Standing on this court is like being in a cage in the depths of the deep sea.
Suffocation, despair.
To be honest, it would be impossible not to feel jealous.
But.. there's no point in that either.
He didn't expect to be one of the twenty-odd people to stand out from the countless volleyball enthusiasts, so.. this was enough.
Wakamura never denied that he was a selfish person.
He has fought until now for himself, to prove something, or perhaps to fight against something.
But so what if he's selfish? At the very least, he is standing here at this moment to lead his team to victory.
In recent years, matches between Municipal Kobe and Inarizaki have mostly ended 2-0 or 3-0; he didn't actually expect to be able to defeat Inarizaki, who had already won the national championship.
It was just.. that he wanted to win a single set, to prove that they could do it.
His mind raced, but what finally came out of his mouth was, "It's nothing, nothing. It's just a matter of coming back from two sets down."
Matou didn't even know what to say anymore: "You've got quite the imagination."
Before Wakamura could even start getting exasperated, Matou's next words had already reached him: "However, I was thinking the same thing."
During the break while switching courts, Nagumo, in the stands, put down the paper tube in his hands and swapped positions with another Second String official to go take a rest.
The other person asked with a hint of curiosity, "Kanata, I remember you and the captain of Municipal Kobe used to be friends?"
Nagumo drank some water to soothe his throat, which was nearly hoarse from shouting. "Yeah, we're best friends."
Taking a glance at the court, the opponent said in shock, "Really? I've actually been to a volleyball clinic with him before, but I always felt like he had a bad temper."
Nagumo gave a helpless smile. "Atsumu is actually a very sensitive person, but he isn't a bad person, he's just.."
"What?" another person pressed.
Nagumo shook his head and gave a faint smile. "It's nothing."
That person just had a bit of an inferiority complex that even he himself wasn't aware of, so seeing Wakamura, who was currently on the court and not losing any ground even against Miya Atsumu, Nagumo was happy from the bottom of his heart.
In a place where no one else could see, Nagumo Kanata let out a soft sigh.
Today was the last time he would watch an Inarizaki High School match; once he returned, he would leave the volleyball club for good to devote himself to his exam preparations.
Perhaps one day in the future..
They will probably be grateful to their current selves for fighting with everything they have.
The sound of paper tubes clashing rang out again, Nagumo turned his attention back to the court.
Go, go! Inarizaki is the strongest!
Hinata tugged at Rishia Heisuke's clothes: "Heisuke, Heisuke, Nagumo-senpai is cheering for us."
Rishia nodded. "I saw him."
Even though we failed our literature exam, I think Nagumo-senpai definitely wants to see us win the championship more than anything," Hinata said seriously. "Let's go find him with our medals once this is over.
Rishia Heisuke remained silent.
No, he felt that Nagumo-senpai had no doubts about Inarizaki winning the championship.
—Nagumo-senpai must surely be hoping to hear that Hinata passed his exams.
Chapter 140: The One Hundred and Fortieth Fox
Unlike the first two sets, Municipal Kobe changed their rotation in the third set as if out of spite, swapping the positions of the two Middle Blockers.
Ginjima was a bit bewildered: "What is Municipal Kobe trying to do?"
Originally, Hinata or Aran were not perfectly matched up against their blockers, so even if they changed positions, there wouldn't be any additional reinforcement in defense.
Miya Atsumu only glanced at Matou, who was currently in the front row, immediately guessed the opponent's intention: "They want Matou to provide support for the Ace."
Previously, Tosaka was by Kanzaki's side, but it was obvious that Tosaka was being played by them; whether it was offense or defense, he basically needed Kanzaki to divide a significant portion of his attention to cooperate.
In front of the screen, Coach Irihatsu said, "Actually, if they want to play with an Opposite as the core, Municipal Kobe is lacking a Spiker who can handle receiving issues for the Ace."
Their Libero and Ace are actually both excellent, but the two second-year Spikers lack quality; they clearly haven't been trained yet.
Amatori searched through his own mind for a moment: "Ah, someone like Ohira.."
"That's right." Ushijima nodded.
After affirming Goshiki Tsutomu's thoughts, Ushijima looked at him very seriously: "But currently, we don't have any suitable candidates among the second years, so you must never let your guard down with your first receive either."
Goshiki Tsutomu nodded: "Understood, I will definitely become an Ace even better than Ushijima-senpai!"
I'll be stronger than Ushijima-senpai in both offense and defense!
Ushijima blinked, after a flash of a Kiryu with Goshiki's face crossed his mind, he said calmly, "Good luck."
How bold," Tendo said, handing out the little oranges he had just gotten from the cafeteria chef, one to each person, "be careful not to let the others hear you.
