Kageyama's powerful jump serve was barely received by Ichinose Guren, whose defensive coverage rivaled the height and reach of the block itself. But in terms of pure return quality, Guren was slightly outmatched, he simply couldn't exert the same force as a spiker going full out.
After all, human energy is limited.
Without a solid pass, tactical plays couldn't be executed. Yamaguchi, tasked with acting as a setter, simply sent up a routine high ball.
This high ball, however, was exactly what Hyakuzawa loved to smash. The two-meter giant leapt, unleashing a spike with unmatched height and full power toward the opposite court.
"Touched once!"
Kageyama and Hinata formed a dual block, using soft blocking techniques. They made contact with the spike, greatly reducing its impact.
Behind them, Team A had their skilled libero, Nishinoya, with national-level experience.
Another high-quality pass gave Kageyama the space to execute his skill.
Scanning the court rapidly, Kageyama saw that this return was perfect, if it couldn't be converted into a point, it would be a waste.
True to his personality, even if the pass was imperfect, Kageyama would exhaust every possibility to set a scoring ball.
This mentality, fighting for every point, is one of the key factors behind Kageyama's rapid growth.
'Good, I've drawn Guren's attention. With Tanaka on the left and Hinata on the right, if I can send a quick attack, I don't need to worry about their triple block.'
'Turn the offense and defense into a 1v1.'
'This ball… I have to take it.'
Kageyama's hands moved in perfect sync with his gaze. As he locked onto Hinata midair, his fingers completed a miraculous, super-speed set.
"SLAP! BOOM!"
Hinata, with mere fractions of a second to spare, broke through the block set up by Hyakuzawa's long arms.
'This isn't a dream… with Kageyama's sets, I can attack on equal footing with a block!'
Looking at his slightly reddened palms and Hyakuzawa, still catching his breath from the sprint, a surge of happiness washed over him.
Using the "freak quick attack" as the hub, Kageyama's attacks and Tanaka's one-on-one plays against Tsukishima began to increase. For the first time, Team A's score surpassed Team B's.
Sugawara sighed beside the court:
"This quick attack… no matter how you look at it, it's incredible."
"Agreed!" came from the other second-years.
Standing next to them, Sawamura also pondered seriously how to counter such a freakish quick attack.
Before he could come up with a solution, Guren had already set up a formation specifically to counter it.
Since this was an irregular practice match, rotation rules were lax. Guren didn't wait for the set to start, he immediately rearranged the court.
He placed Hyakuzawa on the left to guard against Tanaka's spikes, and Tsukishima began a one-on-one defensive battle with Kageyama.
Guren focused on Hinata, deliberately leaving an opening for him to spike, a goalkeeper standing slightly off-center in football, baiting the attacker.
He knew that if the gap was too small, he could reach it. If the gap was larger, he could still adjust to block it.
Hinata, finally facing Guren's strategy, realized the positioning was meant for him. He prepared mentally, ready to match Guren in a battle of wits.
It was still Kageyama's serve. He struck a hard jump serve toward Hyakuzawa, who received it steadily with his long arms.
Team A's block was still spread out. Guren had no intention of taking the ball himself to dominate, the goal wasn't brute force.
But if Team B dared to ignore Guren and attack Hyakuzawa or Tsukishima, Yamaguchi wasn't foolish. Guren wouldn't allow an easy opening.
Blocking alone applies pressure. If they didn't challenge him, he could strike next.
After another successful receive, Hinata didn't fall into Guren's trap. Using his mind, he began to probe the opening in Guren's formation.
First, he retreated to the back row, drawing Hyakuzawa into a jump to match his pace.
'Hyakuzawa's jump speed can't keep up with a freakish quick attack from the top.'
Then, using Tanaka as a cover, Hinata subtly signaled Kageyama for an overhead quick attack.
Kageyama, brilliant and fast-thinking, immediately understood and sent a quick set to Tanaka.
Even with just a two-step approach, Tanaka instinctively smashed the ball.
The ball grazed Hyakuzawa's fingertips midair, he could feel the airflow, yet the ball slipped past.
It landed softly on the court. Hinata's thinking had successfully exploited a crack in Guren's defense, a first in his volleyball life where strategy, not recklessness, led to a scoring play.
For Hinata, this ball opened a new world.
For Guren, it was just the beginning.
Next, he positioned all three blockers slightly left-center. Anticipating Hinata's attack, Tsukishima stood ready in the middle.
This allowed Guren to follow Kageyama's defense, while adjusting if Hinata shifted sides.
Hinata, realizing only Tsukishima would jump if he sprinted one way, quickly changed direction to the far side. Seeing Guren applying strong pressure, he faked a jump using his agility and low center of gravity, tricking Guren into moving up. Then he cut back to the center, executing a middle-net quick attack with Kageyama.
Next, Hinata and Kageyama executed an A-style quick attack. While the spike wasn't lightning-fast yet, Hinata could already choose the trajectory midair. Against a single block, he could occasionally score.
Whenever Guren's positioning and physical prowess intercepted one of Hinata's quick attacks, the next one would combine Hinata and Kageyama's arsenal to create a new scoring chance.
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria