Ushijima Wakatoshi nded ly on the court, his gaze fixed on Kaedehara Taichi across the .

  Without saying a word, his eyes veyed a silent question: Why you only jump this high? How someone so weak cim to be Aoba Johsai's ace?

  "Oy, Ushiwaka, don't bully my first-years," Oikawa Tōru chimed in at the perfeent. He then turo Taichi. "Hey, Taichi, if you want to bee an ace, don't let this rattle you, alright?"

  "Of course not," Taichi replied calmly. After all, he had already anticipated Ushijima's overwhelming strength.

  But now, it's my turn.

  Shiratorizawa's serve. Kawanishi Taichi stepped up to the service line, aimed at Kaedehara Taichi, ahe ball flying with precision.

  It wasn't a jump serve—it was a floater!

  Kaedehara immediately identified the type of service. However, with little experience receiving floaters, he raised his hands, preparing for an overhead pass.

  Fortunately, it's not a jump float. The trajectory isn't too erratic.

  "Taichi! Oep forward!" came a sudden shout from the back row—Watari Shinji.

  Reag instinctively, Taichi took a small step forward just as the ball, hanging uably in the air, abruptly dropped.

  Too te! Taichi had no choice but to switch to an underhand dig, lifting the ball up.

  "Sorry!" He called as the ball arced toward Shiratorizawa's side of the court.

  ōhira Reon, waitih the , saw the ball ing and immediately jumped, ready to spike it back.

  "Like I'd let you!" Oikawa Tōru leapt into a, turning his back to the and swatting the ball with one hand toward the right side.

  "Kunimi! Spike it!"

  Kunimi Akira unched himself upward, delivering a sharp spike.

  Aoba Johsai scored!

  [Aoba Johsai 1 - 1 Shiratorizawa]

  That was close. Thanks to Oikawa Tōru's quick rea, not only did they prevent the ball from sailing over the , but they turaichi's receiving error into a point.

  Taichi exhaled in relief. "Thank you, Oikawa-senpai."

  Aoba Johsai's serve. Kunimi Akira sent the ball lightly over the .

  Kawanishi Taichi received the ball steadily. Shirabu Kenjiro adjusted his position ahe ball high.

  Ushijima Wakatoshi once again approached, jumped, and swung for the spike.

  "Triple block!" This time, three pyers—Hanamaki Takahiro, Oikawa Tōru, and Kaedehara Taichi—stood at the .

  Ushijima's spike height wasn't enough to clear Hanamaki and Oikawa's bined block, but he didn't opt for a power hit or a cross-court angle past Kaedehara.

  Instead, he chose the narrow line on Hanamaki's right, a direct shot—waiting for him there was Aoba Johsai's libero, Watari Shinji.

  Thwack!

  Taichi, nding from his block attempt, turned quickly.

  The ball had been received! The spike that even Nishinoya Yu had hree tries to adjust to was dug out by Watari on the first attempt.

  "Taichi! What are you spag out for?" Oikawa shouted as Taichi froze for a split sed. Oikawa was forced to pass to Iwaizumi Hajime in the back row, who unched a spike of his own.

  Goshiki Tsutomu received the ball ly. Shirabu set it high again, this time to Tendo Satori oher side.

  Snapping back to attention, Taichi moved quickly to join the block.

  "First touch!"

  He deflected Tendo's spike, nding just in time to sprint toward the far right of the court. Kunimi passed the ball perfectly to Oikawa, and by this point, Taichi was already airborne.

  "What's he doing?" Shiratorizayers watched the ball's trajectory, fused.

  Oikawa jumped and delivered a pinpoint quick set. The ball zipped along a straight path, meeting Taichi in midair.

  Bang!

  Before Shiratorizawa's blockers could react, the ball smmed into their court.

  "Freak quick attack—Aoba Johsai style!"

  Kaedehara Taichi scored with a decisive spike.

  [Aoba Johsai 2 - 1 Shiratorizawa]

  "Oh, my, is this Aoba Johsai's neon?" Tendo Satori remarked with keen i, his eyes fixed on Kaedehara Taichi.

  Goshiki Tsutomu's gaze also grew more intense as he looked at Taichi, admiration practically radiating from him.

  Ushijima Wakatoshi, however, showed ion. His expression remained as posed as ever.

  Is speed the only thing you're relying on to bee an absp;Taichi read this unspokeion in Ushijima's eyes.

  "That was a beautiful spike, Taichi. But you shouldn't have wasted the ce we got after that first block," Oikawa Tōru said.

  Taichi scratched the back of his head apologetically. "I didn't expect Watari-senpai to dig that ball. It looked impossible at first."

  "What are you talking about? We've been pying Shiratorizawa for two years now. Don't be fooled by how quiet Watari is—when it es to receiving Ushiwaka's spikes, no one in the prefecture does it better than him."

  True, but the reality was that not every spike with such power could be received.

  Even with himself in the mix, only two pyers oeam had mao barely handle Ushijima's spikes over the past two years.

  Oikawa g Taichi. If you 't stop the spike, that's fine. No matter hooints they score, we'll just sore.

  Aoba Johsai resumed serving.

  Kunimi Akira was keenly aware that any weak serve would be a crisis for Aoba Johsai, as it would hand Shiratorizawa the perfect opportunity to set up Ushijima.

  Kunimi aimed for the bae, targeting the gap between Goshiki Tsutomu and Shirabu Kenjiro. At the very least, he inteo disrupt the setter's rhythm.

  The ball flew swiftly between Goshiki and Shirabu. Goshiki shuffled oep to his right, preparing to receive, iently blog Shirabu's path forward.

  "Out!" Shirabu called out, tugging at Goshiki's jersey from behind.

  After a brief moment of hesitation, Goshiki decided to trust his senior's judgment and turned his body slightly to clear the ball's path.

  The volleyball nded just outside Shiratorizawa's baseline. Kunimi's serve had go of bounds.

  [Aoba Johsai 2 - 2 Shiratorizawa]

  "Damn it," Kunimi muttered, gritting his teeth. "Sorry."

  "It's fi was a good serve! Keep up the aggression on the one!" Iwaizumi Hajime enced him.

  "Yes!"

  Shiratorizawa's turn to serve. The murmurs in the audience began to grow louder as Ushijima Wakatoshi slowly stepped up to the service line.

  "Rex, everyone. Ushiwaka's serves aren't as scary as mine," Oikawa said with a grin, trying to lift his teammates' spirits.

  Kaedehara g Oikawa and was taken aback. His shock stemmed from notig Oikawa's serve stat had risen to an astounding 97.

  It was true—though Ushijima's serves packed more raw power, Oikawa's uny precision and trol made his serves truly monstrous.

  Even in the pre-matalysis, the data showed that Ushijima's serve-sg rate wasn't actually higher than Oikawa's.

  Besides, Shiratorizawa's current formation was well within Aoba Johsai's expectations. The back row of Watari Shinji, Iwaizumi Hajime, and Kunimi Akira was their stro possible serve-receive lineup.

  Reassured, Taichi rexed.

  Boom!

  The volleyball smmed into the court diagonally behind Taichi with the force of Thor's hammer, the sound of its impact reverberating like a crack of lightning.

  Taichi fli the noise.

  Rex, my foot!

  Ushijima Wakatoshi had scored directly off his serve.

  [Aoba Johsai 2 - 3 Shiratorizawa]

  _________

  [T/N] - If you guys want to read 50 Chapters in advance of the current story, you support me on my Patreon. Trust me, it's awesome!

  Link - (P)atreon./Iseebbsp;[Remove the brackets]