Tendo, standing nearby, glanced back at Kawanishi. As a monster of intuition, he had already figured out what Kawanishi was thinking.
Still, he couldn't help wondering just how that almost superhuman hearing and comprehension worked. Even Tendo was sometimes amazed by Kawanishi's hearing.
"Bang!"
The sharp sound of the ball being struck drew Tendo's attention back to the match.
Ryosuke had already sent the volleyball flying. It shot straight toward the opposite court with tremendous speed and spin.
When Hibarida saw Ryosuke's serve, he nodded slightly in satisfaction. A serve of this caliber was certainly rare at the high school level, though it might not be quite enough to stand out on a professional team.
Why am I worrying about that now?
Realizing where his thoughts had wandered, Hibarida shook his head with a smile.
For a kid like Ryosuke, being able to maintain this level of play at his current stage was already impressive. The professional level was something for the future. Thinking that far ahead now really was a little premature.
Still, Hibarida was certain of one thing. This kid's future was limitless.
Ryosuke's right hand came down hard on the volleyball, sending it straight toward Itachiyama's court.
The moment Komori saw Ryosuke's toss, he knew this was the hook serve he'd been waiting for. His eyes immediately lit up as he stared at the volleyball soaring through the air. He couldn't help thinking that Ryosuke really was a great guy. Ask and you shall receive.
The volleyball flew off Ryosuke's hand, crossed Shiratorizawa's side of the court, and headed straight for Itachiyama.
Komori crouched in the backcourt, fully prepared.
The ball quickly closed in on him. Komori looked up at the approaching volleyball, practically itching to receive it.
He shifted his feet and jogged toward where he expected the ball to land. Judging from its trajectory, it seemed like it would fall relatively far forward.
Once he reached the spot, he made a few fine adjustments to his position, ready to receive at any moment.
The ball was on him in an instant. It was moving so fast that Komori barely had time to adjust his footing, much less get properly into a crouch.
He quickly lowered himself and thrust both arms forward to receive it.
The volleyball slammed violently into his forearms.
"Bang!"
Komori immediately felt the tremendous force behind it, nearly enough to buckle his arms.
His expression twisted.
This guy looks so skinny. Where the hell is all that strength coming from?
The instant the ball struck his arms, Komori knew he wasn't going to control it. It was simply a libero's instinct.
Sure enough, the rebound didn't turn into a clean first pass.
The vicious spin sent the volleyball twisting wildly after it bounced off his arms, flying crookedly toward the backcourt. There wasn't even a chance for anyone to recover it.
"Bang!"
The ball struck the floor, and the referee's whistle immediately followed.
"Fweeeeeet!"
"Service ace! Shiratorizawa's freshman, Ryosuke Hanyu, steps up to the service line and scores outright with a clean, decisive serve! What an outstanding young talent!"
Even the commentator couldn't help praising the play. It had been a beautiful serve.
Komori turned to look at the volleyball lying on the floor, disappointment written across his face. What a shame. If he'd been just a little faster, he definitely could have received it.
"Ooh, look who couldn't receive the ball."
Iizuna appeared from behind Komori with a grin.
Komori's face immediately darkened when he heard him. He gave Iizuna an annoyed roll of the eyes.
"So I missed one ball. Just wait. I'll shut down his next serve for sure."
Komori sounded completely confident.
Iizuna slung an arm around his shoulders, still grinning.
"Hey, don't go raising a flag like that. What if you miss the next one too?"
"Iizuna!!"
Komori had just started to calm down, only for Iizuna to rile him right back up.
Seeing that he'd successfully gotten under Komori's skin again, Iizuna immediately darted away.
Not far away, Sakusa watched them with a frown.
He genuinely couldn't understand it. Individually, they were both exceptional players that others could only look up to, yet the moment they got together, they became unbelievably childish. Even being generous, their combined mental age couldn't be more than three.
Meanwhile, Shiratorizawa erupted in cheers after Ryosuke's service ace.
Tsutomu Goshiki happily ran over to Ryosuke and immediately began showering him with praise.
"Whoa, Ryosuke, that was amazing! How do you even pull off a serve like that?!"
Compliments poured endlessly from Tsutomu Goshiki's mouth until Ryosuke started feeling embarrassed.
Ryosuke scratched his hair shyly.
"Come on, it wasn't that special."
