23 minutes into the practice match.
The game was gradually drawing to a close.
After both scores surpassed 20, Seijoh gradually started to fall behind the pace of the game. After all, it was nearing evening, and the Seijoh players had been training all day. Their Staminawas clearly no match for the Shiratorizawaplayers who had just arrived.
Left with no choice.
The main offensive thrust in the later stages, Oikawa Tooru, could only be placed on Akashi Asuka.
Because of the lesson learned from the National Tournament match against Mujinzaka High School, Oikawa Tooru had been consciously adjusting his subconscious attitude towards Akashi Asuka after returning to school.
However, technical issues are easy to adjust, but it is clearly not that easy for such subconscious thoughts to change quickly.
And more importantly, while Oikawa Tooru was adjusting himself, Akashi Asuka was also seeking improvement...
"Akashi-chan!"
Oikawa Tooru gave a reminder, then decisively tossed a high ball to Akashi Asuka.
Facing such a high ball, Shiratorizawa's players quickly set up a combined Defense, with the three front-row players gathering directly in front, forming a triple block.
Thud~
A muffled vibration sound, this was the sound of Akashi Asuka jumping and pushing off the ground. His highest Spike point was getting higher and higher, almost on par with Ushijima Wakatoshi.
The Shiratorizawa players were also startled when they first saw Akashi Asuka's current jump height.
Therefore, Oikawa Tooru and Akashi Asuka's cooperation this time was average, and the hitting point was not too high, so Shiratorizawa's triple block was still sufficient to block it. →
Six arms blocked Akashi Asuka's front like mountains, a dense black shadow, almost preventing Akashi Asuka from even seeing the situation in Shiratorizawa's backcourt. Whether it was the left, middle, or right directions, there was no attack angle whatsoever.
Such a Defense even made the Seijoh players nervous for him, yet Akashi Asuka himself remained expressionless. Relying on his increasingly powerful In-air Stasis, after briefly observing the situation in the air, he decisively swung down his hitting arm.
Bang!
Everyone only heard a heavy hitting sound.
Immediately after, they saw a beam of light like a meteor diagonally penetrate into the Shiratorizawa court from the right side. The sharp attack angle was almost parallel to the mid-court block.
Everyone was astonished.
Looking at this super sharp cross, they were somewhat stunned for a moment.
"It actually succeeded?"
The Seijoh players blinked, feeling somewhat incredulous.
One must know, this was not the first time Akashi Asuka had attempted to Spike such an extremely tricky angled ball today, but his previous attempts had almost all ended in failure.
After Akashi Asuka landed, he looked at his palm and thought, "It's still a bit off."
His wrist was not flexible enough, because if he wanted to hit such a Spike, he had to use more of his shoulder strength.
This was only possible because he had a cheat, otherwise, if an ordinary person tried this casually, there was a high probability that he wouldn't master the ball, but would get injured first.
22:24.
Seijoh scored a point, but was still trailing.
The next ball happened to be Akashi Asuka's serve. Looking at the tight Defense on the opposite side, Akashi Asuka stood in the serving area, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, calming his mood.
Immediately after, he decisively served a [Banana Jump Serve].
The volleyball carried a not-so-fierce spin, drifting several times in mid-air, and finally, with a thud, landed out of bounds.
The Seijoh players perked up.
"Ah! Yes, that's the feeling! This is how Akashi Asuka should have been performing these past few days!"
"Beep~~~"
With a whistle, the practice match between Seijoh and Shiratorizawa officially ended.
22:25.
Shiratorizawa wins.
Although Seijoh had defeated Shiratorizawa in the last National Tournament preliminaries, this did not mean that Seijoh's strength was superior to Shiratorizawa's.
To be precise.
For all top-tier strong schools that have reached the top eight in the Nation, the gap in hard strength between them is already very, very small. The final outcome often depends not on strength, but on the respective players' condition and luck, among other factors.
Moreover, in today's practice match, firstly, Akashi Asuka was mainly practicing, and secondly, Seijoh had just finished a day of training, so their Stamina was not at its peak. Therefore, the outcome of this match was not overly concerned by the Seijoh players.
Only two people were exceptions.
The first was naturally Oikawa Tooru. For him, losing a practice match was not a big deal, but losing to Ushijima Wakatoshi or Kageyama Tobio was a very big deal.
The second was Irihata Nobuteru. Originally, he wasn't too concerned about the outcome of this practice match, but then Washijo Tanji declared war on him not long ago, and then Seijoh immediately lost a match.
This made the forty-something-year-old coach feel his pride was greatly insulted.
For a moment.
Irihata Nobuteru's gaze at the Seijoh players gradually showed a hint of ferocity.
Most of the Seijoh players didn't feel anything, but Kyotani Kentaro only felt that the dark aura behind Irihata Nobuteru had deepened by several points again, and his ominous premonition grew stronger.
...
The Shiratorizawa players left.
Taking their victory with them.
After the practice match ended, it was almost six in the evening for Seijoh. After everyone packed up their equipment, they took a car back to the city.
Iwaizumi Hajime seemed a bit preoccupied on the way, as if contemplating some major decision.
Soon.
Time came to the next morning.
The fourth day of hellish training began, and Oikawa Tooru and Kyotani Kentaro, participating in the special training for the first time, seemed enthusiastic, just like the others who arrived here on the first day.
8 AM.
All members officially gathered at the Beach.
Originally, this was Seijoh's designated training time, but just as Seijoh was assembling their ranks, a spirited team shouted slogans and ran past them from behind.
"Too slow! Everyone cheer up! It's only been two hours of training, are you already giving up? If you can't handle the training here, then get out."
Washijo Tanji's familiar yet unfamiliar roar reached everyone's ears. Everyone subconsciously turned their heads to look and saw Washijo Tanji, wearing Beach shorts, walking towards them.
"Good morning, Coach Washijo!" Washijo Tanjihad the highest seniority and age in Miyagi Prefecture, so no matter whether the two sides were opponents or not, Seijoh's students, including the coaches, out of politeness, had to greet him.
"Hmph! A bunch of lazy fellows."
Washijo Tanji was notoriously bad-tempered in Miyagi, so everyone had no objection to his unique way of greeting.
Irihata Nobuteru also had a harmonious smile on his face, but after Washijo Tanji left, everyone watched as the smile on Irihata Nobuteru's face disappeared in an instant.
Then they heard Irihata Nobuteru coldly say, "Everyone prepare, today's training officially begins."
...