The timeout ended quickly, and the Aoba Johsai players returned to the court.

Back in the rest area,

Coach Nobuteru Irihata watched Akashi Asuka's back as he walked onto the court and suddenly said,

"Hey, Gouguchi, do you think there really are people in this world who are born to be 'aces'?"

Team manager Sadayuki Gouguchi looked surprised.

"Why do you ask, Coach Irihata?"

Irihata shook his head.

"It's nothing. I just suddenly realized… even if two people have the same level of talent, they can still be fundamentally different."

Despite the pep talk during the timeout, Aoba Johsai's return to the court didn't shift the momentum.

Though the emotional blow from Akashi Asuka and Tōru Oikawa's serve errors had somewhat faded thanks to Irihata's encouragement, the impact still lingered.

Worse yet, they'd already lost too many points. No matter how hard they tried to catch up, not only did they fail to narrow the gap, but once Ushijima Wakatoshi unleashed his full offensive power, the point gap widened even further.

In the end,

The second set concluded with a wide margin: 19–25.

The third set began immediately afterward.

Right from the start, Aoba Johsai remained under Kitagawa's pressure. Akashi Asuka was still being tightly marked in a man-to-man defense.

Funny enough, this "man-to-man" tactic wasn't something Kitagawa came up with on the spot. It was a strategy other teams had used against Ushijima Wakatoshi in national tournaments.

As one of the top three aces in the country, Ushijima being specifically targeted by opponents was nothing new for Kitagawa.

When the score reached 11–14 in the third set, both teams were drenched in sweat, their stamina heavily depleted.

Only two players seemed unaffected.

One, of course, was Ushijima Wakatoshi. As a "power spiker." he was supposed to be an all-rounder with responsibilities across the court. But for Ushijima, things were different.

From the start, Coach Tanji Washijō had built this team around him, with the idea that Ushijima would be the absolute core of their offense. In most matches, Ushijima didn't receive the first ball, doing so would mess with his offensive rhythm.

And not just that,

He rarely took part in receiving or blocking duties either. The rest of the team took on those burdens so he could conserve energy and channel it entirely into scoring. That was one of the key factors behind Kitagawa's consistent victories.

Of course, in necessary situations, like when the opponents deliberately targeted him, Ushijima would still receive the ball. But generally, this was rare. Just because he didn't receive didn't mean he couldn't.

The second exception was Akashi Asuka.

If Ushijima's stamina was preserved by his teammates, so too was Akashi's, albeit unintentionally.

Thanks to Kitagawa's suffocating defense, Akashi barely touched the ball that entire set. No contact meant no opportunity to burn stamina.

Tweet!

Coach Irihata called a timeout.

This timeout wasn't for tactics, it was simply to let the players catch their breath and recover some energy.

"Phew… So tired. And this is just a practice match? Why does it feel harder than a real one?" grumbled Takahiro Hanamaki as he took a sip of water.

"What can you do? The opponent's Kitagawa." Matsukawa Issei replied. "And it's not just us, bet the guys on their side are feeling it too."

"Speaking of which, Oikawa, you've kept Akashi out of play long enough. Time to let him loose, right?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Hanamaki and a few other players blinked in confusion.

Oikawa's eyes sparkled with a touch of surprise.

"Oh? Matsukawa-chan, did you catch on?"

"I only just realized something felt off."

"Hey, what are you two mumbling about?" Hanamaki asked, frustrated.

Matsukawa, looking as unimpressed as always, glanced over at Akashi, who was sipping his water nearby.

"Hanamaki, do you really think we could stop Ushijima's attacks using man-to-man defense?"

Hanamaki snorted.

"Of course not, idiot. If it were that easy, we'd have beaten them already."

"Exactly. So the same applies to them."

"…Huh?"

Hanamaki paused, the dots starting to connect.

"We've already played a match with Akashi before. Hanamaki, if you had to defend him alone, could you stop him?"

"Uh…"

Hanamaki recalled the scenes from their welcome match. It took him less than a second to find the answer.

"So you're saying, Oikawa, you intentionally didn't pass to Akashi?"

"Hehehe~"

Oikawa smiled warmly, his grin radiating like sunshine. But behind that smile, everyone could see the faint glimmer of a fox's tail.

"Ara~ Since they went through all that trouble to set up a full-on defensive scheme just for Akashi, I figured we might as well take advantage of it."

Everyone fell silent.

A moment later,

"You setters are all devious." Hanamaki muttered.

Tweet!

Timeout ended. Both teams returned to the court.

Kitagawa had the serve. The ball flew deep into Aoba Johsai's court and was received by Iwaizumi Hajime, who then passed it to Oikawa.

This time, Oikawa didn't give any signals for a coordinated attack, he simply and directly set the ball for Akashi.

Akashi Asuka soared.

The Kitagawa player marking him jumped as well, but something felt wrong.

He was too high.

Even though the Kitagawa player had jumped first, Akashi was still rising, and kept going until his chin cleared the top of his opponent's head. Then, with a powerful swing,

Boom!

With a stunning crack, the ball carved a clean diagonal path through Kitagawa's court, slipping past the blockers and libero to slam perfectly onto the far corner of the line.

Tweet!

Point for Aoba Johsai.

12–14.

The Kitagawa players froze in shock.

Meanwhile, Oikawa pointed at Ushijima and slowly said:

"Now… let's start the real match, shall we?"

Thanks to "Smiling So Beautifully" for the 1,500-coin reward!

(End of Chapter)

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