"System," Taichi trated as the system promptly dispyed Shirabu's data.

  [Kenjirō Shirabu: Overall Ability: 82, Height: 174 cm, Strength: 75, Jump: 82, Stamina: 88, Speed: 80; Key Attributes: Receiving 85, Setting 88.]

  To Taichi's surprise, the data was quite normal, much like Shirabu's performance as a setter—a posed and uated pyer.

  He had expected a more extraordinary setter to be paired with Wakatoshi Ushijima. Refleg on this, Taichi suddenly remembered that Shiratorizawa did indeed have aartier.

  "Found him." It wasn't hard to locate; the other setter ractising with Satori Tendō and ōhira Reon, while Taioticed Tsutomu Goshiki training on serve reception on the opposite side of the .

  [Eita Semi: Overall Ability: 87, Height: 179.5 cm, Strength: 89, Jump: 85, Stamina: 90, Speed: 88; Key Attributes: Receiving 81, Setting 85.]

  Wow. Aside from his slightly lower reception aing stats, his strength, jump, and speed were all superior to Shirabu's.

  It was hard to imagine Coach Washijō choosing Shirabu as the startier given Semi's impressive abilities.

  Taichi approached Tōru Oikawa and asked, "That setter practising with the other third-years—he looks better than Shirabu-senpai. Why is Shirabu-senpai always the one practising with the team ace?"

  Oikawa g Semi, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Maybe because he's too good that he got repced."

  "???"

  Taichi stared at Oikawa, utterly baffled. That expnation was as good as no expnation at all.

  Oikawa chuckled as he recalled, "Last year, when we pyed against Shiratorizawa, Semi was still their startier. He was better. But because he was too eager to show off, Shiratorizawa lost points during the match."

  Hearing this, Taichi g Oikawa with a subtle smirk. Showboating with fshy pys? Isn't that exactly your style?

  Oikawa instantly caught the meaning in Taichi's gaze and, without hesitation, pressed down on his head. "Hey, my pys are calcuted. Letting my teammates sakes me look eveer!"

  Well, he wasn't wrong. Taichi averted his gaze, deg to drop the matter.

  Oikawa tinued, "I guess Shiratorizawa just doesn't want a setter who 't dedicate himself fully to the ace. pared to someone like Semi, who gets caught up in his own teique, Shirabu's reserved personality makes him the perfect 'obedient little puppy' for them."

  "After all, for Shirabu, it seems like he has eyes only for the ace."

  Ah, I see. Taichi's perspective on Oikawa shifted slightly. Spending so much time with him during training, he had momentarily fotten that, aside from being a childish showoff, Oikawa was still the best setter in Miyagi Prefecture.

  However, Oikawa had misjudged ohing: the only 'obedient' aspect of Kenjirō Shirabu was his ly bed hairstyle.

  "If it were you, Oikawa-senpai, would you devote yourself eo Ushijima if you were on Shiratorizawa's team?" Taichi suddenly felt intrigued by this question.

  "Absolutely not! Never! I wouldn't want to be stu the same team as him," Oikalied, his face full of disdain. "But if that day ever came, I would give him the ball…"

  So just passing the ball to Ushijima is enough to guarantee points? Taichi mused. It was clear that Ushijima's strength was undeniable, even to a rival determio defeat him.

  Deep in thought, Taichi suddenly looked up and gri Oikawa. "Oikawa-senpai, all you o do is give the ball to me. I wich too."

  Oikawa blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected Taichi to remain so fident, even after watg Shiratorizawa's intense practid witnessing Ushijima's monstrous spikes firsthand.

  "You little punk, your trash talk is getting bolder by the day!"

  "Hahaha....It's because you've been such a great teacher, senpai!"

  ----

  Taichi stopped grinning and quickly adjusted his mi. His focus was entirely on gathering intel about Shiratorizayers.

  After Shiratorizawa's current state, he became even more certain of ohing: the importance of intelligence. Especially when fag a powerhouse like Shiratorizarecise analysis of their strategies and pyers could very well be the key to victory.

  In the inal timeline, Shiratorizawa would lose to Karasuno in the prefectural finals of Spring Nationals.

  Aside from Karasuno's offerength being on par with Shiratorizawa's—and their solid defence led by Yū Nishinoya with Kei Tsukishima ralizing Shiratorizawa's attacks—the critical factor was Karasuno's thh study aless defence against Wakatoshi Ushijima.

  Meanwhile, Shiratorizawa was caught pletely off-guard by this dark horse.

  Shiratorizawa's defence wasn't weak, but when fag Karasuno, they couldn't outdo even Aoba Johsai. The key issue was their handling of Shōyō Hinata.

  Aoba Johsai, Nekoma, and even Wakunan—all teams that had pyed against or studied Karasuno—employed strategies to tain Hinata with solo blog. This approach effectively reduced Hinata from an explosive offensive on to a standard middle blocker.

  Shiratorizawa, however, had no knowledge of this. Hinata's stelr performan the prefectural finals not only shone brightly but also empowered Asahi Azumane and Ryūnosuke Tanaka.

  As a result, Karasuno matched Shiratorizawa in firepower during the head-to-head battles.

  Even with Ushijima's extraordinary skills, his attag patterns and tendencies could be analyzed. The more attacks Ushijima made, the better Karasuno's coordinated defensive formations became, gradually nullifying his impact.

  Aoba Johsai, when fag Shiratorizawa, didn't have this advantage. For years, Shiratorizawa had always sidered Aoba Johsai their primary rival in the prefectural finals.

  That's why Taichi resolved to gather as muformation as possible about every oppo. Who knows? It might yield surprisis during critical matches.

  [Reon ōhira: Overall Ability: 82, Height: 182.7 cm, Strength: 94, Jump: 78, Stamina: 82, Speed: 70; Key Attributes: Receiving 85, Spiking 88.]

  Another wing spiker in Shiratorizawa's lineup with incredible strength. He seemed to be a well-rounded pyer, excelling in both offend defence.

  [Hayato Yamagata: Overall Ability: 85, Height: 174.3 cm, Strength: 78, Jump: 85, Stamina: 94, Speed: 87; Key Attributes: Receiving 82, Setting 80.]

  Did this libero speto the wrong skill tree? His speed and jump stats were outstanding, but his teical skills were slightly g.

  [Taichi Kawanishi: Overall Ability: 81, Height: 188.3 cm, Strength: 82, Jump: 72, Stamina: 88, Speed: 82; Key Attributes: Receiving 78, Spiking 82.]

  Well, well, aaichi, huh? Kaedehara Taichi decided to give Kawanishi Taichi some special attention during their matchup.

  After thhly reviewing Shiratorizawa's roster, Taichi finally felt relieved. Each pyer was undeniably strong, which aligned perfectly with Shiratorizawa's sele philosophy.

  "Taichi, what's wrong?" Oikawa asked, notig Taichi had been motionless for a while. "Don't tell me Shiratorizawa's scared you stiff."

  Taichi patted his cheeks a out a deep breath. "I'm fi's just....watg them makes me want to go bad train."

  "Fair enough. It's about time we head bayway," Coach Irihata said, standing up and shaking hands with Coach Washijō.

  "There are only two weeks left. Train hard. There are no shortcuts to getting stronger."

  "Yes, Coach!"

  _________

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