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At that moment, it seemed as if breathing itself had stopped.
The volleyball hit the far wall, bounced back, and fell to the floor. The repeated thud-thud-thud echoed throughout the arena. Every Kitagawa Daiichi player stood frozen to the spot, feeling as though their entire bodies had stiffened.
‘What kind of monstrous serve was that?’
The Kitagawa Daiichi player who had just watched the ball blast past him was drenched in cold sweat. Not only had he failed to react in time, he wasn’t even sure he would have dared to receive that ball if he had reacted.
Tweet…!!!
Kitagawa Daiichi’s coach stood up abruptly and immediately called a timeout.
The score was now 4–5.
Although Sengoku Junior High was only one point away from tying the game, the most urgent issue was clearly not the score itself.
The Kitagawa Daiichi players returned to the bench and took a few gulps of water each. An eerie silence settled over the team.
“To be honest, I made the wrong decision this time.” Kitagawa Daiichi’s coach broke the silence.
“Only after seeing him in person do I realize that Sengoku Junior High’s Ace, Akashi Asuto, is far more formidable than I originally thought. Especially his Jump Serve. Although it lacks refined technique, the sheer power and speed behind it are already well beyond the level expected of a middle school player.”
After openly admitting his miscalculation, the coach changed his tone and continued.
“But there’s no need for us to fear him too much. Even if he can score directly with his serve, it’s impossible for him to fire off that kind of serve successfully every single time. On this matter, I think Kageyama has more authority to speak than I do.”
As he said this, the coach glanced at Kageyama Tobio.
Kageyama might have personality issues, but when it came to volleyball, he was exceptionally sharp-minded. He nodded and said:
“That’s right. I don’t know his exact success rate, but even professional players can’t achieve one hundred percent with serves powerful enough to score directly.”
“If I compare that to my own Jump Serve success rate of around thirty percent in official matches, even if their Ace’s success rate is higher, it probably won’t exceed fifty percent.”
These were not merely comforting words… the reality truly was like that.
Kageyama Tobio had originally been inspired to develop his high-speed Jump Serve during his first year of middle school after watching matches played by the third-year senior Oikawa Tooru. He slowly taught himself the technique afterwards.
However, due to limitations in physical development and the need to train in other volleyball skills, he only started attempting it in official matches in his third year.
Even then, the success rate remained low.
Unless the team found itself in a desperate situation that required a gamble, Kageyama usually relied on ordinary serves.
Asuto’s situation was actually quite similar, as Kageyama had predicted.
His overwhelming physical ability granted his serves astonishing power and speed, but in every other aspect… especially technique and consistency… his level was pitifully low.
In a single set, Akashi would usually rotate into the number one serving position at least three or four times.
Yet the number of successful power serves he could land was often only one or two.
The rest either smashed straight into the net, resulting in an immediate error, or turned into ordinary serves.
This was also why, whenever Asuto was due to serve, the good teammates at Sengoku Junior High would instinctively cover the backs of their heads while clearing the middle of the court.
These habits had been learned through painful experience.
After hearing Kageyama’s explanation, the atmosphere at Kitagawa Daiichi relaxed slightly.
Like Kindaichi, most of Kitagawa Daiichi’s players disliked Kageyama’s personality, yet they still respected his technique and ability deep down.
In this situation, therefore, Kageyama’s reassurance was more effective than the coach’s words.
The timeout quickly ended.
The match resumed.
Serve possession still belonged to Sengoku Junior High.
However, perhaps because the timeout had interrupted his momentum, Asuto failed to sense the strange ‘softness’ of the volleyball on his first serve after returning to the court.
Nevertheless, the power behind the serve remained formidable.
The ball blasted over the net and descended directly towards Kageyama.
Kageyama reached out to receive it, but the instant he touched the ball, an overwhelming force disrupted his receiving posture. His arms twisted sideways, and the ball flew straight out of bounds.
Sengoku Junior High scored again.
5–5.
“Damn it! Even a messed-up serve can have that much power?!”
Kageyama looked unwilling to accept this. As soon as Asuto had served, Kageyama had noticed flaws in his motion and realized the attempt was doomed to fail.
Yet he never expected that even a failed serve could possess such strength.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the net, Asuto briefly celebrated with the Sengoku Junior High players before picking up the volleyball and returning to the baseline.
Before this serve… Asuto clenched and unclenched his fingers slightly, his brows knitting together.
“Did the timeout cool off my touch already?”
‘Form’ or ‘momentum’ was crucial for every athlete.
It was just like when he played basketball in his previous life, when he was in the zone, the tiny basketball hoop felt as wide as the ocean, and every shot went in no matter how casually he threw it.
But when his form was poor…
Even professional blacksmiths would cry watching the bricks he threw.
Standing in the front row, Mishita Ryuhei noticed Asuto’s subtle movements, and his expression changed drastically. He quickly tugged at Oda Miki’s sleeve to warn him, then decisively covered the back of his head and retreated sideways.
Seeing this, Oda Miki and the substitute player who had temporarily replaced the libero immediately reacted in exactly the same way.
Before long, a huge empty space appeared right in the middle of Sengoku Junior High’s court.
Bang!
Another explosive sound thundered across the arena as Asuto launched his third serve.
The instant his palm struck the volleyball, Asuto’s eyes lit up.
The touch felt good, and that strange ‘softness’ had returned.
The next moment… The volleyball screamed through the air, and then…
It brushed past Mishita Ryuhei’s ear before slamming directly into the net.
“(Д)ノ Aaaagh!!!”
A cool gust of wind blew Mishita Ryuhei’s hair back, startling him so much that every hair on his body stood on end. He nearly jumped on the spot.
Asuto scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“Uh… sorry, Mishita.”
“It’s fine. Just make a good serve next time.”
Mishita Ryuhei swallowed hard, forcing out a strained smile as he turned around.
The two blockers beside him also looked slightly pale, but they still managed to force out humble yet apologetic smiles as they tried to comfort him.
“Right, right… don’t worry about it. Just keep trying next time.”
“That was a great serve.”
“Next time, aim for ten consecutive points.”
······
For the sake of the team’s victory, a mere “threat to life” was nothing worth mentioning.
This was Sengoku Junior High’s most famous trump card…
“Akashi Asuto’s Serve.”
This kind of serve could not only intimidate opponents, but it could also intimidate teammates.
Truly an essential secret technique for an Ace.
(End of Chapter)
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