Miya Osamu had a gut feeling—the kid standing across from him, Kunimi Akira was gunning for him.
Just like how most teams fag Inarizaki focused their attention on Ojiro Aran and Miya Atsumu, it was only natural that Inarizaki, when up against Aoba Johsai, would see Kaedehara Taichi and Oikawa Tōru as their biggest threats.
However, in this set, beyond individual performances, it was evident that Aoba Johsai's overall team tactics were running much more smoothly.
Not good…
The pressure that had been accumuting sihe start of the match seemed to have finally begun affeg his thoughts and as.
"Osamu, what are you afraid of?" Atsumu's calm voice came from the front. "We agreed beforehand, didn't we? Until we graduate, you're not allowed to hold me back!"
"Since when did Inarizaki have to rely on exploiting an oppo's weak rotations to catch up? Haven't we always aimed to challehe stro?!"
[Ding! Miya Atsumu has entered Burst Mode]
[Miya Atsumu (Burst Mode)—Setter: Overall Ability Rating: 93.4Height: 183.6 bsp;| Power: 90 | Jump: 92 | Stamina: 95 | Speed: 90Teique: Serve: 100 | Set: 100]
[Ding! Miya Osamu has entered Burst Mode]
[Miya Osamu (Burst Mode)—Outside Hitter: Overall Ability Rating: 90Height: 183.6 bsp;| Power: 90 | Jump: 90 | Stamina: 90 | Speed: 90Teique: Recieve: 90 | Set: 90 | Spike: 90]
From Aoba Johsai's back row, Kaedehara Taichi suddenly looked up. This was the first time he had ever seen Miya Atsumu in such a state.
...Was this because of Osamu?
Looks like there really was something to the strange, almost mystical e between twins.
Taichi's expression remained calm, his lips even curling into a faint smile.
A ce for revenge had finally e his way—naturally, the more iing it was, the better.
-----
Aoba Johsai's serve.
Iwaizumi Hajime steps up for a powerful jump serve.
Boom!
"So heavy!" Miya Osamu grunted as he received the serve. "These monsters!"
"Osamu, move!" Atsumu swiftly adjusted his position, leaping into the air.
Inarizaki unched a multi-angle offe the same time!
Boom!
Ojiro Aran, from the far-left position, smmed the ball down. But this time, Aoba Johsai had switched their blockers—Oikawa Tōru and Matsukawa Issei were waiting for him!
Smack!
The ball slipped through their hands, but Kaedehara Taichi was already in position, digging it up with precision. The ball arced diagonally toward the .
"I got it!" Kunimi Akira rushed in a high.
Oikawa Tōru jumped for the spike.
Smack!
Akagi Miari received it. How frustrating—why was a setter this good at spiking?!
Meanwhile, Osamu had already leapt from the back row, trusting Atsumu to set the ball perfectly in front of him.
"Watch the back attack, Matsukawa-senpai!" Taichi shouted.
Miya twins' Back-Quick Attack was a variant of their Super Quick!
Atsumu's set inpoint accurate, meeting Osamu at the ideal height.
Matsukawa had already reacted, jumping in an attempt to block him.
Boom!
Osamu forcefully avoided Matsukawa's blod spiked the ball.
Smack!
Kaedehara Taichi received it, though the impaentarily stunned him.
"Damn, I'm getting too into receiving…"
With Watari Shinji and Iwaizumi in the back row, he should be fog on attag.
Oikawa quickly set the ball to the right wing, where Kunimi was already airborne.
"Double block!" Atsumu and Ginjima Hitoshi moved in to seal him off.
Bang!
Smack!
Kunimi had inally aimed for a cross-court shot to avoid the block, but Atsumu seemed to have read his iions—his hands pressed downward at an angle, intercepting the ball.
The volleyball deflected off Atsumu's arms and dropped straight down.
[Aoba Johsai 21 – 17 Inarizak
"YESSS!!!" Atsumu ched his fist and roared iement.
"OOOOHHHHH!!"
"Atsumu, Atsumu jumps so high!"
"Atsumu, Atsumu blocks so well!"
Atsumu turo the back rooi Taichi.
"Taichi! The real battle starts now!"
Taichi straightened from his defeance, meeting Atsumu's gaze.
"Is that so, Miya-senpai?"
Although Aoba Johsai still held the lead, the momentum of the match seemed to be shifting—tilting slightly in Inarizaki's favour.
Serve ge.
Ojiro Aran stepped up to the service line.
As one of the top five aces iion, Aran's strength was undeniable. However, in the heat of inteches—especially when his team was struggliehe overwhelming preseo single-handedly shift the game.
Because of this, his impact ofte overshadowed by the others.
But if anyone uimated him because of that, they were about to make a serious mistake.
Boom!
