Bang!"
"Smack!"
Two consecutive sounds, as if striking the hearts of everyone in Seijoh, caused their pupils to shrink instantly as they only saw a blur before the volleyball rebounded back to Seijoh's backcourt.
"It was blocked?"
In mid-air, Akashi Asuka's gaze also sharpened.
It's not to say that Akashi Asuka's Spike had never been Defensed in the National Tournament; that would obviously be impossible.
However, most other teams usually formed an obstacle through blocking and then cooperated with backcourt Defense players to restrict Akashi Asuka's Spike trajectory, thereby indirectly forming a Defense.
Mujinzaka High School, on the other hand, was the first to directly block Akashi Asuka's Spikewith a frontal block.
[Blocked!]
[Seijoh's 'Ace', first-year player Akashi Asuka's Spike has been completely blocked for the first time in this Tournament, and the player who successfully blocked it is Yunnan Keisuke, the No. 4 Middle Blocker, known as one of the 'Mujinzaka Twin Towers'. He, along with the No. 2 Middle Blocker Tanuki Nozomu, successfully formed Mujinzaka's two solid walls of blocking.]
Whoosh!
The very first Spike of the game being blocked was clearly not a good thing.
The Seijoh players immediately came over, seemingly worried that Akashi Asuka's mindset would be affected by this play, and asked with concern, "Hey! Akashi, are you alright?"
"I'm fine! It was just one block, I'll find an opportunity to get the point back on the next play." Akashi Asuka shook his head, not too bothered by it.
After all, he wasn't a god; it was impossible for him to never be blocked. This play might have had some impact on him, but it wasn't enough to affect his mindset.
Seeing that Akashi Asuka seemed genuinely fine, everyone finally relaxed.
"My apologies, that last Passing was a bit too low," Oikawa Tooru said.
"No, that play, regardless of height, wouldn't have changed the outcome much. The opponent must have seriously studied our playstyle to be able to capture such an accurate attack route on the very first play," Akashi Asuka said, shaking his head gently.
"Furthermore, Mujinzaka's two Middle Blockers are indeed not simple; their height and Reaction Speed are excellent, so they have the ability to directly block both straight and cross-court shots. To win this match, we not only need to find a way to Defense Kiryu's heavy cannon, but also to deal with their two Middle Blockers."
There are also differences between blocking and blocking. Although all Seijoh players are proficient in blocking techniques, most of them use 'technical blocking,' which is to use techniques to block a certain attack line of the opponent, causing trouble and obstacles for the enemy, while mainly creating receiving opportunities for the backcourt players.
However, Kindaichi and Akashi Asuka use direct blocking, which means directly blocking the opponent's Spike. This type of blocking requires higher physical qualities.
Generally speaking, unless one possesses Akashi Asuka's Rebound ability, it is almost impossible to perfectly form a direct block if one's height is less than 1.9 meters.
As soon as Akashi Asuka finished speaking, Oikawa Tooru's face gradually took on a pained expression. After all, just Kiryu Hachi alone was already difficult enough to deal with, and now adding two Middle Blockers who could even Defense Akashi Asuka, such opponents looked utterly despairing!
2:0.
The game had just begun, and Seijoh was already trailing by two points.
The game continued.
Mujinzaka High School served the third ball, and Oikawa Tooru used Akashi Asuka as a decoy to successfully execute a two-setter tempo attack with Kindaichi, helping Seijoh score their first point of the set.
2:1.
Then, on the next serve, it was finally Oikawa Tooru's turn to step onto the serving area for Seijoh.
Mujinzaka High School's backcourt Defense did not have the same gifted players as Kiryu Hachiand the 'Mujinzaka Twin Towers' in the frontcourt. Their backcourt Defense players' quality was generally similar to Fukurodani, but with a difference: Fukurodani's backcourt lacked a Opposite Hitter, but Mujinzaka had one.
Perhaps because High School students don't particularly like the 'Opposite Hitter' position, from the preliminaries all the way to the National Tournament, Akashi Asuka rarely saw official Opposite Hitter players in opposing teams; generally, the position was filled by the second Outside Hitter.
However, Mujinzaka High School's player configuration was a standard lineup of one Outside Hitter, one Setter, two Middle Blockers, one Opposite Hitter, and one Libero.
This was a flawless lineup.
And precisely because of this.
At the start of the game, Akashi Asuka felt that Mujinzaka High School's team was unusually "professional."
Because from a team perspective, even compared to top National teams like Fukurodani, Mujinzaka High School still had a fundamental difference from them.
Facing such a formation, Oikawa Tooru served two balls, but failed to score a single 'direct point'.
The first serve was received by Mujinzaka's No. 7 Opposite Hitter, Ezoe, in the backcourt. However, perhaps it was his first time receiving such an ultra-high Speed serve, so Mujinzaka's Opposite Hitter didn't receive it perfectly, causing the volleyball to bounce directly back to Seijoh's side, where it was ultimately slapped back by Akashi Asuka.
2:2.
Seijoh tied the score.
But after Oikawa Tooru served the second ball, Mujinzaka's No. 7 Opposite Hitter adapted and successfully received the ball. Although it was still not perfect, even the Setter couldn't perfectly Pass the ball to Kiryu Hachi.
However, it was precisely with this 'bad ball' that barely cleared the net that Kiryu Hachiresolutely jumped and unleashed a super heavy cannon, forcefully scoring the point.
And this play also drew continuous gasps of astonishment from the audience outside the court…
[Excellent!]
[As expected of 'Kiryu, the Bad Ball Killer', no matter what kind of Passing he faces, he can forcefully score points. This is the power-type Ace ranked among the top three in the nation—Kiryu Hachi.]
[Mr. Oda, what do you think of this play?]
[Hmm! It was indeed a very clever play, wasn't it? I wonder if you noticed, when Kiryu jumped to Spike that ball just now, he only took one step for his approach. While this would reduce his jump height, it perfectly connected with that 'bad ball', allowing him to hit a heavy cannon even from a low position.]
[Of course, we do not recommend others imitate Kiryu's attacking style here. If you must imitate it, please first train to develop Kiryu's strong physique (laughs).]
"Oh oh oh oh~~~"
"Hachi, Hachi! Well done… Hachi, Hachi! One more ball…"
Mujinzaka High School's cheers shook the heavens and earth, and accompanied by the cheers from outside the court, Kiryu Hachislowly walked to the serving area at position one with the ball.
Seeing this, the vigilance in the hearts of the Seijoh players instantly reached its peak.
Then, the next second.
The Seijoh players only heard a familiar, thunderous boom in their ears, and then, they saw a cannonball flying towards them…