As Inarizaki steadily caught up, overing their initial deficit to equalize and then take the lead, their cheering squad erupted with renewed fervour. The deafening roar of their supporters reverberated through the arena, shaking the very air as they ted in unison.

  Even in the final moments, when Inarizaki trailed by a single point, their voices only wavered slightly. Beh that fleetiation y an unwavering belief—

  Sihey had already staged a eback from a five-point deficit, what was one more point? Just a minor obstacle on their path to victory.

  Yet, just as they prepared to witness another miraculous turnaround, the figure standing at the shattered all of their illusions.

  Aoba Johsai's first-year a immovable mountain that stood between them and triumph.

  The entire arena fell into stunned silence.

  The first to recover was entator Otomo.

  He stared bnkly at the court, where the very pyer he had predicted to be a rising star in this Inter-High Nationals was now shining in full brilliance.

  Too fast. His growth was simply astonishing.

  The blog abilities on both sides might differ, but ag that moment would have felt the same thing—

  Kaedehara Taichi had won a direct frontation against one of the top five aces iion, Ojiro Aran!

  "At the climax of the first set, Aoba Johsai's ace secured victory with a solo blod two secutive spikes, sg three points in a row to close out the set!"

  A moment of stunned silence passed, and then the realization hit.

  The Aoba Johsai supporters erupted into cheers, their voices rising in waves, merging into an unstoppable force that swept through the entire gymnasium.

  "Rule the court!""Rule the court!!""Rule the court!!!"

  Every single Aoba Johsai student shouted at the top of their lungs, p all their passion and vi into those four words.

  —

  As the first set s clusion, two pyers bd-white jerseys stood watg from the sidelines.

  "Aoba Johsai actually took the first set?" Akaashi Keiji remarked coolly.

  His expression remained unged, but only someone as familiar with him as Bokuto Kōtarō could detect the slight surprise hidden in his tone.

  "See, Akaashi! I told you Taichi was amazing!" Bokuto decred, brimming with pride.

  "No, Bokuto-san, no one would uand just from yue descriptions," Akaashi replied ftly. "And also, please don't act like this is some personal achievement—you're not even that close with Kaedehara Taichi."

  "No, no, no, Akaashi! Have you fotten?" Bokuto said mysteriously. "Taichi personally told me—he's my fan!"

  Akaashi frowned. "…???"

  "You really fot?!" Bokuto gasped in horror. "No, no, no, Akaashi—!"

  "Please don't call me like that, Bokuto-san."

  "It was at the Tokyo IH qualifiers! Kurht him to meet us!!" Bokuto ractically wailing now.

  "ht." Akaashi remained impassive. So it was from that time. e to think of it, Kaedehara Taichi had ged a lot. Back theill had a bit of raw inexperience.

  But wasn't that whole 'I'm a fan' thing just a polite gesture?

  sidering that Fukurodani still had a mat the afternoon, Akaashi took precisely 0.07 seds to weigh the pros and s before deg not to shatter Bokuto's delusion.

  "Well then, Bokuto-san, who do you think our oppo will be this afternoon?" Akaashi smoothly ged the subject.

  Indeed, on this brutal third day of Nationals, Fukurodani had been the first team from the East to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. The winner of Aoba Johsai versus Inarizaki would be their oppo in the round.

  "I really want to face Taichi! And if I beat Taichi, then it's me > Taichi > Ushiwaka!" Bokuto looked torn. "But the twins seem fun too! I've never pyed against twins before!"

  …You really 't pare things like that. Akaashi could only sigh inwardly.

  "Akaashi! You think the same, right?!" Bokuto suddenly turo him.

  …Think the same about what? That beating Taichi would make him strohan Ushijima? Or that pying against twins would be iing?

  He hadn't missed a single word Bokuto said, but somehow, uanding him was always an uable challenge.

  "Yes," Akaashi answered after 0.53 seds, already pnning how to guide the versation toward a more logical topic.

  -----

  As the sed set enced, both teams switched sides.

  Inarizaki's lineup:

  Front row—Setter Miya Atsumu, Outside Hitter Ginjima Hitoshi, Middle Blocker Suna Rintarō.Back row—Outside Hitter Miya Osamu, Outside Hitter Ojiro Aran, and Middle Blocker ōmimi Ren (Libero: Akagi Miari).

  Aoba Johsai's lineup:

  Front row—Outside Hitter Kaedehara Taichi, Middle Blocker Kindaichi Yūtarō, Outside Hitter Iwaizumi Hajime.Back row—Outside Hitter Kunimi Akira and Middle Blocker Matsukawa Issei (Libero: Watari Shinji) aer Oikawa Tōru.

  Both teams had made certain adjustments to their rotations.

  Aoba Johsai had separated Oikawa Tōru's service rotation from Kaedehara Taichi's front-row attack presence, ensuring a more banced offeup across rotations.

  Meanwhile, Inarizaki determined not to let Aoba Johsai's serves dictate the pace of the game, let out a small sigh of relief upon seeing that Oikawa and Taichi were no longer positioned secutively.

  Fag two powerhouse servers back-to-back would have been an overwhelming ordeal for any team.

  -----

  The Sed Set Begins

  Aoba Johsai to serve first, with Oikawa Tōru stepping onto the service line.

  Although their formation had ged, the starting lineup remained intact.

  During the break, Coach Iribata had pted subbing in Kyōtaarō to bolster their offensive firepower. However, notig Taichi seated nearby with his eyes closed in quiet focus, Oikawa suggested maintaining their current lineup.

  Judging by the end of the first set, Taichi was still in peak dition, showing no signs of struggling uhe attag pressure.

  In fact, Oikawa secretly hoped that Inarizaki would apply even more pressure. It had been a month siaichi returned from the U19 National Team training camp, yet Oikawa still hadn't seen the ge he was anticipating.

  Oikawa tossed the ball into the air, took three powerful strides, and swung.

  Boom!

  With a thunderous crack, the sed set between Aoba Johsai and Inarizaki was officially underway.

  Pop! Ojiro Aran received the serve ly.

  As the match progressed, the pyers were gradually adjusting to the ball's speed, making their receptions more trolled.

  Miya Atsumu quickly stepped into position ahe ball toward the right-wing attacker.

  Without realizing it, Inarizaki had already begun deliberately avoiding Kaedehara Taichi's blog presence.

  On the far right, Suna Rintarō leapt into the air.

  "Double block!" Kindaichi Yūtarō and Iwaizumi Hajime jumped simultaneously to intercept him.

  Bang!

  Twisting his torso with incredible flexibility, Suna avoided the blod spiked the ball downward.

  Smabsp;Kunimi Akira received it with precision.

  Aoba Johsai had fully adapted to his attag style.

  "Here you go, Taichi!" Oikawa swiftly positioned himself ahe ball s toward the left wing.

  "Triple block!"

  Miya Atsumu, Ginjima Hitoshi, and Suna Rintarō all leapt to test the attack.

  It was just a standard offensive py, yet Inarizaki instinctively chose to it three blockers to it.

  What uled them even more was the pressure they still felt despite the triple block.

  As that figure rose steadily oher side of the , an inexplicable sense of helplessness washed over them.

  This unease was an echo of what they had experie the end of the first set.

  They had thought that the break would allow them to reset and recover, but Kaedehara Taichi had already engraved himself into their psyche—his attacks felt iable, almost impossible to stop.

  BOOM!

  A straight-line super spike, perfectly pced along Inarizaki's left sideline.

  Kaedehara Taichi's razor-sharp line shot secured the opening point for Aoba Johsai.

  [Aoba Johsai 1 – 0 Inarizak

  _________

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