Haikyuu: Rise of Sengoku

Thud!

A blazing fast serve was barely touched by Watari Shinji's arm, but he couldn't control the angle, the volleyball flew straight back into the White Team's court.

Tooru Oikawa quickly organized a fast attack, bypassing Akashi Asuka. With Kindaichi and Sanashita both drained of energy, neither could catch up to Iwaizumi's spike.

The score was now 21–22.

As the second set neared its end, the Red Team was hitting a serious stamina crisis, and the score had flipped against them. This situation couldn't be worse for the Red Team.

What made things worse? The serve still belonged to Tooru Oikawa.

In Akashi Asuka's mind, that relentless, maddening background music seemed to replay once again.

Meanwhile, 

Oikawa's third serve came flying in.

He targeted Akira Kunimi. Against such a serve, Kunimi didn't stand a chance to react.

Although Kunimi was known for his energy-saving style, Akashi had already made it clear they intended to decide the match in this second set. So Kunimi had been pushing himself hard since the start of the set and was now running low on stamina.

Besides, even if Kunimi had some energy left, Oikawa's ultra-fast serves were notoriously difficult to receive.

Thud!

Kunimi barely managed to reach out and touch the ball, but he couldn't find a good receiving angle or properly absorb the impact. Unsurprisingly, the ball flew out of bounds.

21–23.

In an instant, the Red Team's lead was shattered by three consecutive serves.

Ryuhei Sanashita was all too familiar with this feeling, except that before, they'd been the ones serving.

Huff…

Feeling the momentum shift, Akashi Asuka, positioned at the front court, slowly exhaled. His once imposing aura quieted down, as if his morale had taken a hit.

Only Ryuhei Sanashita nearby sensed something bubbling under the surface inside Akashi.

"Is it happening again?" Sanashita thought to himself.

At that moment, Oikawa's fourth serve arrived, still blazing fast and again aimed at Kunimi. But this time, before Kunimi could even react, Watari Shinji's eyes flashed sharply as he lunged forward.

"I've been waiting for this."

At the crucial moment, Watari performed a spectacular save, perfectly anticipating the landing spot of Oikawa's serve.

Thud!

The ball was cleanly received high in the air.

Its height gave the Red Team ample time to organize, and also allowed the White Team to prepare their defense.

"Get ready, watch the ball, no quick attacks yet, just…"

Bang!

Before Iwaizumi finished speaking, a figure suddenly sprang up, smashing the ball down right off Watari's pass.

The volleyball flew like a cannonball, brushing past the Red Team's block by Matsukawa Issei, whipping up a gust of wind. Before anyone could react, the ball slammed onto the floor.

22–23.

Clack!

Akashi landed quietly, radiating a tightly controlled intensity. Without even glancing at the opponents, he turned and strode toward the backcourt's first position.

Seeing this, Sanashita immediately covered the back of his head and wisely stepped away.

At this moment, Kindaichi and Kunimi hadn't even completed their positional rotations.

Then, less than two seconds after the referee's whistle, an explosive sound erupted from behind. The sudden noise jolted Kunimi from his drowsiness, and before he could fully register what was happening, the volleyball had smashed onto the White Team's court.

Thud!

Everyone's breath caught in their throats.

Oikawa, who hadn't even left the game mentally after scoring those three consecutive points, narrowed his eyes and glanced back at the ball's landing spot. With a wry smile, he muttered,

"What a terrifying first-year… Do they just not get discouraged?"

Normally, any team that lost three points straight to Oikawa's serve would have their morale crushed.

But Akashi's spirit didn't falter, in fact, his serves grew even stronger.

He was practically a 'monster.'

"Discouraged? Of course he is. He's taking a serious hit!" Sanashita thought to himself, perhaps having heard Oikawa's whisper. "But our 'monster' just handles discouragement a little differently than others."

It was a strange phenomenon.

Sanashita only realized during the national Junior High tournament that Akashi responded this way when overwhelmed by an opponent's pressure.

Most players slump when morale is low.

Akashi's first reaction to being pushed down wasn't to fall, he wanted to strike back immediately.

That's right: strike back.

This response was almost childlike in spirit.

But Akashi's way of striking back wasn't childish at all, instead, it was mature.

When an opponent's momentum grew too strong, Akashi's immediate reaction was to unleash an even stronger force.

So after Oikawa's four consecutive powerful serves, Akashi's only thought was to hit an even faster, fiercer serve.

Bang!

Akashi leapt high behind the baseline, his taut muscles like a drawn bow, and swung fiercely at the ball.

With a boom, this serve sped up yet another notch.

The volleyball barreled straight at Yahaba Shigeru. Yaguchi looked stunned, barely reacting before the ball landed right in front of him.

But the ball had already hit the floor.

Thud!

24–23.

The Red Team was now on set point.

There were no timeouts in this rookie match, so riding the momentum, Akashi unleashed his third serve.

The third serve wasn't as powerful as the second, and had a slight flaw, but was still strong and fast. It headed straight for Oikawa, who managed to receive it, though the ball bounced more than ten meters high afterward.

"Yaguchi!"

Oikawa shouted.

Since he had just received the pass, he couldn't organize the offense as setter on the next play. But the Red Team had more than one setter anyway.

Yaguchi gave a subtle signal, and up front, Matsukawa Issei quickly moved, but all of this was a feint to cover for the ace, Iwaizumi.

The ball came flying over Iwaizumi's head, with Kindaichi and Kunimi rushing in to form a double block.

But fatigue still caused cracks in their defense.

"You still have a long way to go, first-year punk."

Bang!

With a roar, Iwaizumi swung hard. The ball shot like a meteor through the double block by Kindaichi and Kunimi, but no sound came from the ball hitting the floor.

Both Kindaichi and Kunimi landed and turned back, only to see the ball slowly rising into the air.

Without the ball to mask him, the figure in the backcourt gradually revealed himself.

It was Akashi Asuka.

"Sanashita, pass it to me."

Akashi's voice was low but carried unmistakable authority. Sanashita caught the ball without hesitation and executed a back-flying pass deep into the backcourt.

"Block him!"

Iwaizumi, Matsukawa, and Hanamaki quickly formed a triple block up front. Facing the triple block head-on, Akashi took a few steps, then soared high from the backcourt like a mighty eagle spreading its wings...

Bang!

The hit echoed like a cannon blast. The volleyball curved perfectly, evading the triple block, tracing an impeccable, massive diagonal across the court, and finally slammed hard into the outer edge of the White Team's backcourt.

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