Boom!
The heavy spike cut through Korai Hoshiumi's block like a laser, tracing a sharp diagonal line landing just inside the three-meter line on Kamomedai's backcourt floor.
The force threw Hoshiumi off balance, and after stumbling a few steps, he plopped down hard onto the floor.
"Damn it! Doesn't this guy have any weaknesses?"
Having been blasted through by Akashi Asuka, Hoshiumi hadn't yet reacted, but in the backcourt, libero Kanbayashi Keiichiro slammed his fist down, shouting angrily.
So far in the match, Akashi had showcased at least seven different spike techniques, straight shots, diagonals both wide and tight, bounce attacks, and more, with flawless precision.
For a libero, just predicting where Akashi would spike next was a nearly impossible task.
On top of that, Akashi's raw power was immense. Across over three sets, Kanbayashi had barely touched Akashi's spikes fewer than ten times.
Not to mention the difficulty of receiving them.
Aikichi Suwa glanced at the nearby scoreboard: 7–5.
Without Gao Hakuba, a key core player, even though Kamomedai was fighting with everything they had in the fourth set, they were only just barely keeping pace with Aoba Johsai, and they were fast reaching their limits.
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The match was deep into the fourth set.
Even a physical powerhouse like Akashi was starting to breathe heavily and rapidly.
Kamomedai, dragged into a relentless fast-paced battle by Oikawa's calculated strategy, was feeling it even more.
As setter, Aikichi Suwa should be the team's brain and soul, the key to organizing offense and defense.
But since the fourth set began, Suwa hadn't made a single good decision, not for lack of trying, but because the extreme physical toll made thinking agonizingly difficult. His mind was nearly blank.
Huff, huff...
His vision blurred, yet Suwa forced himself to keep his eyes wide open, focusing all his attention on Aoba Johsai's next serve.
Since the third set, Aoba Johsai had drastically shortened the intervals between serves and sped up the pace, deliberately.
"Whistle!"
The referee's whistle sounded just as Aoba Johsai's backcourt player immediately served. With almost no time to prepare, the quality suffered, but the speed was lightning fast.
"Damn Aoba Johsai..."
Panting, Kanbayashi forced himself forward and lunged to receive the ball.
The volleyball flew toward Suwa's position. Watching the ball blur through the air, Suwa raced his mind, trying to decide who to set up for the attack.
"Hoshiumi would be best, but he's locked in defense against Akashi now. Passing to him here is too risky. The safest route is to avoid Akashi and launch the attack from the right wing..."
After a moment's thought, Suwa resolutely set the ball above Hoshiumi.
"Huh?"
"What?"
Both Akashi and Hoshiumi were momentarily stunned by the unexpected set.
Akashi thought: I'm marking Hoshiumi now, and you pass the ball to him? Are you looking down on me?
Both players jumped as the ball fell through the air.
In midair, Hoshiumi caught the ball but didn't immediately spike. Instead, he hovered for a moment, using his incredible hang time, both to throw off the blockers' timing and to search for more weaknesses in the defense.
That was his usual tactic.
But this time, as Hoshiumi hovered, he noticed Akashi also hanging in the air.
And as Hoshiumi scanned for defensive gaps, Akashi's eyes fixed on Hoshiumi's body weight and posture, trying to read his next move.
Time seemed to stretch, then snap.
Bang!
Hoshiumi swung hard and spiked.
The ball sliced a diagonal line through the air, aiming to evade Akashi's block.
But before it could clear the net, Akashi suddenly shifted his hands and positioned them right in the ball's path.
"Caught it?"
A few sharp-eyed spectators outside the court felt a stir.
But just then, Hoshiumi's spike unexpectedly changed course. A gentle spin brushed Akashi's arms, attempting to slip past the block and fly out of bounds.
Blocked ball out of bounds.
Hoshiumi grinned. This was the attack he had really planned.
Just as the spinning ball was about to glance off Akashi's arms and drift outside, Akashi suddenly slammed his wrist down, causing the ball to rebound sharply back onto Kamomedai's court floor.
Thud!
Hoshiumi's expression froze.
8–5.
Aoba Johsai widened their lead again.
"Whistle!"
The sharp, prolonged whistle signaled the first technical timeout in the fourth set.
At that moment, Suwa finally snapped out of it, looking down at his hands as if realizing what a foolish mistake he'd just made. His face was drained of color.
"Why... why did I do that?"
Smack!
A heavy hand landed hard on Suwa's back, the sharp pain bringing him fully back to reality.
Looking up, he saw it was Hoshiumi.
"Come on. Let's take a break and discuss the strategy for the next set. That was just a mistake. If you want to blame yourself, wait until after the match."
Suwa steadied himself, pushing down his guilt and frustration deep inside.
Hoshiumi was right.
This was no time for regrets. Whether remorse or self-punishment, that would have to wait until after the match.
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On the other side of the court,
Oikawa, who was also about to take a break, glanced at Suwa and sighed:
"This really is a top national school. Their players' mindset and willpower are far stronger than ours."
As a setter himself, Oikawa clearly recognized Suwa's error.
To be honest, if the mistake had been his, Oikawa wasn't sure he could have stayed so composed in such a critical moment.