"Nice one, Hinata!"
Even though Tanaka had already been subbed out, he still could not help jumping to his feet and cheering. They had only scored a single point, but that one point meant a lot. As long as they could take even one point off Aoba Johsai,
that meant they had found a way to deal with them.
"Let's keep this momentum going and win!"
Kageyama finished his warm-up. As long as they could seize their chances from here on out, they might even be able to put together a scoring run.
As the sound of the ball being struck came from the back row, Daichi, who had already rotated to the back, sent the ball over as well. The serve was not flashy, but it was steady, and it landed right in Aoba Johsai's libero's hands. After the ball was dug up,
Kindaichi immediately sent it back over without hesitation. But after Karasuno managed to save it again, Hinata and Kageyama did not need any extra communication. They instantly moved to form their attack.
They wanted to do the same thing again and use that ultra-fast quick attack to slip past Aoba Johsai's block and score directly. They had already managed to break through Aoba Johsai earlier with that very method.
Even though Hank's appearance had changed a lot of things, they still believed he was not enough to alter the outcome of the entire match!
Just as Hinata leaped high at the net and prepared to swing down with a powerful spike, and Kageyama's toss was already about to arrive in his hands, the players in Aoba Johsai's back row immediately tensed up.
"So fast. They actually found another opening again... This quick attack really is monstrous."
"It's too fast. There's no way to stop it with a block..."
"So what are we supposed to do now? Are we just going to let them score on our court?"
While the Aoba Johsai players were still hesitating, Hank, who was standing on the other side of Hinata, moved at once. At 185 centimeters tall, he needed less than two seconds to reach the spot at the net.
While everyone else was still focused on Hinata, Hank had already rushed in front of him. With a slight burst from his legs, he completed a solo block. Even though he did not shut Hinata's spike down completely,
he had already done enough to break apart their Freak Quick.
As the sound of the ball smacking into his arms rang out, Hinata stared blankly after landing when he realized his spike had actually been blocked back. Ever since he and Kageyama had developed the Freak Quick, this had never happened before.
His spike had actually been blocked by Hank. He had never encountered anything like this!
How had he done it!?
Could that guy teleport or something!?
This was way too absurd. It had already gone far beyond Hinata's understanding of what an ace was supposed to be. Why was it that the guy could not only score on offense, but was also this strong on defense!?
"How is that possible? How could a quick attack like that be stopped?!"
"Did this guy already realize Hinata was about to attack?!"
Daichi's expression changed drastically when he saw Hinata's attack get blocked. Even someone as steady as him did not know what to say for a moment. The Freak Quick was basically their last resort at this point. If even that had been blocked by Hank,
then what would happen next to Karasuno was easy to imagine.
They would very likely be crushed!
"I've got it!"
Daichi did not stay shocked for long. Looking at the ball that had been sent back, he immediately lunged forward and bumped it up steadily. Since Hinata's spike had not carried much power, the trajectory was easier to control, and Daichi's first pass landed solidly in Kageyama's hands.
"If you can defend against one attacker, then how are you going to deal with several at once?"
Kageyama gave a slight hop. At the same time, Hinata on his left and Tsukishima beside him both sprinted toward him. In volleyball, blockers with excellent defensive instincts were hardly rare, so teams had long since developed a strategy specifically meant to confuse the opposing blockers.
The decoy!
That strategy had even gone so far as to shape an entire position on the volleyball court: the middle blocker, whose job was to provide decoy movements for the wing spiker and draw the block away from the real ace...
Against teams that had not encountered a truly gifted blocker, this kind of attack was extremely effective. It could even leave the other side spinning in circles.
"The decoy is one of the most common tactics in volleyball. Recently, people have even started saying that whether a team can truly master the decoy is the real measure of whether that team possesses genuine offensive power!"
"Under an attack like this, can you still make the block!?"
Coach Irihata watched the action on the court, his heart full of anticipation. He truly wanted to see where Hank's limits lay. The attack Hank was facing now was no longer a simple one-on-one exchange of offense and defense.
It was a coordinated assault built by three players working together!
Whether he could tell which one was the decoy, and which one was the true attacker...
that was the key!
(End of Chapter)
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