He said that, but he was clearly pleased by the praise. At the very least, the brief anxiety he'd felt because Coach Washijō wasn't there had eased considerably.
"If that's nothing special, then the rest of our serves aren't even worth looking at."
Tsutomu Goshiki stared at Ryosuke with wide eyes, completely serious.
Ryosuke's eyes curved into crescents as he smiled. He was just about to say something when Reon walked over and interrupted.
"All right, get back to your positions. Save the celebrating for after the match. Ryosuke's playing this well, so Tsutomu Goshiki, you'd better step it up too."
"Yes!"
Tsutomu Goshiki straightened his back and answered loudly.
Seeing his energy, Reon nodded in satisfaction before returning to his position.
The referee looked toward both sides. Once he confirmed that everyone was ready, he blew the whistle to begin the next rally.
Up in the stands, Keigo Atobe finally arrived with his 8x binoculars. He hurriedly set up his camera and aimed it toward the court.
His timing couldn't have been better. Ryosuke was standing at the service line, preparing to serve.
Keigo Atobe let out a relieved breath. He had almost thought he wouldn't make it in time for Ryosuke's turn at the service line.
There were already plenty of videos of Ryosuke serving stored on his camera, but Keigo Atobe stubbornly felt that it still wasn't enough. He needed to capture even more of Ryosuke's best moments.
From the stands, Keigo Atobe stared fixedly at Ryosuke.
As though sensing something, Ryosuke suddenly looked up. His gaze passed over the enormous crowd and landed with uncanny precision on Keigo Atobe's location.
The moment he spotted the familiar camera, Ryosuke knew Keigo Atobe had arrived.
He flashed a smile in that direction, then turned his attention back to the volleyball in his hands.
The referee blew the whistle, and Ryosuke tossed the ball up almost simultaneously.
The volleyball rose high into the air.
Ryosuke drove through his waist, arm, and wrist, then struck the ball hard with his right hand.
"Bang!"
With a sharp impact, the volleyball shot off his palm and raced from Shiratorizawa's court toward Itachiyama's.
Komori moved the instant Ryosuke served, carefully judging where the ball was headed.
Once he saw the trajectory, Komori narrowed his eyes and took several steps backward.
This one looked like it was going deep.
After retreating, Komori made small adjustments with his feet, extended both arms in front of him, and bent slightly at the waist.
The volleyball reached him in moments.
Komori aligned his forearms with the descending ball, and the spinning volleyball slammed straight into them.
He could still feel enough force behind it to make him wonder if his arms might snap, but he frowned and held firm.
The ball was still spinning, though Komori felt it wasn't too bad.
At least this one was better than the last.
He forcefully lifted his arms.
"Bang!"
The volleyball bounced upward from Komori's forearms. Even after being received, it was still spinning erratically through the air.
"Iizuna!"
Komori shouted as soon as he got the ball up.
Iizuna already knew what he needed to do without being told.
He sprinted toward the rising ball.
At the same time, everyone else began moving.
Sakusa was the first to charge forward.
The moment Ryosuke saw Sakusa move, he followed immediately and locked onto him without hesitation.
Ryosuke wasn't particularly good at blocking second attacks, but stopping a wing spiker's shot came as naturally to him as eating and drinking.
Sakusa found himself stuck with Ryosuke yet again.
By now, he finally understood exactly how every wing spiker Ryosuke had ever marked must have felt.
The guy simply wouldn't leave him alone.
It really was a sweet burden.
With Sakusa being tightly marked, he was no longer the first choice for the attack.
That was where Doichiro's strengths came into play.
Doichiro's style was strangely similar to Kawanishi's. Both of them were incredibly slippery players who were difficult to pin down.
The biggest difference was that Doichiro rarely went out of his way to fight for the ball. He generally followed the flow of the play and waited patiently for the ball meant for him.
Doichiro ran behind Sakusa and moved into position three.
Iizuna was behind him near position four. A short, flat quick attack would send the ball straight to Doichiro.
Tsutomu Goshiki and Reon immediately noticed Doichiro appearing out of nowhere.
Without needing to communicate, both shifted toward him to form the block.
There was a very high chance that Doichiro would be the one attacking.
Once Doichiro reached the net, he heard the set coming from behind him. He took a few steps back and began his approach.
Iizuna saw Doichiro beginning his approach, along with the two blockers waiting across from him.
