Haikyuu: Rise of Sengoku

"By the way, have you guys ever looked into Sengoku Junior High before?"

In the white team's court, middle blocker Matsukawa Issei suddenly remembered something and couldn't help but ask.

At once, everyone else froze.

"Now that you mention it, I don't think I've really studied them carefully. When I first heard the name Sengoku Junior High, the preliminaries were already over. I only found out from the Volleyball Monthly about how they were the 'dark horse' of this year's national prelims."

"I saw a couple of matches in the Junior High prelims myself, but I didn't catch Sengoku playing. Maybe they'd already finished by then. What about you, Iwaizumi?" asked Oikawa, scratching his chin and turning to Hajime Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi shook his head. "Same here, I learned about them through Volleyball Monthly. But I think the coach and staff might know more about Sengoku. Our school even tried to invite their 'ace' player once, but apparently, he declined."

"I thought after turning us down, he'd join Shiratorizawa, so I didn't bother looking into it further."

Yahaba Shigeru blinked. "Declined? Then why is he here at Aoba Johsai now?"

"Who knows."

"No way! They're the reigning Junior High champions after all. Even you, Oikawa, never won a championship. Yet now that there are so many of us here, we barely know anything about them?"

Oikawa suddenly felt stabbed in the heart. "Hey, Hanamaki, you don't need to remind everyone that I've never won a championship."

Coincidentally, Sengoku's fame as a 'dark horse' only really took off after defeating Kitagawa. Before that, they were strong but hadn't caused much of an upset.

As high schoolers, the Aoba Johsai players followed the Junior High scene somewhat, but their main focus was clearly on high school tournaments.

The only one more interested in Junior High was Oikawa, who was more focused on Tobio Kageyama from Kitagawa

All these factors combined meant that while the Aoba Johsai players knew Sengoku Junior High was the county champion from Volleyball Monthly, they had no concrete idea about the actual abilities of Akashi Asuka and Ryuhei Sanashita.

Aoba Johsai's coach and manager had done some research trying to recruit Akashi, but...

"What do we do then? Should we pause and ask the coach?"

"Don't be ridiculous. The coach isn't going to give us advice now, it wouldn't be fair to the freshmen." Iwaizumi refused. "Besides, we don't know them, and they don't know us either."

"We're facing them for the first time. As third-years, why should we be afraid of a few first-year rookies? If word gets out, it'd be a disgrace to the Aoba Johsai volleyball team."

Iwaizumi's tone grew sterner by the end.

Oikawa grinned, "So cool, Iwaizumi."

After the motivational talk, the few third-year players who were stuck in their own heads suddenly saw clearly. Their hesitation vanished, replaced by the pride and confidence befitting seniors.

And with their minds set, the entire team's momentum shifted.

"Come on, first-year rookies! Let us show you the real power of the third-year seniors."

…

Meanwhile...

"What's with the other side? The atmosphere feels different now!"

Yūtarō Kindaichi noticed the change in the white team's momentum and felt a chill run down his spine.

"Not sure, but we definitely need to be more careful from here on out." Watari Shinji's expression grew serious.

At that moment, instead of bracing for defense, Ryuhei Sanashita covered the back of his head and moved away from the center of the court.

"Sanashita, what are you doing?" Kindaichi asked, confused.

"Nothing. Safety first." Sanashita didn't explain further. Some things are hard to put into words. He looked toward the white team and murmured, "Wow! What incredible momentum! But it's a shame that for a true 'monster,' momentum doesn't matter at all. Our 'monster' isn't good at rallying teammates, but when it comes to breaking down opponents... I haven't met anyone worse than him."

As if in response to Sanashita's whisper, Akashi Asuka, stationed outside the back line of the number one position, took a deep breath and slowly tossed the volleyball into the air.

"Jump serve?"

The white team was momentarily stunned by Akashi's action.

Next second, 

BAM!

A thunderous strike echoed from above. The white team saw only a blur as the ball plunged straight toward their side of the court.

"Damn first-year rookie! Don't underestimate the seniors' strength!"

At the critical moment, Iwaizumi slid sideways and managed to receive Akashi's serve. But before anyone could celebrate, an enormous force radiated from the ball. The impact was so fierce, he couldn't absorb it properly.

Pop!

The ball bounced high and flew far out, crashing loudly against the second-floor railing.

Silence fell once again.

This time, not only the white team but even Kindaichi, Kunimi, and Watari, all on the red team, were stunned into place.

After a long pause, Kunimi muttered, "What a 'monster'... even high schoolers can't receive his serves?"

Sanashita was also surprised internally. "As expected from a high schooler, he managed to touch Akashi's serve on the first try. That's terrifying."

Kindaichi said, "S-Scary... If that ball had hit the back of my head just now... No wonder when we played Sengoku, those guys covered their heads. From a teammate's perspective, his serve looks even more terrifying."

The three first-years who had at least some experience receiving Akashi's serves all had different thoughts.

Meanwhile, the Aoba Johsai seniors, seeing Akashi's serve for the first time, were completely dumbfounded.

"Y-you... you can jump serve?"

Watari looked at Akashi in shock, trembling with excitement or nerves.

"I already knew how in Junior High! Watari senpai, didn't you know?" Akashi asked, puzzled.

He truly was puzzled, not boasting, but as the national prelim champion in Junior High, he expected some recognition even here in high school.

Watari was embarrassed. "Uh... I only knew you were the 'ace' of the champion team. Volleyball Monthly didn't really cover other details."

"But still, even for a champion, your jump serve power is insane!"

Akashi shrugged. "Is it? It was okay... Actually, that last serve felt off. I'll try an even better one next time."

Watari was speechless.

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