’s a decoy… Asuto!”
Masato, already descending, suddenly changed his expression and turned to warn Asuto.
But before he could finish… Two sharp sounds echoed across the court.
The first was the sound of the ball striking an arm.
The second was the ball hitting the floor.
When he turned back, he saw Akashi Asuto, wearing jersey number one, land steadily, and on the other side of the court, the ball rolled away alongside the stunned expressions of the opponents.
Tweet!
The whistle blew.
Asuto had scored with a solo block.
Score: 2–0.
Using a spiker as a decoy to confuse the opponents was a common volleyball tactic. When he first arrived in this world, Omae Masato and Kazama Jujirō used this move against him in a practice match.
At that time, however, he had just started playing volleyball and lacked experience.
Now, after nearly half a month of training, trying to score on him with that trick was no longer possible.
…
After a brief silence…
Cheers instantly erupted from the Sengoku Junior High School side as everyone rushed toward Asuto.
“Y-Yeah! Nice job, Asuto!”
“Nice!”
“Great play!”
In contrast, the atmosphere on the Yuishi Junior High School side had completely lost the confidence they had displayed in the waiting area.
Seeing this, the Yuishi coach called for a timeout.
While the surrounding spectators couldn’t help but start discussing it among themselves.
“Whoa, calling a timeout this quickly? They forced a timeout after only two points. Kids these days are terrifying.”
“Yeah, things aren’t looking good for Yuishi.”
“That third-year student has an overwhelming presence. Could he be another Ushiwaka?”
…
The purpose of Yuishi’s timeout was to interrupt Asuto’s momentum and stabilize their morale. They didn’t devise any specific tactics during the break.
After all, the match had only just begun.
The game resumed.
Sengoku served again at the start of the third rally. After Yuishi’s libero received it, they organized another attack. This time, they smartly avoided Asuto and attacked head-on against the double block of Kazama Jūjirō and Omae Masato.
The ball was blocked again, but not completely.
Since Kazama’s jump height and timing weren’t ideal, the ball, though touched, rebounded high into Sengoku’s court.
“Chance ball!” Sengoku’s libero, Kuramae Neko, shouted.
It was both a reminder and a command.
As soon as he called it, the other players quickly returned to their positions. Once the formation stabilized, the libero passed the ball to the setter, Mishita Ryūhei.
By this point, Asuto was already prepared.
Unlike Yuishi, Sengoku’s offense no longer had any “decoys.”
Or rather, they used to.
But not anymore.
Just before this match began, their coach gave them a simple tactical instruction:
“Focus on defense. Get the ball to Asuto.”
With those two sentences, the offensive roles of Omae Masato and Kazama Jujirō were nearly eliminated.
At first,
Not only were Omae and Kazama dissatisfied, but even the setter, Mishita Ryūhei, couldn’t quite understand it.
But now, he was starting to see the coach’s reasoning.
With a gentle flick of his fingertips, he sent a set much higher than usual toward the net in front of Asuto.
“Stop him!”
Yuishi’s players shouted.
Immediately, one wing spiker and two middle blockers leaped with all their might. Their expressions were fierce, revealing a do-or-die determination.
Because they knew that those last two points had already shaken their morale. If they couldn’t stop this one, the match might as well be over.
In other words, this block wasn’t just about stopping Asuto from scoring.
It was about saving the entire team and preserving the pride and dignity of their front-line defense.
In an instant,
Six arms formed a solid wall in front of Asuto, blocking even the overhead lights. Yet Asuto’s expression didn’t change in the slightest when facing such a defense.
His movements remained perfectly steady.
In midair, his body arched like a drawn bow, his right shoulder pulled back as if stretching a great bowstring.
Then…
He swung.
Bang!
The ball shot forward and slammed into the wall.
The Yuishi players felt the impact in their hands, and joy flashed across their faces for a moment.
“We blocked it…”
But in the next second,
An unimaginable force surged through the ball, and the player’s expression instantly changed. He tried his best to hold the block, but against that force, his hands were forced apart uncontrollably.
In the end, the ball broke through and flew straight behind him.
A ray of light shone through the gap that opened between their arms and fell onto Asuto’s face.
The wall had cracked.
…
(End of Chapter)
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