Haikyuu: Rise of Sengoku

The match was over.

The white team players stood there, stunned, watching the volleyball roll to a stop behind them.

Though they'd expected they might lose, seeing it actually happen still hit hard. As third-year veterans, they found it hard to accept.

On the red team's side, the members were also momentarily frozen.

"We actually won...?" Kindaichi couldn't believe it. Having trained under Tooru Oikawa, the former ace of Kitagawa, he knew exactly how strong his senior was. Yet now, here he was, having personally defeated him.

"How strong is this guy, really?" Kindaichi glanced at Akashi Asuka, who was looking over at Hajime Iwaizumi instead.

Iwaizumi had lost the fiery passion he'd started with and seemed quieter now.

In the original story, Ushijima Wakatoshi's comment about Oikawa was spot on: "Barren soil can't grow bountiful fruit."

The setter is the brain of the team, but the real punching power comes from the outside hitter.

If that punch is weak, no matter how good the brain's control is, it's all for nothing.

A true ace proves their worth by scoring when it counts.

Unfortunately, Iwaizumi's punch wasn't strong enough.

It wasn't for lack of effort or willpower, he simply lacked the natural talent.

Harsh, but realistic.

Meanwhile, Watari Shinji laughed loudly beside them, mocking second-year Yahaba Shigeru, while Akashi Asuka and the other rookies politely shook hands with their seniors.

In competition, doing everything possible within the rules is normal, giving your all is the greatest respect you can show your opponent.

But once the match ends, lingering with bad attitudes is just pure nonsense.

"You arrogant first-years. Next time, I won't lose to you." Oikawa said with a somewhat fierce grip when shaking Asuka's hand.

Asuka was silent for a moment before flashing a bright smile.

"What are you talking about, Oikawa-senpai? We're teammates from now on, there's no 'winning' or 'losing' between us."

Oikawa: "..."

...

"Alright, everyone played well today. Especially the new first-years, they have solid fundamentals. So starting tomorrow, Akashi Asuka, Ryuhei Sanashita, Yūtarō Kindaichi, and Akira Kunimi, you four will train with the first team." Nobuteru Irihata announced as he gathered the group.

The "first team" meant the main lineup of the Aoba Johsai volleyball club.

A full official volleyball team consists of twelve players, starters plus substitutes. Because substitutions happen frequently during matches, it's common for seven or more players to get court time even in a straightforward game.

Neither Oikawa's group nor the new first-years showed much reaction to the promotion.

After all, this "rookie match" was also a tryout. Based on their performance, not promoting them would be strange.

"Okay, now we start training. If you still have energy, stay and run with the group. If you're out of steam, feel free to head home early today."

The rookie match had ended a bit earlier than Irihata expected, so no time was wasted.

The first to prepare to run was Akira Kunimi.

He was completely drained and just wanted to go home and collapse on his couch.

But glancing around, seeing none of the others were leaving, he swallowed the urge to slack off, for now.

"Oh! So the new first-years all have guts, huh!" Hanamaki Takahiro remarked, seeing the rookies hadn't left.

"But training and matches are different. Don't think you can keep up with us just because you got lucky winning once." he warned.

It was clear some of the third-years still harbored grudges over the match result.

"We won't be like that, Hanamaki-senpai." Kindaichi replied earnestly.

Asuka stayed because he already trained hard regularly.

Sanashita stayed because he knew Asuka would need a partner for extra drills.

Kindaichi stayed purely because he wanted to work harder.

As a longtime powerhouse, Aoba Johsai's training wasn't flashy or fancy. If anything, their experience made them focus even more on the basics.

Their first drill was spiking.

Though the rookies were allowed to train alongside the veterans, even the upperclassmen were split into smaller groups based on familiarity, and the rookies especially so.

To improve efficiency, the practice squad split into three groups:

Oikawa, Iwaizumi, and Matsukawa in one

Yaguchi, Kindaichi, and Kunimi in another

Sanashita, Asuka, and Hanamaki in the last

Each group had one setter and two hitters.

Watari, as libero, didn't practice spiking, just blocking and receiving on the other side of the net.

...

"Asuka, Hanamaki-senpai, ready?"

"Got it!"

"Don't worry, rookie, just toss whatever ball you want..." Hanamaki confidently said.

Sanashita looked at Hanamaki in surprise, then silently nodded.

The training officially began.

Asuka tossed to Sanashita, who set up Asuka's spike. After Asuka's hit, Hanamaki covered the ball, and Asuka returned to position, a smooth cycle.

The group with Oikawa progressed fastest; the other two needed more time to gel, especially with rookies involved.

Hanamaki seemed to find some joy in it, shouting every now and then:

"Hey, rookies, speed it up!"

"Faster! At this pace, I'm not even breaking a sweat!"

"What's wrong, first-years? Can't keep up? You've got a long way to go to catch me!"

...

About ten minutes later, Sanashita found the rhythm.

He exchanged a glance and a slight nod with Asuka, then said,

"That's enough warm-up. Hanamaki-senpai, are you ready? It's time to start proper training."

Sweat was already dripping down Hanamaki's forehead.

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