Bang!
A brutal force sent Kindaichi’s arm flying, causing the volleyball to ricochet out of bounds.
Meanwhile, Ushijima Wakatoshi landed as Shiratorizawa scored another point.
12:15
······
Bang!
Using a one-man synchronized attack, Akashi Asuto slipped past the two blockers in front of him and smashed the volleyball straight down.
Although Shiratorizawa’s Setter could only just Receive the ferocious spike, the ball flew all the way to the second floor and far out of the court.
Aoba Johsai scored.
13:15
······
Bang!
The ball shot out of Ushijima Wakatoshi’s hand, tracing a huge cross-court trajectory, bypassing Asuto’s front-row block and Shinji Watari’s back-row defense before landing cleanly in bounds.
13:16
……
Bang!
Asuto swung his arm fiercely. Using his extraordinary ‘instinct,’ Tendou Satori moved into position a step ahead of time and set up a block in front of him.
However, the instant the volleyball collided with his arms, the overwhelming force pushed through his defense and slammed onto Shiratorizawa’s court.
14:16
······
As the match entered the latter half of the third set, it had turned into a personal showdown between Asuto and Ushijima Wakatoshi.
Everyone else’s stamina was already nearing its limit. Although both sides still had fairly deep benches, neither team made any substitutions, as if by mutual agreement, and there were two main reasons for that.
Firstly, this was only a practice match, so it wasn’t time to reveal all their cards yet.
Secondly, even bringing in substitute players might not make much difference against the fully unleashed Ushijima Wakatoshi and Asuto.
When the score reached 14:16, the right to serve rotated into Asuto’s hands once again.
After walking to Position One at the baseline with the ball in hand, Asuto slowly exhaled.
Then, the aura surrounding his entire body gradually withdrew. The volcano-like explosiveness that had seemed ready to erupt moments earlier transformed suddenly into a deep, silent abyss.
Seeing this, several front-row players silently covered the backs of their heads and moved aside from the blocking position.
In the next second, Asuto slowly tossed the volleyball into the air, began his approach, jumped, swung his arm, and struck the ball.
“Hm? This feeling’s actually pretty good.”
BOOM!
An explosive sound rang out in the court.
The ball shot forward instantly, and, before Shiratorizawa’s back-row players could properly react, it smashed onto their court.
Everyone on Shiratorizawa’s side was taken aback.
“So fast!”
“This guy’s serve can get even stronger?!”
This Serve was far more powerful than any of his previous ones, and it instantly helped Aoba Johsai narrow the score gap to a single point.
After a brief moment of shock, the Aoba Johsai players surrounded Asuto and erupted into cheers.
“One more serve!”
“One more serve!”
· · · · ·
All the Aoba Johsai players shouted in unison.
Holding the ball once again, Asuto returned to Position One at the baseline and launched his second Serve with all his might.
Boom!
The volleyball screamed through the air once more, reaching Shiratorizawa’s court in the blink of an eye.
“Damn it, don’t think you can score that easily every single time, you first-year brat!”
Smack!
At that crucial moment, Shiratorizawa’s libero, Yamagata Hayato, suddenly leapt out and received the ball.
However, he failed to control the angle properly, causing the ball to fly not towards the Setter but to drop in front of Goshiki Tsutomu instead.
“Push it straight over, Goshiki!”
Yamagata Hayato roared. Goshiki reacted instantly, jumping off both feet and reaching out to push the ball back into Aoba Johsai’s court.
However, at that very moment… A shadow suddenly appeared in front of Goshiki.
As his hands touched the volleyball, another pair of hands abruptly emerged from the opposite side of the ball, and the two forces collided in mid-air.
The ‘joust’ lasted only an instant, but then Goshiki felt the force from the other side suddenly increase, causing the ball to immediately drop back down to his feet.
“Our side doesn’t only have first-years, you brat. You’re still far too inexperienced!”
There was obviously only one person on Aoba Johsai’s side capable of saying it in such irritatingly smug wording.
Oikawa stood across the net after the block, grinning in a way that made people want to hit his face on sight.
16:16
At the critical moment, Oikawa finally tied the game with a point.
“OHHHHHHH~!”
“Nice one, Trashykawa!”
The Aoba Johsai players instantly became wildly excited, because for the first time, with both Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa playing in their full-strength states, Aoba Johsai could finally see a glimpse of victory.
······
“Sorry, this was my…”
“If you want to apologize, save it until after the match is over!”
On the Shiratorizawa side of the court, Goshiki had wanted to apologize to his seniors because he had caused them to lose the point.
But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted.
“Besides, we haven’t lost yet! If Shiratorizawa could fall just because of a single mistake from a junior, what use are we seniors?”
“Hahahaha… That’s absolutely right.”
“Speaking of which, Wakatoshi, say something too!”
The Shiratorizawa players all turned towards Wakatoshi Ushijima.
Ushijima blinked, then nodded and said:
“Yeah. We won’t lose.”
Everyone from Shiratorizawa: “······”
……
“One more serve, Asuto!”
“One more serve, Asuto!”
Boom!
Asuto leapt high into the air like a great roc spreading its wings, then fiercely launched his third serve.
Asuto’s performance during these Serves had been unexpectedly excellent. All three consecutive serves felt exceptional, and after clearing the blockers, the volleyball screamed downwards through the air.
However, this time, before the ball could hit the floor, a pair of hands suddenly reached out and caught it.
And when everyone saw who had made the Receive, both the Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai players’ expressions changed.
It was none other than Ushijima Wakatoshi, who normally never participated in serve receives.
Smack!
The volleyball flew high into the air.
After a brief moment of shock, Shirabu Kenjiro quickly regained his composure, took the ball, and organized a quick attack.
Shiratorizawa then successfully launched a counterattack and scored another point.
16:17
······
Iwaizumi Hajime’s expression darkened slightly as he stared at Ushijima Wakatoshi from across the court, his gaze filled with shock and disbelief.
“That bastard… he can actually Receive Serves too?”
In all their previous matches against Aoba Johsai, Ushijima Wakatoshi had never participated in serve receives.
While the Shiratorizawa players all knew that Ushijima was an all-rounder, players from other teams were unaware of this fact.
“This goes beyond just ‘being able to receive’…”
Oikawa’s expression was equally unpleasant as he said,
“To receive Asuto’s serve that steadily without a certain amount of training is impossible…”
(End Of This Chapter)