“Fweeeeeet~~~”
The long whistle signaled the end of the match.
At the same time, it finally brought Hinata Shoyo, who had been completely immersed in the game, back to reality.
As he regained his senses and looked at the scoreboard in the distance, flipping to its final page, he froze for a moment.
Then it felt as though a giant hammer had struck his head, leaving his mind completely blank.
“So… it’s over?”
Standing there, Hinata was filled with disbelief.
It felt as though the match had only just begun. It felt as though he had only just started enjoying the game.
‘Why had it ended so quickly?’
Smack!
A large hand suddenly slapped him on the back.
Turning around, he saw Sawamura Daichi, drenched in sweat and wearing a tense expression on his face.
“Come on. Time to line up.”
“Captain, I…”
“There’s nothing to say. Since we lost, we’ll just settle the score next time.”
…
“Thank you for the match! x2”
After the two teams exchanged bows, they silently left the court.
“What? Aren’t you going to say something to your junior?” Iwaizumi asked quietly as he looked at the unusually silent Oikawa.
“There’s nothing to say. The result of the match already says everything,” Oikawa replied.
That was competitive sports.
No matter how much effort you put in outside the match, no matter how many hardships you endured, a single result was enough to invalidate all of it.
The Karasuno players quickly left the venue.
As for the victors, Aoba Johsai, after a brief rest, they still had to play their next quarterfinal match.
Since their next opponent had not yet been decided, Aoba Johsai had a relatively generous amount of time to recover their stamina.
Inside the locker room.
The Aoba Johsai players had already put on their jackets.
Proper physical management was an essential part of an athlete’s daily training, especially in a single-elimination tournament like the Nationals.
If recovery and body management were mishandled after even one match, the consequences could easily become disastrous.
“By the way, Asuto, how exactly did you figure out Karasuno’s Freak Quick Attack?”
While Asuto was stretching, someone suddenly asked the question.
“I’m not sure it counts as figuring it out,” Asuto replied. “Karasuno’s Freak Quick Attack looks terrifying, but in reality, it’s an offense completely controlled by the setter. Throughout the entire play, Karasuno’s Number 10 is essentially nothing more than a machine that spikes the ball.”
“Although Kageyama seems to have changed a lot compared to his junior high days, his ‘I rule everything’ mentality hasn’t actually changed that much.”
“So when facing that attack, it may seem like you need to defend against two people, but in reality you only need to defend against Kageyama.”
“Even if the ball reaches Karasuno’s Number 10, the only thing he can do is hit a straight-line spike.”
Everyone was slightly stunned when they heard that.
After replaying Karasuno’s Freak Quick Attack in their minds, they realized Asuto was right.
Although the attack appeared to be executed by two people, Karasuno’s Number 10 really did nothing except jump and swing his arm.
However, even after reaching that conclusion, the Aoba Johsai players imagined themselves trying to defend against the attack and ultimately discovered that they probably still couldn’t stop it.
After all, focusing solely on Kageyama Tobio might improve the chances of predicting the ball’s path, but Karasuno’s Number 10 possessed extraordinary speed and reflexes as well.
Furthermore, accurately predicting Kageyama’s sets was far from easy.
The reason Asuto adapted so quickly was because he had already used this exact method against Kageyama during their junior high matches.
Now, he was simply applying an old trick in a new situation.
A team completely controlled by a single player might appear more coordinated on the surface, but it lacked the most important element of all…
Variation.
“That said,” Asuto continued, “Compared to his junior high days, Kageyama has indeed started to shed the title of the ‘Lonely King.’ If the day comes when he completes that transformation, then Karasuno may very well become our most troublesome opponent in the future.”
Asuto’s words caused the members of Aoba Johsai to fall silent.
After all, they had just faced Karasuno firsthand.
They understood better than anyone how much potential that team still possessed.
Looking back on today’s match, the other members of Karasuno had all delivered quite impressive performances.
In particular, their libero had been outstanding, successfully receiving several serves from both Asuto and Oikawa. However, the players who had truly posed a threat to Aoba Johsai were still the first-year duo of Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo.
Right now, dealing with them was still relatively manageable because neither of them had fully developed yet.
But once they strengthened their fundamentals and took another step forward, just how powerful would they become?
“Alright, alright, alright… that’s enough! Don’t think so far ahead.” Iwaizumi’s words abruptly brought everyone back to reality.
“Compared to Karasuno’s future, don’t we have an opponent we absolutely have to defeat right now?”
He was right.
Compared to those crows whose future remained uncertain, the white bird was clearly the greater headache for Aoba Johsai at the moment.
If they wanted to advance to Nationals, then this was an opponent they absolutely could not avoid.
After resting for about half an hour, someone finally brought information about Aoba Johsai’s next opponent.
Izumiishi High School.
Like Aoba Johsai, they were a seeded team from Group H.
Their volleyball club was considered one of the strongest in the prefecture and had reached the Top Eight in last year’s Spring High qualifiers.
However, when it came to pure overall strength, they were still slightly inferior to Aoba Johsai.
After all, schools with Top Eight-level strength were not particularly rare.
In Group A alone, there were already three such schools, including Aoba Johsai.
After another twenty or so minutes of rest, a venue staff member came to the locker room and informed Aoba Johsai that it was time to head out and begin warming up.
“Let’s go…”
Iwaizumi Hajime stood up and led the team back onto the court.
At that moment, Izumiishi High had already begun their warm-up session.
Seeing this, the members of Aoba Johsai also started loosening up their bodies.
Actually, although it seemed as if Aoba Johsai had enjoyed a relatively long break, an hour of rest was not entirely a good thing. Such a short period wasn’t enough to fully restore their stamina, but it was more than enough for their body temperatures to cool down.
As a result, when they first stepped back onto the court, everyone, including Asuto, was somewhat sluggish and lacking energy.
However, once the referee’s whistle sounded, their competitive spirits gradually returned.
Meanwhile, in the spectator stands…
Karasuno had not left the venue immediately after their defeat.
After all, it was the weekend, and leaving so early would leave them with nothing to do.
So they decisively chose to stay and watch Aoba Johsai’s next match.
However, judging from the dull expressions and lifeless eyes on their faces, it was obvious that Karasuno had not yet fully recovered from the shadow of their defeat.
(End of Chapter)