"Yes. The score may be 11–2 right now, but all eleven of Aoba Johsai's points were scored by Hank alone. In other words, if you can find a way to counter him, then victory isn't impossible."
Takeda picked up where Sugawara left off and continued. The gap on the scoreboard was huge, but the one bit of good news in all this bad news was that every point on the other side had come from Hank alone. As long as they could find a way to stop Hank from making full use of his jumping ability, the rest would be much easier to deal with.
"That guy may be incredibly strong individually, but we're not going to be beaten that easily!"
Daichi added firmly. As the team captain, it was naturally his job to steady the team. Otherwise, even if Hank left the service run afterward, they still wouldn't be able to fight Aoba Johsai properly. At that point, they would already have been completely crushed by Hank alone.
"Come on! Let's take this one!"
Daichi stepped in front of everyone, pulled them all into a tight huddle, and shouted encouragement at the top of his lungs. Right after that, they headed back onto the court. Their main goal now was to break Hank's streak and force the rotation forward.
…
Meanwhile, on Aoba Johsai's side, the coach had already started analyzing the situation. He could clearly judge the current flow of the match. Ever since Hank stepped onto the court, the entire balance of the game had changed dramatically. At this point, even an idiot could tell that Karasuno's next move would definitely be to target Hank.
If this weren't a practice match but Spring High, then he would have told everyone without hesitation to pay close attention to Hank's positioning and adjust their attack patterns so the other side couldn't read what Aoba Johsai was doing.
But this was only a practice match. There was no need for that.
What mattered most was training.
The important thing was for his players to build experience and prepare themselves for the Spring High qualifiers a month from now. The real opponent they needed to prepare for was Shiratorizawa, the strongest team in the prefecture.
Even a powerhouse like Aoba Johsai might be crushed in front of them.
But now, with Hank joining the team, everything had started to become uncertain.
"Karasuno will probably start aiming their offense at Hank next. There's no need to change how we're attacking right now. Just play freely."
"And don't think you can slack off on warming up just because Hank is on the court now. Stay fully focused."
After briefly explaining the situation on the court, Coach Irihata sent Hank back out to lead the team.
...
"Hiss!"
As the referee's whistle rang out, he extended his arm toward Aoba Johsai's side, signaling that the serve belonged to them. Akira Kunimi, who had rotated from position four into the back row, stepped up to serve.
"Stay steady!"
Kindaichi turned and called out to Kunimi. The moment his words fell, the serve flew straight toward Karasuno's side. After Daichi managed to save the ball, Kageyama took a few quick steps forward.
His eyes were locked on the volleyball above him. At the same time, Hinata, who had been waiting near the net the whole time, shut his eyes and suddenly sprinted to the left. He deliberately curved his run to avoid Hank, then drove off the floor with all his strength.
Then, just as he swung his arm forward, the ball Kageyama had sent was delivered with perfect precision right into his hitting point...
Bang!
With a sharp explosive sound, the volleyball slammed directly into Aoba Johsai's back court. Kindaichi and the others were stunned the moment they saw it happen.
That attack had been so fast that they hadn't even had time to react.
"All right!"
After scoring off the attack, Hinata began bouncing excitedly in place. But because he got too carried away, Kageyama immediately smacked him. Even so, the atmosphere on Karasuno's side eased up because of that play.
After all, they had been suppressed by Hank the entire time. Even Daichi had been under enormous pressure. Now that Hinata had finally scored, it was like the first blast of the horn for their counterattack.
If they could keep this momentum going, then maybe even someone as strong as Hank could be beaten.
"Freak Quick, huh? So they finally couldn't hold it back anymore."
"That player kept his eyes shut the whole time, and it still went through?"
Coach Irihata fell silent for a moment, immediately engraving Karasuno's little monster into his memory. For the current Aoba Johsai, dealing with that kind of quick attack would still be rather difficult. The speed of that play was just too fast. Ordinary blocks simply couldn't keep up with it.
"Great, we finally pulled one back!"
Takeda couldn't help clenching his fists as he cheered for Karasuno. As long as they could keep playing at this rhythm, the winner still hadn't been decided.
(End of Chapter)
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