"Bang!"
The moment Kindaichi sent out a serve from the back row, Karasuno High sprang into motion. The squeak of rubber soles scraping against the floor rang across the entire court.
"Free ball!"
Daichi lunged forward and dug up Kindaichi's serve, then immediately shouted at Kageyama in front of him. The ball dropped into Kageyama's hands with perfect accuracy, and the instant it touched his fingertips—
Tanaka and Hinata moved at the same time.
Both of them wanted to launch Karasuno's first attack of the match.
Seeing the two of them rush toward him together, Kageyama directly sent the ball to Tanaka behind him instead.
"Watch this!"
Tanaka shouted, then hammered the ball toward the open space in front of him.
But at that very moment, Hank, who had been waiting at the net the whole time, suddenly crossed his steps and shot forward. After leaping up in an instant, he rose straight above Tanaka.
"What the hell is with this guy!?"
"He was in front of me in an instant—he's way too fast!"
Still suspended in midair, Tanaka caught sight of Hank blocking him and his face instantly turned pale. What was with that speed and jumping power? Hank had clearly been somewhere else just a second ago, so how had he appeared right in front of him in a blink?
As Hank stretched both hands forward, Tanaka's attack was completely shut down.
From the moment Hank rushed in front of Tanaka to the moment he stuffed the ball, not even a full second had passed.
There was no denying it—Hank had improved enormously over the past month.
It was not just his volleyball fundamentals. Even his footwork had changed dramatically, allowing him to do more in a shorter amount of time.
"What just happened...?!"
Even when Tanaka landed, he still had not understood what had just happened. How had Hank appeared in front of him in that instant? It was ridiculous. Could he teleport or something?
"As expected, you've improved too."
Kageyama had also seen Hank burst out right in front of him just now. He had never imagined Hank's speed would be that fast. Even if he could notice it, reacting in time was another matter entirely.
"Sorry! My receive went a little too high!"
After Daichi received Kindaichi's serve again, he could clearly feel that the sweat on his palms had made his form unstable, sending the ball flying off.
But for someone as gifted as Kageyama, that was not difficult at all.
He immediately leaped backward.
"Tanaka."
Just as his hand was about to touch the ball, his eyes flicked toward Tanaka at his side. But right when he was about to set it to Tanaka again, he suddenly felt a shadow loom over his head.
Hank had spiked the ball straight down on his side.
The force was so great that the moment the ball hit the floor, it bounced clear out and down below.
The instant that scene entered everyone's eyes, the Aoba Johsai club members behind them erupted into cheers.
"Hank! Hank!"
And at that moment, Karasuno felt pressure for the first time.
Real pressure, from top to bottom.
The kind of pressure that could make someone with a weaker mind give up volleyball altogether.
"How is this possible... It feels like he's completely locked onto me."
Tanaka looked up at Hank, who was now standing at the net, and at that moment he finally understood what total domination meant.
Karasuno could not even get a proper attack onto the other side of the court.
It was the first time in his life he had ever experienced something like this firsthand.
His attacks had been completely read through. It was as if his movements had already been figured out before he had even started his jump.
How were they supposed to score like this?
Did the ball not even have the right to reach the other side of the court?
"Don't let it get to you!"
Seeing Tanaka standing there in a daze, Daichi could only walk over and comfort him.
He understood this kind of situation all too well, because in his memory, when Karasuno had played against Date Tech High, the team known as the "Iron Wall," they had run into the same problem.
Back then, the team's ace, Asahi, had been unable to endure the pressure and had left the team.
And now... Daichi could clearly feel that Hank's blocking was different from Date Tech High's.
Date Tech's blocks were usually three-man blocks.
If you could not break through three blockers, that was still understandable.
But now Hank was only one person.
How could a single blocker shut down all of their offense by himself?
"Aoba Johsai's number 23 is far more impressive than I expected. He can actually use read blocking."
"That's not a technique a student who just entered high school should be able to pull off."
Takeda Ittetsu stared at Hank on the court in silence, cold sweat forming on his forehead.
As a teacher, he had seen not tens of thousands of students over the years, but certainly several thousand.
And the moment he came into contact with Hank just now, he could clearly feel it.
Hank had been hiding his real strength.
He had been waiting for Karasuno to make its move, only to crush it with an even stronger counterattack the moment it began.
That kind of scene was common enough in nature.
A lion that has already caught its prey will sometimes let it run, only to drag it back the very next second when it thinks it has escaped.
This was no longer competition.
It was closer to being toyed with.
And that was exactly what Hank was doing now.
On the surface, he looked calm, so calm that he almost seemed devoid of ordinary human feeling.
But as one of the few who could understand what was really happening, Takeda knew exactly how terrifying Hank was.
(End of Chapter)
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