When São Paulo had finally managed to tie the score, Zaytsev suddenly unleashed a burst of power, rattling off a series of points and taking the set decisively.

"So this is what a world-class middle blocker looks like..." Hinata Shōyō murmured.

Having once played as a middle blocker himself, he understood clearly just how big the gap was between him and Zaytsev in that position—in attack, blocking, and serving.

Even now, Hinata was still far from matching Zaytsev in those areas.

"Kageyama's serve has gotten much stronger than before, both in speed and power. His set tempo is also faster than when we were at Karasuno, and now his teammates can easily keep up with his aggressive sets."

"That ace called Alexander—I heard he's Italy's genius wing spiker, the youngest player in this Club World Championship. The sense of pressure he exerts is already close to Taichi's, and he's capable of all kinds of shots. His back-row attacks are also extremely threatening."

"And then there's Italy's defence…whether it's Zaytsev and Alexander's blocking or Fabio the libero's receives, scoring on them is nowhere near as easy as it looks…"

Hinata stood silently in São Paulo's bench area, his empty gaze fixed on Trentino's players as his mind whirred furiously.

"What's wrong, Kageyama?"

Zaytsev noticed Kageyama wearing an almost murderous expression and couldn't help but ask.

"Ah…it's nothing."

Kageyama shot a fierce glare at Hinata—that idiot, was he seriously thinking that hard right now?

-----

The short break between sets ended quickly, and both teams switched sides.

Trentino Volley's lineup:

Front row—Setter Kageyama Tobio, Middle Blocker Ryan Mosca, Outside Hitter Alexander Delloro.

Back row—Outside Hitter Yuri Romano, Middle Blocker Ivan Zaytsev (Libero: Fabio Balaso) and Opposite Hitter Luca Boro.

ASAS São Paulo's lineup:

Front row—Opposite Hitter Wallace Souza, Middle Blocker Darlan Souza, Outside Hitter Yoandy Leal.

Back row—Outside Hitter Hinata Shōyō, Middle Blocker Lucas Saatkamp (Libero: Sanhos) and Setter Fernand Colin.

Both sides had made adjustments. Trentino broke up the powerful offensive-defensive duo of Zaytsev and Alexander, redistributing them to balance each rotation's strength—clearly aiming to prevent the occasional momentum swings São Paulo was known for.

In addition, head coach Massimo continued to place Kageyama in the starting strong serving position. This was the advantage of having a setter who possessed a powerful serve: even with this arrangement, their front-row attacking power wasn't weakened at all.

On the other hand, São Paulo's adjustments took the opposite approach. Coach Bernardo started with Wallace and Yoandy both in the front row, hoping to establish an early advantage. Meanwhile, he also tweaked the rotations between Hinata and Wallace to use Hinata's presence as a decoy and extend Wallace's period of offensive dominance.

The second set began, with São Paulo serving first.

Fernand tossed the ball up, approached, leapt, and smashed it!

BOOM!!!

Unexpectedly, Fernand chose a jump float serve for his first ball, clearly targeting front-row Kageyama!

Smack!

Kageyama remained calm and passed perfectly. Rather than forcing a set himself, he chose to trust his teammates.

Yuri stepped in and sent a high ball to the right side. Alexander leapt for the spike!

"Triple block!" Wallace, Souza, and Yoandy all jumped together.

A highly threatening block, completely different from the first set!

BOOM!!!—

The ball hammered into Souza's arm and bounced back toward Trentino's side.

THUD!

The ball landed outside Trentino's end line.

Block deflection out.

Alexander scored!

[São Paulo 0 - 1 Trentino]

"Don't worry, next point!"

The São Paulo front-row trio quickly exchanged words. Their block had been effective enough to force Alexander into scoring only by deflection—already part of their plan. The next step was to fine-tune their block angles and completely shut him down!

Serve switch—Trentino to serve.

Kageyama stepped to the service line. São Paulo instantly switched to a five-man receive formation, leaving no gaps.

"Tweet!—"

Kageyama tossed the ball up—jump serve.

BANG!!!

The ball hit the top of the net and rolled over, dropping onto São Paulo's side.

"——?"

A surprise. But Souza didn't panic. The safest play now was a controlled bump set into a quick attack. A mishandled pass here would only give the opponent an easy chance.

Smack!

Souza chose the safe option and bumped the ball up. Hinata immediately moved forward to set.

Wallace and Yoandy launched from opposite sides, drawing Mosca and Alexander into one-on-one defence.

BOOM!!!

The ball was smashed mercilessly into the centre of Trentino's court, bouncing high.

Wallace scored!

[São Paulo 1 - 1 Trentino]

Unless facing a very select few blockers, a solo block would never be enough to stop an attacker of Wallace's calibre.

"My bad."

Kageyama gestured an apology.

Serve switch—São Paulo to serve.

Yoandy's jump serve!

BOOM!!!

The ball hit Yuri's arm and shot straight out of bounds!

Yoandy scored directly from serve!

[São Paulo 2 - 1 Trentino]

As a versatile all-round ace, Yoandy's only weakness was his slightly slow initial reaction.

Luckily, the first set had gone long enough to fully fire him up.

Even though it was an away game in Italy, the audience showed great sportsmanship—they still erupted in loud cheers even when the opponent scored an ace.

São Paulo continued to serve.

Yoandy's second serve!

BOOM!!!—

The ball drew a sharp arc and went straight for Kageyama.

SMACK!

Kageyama's reception flew off, sailing out of bounds!

Ryan barely saved it back in play. Alexander leapt to attack!

"Double block!" Wallace and Souza jumped together.

TAP!

Not enough height, no space to swing fully—Alexander chose to tip the ball to São Paulo's back line.

Sanhos easily received it, perfect pass.

