“One major difference from Fukurodani, however, is that Mujinazaka High has incredible height across its starting lineup. Aside from one second-year outside hitter who’s only 179 centimeters tall, every starter except the libero is over 180 centimeters.”
“The two players you especially need to watch are their middle blockers, Unnan Keisuke and Mami Nozomu. Both are over 190 centimeters tall, and their blocking is a serious threat to any team.”
The moment Coach Irihata finished speaking, Aoba Johsai’s players immediately sensed something familiar. Why did this lineup sound so much like their own? Almost instinctively, everyone turned to look at Iwaizumi.
“A 179-centimeter ace outside hitter…”
Iwaizumi: “(￣ー￣)…”
“…Seriously? Why are you all looking at me? I’m not even a second-year.”
Seeing the veins beginning to bulge on Iwaizumi’s forehead, everyone quickly looked away and shifted their attention to Matsukawa and Kindaichi.
“Two extremely tall middle blockers…”
Then, adding in the fact that everyone besides the libero and the 179-centimeter ace stood over 180 centimeters…
“Doesn’t Mujinazaka High’s lineup feel strangely familiar?” Coach Irihata suddenly asked.
“It does!” Everyone nodded without thinking.
To their surprise, the coach nodded as well.
“You’re right. And that’s not all. More than their towering middle blockers, the player who deserves the most attention is their ace. Fukurodani’s Bokuto Kotaro is considered one of the nation’s top five aces. But Mujinazaka’s ace, Kiryu Wakatsu… is, just like Shiratorizawa’s Ushijima Wakatoshi, one of the nation’s top three.”
“In other words, next match we’ll not only be facing a blocking line that’s arguably on par with our own, but also a superstar outside hitter who’s every bit as dangerous as Ushijima.”
Coach Irihata had expected that announcement to draw groans from the team. Instead, no one looked surprised.
Of course, it wasn’t because Aoba Johsai’s mentality had suddenly become unshakable. They were simply numb by this point. Or, to put it another way, they’d completely given up complaining.
Seriously, what kind of ridiculous tournament bracket was this?
It felt like someone was playing a joke on them. In the second round, they faced one of the nation’s top five aces. They’d barely had time to catch their breath before being matched against one of the top three.
What was next?
If they somehow won again, would the fourth round pair them with the only remaining top-three ace just so they could complete the collection?
And then there was Mujinazaka’s roster itself. What kind of absurd team was this?
From their outside hitters to their middle blockers, Aoba Johsai was outmatched almost across the board. Mujinazaka looked like an upgraded version of Aoba Johsai in every way.
Even Asuto paused after reading the scouting report. Mujinazaka hadn’t appeared much in the original story, so his memories of them were fairly vague after all this time.
But looking at their lineup now, he suddenly realized something. Wasn’t Mujinazaka basically what you’d get if you combined Aoba Johsai with Shiratorizawa?
“Alright, enough looking so discouraged.” Coach Irihata clapped his hands. “Don’t forget, we’ve already beaten Fukurodani.”
“That makes us one of the ‘Top 16 teams in the country’.”
“And once you’ve reached the Top 16, there are no easy opponents left. No matter who we face from here on out, every match will be a hard-fought battle.”
Coach Irihata’s words snapped everyone back to reality. It wasn’t so much that his encouragement had worked; rather, one particular phrase he said finally registered with everyone.
‘That’s right. We’re already one of the Top 16 teams in Japan.’
At this point, they’d already made it this far. What more could they ask for?
Seeing everyone’s spirits return, Coach Irihata resumed the tactical meeting.
If Aoba Johsai tried to go head-to-head with Mujinazaka in a straight-up battle, they would most likely lose.
Leaving aside blocking and defense, even Irihata didn’t believe that Asuto, as he was now, could directly match one of the nation’s top three aces.
So for the upcoming match, Aoba Johsai’s game plan would revolve around Oikawa. That was the team’s greatest advantage over Mujinazaka. After all, even on the national stage, there weren’t many setters who could compare to Oikawa Tooru.
One thing that did put everyone a little more at ease was that, according to the scouting report, although Mujinazaka had excellent height across the roster, their blocking still relied mainly on their two middle blockers.
They couldn’t build a true team-wide blocking system the way Aoba Johsai could because not every setter was as complete a player as Oikawa, and not every outside hitter had defensive ability on Akashi Asuto’s level.
Players like Ushijima Wakatoshi and Bokuto Kotaro certainly knew how to block, but as outside hitters, their main focus was still offense. When blocking, they mostly relied on their height and jumping ability, putting up imposing walls that lacked the precision and coordination of dedicated blockers.
After the tactical meeting finally concluded, the players dispersed to rest.
—
The next day.
Aoba Johsai’s match against Mujinazaka High officially began. As usual, the announcer introduced each team’s opening server. Once all the players had taken the court, both sides began their warm-ups.
During the warm-up, Asuto quietly observed Mujinazaka’s players. His first impression was simple.
‘They certainly look Professional.’
No matter how strong Aoba Johsai, Shiratorizawa, Fukurodani, or any other powerhouse might be, including Asuto himself, they were still just high school students.
And because they were high school students, each of them still had a bit of youthful immaturity.
To put it bluntly, every team had a few players who stood out in one way or another, someone a little goofy, a little awkward, or simply someone whose personality didn’t quite match the rest of the squad.
But Mujinazaka was different. Asuto couldn’t find a single player who felt out of place. Every member of the team had a powerful, well-conditioned physique, and judging from their expressions alone, it was difficult to distinguish any strong individual personalities.
It was as though every player had completely merged into the team itself.
—
(End of Chapter)