Two figures appeared silently outside the gymnasium window.
One of them stared silently at Asuto, who could be seen training inside.
After a long pause, he finally spoke up.
“Coach, have you really made your decision?”
“I’m still hesitating. Iwaizumi is indeed outstanding, but you should also understand that if we want to defeat Shiratorizawa, being merely excellent is nowhere near enough…”
“But… they’re already third-years.”
“And that’s exactly why I’m hesitating. In the past, even I never believed in anything like ‘natural talent.’ But now, I’m beginning to believe in it a little. Some people may simply be born suited for certain things and better suited to shoulder certain positions.”
………..
The two figures outside the window went completely unnoticed.
Inside the gym, Asuto continued practicing the most basic serves and spikes in silence with Mishita Ryuhei.
Although Asuto was not confused by the loss, the issues that Mishita Ryuhei had mentioned did indeed exist.
His serves were powerful, but that had only been enough in junior high school.
Now that he had advanced to high school, his serve would no longer be enough to become a decisive weapon unless he was in exceptionally good condition.
This was especially true against national-level opponents.
Often, it only took the opposing side one or two serves to adapt to his serving rhythm.
Therefore, Asuto now needed to strengthen the power of his serves further.
Learning an entirely new type of serve was also a viable option, of course.
But there simply wasn’t enough time.
With the National High School Tournament approaching, Asuto knew that even with the System, he could not learn and master a brand-new serve technique in such a short period.
And there was still a great deal of untapped potential in his current serve, so there was no need to force himself to learn a new one just yet.
After all, a 100 km/h Power Jump Serve and a 130 km/h Power Jump Serve were two very different things.
Although the Power Jump Serve was considered the most basic of all powerful serves precisely because of its fundamental nature, its upper limit was extraordinarily high.
In theory, as long as one had enough strength, this type of serve alone could overwhelm all other techniques through sheer force.
Asuto and Mishita Ryuhei were not the only people remaining in the volleyball gym to train.
As first-years, under normal circumstances, the coach would never entrust them with the gym keys.
However, while Asuto and Ryuhei Mishita were training seriously, the others looked more like they were venting frustration.
Iwaizumi continuously spiked the balls tossed to him by Oikawa, cursing with every spike:
“Damn it!”
“Bastard!”
“Damn you, Oikawa!”
Oikawa: ‘!!!∑(Дノ)ノ’
…………
The next day…
After the Aoba Johsai players returned to the volleyball club, the emotions from yesterday’s defeat had vanished.
After all, most of the main players were third-years, so they were used to adjusting their mental state.
Irihata Nobuteru didn’t need to remind them.
This was also why, after yesterday’s defeat, Irihata had done nothing besides dismiss everyone.
Once they had recovered, Aoba Johsai’s training returned to its normal rhythm.
Every afternoon, they maintained a strict training routine.
After practice ended, Asuto, Oikawa, and the others would secretly stay behind for extra training.
And on weekends, Asuto alone would continue secretly training even more.
Every Thursday was a rest day for the volleyball club.
This gave Asuto another perfect opportunity to improve in secret.
From time to time, they also played practice matches against other schools, most of which were seeded teams within the prefecture.
But when Aoba Johsai faced those schools, it felt much the same as when Shiratorizawa faced Aoba Johsai.
And so, time slowly passed by…
······
Meanwhile, after going through all sorts of efforts, Karasuno High School finally managed to recover both their “Ace” and their “Guardian Deity,” while also finding a new coach.
After another day of training ended, the members of Karasuno High School walked out of new coach Ukai Keishin’s shop after shamelessly mooching a few snack sticks from him.
With a snack stick hanging from his mouth, Hinata Shoyo spoke unclearly:
“Speaking of which, what kind of team is Nekoma?”
Not long ago…
Karasuno’s volleyball club advisor had somehow managed to arrange another practice match opponent for them: Nekoma High School.
“Ah! Coach actually mentioned this before,” Sugawara Koushi explained.
“Nekoma seems to be Karasuno’s longtime rival. Back when Coach Ukai was still around, Karasuno often played against Nekoma. Then later, after they met at Nationals, they even got a nickname together, I think it was called… the ‘Battle of the Dumpster’!”
“The Battle of the Dumpster? That sounds amazing!”
Hearing that, Hinata Shoyo’s eyes instantly sparkled.
As first-years, it was naturally difficult for Hinata Shoyo, Kageyama Tobio, and the others to truly relate to a rivalry that dated back several years.
But the moment they heard the word “Nationals,” all of them instantly became excited.
“Nationals… I’m so jealous!” Hinata muttered softly: “Come to think of it, what’s Nationals actually like?”
“Uh~~~”
The atmosphere among the group suddenly became a little stiff.
That question had struck directly at their blind spot.
In the end, everyone’s gaze gathered on Oda Miki.
Faced with several pairs of eyes staring at him like hungry wolves, Oda Miki instinctively crossed his arms over his chest.
“Gulp… W-What are you all trying to do?”
“Hehehehe…” Tanaka Ryunosuke grinned wickedly as he slung an arm over Oda Miki’s shoulder.
“Oda! You’re the only one here who’s actually been to Nationals. Tell us about it!”
“Hah? That’s it?” Oda Miki brushed Tanaka Ryunosuke’s arm away with a look of disdain.
“I thought you guys were about to do something crazy. You got me all fired up for nothing.”
“There’s actually not much to say. Nationals isn’t really that different from normal matches. The only real difference is probably…”
“…the pressure.”
“The pressure?”
Oda Miki nodded.
“I’m not afraid of you guys laughing at me, but when our team first entered Nationals, basically everyone on the squad got completely overwhelmed by the atmosphere on the court.”
“In the end, that match was almost won by Asuto alone.”
“Asuto? Who’s that?” Hinata Shoyo asked in confusion.
“The guy who sat on the bench the entire time during our match against Aoba Johsai last time,” Oda Miki reminded him.
“Eh?!” Hinata Shoyo’s eyes widened instantly.
“So he was your team’s former Ace?! Then why didn’t he play in the last match?”
Oda Miki rolled his eyes helplessly.
“If he had played in that match, do you seriously think we still could’ve won?”
(End Of This Chapter)