Tweet!
The sharp, piercing whistle echoed throughout the gymnasium.
Yet, at that moment, none of the Karasuno players seemed to hear it. The only thing on their minds was Akashi Asuto’s serve from moments ago.
Takeda Ittetsu swallowed hard and asked hoarsely,
“What was that?”
Karasuno immediately called a timeout.
Even after returning to the bench, many of the players still looked stunned.
A few beads of sweat slid down Ukai Keishin’s forehead as he asked, “Oda, is that the serve you were talking about? The one with uncontrollable placement?”
“That’s right,” Oda Miki nodded.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! With that kind of power, being unable to control the landing point hardly counts as a flaw!”
“Ah… Back in junior high, his serve was already powerful, but it wasn’t this ridiculous. He must have improved it again recently.” Oda scratched his head while speaking.
“This is bad.” Ukai frowned deeply.
Having one high-speed server like Oikawa Tooru was troublesome enough.
Now, another heavy-artillery server had appeared who was in no way inferior to Oikawa.
For Karasuno, this was quite literally the worst possible news.
Even more problematic was their current formation.
Currently, Karasuno didn’t have a single player in the back row who was good at receiving serves.
Coincidentally, Karasuno’s two best receivers, Nishinoya Yuu and Sawamura Daichi, had both rotated into the front row.
As usual, libero Nishinoya had been replaced by middle blocker Tsukishima Kei in the front row.
This left Tanaka Ryunosuke and Kageyama Tobio in the back court. Their fundamentals were solid, but their serve reception skills were merely adequate.
As for Hinata Shoyo…
There was no need to say anything.
“Oda, are you confident that you can receive Aoba Johsai’s number eight’s serve?”
“Huh?”
Oda froze.
He couldn’t understand how he had gone from offering some advice to becoming the center of attention.
He wasn’t like Sugawara Kōshi.
As a third-year, Sugawara desperately wanted to play but couldn’t. Oda, on the other hand, felt perfectly fine spending all three years on the bench if necessary.
Nevertheless, upon seeing everyone’s expressions, he reluctantly ran his fingers through his hair.
“I can try. But I can’t guarantee it’ll work.”
“That’s enough.”
Ukai’s reason for sending Oda onto the court wasn’t just to strengthen their backcourt defense.
More importantly, he wanted to take Hinata Shoyo off the court.
After the timeout, both teams returned to the court.
“Oh? They made a substitution? That’s another unfamiliar face.”
The moment Aoba Johsai stepped back onto the court, Oikawa Tooru immediately spotted that Oda Miki had replaced Hinata.
“He’s one of Asuto’s former teammates. He was the opposite hitter for Sengoku Junior High.”
Kindaichi recognized him at once.
“So he’s Asuto-chan’s old teammate!”
Oikawa turned towards Asuto at the end line.
To his surprise, Asuto’s eyes remained perfectly calm, as though he hadn’t even noticed the substitution.
‘What incredible concentration!’
Oikawa couldn’t help but be impressed.
Meanwhile, the Aoba Johsai front-row players had already wisely covered their heads and moved aside, clearing space for Asuto.
BOOM!
A moment later, Asuto’s second serve exploded off his hand.
Like an artillery shell, it hurtled towards Karasuno’s back court, diving directly towards Tanaka.
Smack!
Tanaka reached out to receive it.
But the instant his arms touched the ball, it ricocheted away.
“Tch! Damn it!”
Tanaka clicked his tongue irritably and cursed himself.
9–3.
The gap widened even further.
Gradually, feelings of anxiety, frustration, and unease began to spread throughout the Karasuno team.
“One more!”
“Give us another good serve, Asuto!”
“Finish them off with this one!”
The Aoba Johsai players cheered Akashi on, and Asuto didn’t disappoint.
Without hesitating, he launched his third serve in one smooth motion.
BOOM!
It was the same as before: a strangely soft feeling at the moment of contact, followed by a thunderous impact.
The moment the volleyball left Asuto’s hand, it whistled across the court and landed on Karasuno’s side.
Once again, it was heading straight for Tanaka Ryunosuke.
“Tanaka-senpai, move!”
The erratic trajectory of the ball caused Tanaka to hesitate for a split second.
In a rally like this, a split second was all it took.
By the time he realized, the ball was right in front of him.
Just as he was preparing to attempt a reception, he heard a shout from beside him and instinctively stepped aside.
BAM!
A diving figure slammed into the ball, sending it soaring back into the air.
However, to absorb the force of the serve, the receiver looked as though he had been blasted backwards, tumbling across the floor several times.
“Wow~ They actually managed to receive a ball like that?”
Oikawa Tooru stared in surprise.
“That wasn’t really a receive,” Asuto added as he returned from the end line. “More accurately, he predicted where the ball would land.”
“Predicted it?” Iwaizumi asked. “But I thought even you couldn’t control where your serve would land.”
“That’s true,” Asuto replied. “But there are always people with unusual talents. Oda has exceptionally broad vision. Sometimes he can analyze my striking motion and calculate the ball’s trajectory in an instant, allowing him to predict where it will land.”
He paused before adding:
“Although his success rate is usually less than thirty percent.”
“Huh? There are players like that?”
Oikawa looked genuinely impressed.
“Then Asuto-chan’s former teammate is pretty amazing. Hmm… and apparently quite lucky, too.”
Iwaizumi Hajime: ( ◉‿◉)
His fist clenched tightly.
Very tightly.
“You two, enough already. He’s our opponent right now. Take the match seriously!”
“Nice Receive, Oda!”
Everyone on Karasuno’s side was equally excited after Oda Miki managed to keep the ball alive.
Kageyama Tobio moved quickly into position, assuming his duties as setter.
A near-perfect back set flew through the air, arriving directly in front of Karasuno’s star player, Asahi Azumane.
Another quick attack followed.
In the previous match, Kageyama and Hinata had helped this soft-hearted ace to finally break through Date Tech’s Iron Wall and regain his confidence.
So, when the volleyball arrived before him once again, Asahi jumped decisively.
He poured all his strength into his body and unleashed a powerful spike with complete confidence.
BAM!
SMACK!
Two impacts rang out almost simultaneously.
The ball that had just left his hand suddenly appeared on the floor behind him.
At that moment…
On the other side of the net, a towering wall loomed. It was strikingly similar to the Iron Wall of Date Tech High School.
Asahi’s eyes froze in shock at the sight.
(End of Chapter)