Kageyama Tobio had been the best pyer at Karasuno ever since his first year.

  Fenius like Kageyama, volleyball occupied 99% of his life.

  But that remaining 1%—the part about love—

  Karasuno had pleted it for him.

  One day, he would step onto the world stage.

  Karasuno had slowed down his race to the top—

  But in doing so, they had also ehat he would one day bee a true King.

  Yet here—

  Surrounded by monsters just like him—

  Kageyama suddenly realized something.

  He could afford to be even bolder.

  To be more reckless.

  To unleash himself entirely.

  Kageyama Tobio was abs everything like a sponge.

  Kageyama Tobio was growing—fast.

  Serve switch—

  Team B's Nakamoto Shigeru stepped up to serve.

  For Team B, this was the rotatioheir libero, Komori Motoya Jin, wasn't on the court.

  Boom!

  Nakamoto aimed his jump serve at Kaedehara Taichi.

  Smack!

  Taichi's first pass was fwless.

  Miya Atsumu, without hesitatiohe ball high—

  Boom!

  Here it es!

  Hoshiumi Kōrai—taking flight once more!

  "Triple block!"

  Kageyama Tobio, Kawakami Tomota, and Matsumoto Dai jumped together.

  But—

  Not high enough!

  Boom!

  Hoshiumi spiked over the block!

  Smack!

  But, it got read!

  There was no libero in Team B's bae right now—

  But Sakusa Kiyoomi, in Burst Mode, had a better receive than any high school libero iiht now!

  The ball shot into the air—

  Directly above Kageyama Tobio.

  Simultaneous multi-position attack!

  Aside from Nakamoto Shigeru, who had no back-row attag ability, the other four pyers all rushed forward.

  Including Sakusa Kiyoomi!

  His first-touch hadn't slowed him down at all!

  Team A's front row locked onto the four ining attackers—

  Especially Sakusa, whose cold, expressionless face made it impossible to read his i.

  Boom!

  Kageyama Tobio jumped—

  And with one hand—

  SLAMMED the ball down!

  Smack!

  Hirao Jin anticipated the setter dump—

  But he couldn't keep the ball in py.

  [Team A 9 – 7 Team B]

  "Oh?"

  "Miya Atsumu" tilted his head, smirking.

  "Kageyama's spiking is pretty damn good too."

  There were plenty of pyers on the court that ied him—

  But in the end, it was Kageyama Tobio, the other setter, that drew his attention the most.

  After all—

  Kageyama was fun.

  Using a full-power Sakusa Kiyoomi as a decoy?

  Not maers would even think to pull that off.

  "You don't believe I could've scored?" Sakusa muttered.

  "No," Kageyama replied calmly.

  "I just knew that I could."

  Nakamoto Shigeru—sed serve.

  "I got it!"

  Hirao Jin stepped up, taking the first touch.

  In his opinion, Kaedehara Taichi should be focused on attag instead of receiving.

  Smack!

  A perfect pass.

  Miya Atsumu, unfazed, set the ball up.

  pared to Taichi in the back row—

  Hoshiumi Kōrai, in the front row, was an absolute bea of presence.

  BAM!

  Does this guy have springs in his shoes or what?!

  Hoshiumi soared—

  Every siime, it felt like he was ung straight into the stratosphere.

  Once again, he cleared the blockers with ease.

  While still airborne, his sharp gaze sed the opposing court.

  The moment his eyes met Sakusa Kiyoomi—

  He hesitated.

  For just a fra of a sed.

  Then—

  With zero hesitation, he swung.

  Boom!

  The ball carved a perfect arc—

  Straight behind Sakusa Kiyoomi!

  For the Little Giant of Kamomedai, there was no such thing as bag down!

  A line shot!

  It all came down to one instant of deaking.

  And in that moment, Sakusa trusted himself—

  Just as much as he trusted Hoshiumi Kōrai.

  He didn't wait for the ball to drop—

  Instead, he jumped up and received it overhand!

  Smack!

  The sheer force of the ball made it impossible for him to trol it perfectly—

  The ball sailed past Kageyama Tobio and headed out of bounds.

  "Right wing!"

  Kageyama chased after it, calling out the attack location as he ran.

  Will the ball e?

  Sakusa didn't stop to think.

  Instead—

  He sprinted down the sideline.

  "Just do your job as best as you ."

  That's what Itachiyama volleyball was all about.

  Sakusa leapt from the back row—

  His airborne form—fwless.

