"How did he get that up!?"
"Incredible!"
When Coach Irihata saw that Hank's serve had actually been received by the libero Nekoma had just sent onto the court, the expression on his face changed immediately. What exactly was Nekoma's coach thinking?!
He had actually kept a libero with this much talent on the bench!?
What exactly was he planning? Did he have some kind of strategy!?
As a coach, Irihata could tell at a glance that the Yaku who had just stepped onto the court had much more solid fundamentals than the libero who had been on earlier, and was better both at receiving and at controlling the ball.
"What just happened? He actually received Hank's serve that easily!?"
Kageyama and Hinata, sitting in the spectator seats, were also a little shocked. In their minds, Hank's serve was something extremely difficult to receive...
"I've got it!"
After Yaku steadily passed the ball up to Kenma in the front row, Kuroo and Yamamoto both moved at the same time, taking their approaches and jumping. After a feint, the ball ultimately ended up in Kuroo's hands.
As a middle blocker, his attack was clearly a quick attack!
A quick attack, as the name suggests, is a short-distance set between the setter and the middle blocker. Because the two of them are so close together, sometimes the setter has only just released the ball when the middle blocker has already spiked it. Since it happens so fast, it is hard to notice, so it is often used to organize the offense right after serve receive, before the serving side has time to fully transition into position.
Once it succeeds, it is very hard to pick up on.
Just as Kuroo swung his arm, Hank moved in an instant from the back row all the way to the front row and had already gotten into position to spike. His whole body was poised to burst forward!
"Down!"
Kuroo smashed the ball hard with his right hand. As the volleyball spun forward at terrifying speed, Kunimi and Kindaichi got their block on it, but they did not shut it down completely...
So in the end, the ball still dropped onto Aoba Johsai's side of the court.
Just as it was about to hit the floor, Aoba Johsai's libero from the back row threw himself forward in a diving save and popped the ball back up one-handed.
"Take it, Hank!"
Looking at the ball that had already dropped to his feet, Oikawa's features twisted slightly. He dropped to one knee and barely managed to bump the ball high into the air.
A set like that would have made it very difficult for most wing spikers to attack.
But for Hank, it had no effect at all. He and Oikawa had practiced this countless times. There was hardly any room for error between them.
Boom!
With Hank's arm whipping forward at blinding speed, he appeared above the net in an instant. Inuoka, who had been staring at Hank the whole time, had cold sweat bead on his forehead. He felt that trying to keep track of Hank put far too much pressure on him... the other guy's speed simply didn't feel human.
In the blink of an eye, he had practically teleported right in front of him, and his jump height far exceeded Inuoka's. A block had almost no effect on him at all!
But as long as he could interfere with him even a little... then his role had been fulfilled!
"You're not getting through!"
"How can anyone jump that high!?"
Inuoka jumped with all his strength, but neither his timing nor his height was enough. Hank did not even need to fully extend his arm to blast the ball through with ease. Along with a heavy, muffled impact, the spike that swayed left and right in the air once again crashed into Yaku's arms on the other side of the court.
A harsh receiving sound rang out, and Yaku's expression shifted slightly... He could feel that both of his arms had already gone numb.
If he had to keep receiving Hank's serves, then even his arms might end up fractured. The force behind Hank's spikes was simply too great. Because of the power he put into them, even the volleyball itself seemed to twist and warp left and right in midair.
That was monstrous strength!
"He got it up again!?"
Kunimi and Kindaichi's expressions changed at the same time. The two of them once again rushed to the net to block Nekoma's incoming spike, but this time they still failed to stop it, and the libero behind them successfully dug the ball up.
"Iwa-chan!"
The moment Oikawa sent the ball up again, he immediately fired a long set toward the middle of the court, and Iwaizumi, moving from the opposite side, understood at once and drove a spike straight down the line...
And just as expected, Yaku received that one too.
Seeing that, the spectators on the court could no longer stay seated. Discussion immediately broke out.
"Who exactly is Nekoma's libero who just came in!? He dug two straight Aoba Johsai attacks!"
"He definitely doesn't look like a substitute..."
"I wonder how Aoba Johsai is going to deal with this next!"
(End of Chapter)
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