He glanced once more at Sakusa, who was still locked in a stalemate with Ryosuke, then chose to set the ball to Doichiro.
Even with a double block waiting for him, Iizuna trusted that Doichiro would find a way through.
As one of Itachiyama's only two wing spikers, Doichiro had plenty of skill to back him up.
Iizuna raised his hands and sent the volleyball toward Doichiro.
Doichiro charged the last few steps toward the net and jumped.
The instant Tsutomu Goshiki and Reon saw him leave the floor, they jumped with him.
Four arms lined up neatly above the net.
At the same moment, the volleyball arrived over Doichiro's head.
Doichiro raised his right hand to spike.
His eyes met Reon's across the net, and the instant their gazes crossed, Doichiro frowned.
This was going to be troublesome.
If Tsutomu Goshiki had been blocking alone, Doichiro would've had no trouble dealing with him.
Reon was another matter entirely.
That guy was a seasoned veteran through and through.
Brute force wouldn't be enough to break through the block, but trying to trick him wouldn't work either. Reon would see through it immediately.
After weighing his options, Doichiro decided against trying anything like a timing feint in front of Reon. It would be read instantly, and he no longer had time to adjust anyway.
Doichiro raised his right hand and swung hard at the volleyball.
If he couldn't get through with timing, then he'd force his way through.
Going directly through Tsutomu Goshiki's side gave him the best chance of scoring.
"Bang!"
Doichiro hammered the ball toward Tsutomu Goshiki's outstretched arms, driving it cross-court.
After several rounds of adjustments throughout the tournament, Tsutomu Goshiki's blocking had improved enough that he could now track the ball's trajectory extremely well.
The instant after Doichiro struck it, Tsutomu Goshiki moved his palm precisely into the path of the cross-court shot.
Reon caught the movement from the corner of his eye, and a trace of satisfaction appeared in his expression.
To think Tsutomu Goshiki's blocking would ever become this clean and decisive.
All that hard work had paid off.
Doichiro looked at the hand suddenly blocking his path and seemed slightly surprised, but he quickly regained his composure.
He drove the volleyball straight into Tsutomu Goshiki's palm.
"Bang!"
The spinning ball smashed into Tsutomu Goshiki's hand.
For a split second, he almost thought his fingers had been knocked clean off.
The force was ridiculous.
Tsutomu Goshiki had noticed that every wing spiker he'd faced since reaching the top eight seemed absurdly powerful. Every single time, he struggled to stop them.
The volleyball blasted past Tsutomu Goshiki's hand and flew toward Shiratorizawa's court.
It was just about to hit the floor when Ryosuke suddenly darted in from the side.
He threw himself down, rolled across the floor, and managed to dig the ball up.
Off the court, Kawanishi scratched his hair and quietly asked Tendo,
"Tendo, Tsutomu Goshiki's pretty strong too, right? So why is it that whenever he goes up against a power-type spiker, he can never stop them?"
Tendo had just opened his mouth when Hibarida answered first.
"Because blocking and spiking generate force from different places. And that kid has always been a spiker, hasn't he? He rarely blocks. He probably doesn't really understand where the power in a block is supposed to come from."
Kawanishi and Tendo both turned toward Hibarida.
Tendo grinned.
"That's exactly it. Tsutomu Goshiki really is strong, but once he's blocking, he can't use all that strength effectively. After all, Tsutomu Goshiki isn't a dedicated blocker."
Kawanishi nodded thoughtfully.
That finally cleared up something he'd been wondering about.
Ryosuke had dug the ball up from behind Tsutomu Goshiki, sending it high into the air.
Tsutomu Goshiki immediately took two steps backward.
Then he charged forward, bending his knees slightly as the ball Ryosuke had saved arrived perfectly above him.
Seeing this, Doichiro jumped to block.
Nishio, who had been hovering near the net, saw Tsutomu Goshiki preparing to spike.
Worried that Doichiro wouldn't be able to handle him alone, Nishio rushed over to form a double block.
But whether Tsutomu Goshiki was simply too fast or Nishio was too slow, Nishio ultimately failed to make it in time.
Only Doichiro stood between Tsutomu Goshiki and the other side of the net.
And Tsutomu Goshiki hadn't forgotten the spike that had nearly blown his hand off earlier.
So this time, he didn't hold back in the slightest.
...
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