Fernand jumped to set. São Paulo's front three all launched into attack.

Hinata's approach was clearly a beat faster than the other two—Ryan was forced into a solo block.

Whoosh!—

The ball zipped to the left wing—Hinata slammed it down.

BOOM!!

Ryan saw the trajectory and pressed his arm sharply forward and down.

THUD!

Still a step too late.

The ball landed hard in the middle of Trentino's court.

Hinata scored!

[São Paulo 3 - 1 Trentino]

"Nice spike."

Wallace praised him in his usual blunt style.

The match was unfolding just as Coach Bernardo planned—São Paulo was off to an early lead, driven by a fully energized Yoandy.

São Paulo continued to serve.

"Tweet!—"

BOOM!!!

Yoandy's third serve!

Trentino went to a five-man receive, still targeting Kageyama.

Smack!

The serve flew straight and true—Kageyama Tobio received it steadily, the pass only slightly off target.

Yuri moved forward to adjust and set a high ball to the middle.

Alexander jumped for the spike!

"Double block!" Wallace and Souza stayed tight together.

—BOOM!!!

The ball soared over the top of their block.

Sanhos barely managed to dig it up!

The ball arced forward near the net—Hinata moved in to set it, and Wallace leapt from the middle for the attack!

"Double block!" Alexander and Ryan both jumped, sealing Wallace's left side and the straight shot, forcing him to hit to the right.

BOOOM!!!

The ball avoided the block and smashed into Trentino's deep corner.

Fabio darted in to face it head-on!

"Knew it'd be you."

Wallace grinned ferociously.

SMACK!!!

Fabio's platform was blasted open instantly, the ball bouncing off his foot and flying high into the air.

—"Double contact? Consecutive touch violation?"

No whistle from the referee.

—"It looks like the ref ruled it an unintentional touch."

Kageyama quickly covered and sent a steady set to the net.

Alexander leapt again for the spike!

"Double block!"

São Paulo's block tracked tightly.

—BOOM!!!

The ball drew a high arc through the air, soaring past the block and flying over Fernand in the back row before slamming down just inside the end line.

THUD!!!

Line shot.

Alexander scored!

[São Paulo 3 - 2 Trentino]

"That topspin again…This guy's spikes really are a headache."

Serve switch—Ryan stepped up for a powerful jump serve.

Sanhos received it cleanly, perfect pass.

Fernand jumped to set—Hinata ran a decoy to shake Boro off the block, and Wallace swung in from the right side.

—BOOM!!!

The ball pierced over the block and flew towards Trentino's backcourt.

Smack!!!

Kageyama managed to dig it, but the ball floated right over the net.

Alexander and Zaytsev both leapt to block, preventing Wallace from tipping it over.

The ball barely scraped the tape and fell.

Wallace saw no chance to swing, so he safely bumped it up.

Fernand moved to cover, then set for Yoandy's back-row attack!

"Double block!" Alexander and Zaytsev quickly crossed over, leaping together.

BOOM!!!

The ball slammed against Zaytsev's arm and rebounded high.

"Counterattack!"

Yuri passed it up solidly, perfect position—Kageyama jumped to set.

Alexander and Zaytsev both rushed the net—a double quick attack!

Wallace and Souza jumped to block Zaytsev, leaving Hinata alone against Alexander.

BOOM!!!

The ball streaked past Hinata's side, nearly vertical as it hammered into the floor.

The attack he had once been so familiar with—now, it became a sword piercing through their own defense.

THUD!!!

The ball landed.

Alexander scored!

[São Paulo 3 - 3 Trentino]

Trentino tied it up—São Paulo's early advantage had vanished.

"Can this be stopped?"

Loser looked toward Oikawa and Kaedehara Taichi. As members of San Juan, they knew this type of attack well.

"It's difficult," Oikawa replied slowly.

Kaedehara Taichi didn't say a word. "Difficult" implied it wasn't impossible.

Trentino's so-called "ultra quick attack" was indeed fast, but Oikawa could sense it: their attack tempo wasn't as fast as Hinata's or Taichi's.

The slight delay stemmed from one reason—before launching the attack, they subconsciously hesitated, wondering whether Kageyama could deliver such a perfect, rapid set.

That moment of doubt had nothing to do with trust; it was purely a matter of confirming whether they themselves could execute the final attack.

But for Hinata Shōyō, he would never have that moment of hesitation. He would seize any chance to attack, trust his setter completely, and wouldn't care if he was used as a decoy. In fact, when the opponent started overthinking whether Hinata was the decoy, that was exactly when he would finish them off in an instant.

As for Kaedehara Taichi, whether or not to run a super quick attack was his own choice, not the setter's. When Taichi leapt toward the net, he wasn't simply trusting the setter—he was threatening them, commanding them: Give me the ball I want RIGHT NOW.

Trentino's "ultra quick attack" was now more like a fast-paced version of 'normal' simultaneous attacks.

This style couldn't completely evade the block, but it could 100% disperse it. The initiative was in Kageyama's hands—whichever attacker faced fewer or no blockers was the one he ultimately chose.

Kaedehara Taichi silently speculated. They would only truly know if they could stop this once they faced Trentino head-on.

-----

São Paulo to serve.

Souza's powerful jump serve.

Fabio received it cleanly, perfect pass.

Alexander and Zaytsev both charged in to attack!

Kageyama set to the right side.

"Double block!" Hinata was forced into the block, jumping alongside Wallace.

—BOOM!!!

The ball blasted over Hinata's head, crashing down in São Paulo's court.

Zaytsev's high-reaching spike scored!

[São Paulo 18 - 19 Trentino]

"Papa! Amazing!"

Up in the stands, Zaytsev's daughter clapped and cheered in delight.

_________

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