A high ball flew over the block, and Mujinzaka High School's blocker immediately made a Defense, but the next second, Yunnan Keisukewatched helplessly as a tall figure leaped up directly in front of him, rising until he could only see a chin when he looked up, before the figure finally stopped.
Bang!
The volleyball directly passed over the tips of Yunnan Keisuke's fingers and then slammed onto the Mujinzaka High School floor.
2:4.
"Oh oh oh oh..."
"Seijoh's first-year 'Ace' Akashi Asuka scores again! Facing the main setter's departure, Akashi Asuka completely took on the responsibility of the 'Ace', once again helping Seijoh score with a Spike that far exceeded Mujinzaka's block height."
If the commentator was excited to see Akashi Asuka's Spike at this moment, then Yunnan Keisuke's eyes were filled with complete disbelief as he looked at Akashi Asuka's figure across the net.
It doesn't make sense.
This is unscientific.
The opponent's main setter had already left the court, but why did the opponent's number eight 'Ace' seem to be in even better form after the substitute setter came on?
Many players on Seijoh's court also widened their eyes; except for Mishita Ryuhei, they had no idea what was happening to Akashi Asuka at this moment.
There was only a vague intuition, feeling that Akashi Asuka seemed to have returned to how he was when he first joined Seijoh.
"Why?"
Oikawa Tooru's eyes also flashed with shock from below the court; he completely couldn't understand the scene before him. Oikawa Toorusaw very clearly that the Passing Mishita Ryuheiset was completely unremarkable in other aspects, except for accurately catching the highest point.
But why?
Why did it feel like Akashi Asuka's form was getting better and better with such ordinary Passing?
Just then, Irihata Nobuteru spoke again.
"Doesn't it feel strange? Your Passing is more precise, but why can Mishita Ryuhei bring out Akashi's strength even more?"
Oikawa Tooru was silent for a moment, not following Irihata Nobuteru's words, but instead said, "Coach, was all of this within your expectations?"
Irihata Nobuteru: "...No!"
Actually, Irihata Nobuteru's reason for putting Mishita Ryuhei on the court initially was very simple: compared to Yahaba Shigeru, Mishita Ryuhei and Akashi Asuka had better synergy, and he also had experience participating in the National Tournament.
He thought very clearly that against an opponent like Mujinzaka, the role of Seijoh's other players was infinitely close to zero, so to succeed, there was only a slim possibility by relying on Akashi Asuka's strength.
But even he hadn't expected such a chemical reaction to occur when Akashi Asuka and Mishita Ryuhei collaborated again.
However, after a moment of thought, Irihata Nobuteru understood: it wasn't that Mishita Ryuhei was too strong, but rather that Oikawa Tooru had never been able to unleash Akashi Asuka's true power from the beginning.
"Oikawa, you work very hard, and you have a certain talent. No matter who you team up with, you can grasp the personality and strength of each player in a very short time and use Passingto unleash one hundred percent of their power."
"But why, even though you've been working with Akashi-kun for so long, are you still unable to unleash his full potential?"
Oikawa Tooru subconsciously replied, "This… Akashi-chan isn't an ordinary player after all. Aren't geniuses' personalities always harder to grasp?"
"Wrong!"
Irihata Nobuteru looked deeply at Oikawa Tooru. He once thought that it was because Akashi Asuka's talent was too good, which caused Oikawa Tooru to always be unable to perfectly coordinate with Akashi Asuka.
But after this substitution, Irihata Nobuterucompletely understood.
"It's not because of Akashi-kun; the problem is entirely with you, Oikawa!"
"Huh? Coach, are you saying that because my talent is too poor, I can't keep up with Akashi's progress, which led to this result? If that's the case, then I won't deny it!"
Irihata Nobuteru looked at him without speaking. After a while, Irihata Nobuteru sighed.
"It seems my guess was indeed correct. What you just said completely shows that you, Oikawa… truly dislike Akashi!"
At these words, Oikawa Tooru was completely stunned.
"Perhaps you were too deeply influenced by Ushijima Wakatoshi and your junior, which is why you are now subconsciously resisting working with a 'genius' like Akashi."
"Although you usually try to set extremely precise volleyballs for Akashi, a normal Oikawawould not fail to realize that for an Ace like Akashi, what he needs is not precise Passing, but a sufficiently wide space to play…"
After speaking.
Irihata Nobuteru looked up at the court. Oikawa Tooru, seeing this, also subconsciously looked up with him.
At this moment, Akashi Asuka had already taken the ball to the serving area. Because his serve was extremely similar to Kiryu Hachi's, even though two full sets had passed in the match, Akashi Asuka had probably scored no more than 2 points from his serves.
But this time, Akashi Asuka's serve was completely different from before.
Akashi Asuka, who had completely entered the Mirror Calm Water state, felt incredibly calm inside, but his reception of external information was exceptionally sensitive.
Whether it was the environment, the volleyball, or his own physical condition, Akashi Asukaknew everything like the back of his hand and controlled it freely.
Looking at the tightly arrayed but slightly lax Defense formation set up by the opponent to counter his serve, Akashi Asuka lightly tossed the volleyball into the sky, then began his run-up, jump, arm swing, and hit…
Thud!
Accompanied by a loud and dull hitting sound, the volleyball in Akashi Asuka's hand flew out forcefully.
Looking at the serve heading straight for him, Mujinzaka High School's Libero still felt somewhat flustered at this moment, but he was no longer as fearful as he was at the beginning.
He set up his receiving posture, took a small step, and prepared to wait for the volleyball to fall.
However, just as he had completed all his preparatory movements, suddenly, the trajectory of the flying volleyball in the sky drastically changed. In a flash, the volleyball seemed to draw a crescent-shaped afterimage, unexpectedly dropping sharply from mid-court to the back left wing.
The sudden, alarming change caused all the players of Mujinzaka High School to turn pale with fright, but at this moment, it was clearly too late to make any other adjustments.
Thud!
Without leaving any reaction time, the volleyball slammed to the ground.
After landing, the volleyball spun several times and bounced a few times on the floor before finally coming to a slow rest on the ground…