"So that's how it is!" Ukai Keishin nearly jumped to his feet, uo hide his excitement.

  Even after such a long and grueling tug-of-war, with blockers fog entirely on Hinata Shōyō, it shouldn't have been so easy for Tanaka Ryūnosuke to score.

  No wonder Aoba Johsai has been able to sistently defend against Hinata and Kageyama's 'new freak quick.'

  On the surface, it seemed like Kaedehara Taichi alone was defending against Hinata. Iy, Taichi was merely restrig Hinata's shot trajectory, iionally leaving space for him to spike—space where their libero was waiting to receive.

  So that's what they're up to. Sneaky Aoba Johsai.

  Ukai shot a g Aoba Johsai's coach, Irihata Nobuteru. The older, the wiser, huh?

  Smack!

  Hinata leapt up and high-fived Kageyama Tobio. Although it wasn't his point, a strahrill surged through him.

  Kageyama noticed Hinata's exhirated expression and smirked.

  "Are you starting to enjoy it, 'Ultimate Decoy'?"

  Karasuno's turn to serve. Kageyama stepped onto the service line.

  "Looks like Kageyama's pretty happy," Sawamura Daichi said to Azumane Asahi with a smile.

  "Yeah, he seems pletely rexed now."

  "After sitting on the bench for so long, he finally got another ce to be on the court. That pride—every pyer feels it the same way."

  "Let's go! A killer serve!" Hinata yelled, clutg his head dramatically.

  "Score this one!"

  "Bring it on!" Aoba Johsai's pyers braced themselves, ready.

  Kageyama took a deep breath, eling all his focus into the serve. He closed his eyes, listening to everything around him—the r background he cheers of his teammates, the shouts of his oppos.

  All of it became crystal clear. His heart was calm, entirely focused on the ball in his hands.

  Kageyama's eyes snapped open. He locked onto the target, tossed the ball, and after a quick approach, leapt into the air. His right arm swung with a fluid, powerful motion, all his strength verging in that single moment.

  Smack!

  The volleyball shot out of his hand like an arrow loosed from a bow, slig through the air with precision and force, straight through the gaps in Aoba Johsai's formation.

  "Watari!"

  Smack!

  Watari Shinji mao receive the ball, but the sheer power of the serve sent it ricocheting out of trol. This power...It's nearly as strong as Oikawa-senpai's usual serves...

  "!!!" Hinata gawked.

  "Nice serve!" Tanaka cheered.

  A service ace!! And against Aoba Johsai's libero, no less!

  Karasuno scored secutively.

  [Aoba Johsai 17 – 9 Karasuno]

  "I'm really sorry!" Watari boologetically.

  "Don't worry about it!" Iwaizumi Hajime quickly reassured him.

  Tanaka raised both arms and approached Kageyama.

  "Yeah—!!"

  Kageyama: "...?"

  "It's a high-five, you idiot!" Hinata piped up from the side. Seriously, wasn't their high-five earlier pletely natural?

  "Yeah—!!" Kageyama finally high-fived Tanaka, their hands spping together in triumph.

  "Let's go again!"

  "You guys know you're still trailing by 8 points, right?" A calm but mog voice rang out. Across the , Kaedehara Taichi stood quietly, his tone sardonic. "If someone didn't know better, they'd think you just won the first set."

  ...

  The Karasuno pyers collectively turheir attention toward Taichi. This guy...This guy is...so irritating!

  "Alright, Taichi's right," Oikawa Tōru said nontly, spreading his hands. "There's o rush. They're still far behind. Let's just take the point."

  "Yes!" Aoba Johsai responded in unison.

  Iwaizumi shot Oikawa and Taichi a ghese two...even as teammates, their expressions and antics are annoying.

  Kageyama's sed serve began.

  Iwaizumi received the ball, and Oikawa set it straight to Kaedehara Taichi in the middle. Hinata reacted immediately, stepping up to block.

  "Aip shot?!"

  Kaedehara Taichi gently tipped the ball over the block, but Nishinoya Yū dove and saved it just in time.

  "Cover it!"

  Kageyama sent a high set, and Azumane spiked the ball back toward Aoba Johsai.Watari received it ly.

  "Again!"

  Kaedehara Taichi leapt up for atack. This time, Hinata ran and jumped even higher to block, while Nishinoya instinctively stepped forward to guard against a tip.

  Smack!

  "Blocked? No!"

  The volleyball struck the side of Hinata's hand, defleg out of bounds. Nishinoya scrambled backwards, but it was too te.

  Kaedehara Taichi scores.

  [Aoba Johsai 18 – 9 Karasuno]

  "Tweet!" Karasuno called for a timeout.

  Kageyama had only just returo the court, and their momentum seemed strong. Calling a timeout now risked breaking their rhythm. However, after Kaedehara's point, Aoba Johsai's rotation pced Oikawa Tōru ba the service line.