Aran unleashed a powerful jump serve!
The ball carved a long arc through the air, heading straight for Kaedehara Taichi in the er.
The speed was ioo fast for Watari to assist in receiving. Taichi had no choice but to take it himself.
Smack!
"Cover it!"
The receive wasn't ideal—Kunimi had to scramble to set it up. Matsukawa Issei leaped for the attack.
"Triple block!"
ōmimi Ren, Atsumu, and Ginjima formed a solid wall in front of him.
A forced attack off an unstable set—this was exactly what Inarizaki had been waiting for!
Bang!
Smack!
Matsukawa's spike cked power, and the ball bounced weakly off ōmimi's arms, nding right bato Aoba Johsai's court.
[Aoba Johsai 21 – 18 Inarizak
"Inarizaki scores off their blog!"
"A fwless execution of serve-to-block sg strategy!"
"Man, this really is the Nationals," Taichi muttered, exhaling. "Only in this kind of enviro you truly feel the gaps in yame."
Boom!
Aran's sed serve.
Even if he toned down the power, his precision remained lethal—the ball was once again targeting Taichi.
Smack!
Taichi lifted the ball high.
"Oikawa-senpai! Set it high!"
The pass was far from perfect—the ball soared too high, making the setup much more difficult.
However, this also gave Taichi extra time to adjust.
And their setter was her than THE Oikawa Tōru.
"You sure know how to order people around," Oikawa clicked his to quickly moved into position, eyes locked onto the desding ball.
His stance widened, arms f a bowl, hands steady as he tracked the ball's nding point.
Whoosh—
The moment the ball made tact, Oikawa slightly bent his knees, using his wrists and fio absorb the impact before swiftly flig the ball forward. A delicate fiip spin eability mid-air.
Swoosh!
The ball arced toward the left wing.
"Perfect!"
The excmation came from across the sumu, the only one who truly uood the brilliance behind Oikawa's teique.
Taichi sprinted along the sideline.
Thud!
The ace of Aoba Johsai soared once again.
"Triple block!"
This time, Inarizaki wasn't aiming to shut him down pletely—they just wao restrict his shot angles.
Boom!
Taichi twisted his wrist, targeting ōmimi's hand.
Smack!
The ball clipped the blod dropped sharply.
Thud!
Inside Inarizaki's court.
Kaedehara Taichi—point scored!
[Aoba Johsai 22 – 18 Inarizak
Aoba Johsai Halts Inarizaki's Momentum and Kaedehara Taichi Returns to the Front Row!
Inarizaki's head coach, Kurosu Norimune, frowhe hidden dangers from the start of the set had pounded.
Trying to score secutive points against this Aoba Johsai team roving to be an almost insurmountable challenge.
With the serve rotating, Kunimi Akira stepped up to the service line.
"There's still a ce!" Akagi Miari locked his gaze on Kunimi. If Aoba Johsai had a weakness in their serve lineup, it was likely him.
At st year's Nationals, Kunimi's serve had only caused minor disruptions to Inarizaki's reception. As long as he could get a perfect first pass, this would be a golden opportunity to terattack!
However, just as Akagi's eyes widened in surprise, Kunimi took a few extra steps backwards behind the service line.
He tossed the ball gently into the air, took two quick strides forward, a.
Bang!
—A jump float serve!
Akagi's eyes widened in shock. What the hell happeo Aoba Johsai in the past six months?!
The volleyball wobbled as it travelled forward before suddenly dropping—
—and hit the .
Service error. Inarizaki cwed back a point.
[Aoba Johsai 22 – 19 Inarizak
"Pfft—"
Kaedehara Taichi swore he definitely hadn't ughed out loud.
Smack!
Oikawa Tōru's head snapped forward as Iwaizumi Hajime delivered a firm sp to the back of it.
"Iwa-!" Oikawa turned around in e.
"Drop the act. It was absolutely you." Iwaizumi said calmly.
Kaedehara Taichi, who had been staring ahead without expression, remained silent.
"Kunimi, don't mind it!" Iwaizumi reassured him from the back row. "It was a good attempt."
"Yeah." Kunimi respoly, unfazed.
Against Inarizaki, using his first-ever jump float serve as a test subject had beeravagant, to say the least.
As if reading his mind, Suna Rintarō stepped onto the court, his sharp gaze sweeping across the .
"Aoba Johsai's first-year…will pay for that point."
The serve rotated back to Inarizaki.
"Tweet!—"
Inarizaki requests a substitution—Riseki Heisuke IN, ōmimi Ren OUT.
"A first-year pinch server?"
They had no information on this pyer, making it impossible to predict his serve.
Aoba Johsai remained on high alert.
Just because the oppo looked nervous didn't mean they would let their guard down. If Inarizaki had chosen to send him in at this moment, then he had to be dangerous.
