Everyone turned their heads and saw the group from Fukurōdani slowly walking over.
Bokuto Kōtarō walked at the front, waving his hands excitedly.
"Long time no see! Bokuto Senpai !!"
"Long time no see! Shōyō!!"
"Morning! Bokuto!"
"Morning!"
"Long time no see! Akaashi!"
…
"Hey, hey! I just knew you guys would show up early!"
"See? I was right to wait here for you!"
"Haha! We're not even early—most of the teams are already here!"
As they chatted, more and more people nearby began to notice the commotion.
After all, Bokuto's voice was incredibly loud.
"Whoa! Isn't that…"
"Tokyo's No. 2 representative team—Fukurōdani!"
"I heard they made it to the quarterfinals at Interhigh last time!"
"That's amazing!"
"Huh? Across from them, orange and black uniforms—isn't that…"
"Karasuno! That's Karasuno!!"
"What?! The Interhigh champions? They're here too??"
"This is wild, everyone looks so intimidating!"
"What about the player on their team who's rumored to be the top ace of the new generation? I heard he wears No. 7!"
"Yeah, and Volleyball Monthly is planning to select the top three aces in the country soon. I heard he's definitely one of them!"
"Of course! He's already gone up against two of the three national aces and came out on top both times!!"
"And what about their setter? I heard he also got invited to the National Youth Intensive Training Camp with their ace!"
"Seriously? Karasuno actually has two players who made it into the national youth training camp?!"
…
Before anyone realized it, Karasuno's name had become well-known—and revered—by more and more teams.
And it wasn't without reason. Their achievements spoke volumes.
Still, none of the Karasuno players seemed to care about the buzz around them.
Back in Miyagi Prefecture, they were already used to hearing whispers like these.
By now, it had become a norm.
This kind of attention comes when you're the strongest.
But if you let yourself bask in outside praise, you stop improving—and when that happens, you're no longer the strongest.
And those compliments? You'll lose them.
"If I'm not wrong, Inarizaki's in Group B this time, right?"
"Yeah," Bokuto nodded, sounding a bit fired up.
"This time we finally get the chance to go head-to-head with that Kiryu guy. We're in the same group!"
"Well, only if we make it to the match," Akaashi interjected coolly.
"If you lose to Mujinazaka before then, you won't even get the chance to meet them."
"No way!"
Bokuto was nearly losing it.
"That won't happen!"
At that moment, Kageyama, sharp-eyed as always, suddenly raised his hand and waved.
"Komori-senpai! Long time no see!"
"Long time no see, Kageyama! Akira!"
Motoya Komori jogged over from behind the crowd, the rest of the Itachiyama team following close behind.
"Oh? That guy... Sakusa!" Bokuto's eyes narrowed as he spotted someone.
"Hmph! I'm getting payback for the last match this time!"
"Wait up! Sakusa!!"
Everyone was momentarily stunned by Bokuto's outburst.
But when they thought about it, it made perfect sense.
Fukurōdani was the No. 2 representative in Tokyo, while Itachiyama held the No. 1 representative .
Which meant—Fukurōdani had lost to Itachiyama in the Tokyo regional prelims.
"I'm looking forward to our next match, Bokuto-senpai."
Even off the court, Sakusa still wore his mask, as always.
But his eyes—cool and focused—held a clear fighting spirit.
At that moment, the large gym doors in front of them slowly began to open.
It was time.
Without delay, the many teams waiting outside in the square began to file in.
…
The opening ceremony of the Spring High Volleyball Tournament was solemn and dignified. After all the regional representatives had entered the arena, the host and staff began reading out the general rules of the tournament.
Then, without delay—it was game time.
Inside the main stadium, four large courts began their matches in sequence.
"This is insane!"
"These two teams are crazy strong!"
"Wait—is this one of our group's matches?"
"Looks like Nekoma's playing in the next round!"
…
Since Karasuno didn't have a match scheduled for today, everyone watched from the stands with a relatively relaxed mindset.
Of course, they weren't the only ones—many of the seeded teams who weren't playing on Day One were also seated in the audience, watching the ongoing matches intently.
Being a seeded team doesn't automatically make you the strongest in your group.
There are plenty of unseeded teams who are still incredibly powerful.
Which means—if you let your guard down during the group stage, even a strong team can make a fatal mistake
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