"Who was that No. 10 on Aoba Johsai?!"

"How many points did he score?!"

"I don't know….I don't remember ever seeing him in the junior high tournaments."

"Is he a first-year?!"

All eyes on the court fixated on Aoba Johsai's No. 10.

Oikawa Tōru let out a bitter laugh. "Taichi….Back then, I thought he'd make a good decoy. But now, it seems like he's been aiming to become the ace all along." He recalled how Taichi had just called for the ball, using a tone Oikawa had never heard from him before.

BEEP! Karasuno made a substitution—#9, Tobio Kageyama IN; #2, Koushi Sugawara OUT.

Koushi Sugawara glanced at Taichi Kaedehara's back and the glaring point difference on the scoreboard. With unwilling steps, he walked off the court.

"Please!" he muttered, his voice trembling slightly.

"We won't lose!" Tobio Kageyama declared without the slightest hesitation.@@novelbin@@

"It's my fault," Ukai Keishin said, his face heavy with guilt. "At the start, I put Sugawara in to help the team stabilize—to calm their nerves or bring them some emotional momentum."

"And he did. His unpredictability, and how his setting style was completely different from Kageyama's, threw Aoba Johsai off for a while," Ukai continued.

"But I didn't expect Aoba Johsai to adjust so quickly. Once their No. 10 moved to the front row, their offence didn't falter. If anything, we failed to switch Sugawara out in time, and that left gaps in both our defence and attack."

Ukai sighed, his indecision gnawing at him. The rapid shifts on the court left him feeling powerless as problems continued piling up.

They're amazing… so amazing!

Aoba Johsai is incredible!

I want to play!

I want to play!

I want to play!

Let me play, let me play, let me play, let me play!

Ukai could feel the restless energy radiating from Karasuno's bench. Among the substitutes sat a small, ferocious beast brimming with an unrelenting hunger for attack—Shōyō Hinata.

Taichi Kaedehara glanced over at Karasuno's bench as well and smiled faintly at the eager Hinata.

"Don't worry. I'll beat you soon enough."

Tobio Kageyama walked back onto the court, forcing what could barely pass as a smile—a smile so strained it looked closer to a grimace.

Karasuno players: "…"

Aoba Johsai players: "…" What's with him? That's terrifying…

Tsukishima Kei instinctively took a step back. "Please stop that expression, King."

"Don't back off, Tsukki!" Ryūnosuke Tanaka scolded. "Kageyama might actually mean it!"

Nishinoya Yū hesitated before adding, "I think… I think that's supposed to be a smile. Probably…"

"Don't add 'probably,' Nishinoya!" Asahi Azumane snapped.

Daichi Sawamura felt a mix of emotions as he watched Kageyama. This was the same Kageyama who had once said, "If I could receive, set, and spike all by myself, I'd be fine." And now, here he was—smiling(?) at his teammates.

"All right, all right, quit teasing Kageyama. Let's pull that score back!" Daichi ordered.

"Yeah!!"

Even though Kageyama's idea of encouragement wasn't what the team had in mind, the effect seemed to be the same. Satisfied, Kageyama took his position.

Aoba Johsai served. Nishinoya dug the ball perfectly, sending it straight to Kageyama. This was his first play since coming back on. Down by ten points, they had to make this count—this ball had to shift the momentum.

It was an important ball, carrying immense pressure. Hinata still wasn't on the court. In a moment like this—

"Take it away! Tanaka-senpai!"

The ball soared perfectly into Ryūnosuke Tanaka's hitting zone. Twisting his body, Tanaka delivered a sharp cross-shot that slipped past Aoba Johsai's blockers and slammed onto the court floor.

A small but deadly cross-shot—the 'monk head' had brought Karasuno back a point!

[Aoba Johsai 16 – 7 Karasuno]

"Yes!!!"

Karasuno's stagnant score finally ticked upward as Shōyō Hinata returned to the front row.

Karasuno served.

"Tsukishima, serve a good one!"

"Chance ball!"

Takahiro Hanamaki received the ball, and Taichi Kaedehara began his approach.

"He's keeping up!"

Hinata's smaller frame made him look even faster when he ran, as if he were ripping through the air itself.

"One touch!"

"Cover it!"

Just as Taichi had managed to block Hinata earlier, this time Hinata's managed to block Seijoh's Quick Attack.

The moment Hinata landed, he was already sprinting across the court to launch an attack from the other side.

Taichi was back to square one—tracking Hinata relentlessly.

"That little guy is incredible! He just whooshed over to the edge of the court!" A spectator in the stands couldn't help but exclaim.

Smack!

"One touch!" Taichi Kaedehara shouted toward the back row.

Akira Kunimi set the ball up, and Oikawa Tōru, mindful of Kaedehara's stamina, sent the set to Iwaizumi Hajime on the right side.

"Double block!" Tobio Kageyama and Ryūnosuke Tanaka's block was effective.

Iwaizumi adjusted his shot, tipping the ball past the blockers toward Karasuno's backcourt.

Daichi Sawamura dug the ball, and Hinata was already on the move again.

"Three consecutive running attacks?!"

"Look! It's on the other side this time—the left wing!"

From the far left, Shōyō Hinata leapt into the air as Kageyama's set soared perfectly toward him.

This time, Hinata found a route past Taichi Kaedehara's block and spiked the ball sharply.

Smack!

Shinji Watari received the ball!

It got dug again?! Ukai Keishin frowned in disbelief.

Hinata's attack shouldn't have been so easily received. His eyes sharpened as he tracked the players' movements on the court.

The ball Watari received arced back toward Oikawa Tōru. Kaedehara landed and immediately transitioned into the offence.

He had no time to rest—if the ball didn't hit the floor, he couldn't stop moving. Watching Hinata's relentless pace made him realize that fact all too clearly.

Boom!

Oikawa Tōru, with a sudden second touch, spiked the ball straight down. All eyes had been focused on the moving attackers, and the unexpected dump caught both teams completely off guard.

Oikawa scored.

[Aoba Johsai 17 – 7 Karasuno]

Both Taichi Kaedehara and Shōyō Hinata stood on the court, panting heavily from exhaustion, yet their eyes were locked firmly on Oikawa Tōru.

"Sorry," Oikawa said with a teasing smirk. "I stole the spotlight, didn't I?"

Aoba Johsai served again. The two players, who had barely rested for thirty seconds, immediately started marking each other once more.

"That little guy is jumping everywhere….He's amazing, but he looks exhausted…"

From the stands, the spectators couldn't help but agree—it was tiring just to watch.

On opposite sides of the net, the two No. 10s seemed to mirror each other as they sprinted and leapt madly.

Volleyball was a sport of constant jumping. That also meant it was a sport of perpetual battle against gravity.

They jumped to bait their opponents. They jumped to block. They jumped to spike.

If the rally dragged on, those same actions would repeat again and again within short intervals, leaving no time to catch their breath.

As their stamina waned, their minds began to blur. It was at these moments that dangerous thoughts crept in—

"Just finish the ball already. I don't care who…"

"Let the ball hit the floor…"

"Please let it land on the opponent's side…"

But even after the exhausting rally dragged on, a resolute voice rang through the court.

"Give me the ball!!"

From the far-right side, Shōyō Hinata jumped once more.

"Not happening!"

On the other side of the net, the block was right there to meet him!

Boom!

The ball didn't make its way to Hinata. Ryūnosuke Tanaka, almost unguarded on the left, smashed the ball down decisively.

Karasuno scored!

[Aoba Johsai 17 – 8 Karasuno]

_________

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