Good afternoon, everyone, both here in the stadium and watching on television!"
"This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, where the third round of the National High School Comprehensive Sports Tournament, Men's Volleyball Club National Tournament, the Round of 16 match, is about to begin."
"The competing teams are Mujinzaka High School, representing Oita Prefecture, and Aoba Johsai Private High School, representing Miyagi Prefecture."
"Mujinzaka High School is a regular at the National Tournament, having made its 29th consecutive appearance this year. In previous tournaments, Mujinzaka High School has achieved quite good results and can be considered a seasoned powerhouse at the national level."
"While their opponent today, Aoba Johsai Private High School, is making its first appearance in the National Tournament, in their previous match, Aoba Johsai High Schooldefeated Fukurodani Academy, which boasts an Ace ranked among the top five nationally, with a score of two to zero."
"Without a doubt, Aoba Johsai High School is already the biggest dark horse in this National Tournament."
"Because this upcoming match will undoubtedly be a fierce battle, let us wait and see…"
"Aoba Johsai High School still has the opening serve. With three heavy-hitting servers, Aoba Johsai High School truly seems to enjoy keeping the serve in its own hands. This is quite different from other teams participating in the tournament, isn't it, Mr. Oda?"
"That's right, Mr. Ota! However, Aoba Johsai's opponent today also possesses excellent serving ability. I wonder what the upcoming match will turn into?"
Beep~~~
The two commentators were still in the stands, and as their voices rang out, the referee on the court finally blew the whistle to officially start the match. Aoba Johsai's first serve was still executed by Iwaizumi Hajime. Since the National Tournament began, Irihata Nobuteru had rarely employed the strategy of having Oikawa Tooruand Akashi Asuka start with the serve.
After all, while serving can score points, it also carries considerable risk.
On the National Tournament court, it's better to take fewer such risks.
The volleyball flew over the net.
Mujinzaka's Libero received the ball and passed it to the Setter, and then Mujinzaka's Setter, without surprise, passed the volleyball into the hands of the Ace, Kiryu Hachi.
He stood 188cm tall, with a sturdy physique, four horizontal lines shaved into his bald head, and a resolute face with a hint of fierceness.
Such a player, he didn't even need to make a move; just standing there was enough to exert immense pressure on his opponents.
Oikawa Tooru, Akashi Asuka, and Kindaichi saw the direction of the pass and quickly moved horizontally to stand directly in front of Kiryu Hachi. The moment Kiryu Hachi jumped over the net, their eyelids twitched.
"So high!"
Without a doubt, Kiryu Hachi's reach also exceeded 340cm.
However, this height did not exceed Akashi Asuka's, so the three of them were only slightly surprised. Then, they decisively spread their hands and jumped together, forming a massive triple block that stood horizontally in front of Kiryu Hachi.
However, facing the block set by Akashi Asuka, Oikawa Tooru, and Kindaichi, Kiryu Hachi's eyes didn't even waver in the slightest; he simply swung his hitting arm.
"Boom!!!"
The next second.
A deafeningly terrifying hitting sound exploded in their ears. In that instant, even Akashi Asuka's mind couldn't help but go blank for a second.
Immediately after, Akashi Asuka and Oikawa Tooru both felt an unimaginable impact at the junction of their hands.
Facing this power, even though they had prepared beforehand, the block was instantly completely penetrated. The volleyball passed through the block and continued its undiminished momentum, falling towards Aoba Johsai's backcourt.
At the critical moment.
Watari Shinji timely caught the Spike's trajectory to make a save, but just as his hands made contact with the volleyball, Watari Shinji's expression suddenly changed dramatically.
"So heavy!"
Bang!
The volleyball struck Watari Shinji's hands, then bounced high over ten meters, crossing the adjacent court, until it finally slowly descended from the sky to land on Court No. 4, which was separated by another court.
And Watari Shinji, in Aoba Johsai's backcourt, after receiving this ball, his legs went weak, and he directly collapsed to the ground.
In an instant.
Everyone in Aoba Johsai was stunned.
The surrounding spectators were also silenced by Kiryu Hachi's Spike.
It wasn't until several seconds later that the silence suddenly erupted.
"Wow~ What was that? Such a heavy Spike."
"Terrifying, it's even stronger than Aoba Johsai's Ace!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can Aoba Johsai's Ace compare to Kiryu? You know, Kiryu is the Ace among the top three nationally ranked players with the strongest power!"
…"
"It's here!"
"Player Kiryu Hachi's super powerful attack! With his super High School-level strength, enough to knock a Defense player to the ground, he successively broke through Aoba Johsai's two lines of Defense, successfully helping Mujinzakascore the first point of this set."
"As expected of a power-type National Top Three Ace."
"Eh~~~"
On the Aoba Johsai court, Matsukawa Issei in the backcourt clutched his arms and suddenly shivered: "This is too exaggerated! This kind of Spike power, I feel like even Ushijima Wakatoshican't compare!"
Hearing this, Akashi Asuka gently shook his head: "Matsukawa Issei, you can actually remove the word 'feel,' because in terms of Spike power alone, Ushijima is indeed not as formidable as Mujinzaka's Ace."
Kiryu Hachi is the only power-type Wing Spiker among the National Top Three Aces.
Although Shiratorizawa's Ushijima Wakatoshialso possesses great strength, Ushijima Wakatoshi is actually more inclined towards being an all-rounder, while Kiryu Hachi in front of them is a true pure power-type Spiker.
If only considering strength attribute, according to the system data calculation, Akashi Asukaestimated Kiryu Hachi's strength had already reached 86, or even 87 points.
Truly super High School-level power.
Coupled with Kiryu Hachi's unique 'using his entire body weight to assist in Spiking' technique.
In a sense.
Kiryu Hachi is the true absolute power-type player who can face a triple block as if it were nothing.
…"
Oikawa Tooru watched as Kiryu Hachi, with just one Spike, directly broke through Aoba Johsai's block, and he couldn't help but grin: "As expected of the National Tournament, all sorts of 'monsters' truly appear one after another!"
"Since that's the case, we can't just sit back and wait. Let's return a ball to them immediately."
"Oh!!!"
Although Kiryu Hachi's Spike was terrifying, Aoba Johsai had gone through two rounds of the National Tournament, and their mentality had long since changed from the beginning. Naturally, they wouldn't be easily defeated like this.
Soon, the attack and Defense switched.
Mujinzaka High School served, and the attacking right rotated to Aoba Johsai's side.
After the volleyball flew over the net, Watari Shinji's first Passing went to Oikawa Tooru. The next second, Oikawa Tooru immediately executed a parallel quick attack with Akashi Asuka, and the volleyball instantly arrived directly in front of Akashi Asuka.
However, just as Akashi Asuka was about to swing his arm to Spike, a tall figure, as if teleporting, suddenly appeared on the other side of the net…