  If Oikawa served and scored, the gap would widen to double digits. At this point, they'd have to practically cede the first set.

  But g a set without resistand losing after deciphering the oppo's strategy were two very different outes.

  They had to find a way to crack Aoba Johsai's offen the remainder of the first set.

  Karasuno's pyers huddled around Coach Ukai.

  "Right now, the biggest threats are Oikawa Tōru's serves and Kaedehara Taichi's spikes. Iime we have left, we must overe these two challenges."

  "Aoba Johsai may look superiht now, but if we solve these problems, we fight back!"

  "Yes!" Karasuno responded in unison.

  "So, I have an idea," Tsukishima Kei suddenly spoke up.

  "Hm?" Ukai Keishin and the rest of the team turheir eyes toward him.

  Up to this point, Karasuno had been pletely helpless against Kaedehara Taichi's spikes. The only one who could keep up with his quick attacks was Hinata Shōyō, but Taichi could easily switch to tipping the ball or targeting the blockers' hands for an out-of-bounds defle.

  With Oikawa Tōru's precise sets as a foundation, Taichi had been reading Karasuno's defence perfectly, switg his arsenal of moves effortlessly and toying with their blockers.

  "Let's give up blog," Tsukishima's first sentence was shog.

  "Blog that 't stop the oppo's spike only ends up interfering with the view of our receivers. Sihe oppo excels at using the blockers to deflect the ball out of bounds, we'll stop blog entirely a Nishinoya-senpai handle his spikes one-on-one."

  Everyouro Nishinoya Yū. The idea was feasible, but it seemed like a lot of pressure to p him.

  "I'm fih it!" Nishinoya pounded his chest with fidence.

  "But what about the quick attacks?" Sawamura Daichi pointed out another issue. If Karasuno only had to deal with oype of attack, things wouldn't have been this difficult to begin with.

  "I'm guessing Kaedehara Taichi's quick attacks are the same as Hinata's. They're incredibly fast, but once he's airborne, he 't really ge the dire of his spike. At most, he switch to a tip shot."

  "So let Hinata perform a soft block to disrupt his direct spike. If he avoids it, Nishinoya-senpai should be able to hahe ball."

  "Leave it to me!" Even with another yer of responsibility, Nishinoya showed no fear.

  Ukai watched Tsukishima, impressed by his ability to keep thinking critically even in such a tough situation.

  "Alright, let's try Tsukishima's method for Kaedehara Taichi's spikes," Ukai cpped his hands to gather everyone's attention. " up is Oikawa's serve, and I pn to rely on a small elite group to ha."

  "Until now, we've been using a four-person serve receive formation to widen our defensive ce. But against Oikawa's serves, it's not enough to merely touch the ball—we o receive it ly."

  "When fag serves as fast as his, even a moment's hesitation be fatal. So, I'm going to have Nishinoya and Sawamura focus solely on receiving the serves. If it's you two…"

  "Leave it to us!" Nishinoya and Sawamura Daichi spoke in unison.

  "So cool!" Hinata Shōyō looked at Nishinoya with starry eyes, clearly awestruck.

  "Idiot. What are you daydreaming about?" Kageyama Tobio shot Hinata a gnce.

  "We're both shuys, but Nishinoya-senpai carries so much responsibility. I want to—"

  "Just focus oing strohe team's offence relies on yht now, doesn't it?" Kageyama stated calmly.

  "Right!" Hinata nodded determinedly.

  ------

  The timeout ended, and the match resumed.

  Oikawa Tōru stepped onto the service line. Gng at Karasuno's formation, he couldn't help but smirk. "The captain and libero, huh? You must be pretty fident in your receiving skills."

  Boom!

  With a deafening sound, the volleyball rocketed between Nishinoya and Sawamura.

  "I got it!" Nishinoya yelled, quickly shifting into position and diving.

  Smack!

  He made the receive, but the ball ricocheted back toward Aoba Johsai's court. Kaedehara Taichi was already airborne, and with a powerful swing, he sent the ball straight back.

  They received it, but it wasn't enough.

  Aoba Johsai scored another point.

  [Aoba Johsai 19 – 9 Karasuno]

  The point gap had stretched to double digits, but Karasuno's goal in this first set had shifted. Now, they were actively looking forward to Oikawa's serves and Kaedehara Taichi's spikes.

  "How annoying," Oikawa muttered under his breath. Why won't they just break already?

  Oikawa's sed serve flew straight toward Sawamura Daichi.

  Smack!

  "Nice receive, Daichi-senpai!"

  The ball soared high, and Karasuno's front line prepared to attack.

  Boom!

  Tanaka Ryūnosuke spiked the ball, sg a point.