  Whoosh—

  The ball soared across the entire width of the court, nding perfectly in front of him—without a fra of deviation!

  "Three-man block!" Miya Atsumu, Hoshiumi Kōrai, and Kondō Masato jumped up together, f a t wall above him.

  Boom!

  The ball bypassed Kondō Masatht side and shot straight toward Team A's sideline.

  Smack!

  Kaedehara Taichi suddenly darted out from the left side.

  Given that Miya Atsumu and Hoshiumi Kōrai's bined presence was enough to shut down Sakusa Kiyoomi's cross-court shot, all he o cover was the first-touch reception and the straight-liack.

  The ball struck Kaedehara Taichi's arm and deflected out of bounds.

  Sakusa Kiyoomi scores!

  [Team A 9 – 8 Team B]

  The rotation had ged, but the feeling of Sakusa's spin was still there. Kaedehara Taichi furrowed his brows—was there truly no way to ter his spikes?

  No…there had to be a way. It was just a matter of time before he found it.

  Nakamoto Shigeru served the third ball.

  It was almost unbelievable—his teammates were this strong.

  And to think this was only the result of thirty minutes of warm-up…Nakamoto found himself gng at Kageyama Tobio.

  Just how advanced was this first-year's spatial awareness?

  Boom!

  Once again, the serve targeted Kaedehara Taichi. As long as the py wasn't broken, there was no reason to ge their approach.

  "I got it!"

  Kaedehara Taichi called it early—did they really think they could bully him like a soft target?

  He delivered a sharp reception, sending the ball high into Miya Atsumu's setting zone.

  This damn fox…he better put in some effort!

  Feeling the sheer rese in that pass, Miya Atsumu was at a loss for words.

  He had beeing excellent balls for Hoshiumi Kōrai, yet somehow, Sakusa Kiyoomi was still pig them up—even without a libero on the court.

  Miya Atsumu leapt, shaping his hand as if to spike.

  Kawakami Tomota jumped up to block him directly.

  "So, I only bait one of them?"

  Miya's upper body tilted back slightly—just a feint. His other hand swiftly lifted the ball, pushing it behind him.

  A reverse set—back attack!

  Kondō Masato evaded Matsumoto Dai's blod executed a spike.

  Boom!

  Finally, Team A recimed a point.

  [Team A 10 – 8 Team B]

  "Miya-senpai, ," Kaedehara Taichi praised him absentmindedly. See? You should've dohis earlier.

  Miya Atsumu twitched the er of his mouth—there was no way that praise was sincere.

  Personal grudges!

  -----

  As the match progressed, both teams gradually pieced together their oppos' tactid main sg patterns through real-time adjustments.

  Sakusa Kiyoomi's explosive form had been a key factor in Team B's earlier lead. The most defining trait of the Big Three was that when they were in top dition, their sg became nearly unstoppable.

  However, Team A quickly adapted—if they couldn't stop him, they would simply outscore him.

  With Hoshiumi Kōrai and Kaedehara Taichi as their primary offensive ons, Team A's attag firepower was equally relentless.

  The game became a deadlock, both sides exging points in a high-level battle where every rally carried suspense.

  This tug-of-war tinued until Kondō Masato's service error allowed Team B to take the lead at the 20-point mark.

  [Team A 19 – 20 Team B]

  Kageyama Tobio stepped up to the service line.

  -----

  His thoughts drifted back to aary school volleyball match.

  Back then, when his team was leading, Kageyama had deliberately held ba his serves ier half of the game.

  His grandfather, Kageyama Kazuyo, had watched in fusion and asked young Tobio why he had dohat.

  The little boy hesitated as if he had done something wrong, then mumbled:

  "If I don't hold back…the match will end too soon..."

  "I really…really want to keep pying..."

  Kageyama Kazuyo had simply smiled.

  "As long as you keep getting stronger, you'll be able to py more and more incredible matches."

  —

  "As long as I bee stronger, eveer oppos will appear before me."

  "Grandpa, I think…I finally uand a little."

  Standing at the baseline, Kageyama Tobio let out a genuine ugh.

  [Ding! Kageyama Tobio has entered Burst Mode]

  [Kageyama Tobio (Burst Mode)—Setter: Overall Ability Rating: 96Height: 182 bsp;| Power: 95 | Jump: 95 | Stamina: 99 | Speed: 90Teique: Serve: 98 | Set: 100.]

  The atmosphere on the court shifted.

  A moment of silence—

  Then, Kageyama tossed the ball into the air.

  _________

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