Riseki Heisuke walked to the service line. His heart pounded as he repyed what he had just witnessed—Aoba Johsai's first-year missing his serve.
He couldn't calm down.
"Heisuke!"
Inarizaki's pilr—Kita Shinsuke—called out from the sideline.
"Challeoday with ce!"
"If you only hold onto yesterday's achievements, then what will tomorrow bee?"
"As an Inarizaki pyer, there's o dwell on the past."
Riseki inhaled deeply and exhaled forcefully.
"A good serve!"
He tossed the ball, feeling the trol in his fiips—
Stepping forward with power, he unched himself into the air.
"Bravely—challeoday!"
He struck the ball with all his might.
Boom!!
The volleyball exploded past Aoba Johsai's formation—straight to the bae!
Watari Shinji and Iwaizumi barely had time to react before the ball ricocheted off the floor.
Service ace!
[Aoba Johsai 22 – 20 Inarizak
"Just two points behind!"
"Heisuke! Heisuke! That was incredible!"
"Heisuke! Crush them! One more!!"
"A rare first-year onball server—Aoba Johsai was pletely caught off guard!"
"YEAHHHH!!!" Riseki roared, his first appearan the court an overwhelming success!
Inarizaki's morale surged as Riseki stepped up for his sed serve.
Boom!!
Watari barely mao receive the ball, but it deflected awkwardly—bato Inarizaki's court.
"ce ball!"
Riseki instinctively caught the rebounding ball. His heart pounded as he gnced up.
Inarizaki's back-row attackers, Ojiro Aran and Miya Osamu, moved into position.
At the same time, front-row hitters Ginjima Hitoshi and Suna Rintarō rushed toward the .
Aoba Johsai's front line—Kaedehara Taichi, Oikawa Tōru, and Matsukawa Issei—stood firm, brag for impact.
BOOM!!
Ojiro Aran's back-row attack smashed into Kunimi's forearm and deflected out of bounds!
[Aoba Johsai 22 – 21 Inarizak
"Just one point away!!!"
"First-year designated server Riseki Heisuke has led Inarizaki's eback against Aoba Johsai!!!"
"And his service turn isn't over yet!"
"So this is what it feels like to stand on the court!"
With just two serves, Riseki felt like his blood had bee abze.
His dition—perfect!
He unched his third serve.
Boom!!
Smack!
"Don't get carried away, brat!!"
Iwaizumi absorbed the impact, delivering a rock-solid pass.
Oikawa adjusted swiftly, setting the ball high toward the left wing—
Kaedehara Taichi took flight.
"Triple block!"
Miya Atsumu, Ginjima Hitoshi, and Suna Rintarō all jumped in unison.
Atsumu pletely sealed off the straight-line shot, while Suna ehat the crosscourt angle was ent.
Smack!
Taichi's spike ricocheted off Ginshima's hands—boung high into Aoba Johsai's side!
Taided and immediately sprio the right fnk.
"Rintarō! Block him!"
Suna was the only blocker quiough to follow him.
All he o do was seal off one aheir back-row defence would cover the rest!
Taichi leapt on the right side—
Oikawa followed, setting the ball perfectly.
Even though Taichi was marked, Oikawa showed ation in delivering the set.
It inpoint perfect.
Here it es.
Kaedehara Taichi and Suna Rintarō squared off at the .
BOOM!
The ball curved over the blod nded just ihe line behind Riseki Heisuke.
A line shot!
Even with such rapid movement, Taichi had mao spike at an impossible angle!
Kaedehara Taichi scores!
[Aoba Johsai 23 – 21 Inarizak
"Did you really think a single blocker could stop me?"
Taichi tilted his head, smirking as he taunted Suna.
Aoba Johsai recimed trol of the match.
"Tweet!—"
Inarizaki requests a substitution—ōmimi Ren IN, Riseki Heisuke OUT.
Riseki walked off the court relutly. Just one more point…and I could've tied the score.
Taichi's spike had been so fast that he hadn't eveered its trajectory.
"ime, I'll be stronger!"
The serve rotated back to Aoba Johsai.
Matsukawa Issei stepped up to serve.
Boom!
Akagi received it effortlessly.
Miya Atsumu set it high—Ojiro Ara from the back row.
"Triple block!"
Kindaichi, Taichi, and Oikawa formed Aoba Johsai's stro wall!
Smack!
Aran tipped the ball off Kindaichi's arm, sending it rebounding into the air.
Miya Osamu charged in from the right fnk.
Just as Aoba Johsai's defence locked onto Osamu—
Miya Atsumu scored oter dump!
[Aoba Johsai 23 – 22 Inarizak
"Damn it…"
Aoba Johsai tensed up.
Miya Atsumu walked slowly to the service line.
_________
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