  [Aoba Johsai 19 – 10 Karasuno]

  "OHHHHH!"

  "YESSSSS!"

  "Tot bad….for a captain," Oikawa mumbled grudgingly.

  From the sidelines, Coach Takeda shot up iement. "Did we just break through the first wall?!"

  "It's just one point," Ukai exhaled, though relief was evident in his tone. "But it's a start. We're seeing some hope now."

  "Let's go!"

  Karasuno's energy surged.

  On Karasuno's serve, Tanaka surprisingly sent the ball between Iwaizumi and Oikawa.

  "I got it!" Iwaizumi shouted, but the receive disrupted Aoba Johsai's rhythm.

  No quick attack. Karasuno immediately read the situation.

  Oikawa hesitated slightly before setting the ball to the right.

  Kaedehara Taichi leapt for the spike.

  No blockers?

  Kaedehara Taichi aimed for a direct shot, but Nishinoya lunged forward and made the receive.

  "Got it!"

  As expected, Taichi's general spiking ability wasn't as threatening when isoted from his aerial tactics.

  Kageyama set the ball to the right, where Azumane Asahi charged in from the back. He leapt with all his might.

  "Triple block!" Kunimi Akira, Hanamaki Takahiro, and Kaedehara Taichi formed a wall in front of Asahi.

  Boom!

  Asahi's spike struck Kaedehara Taichi's arm with such force that it knocked his hand away. The ball bsted through the blod smmed into Aoba Johsai's court.

  Asahi's spike scored!

  [Aoba Johsai 19 – 11 Karasuno]

  Was it a ce? Or had Karasuno found a way to haaichi?

  For the first time, Oikawa's expression faltered. He g Kaedehara Taichi, but Taichi's face remained calm.

  Taioticed Oikawa's gaze and gave him a slight nod. "Let's try it again. I want to firm something."

  "Alright."

  Tanaka Ryūnosuke served the sed ball, and Watari Shinji received it effortlessly.

  At that moment, Oikawa Tōru and Kaedehara Taichi sprang into a simultaneously. In the instant, Kaedehara Taichi spiked the ball from the right side.

  "Oouch"

  As expected, Hinata Shōyō had already caught up. The ball sailed toward Karasuno's backcourt, where Nishinoya Yū saved it with ease.

  Kageyama Tobio set the ball once again to the right side, and Asahi Azuma up for the spike.

  "Triple block!"

  Aoba Johsai's three front-row pyers rose together to block.

  Kaedehara Taichi gritted his teeth, standing resolutely in front of Asahi Azumane.

  Thud!

  "Oouch!"

  A jolt of pain shot through Taichi's arms as he felt a dull numbness spreading. Blog two secutive powerful spikes from Asahi was starting to feel personal.

  Iwaizumi Hajime dove to save the ball, and Oikawa quickly set it to the middle.

  Hanamaki Takahiro spiked the ball against Tanaka Ryūnosuke's hands, sending it ricocheting out of bounds.

  Aoba Johsai shifted the momentum ba their favour.

  [Aoba Johsai 20 - 11 Karasuno]

  Although Aoba Johsai had won another point, Taichi realized something crucial—Karasuno had found a way to ter him.

  However, it just so happehat Kaedehara Taichi rotated to the back row, while Kyōtaarō moved to the front.

  "Tweet!"

  Aoba Johsai called their first timeout of the set.

  Even with a fortable lead, coach Irihata khat any issue on the court o be addressed immediately. After all, a pyer's dition during the match was the key to victory.

  "Taichi…"

  The team gathered around Kaedehara Taichi (with the exception of the "Mad Dog," Kyōtani).

  They had seen Karasuno's strategy tet Taichi and were worried that secutive blocks might have shaken him. But for a moment, no one knew how to break the silence.

  "I'm fine," Kaedehara Taichi said nontly, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. "Karasuno's libero is really something, huh? He truly deserves to be called their Guardiay."

  The team tio silently stare at Taichi.

  "I said I'm fi's normal to get blocked sometimes. It's not like I'm arrogant enough to think I score every time without fail. I'm not that amazing," Taichi said with an easy smile, his expression sincere and unshaken.

  "No, you're pretty amazing."

  Iwaizumi Hajime gave Taichi a reassuring pat on the shoulder, though he left the sed half of his thought unspoken.

  Before coach Irihata could say anything, he realized there was nothi for him to resolve. This was enough—Kaedehara Taichi, their first-year ace, was Aoba Johsai's hope for winning the championship.

  "Alright, let's take this game steadily."

  Coach Irihata, as always, was posed.

  "Yes, sir!"

  Aoba Johsai's pyers prepared to return to the court. The third-years led the way.

  "Don't stress too much, rookies. Just watch how we py," they called out fidently to the younger pyers.

  _________

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