After carefully observing Ushijima's expression, Goshiki Tsutomu said, "Wouldn't it be better if Tendo-senpai sat here?"
Tendo wagged a finger again. "No, no, no, I'll be leaving in a bit."
Goshiki Tsutomu looked like he wanted to say something, but hesitated.
—But you've been hovering around here for almost the entire match, Senpai!
On the screen, Miya Atsumu was already prepared to serve.
For Inarizaki's opponents, the most dangerous moment of an entire set is when Inarizaki wins the toss and Miya Atsumu serves.
An absolutely dominant service turn, combined with three full rotations of front-row three-point attacks—if the defense is out of sync, it will be easy for Inarizaki to build up a point gap that cannot be closed for the entire set.
Especially Inarizaki, who is also very good at defending their lead.
Shiratorizawa was still fine, but some schools that lacked absolute powerhouse spikers had practically lost any chance of a counterattack at that very moment.
"As long as they don't let Miya Atsumu score consecutive points during the opening, they still have a chance," Iizuna said, rubbing his chin.
Amatori's head throbbed: "It's too hard."
If even Komori and Sakusa couldn't suppress Miya Atsumu's service turn, how could Municipal Kobe possibly suppress him?
Hearing the referee's whistle, Amatori felt his scalp tingle: "Is he going to use a burst of cosmic energy?"
The next second, Miya Atsumu had already tossed the ball up.
With a heavy thud, the volleyball flew out with intense spin, arcing through the air before striking precisely at Hanae's side.
Amatori gasped.
As a member of the Itachiyama receive formation, he certainly knew how difficult it was to receive a heavy, spinning ball like that.
This Municipal Kobe First Libero probably also..
In the center of the camera shot, Hanae stepped forward, raising his arm and using his right palm as the primary point of contact to meet the ball.
Immediately after, the volleyball flew steadily, landing in front of the front row attack line.
What a receive!!
Amatori, who had brought a stool to sit beside Iizuna, suddenly stood up so abruptly that he even knocked over his own stool: "Holy crap, is his small universe really exploding?!"
Hearing the sound of the stool falling, Iizuna felt a twitch in his temple: "You.. calm down, you're not the one playing the match."
Amatori pointed at the computer screen, speaking incoherently: "No, did you see that? That little brat just received a banana serve!"
Before I could even respond to Iizuna, he had already turned his head to look at Agatsuma: "You.."
Before he could say a single word, he saw Agatsuma's workbook.
A massive question mark appeared above Amatori's head, something even more shocking than the exciting scenes on the court appeared before his eyes.
Amatori felt like he was on the verge of a breakdown: "No, it's been almost two hours, you've only written one problem?!"
Agatsuma looked at Amatori's tablet, then at his own workbook, finally replied with a single word: "Mm."
Amatori stopped watching the livestream: "What do you mean, 'mm'! There are only a few weeks left until final exams, how are you going to pass! If you fail, you'll have to stay for remedial classes!"
Hearing the commotion coming from behind him, Iizuna sighed deeply.
Help, someone save him..
Komori and Sakusa, who were far away in another school building, expressed that they were unable to help.
Koldorf stood behind the two of them, watching the quick attack dispatched by Municipal Kobe, his eyes lighting up: "Oh, this back quick cover, the distance is so close, the angle is quite extreme."
Even if he were to block, he wouldn't be able to react any faster than Ginjima and the others.
Wakamura-senpai is as impressive as expected; his precise coordination on this Quick Attack is not much different from Iizuna-senpai's.
Watching Aran step back to receive the ball, Komori felt a bit of regret: "Ah, he received it."
Inamura also felt a bit of regret: "Wouldn't it have been better to avoid Inarizaki's Position 5 and hit a short diagonal here?"
That one ball interrupting Miya Atsumu's service turn was truly exhilarating.
Sakusa sat by the window, quietly watching the live stream on the screen.
But it's okay, there's still..
Again!
Hanae shouted loudly.
The Libero's voice is always the strongest pillar supporting the team; as long as he does not back down, the others have even less reason to retreat.
Hinata quickly rushed to Position 3 to prepare for a high ball, but Matou's follow-up speed was also incredibly fast.
Having anticipated it, Hinata hesitated for a moment as he prepared to jump, then Miya Atsumu's ball hung in the air long enough, providing a perfect opportunity to trick the opposing blockers into jumping early.
Matou also realized something was wrong the moment he saw Hinata didn't jump; it wasn't a complete difference in timing, but rather a simple attempt to trick him into jumping.
And the purpose of doing this..
It was to use the block.
The most important information was extracted from Inarizaki's past match footage; Matou pulled back his hand and clenched his fist almost the moment he reacted.