"They actually dare to look down on us? We'll make them regret it!"
After Shimokawa Mitsuto finalized the tactical arrangent, Akashi Asuto, who was on the bench, didn't react much.
Instead, it was Omae Masato and the others who beca furious.
"Yeah, we know Asuto is strong, but isn't it a bit much for Shirakawa to focus entirely on defending him while ignoring the rest of us?"
"If we don't crush them now, how are we supposed to survive in the volleyball world after this?"
These were the thoughts running through the minds of the other Volleyball Club mbers at that mont.
This wave of strategy... was basically a reverse morale boost.
Even Shimokawa Mitsuto, the mastermind behind it all, hadn't expected things to develop this way.
Nevertheless, he had benefited greatly from the situation.
The player replacing Asuto on the court was a second-year outside hitter.
This was only a temporary tactic.
If the upcoming matches went smoothly, Mitsuto planned to gradually introduce promising underclassn such as Tomohiko Nishisoni to the court, one by one, to give them tournant experience.
After all, once Asuto's generation had graduated, they would form the core of the Volleyball Club's future.
The ti had co to start nurturing them.
After the second set began, when Shirakawa Junior High saw Sengoku Junior High School's lineup, the entire team froze on the spot.
After all, they had spent the entire break discussing how to deal with Asuto.
But now he wasn't even playing.
After the initial confusion ca anger.
'What on earth does this an?'
'Are you seriously swapping out your main player now?'
'Do you seriously look down on us that much?!'
As a result, the atmosphere between Sengoku Junior High and Shirakawa had already beco extrely tense before the second set had even properly begun.
······
anwhile, Asuto was sitting in the substitutes' area, yawning listlessly.
Suddenly, he seed to sense sothing.
He turned towards the spectator stands, and his gaze imdiately t Kageyama Tobio's.
The two exchanged a glance, and for a mont, it felt as though sparks were flying through the air.
"Let's go. There's nothing else worth watching here." Kageyama Tobio slung his bag over his shoulder and stood up suddenly.
"We're leaving already? The match isn't even over yet!"
Several mbers of Kitagawa Daiichi were montarily stunned and couldn't help asking.
To be honest, quite a few Kitagawa Daiichi mbers still had a deep impression of Asuto.
Although they had defeated Sengoku Junior High rather easily during the Prefectural Athletic et, what they had truly overwheld were Sengoku's other players... not Asuto himself.
"There's no need to stay. That guy won't be coming back onto the court."
Having said this, Kageyama Tobio ignored everyone else's reactions and walked straight out of the arena.
The remaining Kitagawa Daiichi mbers had no choice but to follow him.
anwhile, the match on the court continued.
Without Asuto's overwhelming presence to suppress them, Shirakawa gradually began to display their true strength.
The second-year substitute who had taken Asuto's place made several mistakes at the start of the match, as it was his first ti participating in a large-scale tournant. This caused Sengoku Junior High to temporarily fall behind.
However, with help from the others, the score was soon tied again.
Twenty-six minutes into the second set, the referee blew the final whistle:
The score was 25:22.
Thanks to continuous attacks from middle blockers Omae Masato and Kazama Jūjirō, Sengoku Junior High won the second set by three points, successfully advancing to the next round.
After the match ended...
As usual, Shimokawa Mitsuto drove the school bus and dropped everyone off at their hos one by one.
After returning ho, Asuto continued his training in silence.
After more than three weeks of practice, his Arm Strength attribute finally broke past 80.
An 80-point stat already represented the peak strength level achievable by an ordinary high school volleyball player on the system panel.
Anything beyond 80 belonged to the realm of genuinely talented high school players.
For example...
Among the future Karasuno players, Azumane Asahi's arm strength stat would probably be around 82–83 at its peak during his third year of high school.
However, this only considered his arm strength.
As his core strength was comparatively lacking, the destructive power of his spikes was nowhere near that of the true national-level powerhouses in high school volleyball.
Although Asuto's current arm strength still lags behind that of peak Azumane Asahi, once his core strength also surpasses 80, the combined effect of both stats will likely enable him to match the power of Azumane Asahi's spikes at their peak.
·····
Second Round of the Qualifiers:
Sengoku Junior High versus Midori High School.
Asuto did not play in this round either, as Midori High School was slightly weaker than Shirakawa.
Consequently, Shimokawa Mitsuto continuously rotated several first- and second-year substitutes onto the court during this match.
In the end... Sengoku Junior High won with narrow set scores of 25:21 and 25:23, successfully taking the round.
After two rounds of matches, there was a one-week break.
...
Third Round of the Qualifiers:
Sengoku Junior High encountered another Top 16 team from the Prefectural Athletic et, Seiten Junior School.
The scores of the first two sets were 25:22 and 23:25 respectively, leaving the overall score tied at 1:1.
Under those circumstances, Shimokawa Mitsuto finally chose to send Asuto onto the court in the third set.
However, Asuto didn't need to do much.
After consecutively blocking three spikes from the Ace Spiker of the opposing team, their morale suddenly collapsed, and they were quickly crushed by Sengoku Junior High.
Final score: 2:1.
Sengoku Junior High advanced smoothly to the fourth round.
······
Sunday.
Sengoku Junior High faced their fourth-round opponents in the qualifiers —
Shinkongji Private School.
This school was one of this year's seeded teams and had also been in the top four in last year's national qualifiers.
From the mont they stepped onto the court, every mber of the Sengoku Junior High team felt a surge of emotion.
It wasn't because Shinkongji Private School was overwhelmingly strong but because the situation felt far too familiar.
The sa advancent round.
The sa-seeded Top 4 opponent.
But this ti, they absolutely would not allow history to repeat itself.
Tweet!
The referee blew their whistle.
The opening serve ca from Sengoku Junior High's opposite hitter, Oda Miki.
After the ball successfully crossed the net and landed inbounds, Shinkongji Private quickly organized an attack.
As expected, the final attack was directed towards their ace spiker.
Much like Sengoku Junior High, Shinkongji Private was an ultra-offensive team built entirely around a single core player.
And that spearhead was the prefecture's top-tier ace spiker, the 186-centiter-tall Udagawa Tenkawa.
Udagawa Tenkawa leapt high into the air.
At the peak of his jump, his spike reach had already surpassed 330 centiters.
At that instant, Sengoku Junior High's two blockers, Omae Masato and Kazama Jujirō, saw the Asuto of several months ago.
Bang!
The volleyball naturally blasted past the double block, but the next second, the Shinkongji Private players failed to hear the ball hit the floor.
Kurata Mao had received the spike.
During the training camp period, Kurata Mao had received far too many of Asuto's spikes.
So now, when faced with a spike eerily similar to Asuto's, his body reacted almost instinctively.
The volleyball flew back into the air.
Seeing this while still suspended midair and unable to land yet, Udagawa Tenkawa's expression instantly changed.
At the sa mont, Mishita Ryuhei rapidly adjusted his footing and lightly flicked the ball upward with his fingertips, setting it high above Asuto.
And then… the players of Shinkongji Private witnessed a gigantic shadow leap even higher than their own Ace, abruptly blotting out the gymnasium lights overhead…
(End of Chapter)
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