There is a saying:
“Those who are involved are confused, while onlookers see things clearly.”
‘What does that mean?’
It means that while Karasuno thought that Aoba Johsai had been ruthless enough when they played against them, once Karasuno returned to the spectator stands, they suddenly realized something:
‘Oh! So Aoba Johsai had actually been holding back before.”
Compared to what is happening to Izumiishi High now, that previous match could practically be considered mercy.
Just look at Asuto’s spikes, then look at Oikawa’s sets.
Come on… have some humanity!
Facing an Aoba Johsai team with Oikawa was hard enough for Izumiishi High.
After all, Oikawa is an experienced setter who has mastered countless techniques and motions. No matter the angle or direction, he could effortlessly deliver the ball exactly where it needed to go.
Dealing with Oikawa’s sets alone was enough to leave Izumiishi High’s players gasping for breath.
But now things had gotten even worse.
Aoba Johsai had added something even more unreasonable.
Against Oikawa’s sets alone, Izumiishi High could occasionally get lucky and block one or two attacks.
However, even if they managed to predict Oikawa’s set correctly, Asuto could still force the ball through a triple block and hammer it into their court.
In front of Asuto, Izumiishi High’s blocks were like a sheet of paper.
In fact, if they weren’t careful, trying to stop him could draw blood.
Don’t misunderstand.
That was meant literally.
Just moments ago, one of Izumiishi High’s middle blockers had used an improper blocking technique, managing to touch Asuto’s spike only with a single finger.
The result?
The muscles at the base of his finger tore, forcing him to leave the match immediately.
The incident came as a huge shock to the rest of Izumiishi High’s players.
‘Good grief! They came here to play volleyball, not risk their lives!’
After that, both the Aoba Johsai players on the court and the Karasuno players in the stands could clearly see that the intensity of Izumiishi High’s blocking had dropped by a noticeable margin.
And that only made things worse.
Their blocking had never been particularly strong to begin with.
And now that it had weakened further; Izumiishi High’s block was practically non-existent. Anyone with a decent attack could break through it with little effort.
Despite being a seeded team, they failed to reach twenty points in either set:
2–0.
Aoba Johsai comfortably claimed victory in the quarter-finals.
And with that… the second day of the prefectural qualifiers came to an end.
……
The Third Day of the Qualifiers
In the opening match of the day, Aoba Johsai faced Dewanoichi Private High School.
As one of last year’s national qualifier semifinalists, Dewanoichi High was naturally a strong team.
Despite facing consecutive heavy-artillery serves from Asuto and Oikawa at the start of the match, they surprisingly conceded only three points.
Coach Irihata Nobuteru, the middle-aged coach whose hairline seemed to be receding day by day, had clearly developed a taste for success.
Over the past several matches, he had consistently placed Oikawa in Position 1 and Asuto in the opposite position at the start of games.
There wasn’t any complicated reason behind it.
He simply wanted to showcase his team’s two formidable servers.
Dewanoichi High’s greatest strength lay in its defense.
However, unlike many teams, their defensive specialty wasn’t blocking.
Instead, every player on the team had excellent receiving skills.
In that regard, they were somewhat similar to Nekoma.
It was precisely this strength that had enabled Dewanoichi High to limit the damage from Oikawa and Asuto’s opening serving barrage to only three points.
As the first set began…
Asuto once again demonstrated his terrifying ability to score with powerful line-breaking spikes.
Dewanoichi High repeatedly set up double and triple blocks against Asuto, but he effortlessly pierced through every one of them.
Whether he attacked over the top, around the side, or simply smashed straight through the middle, Asuto’s spikes could easily force the tightly closed hands of Dewanoichi High’s blockers apart.
Ironically, it was Dewanoichi High’s back-row defenders who managed to return several of Asuto’s powerful spikes.
As a result, by the second half of the first set, Dewanoichi High had changed their tactics.
Whenever Asuto went up to spike, they no longer bothered to fight him at the net. They let him do whatever he wanted above the block while quietly enduring everything from below.
Surprisingly, this strategy actually worked quite well.
Perhaps because he had become accustomed to seeing blockers desperately struggle against him, the sudden sight of a completely open path ahead felt strangely unsatisfying to Asuto.
Several of his spikes lacked their usual intensity and felt soft.
Consequently, Dewanoichi High managed to launch several counterattacks after successfully digging his attacks.
Of course, those counterattacks were practically useless. In the end, Asuto shut them down with ease.
However, Dewanoichi High’s tactical adjustment caught the attention of many of the other teams.
They felt as though they had finally found a way to beat Aoba Johsai.
‘What a joke.’
Teams that couldn’t even survive the first round were already thinking about how to beat Aoba Johsai. It was almost laughable.
Besides, while Asuto might have found it boring to play against a team that didn’t put up much of a fight, the rest of Aoba Johsai certainly didn’t feel the same way.
Without Asuto, Aoba Johsai’s entire team could be summed up in one sentence:
They had no defining specialty.
Although Oikawa’s orchestration enabled the team to execute tactics with exceptional smoothness, the truth was that, without Asuto, every aspect of Aoba Johsai’s game, from their offense and blocking to their receiving and teamwork…
…could all be described as solid, but it was only solid.
Take blocking, for example.
Without Asuto, Aoba Johsai’s best blocker would likely be Issei Matsukawa.
His height of 187 centimeters and extensive experience allowed him to impose certain limitations on Karasuno’s Freak Quick Attack.
But restricting it was one thing.
Completely shutting it down is another matter entirely.
And what about stopping Ushijima Wakatoshi’s spikes?
That went without saying.
The same was true on offense.
Former ace Iwaizumi Hajime had excellent spiking technique and strong fundamentals in all areas.
However, his physical attributes limited his ability to score decisive points in crucial situations.
In the original story, he struggled to consistently secure match-winning points against Karasuno.
The same held true against Shiratorizawa.
Therefore, Aoba Johsai’s greatest strength as a team was probably their lack of any outstanding individual talent.
But having no overwhelming strength also meant something else:
They had no glaring weaknesses either.
Consequently, Aoba Johsai’s performance against opponents was remarkably consistent.
Stronger teams couldn’t easily crush them.
Conversely, teams weaker than them couldn’t beat them either.
Thus, the match against Dewanoichi High gradually developed into the following pattern:
Aoba Johsai attacked.
Dewanoichi High received it.
Dewanoichi High attacked.
Aoba Johsai stopped it.
‘Fine then.’
‘Let’s see who can outlast whom.’
The outcome became obvious soon enough:
Dewanoichi High simply couldn’t compete with Aoba Johsai in a battle of attrition.
Aoba Johsai’s overall strength was far more balanced.
In comparison, Dewanoichi High only possessed an advantage in defensive receiving, while their offensive capabilities were nowhere near Aoba Johsai’s level.
After two sets, Aoba Johsai secured victory in the semifinals ahead of schedule and successfully advanced to the final.
(End of Chapter)