Therefore, for the team of Inubushi Higashi, everyone naturally had a deep impression of Shiratorizawa!!
At the beginning of this year's national tournament, they heard that Shiratorizawa had lost in the Miyagi Prefectural qualifiers and would not be coming to Tokyo.
Since then, Inubushi Higashi had been paying more attention to Karasuno, who was also from Miyagi Prefecture.
But after watching Karasuno's match for the first time yesterday, they discovered something...
Karasuno turned out to be a team that had come here with outstanding individual strength!!
That No. 7 on Karasuno is their trump card!
Everyone on Inubushi Higashi could see that his importance to Karasuno was equivalent to Ushijima's importance to Shiratorizawa!!
Only, in their opinion—
What made Karasuno stronger than Shiratorizawa was that they also placed more emphasis on teamwork.
The kind of super-fast attack executed by Karasuno's setter with that tiny No. 10 was impressive even in their eyes.
"Sigh!"
"Although they also beat Shiratorizawa, judging from these two matches, it seems like this No. 7 still isn't stronger than Ushijima!"
"As long as we can receive their attacks, Karasuno probably won't be our opponent, right?"
one of the player said with some hesitation.
"It's not that he's weaker than Ushijima—it's that he hasn't shown his full strength yet!"
Their Captain shook his head, clearly disagreeing.
Several others nodded in agreement, clearly siding with Captain assessment.
"Huh?"
That Player scratched his head with uncertainty.
"But I definitely saw this No. 7…"
"Tetsu!"
Keiichi Daigo suddenly spoke up:
"The last time we watched the match video between Karasuno and Shiratorizawa, you weren't there because of your injury."
"So you don't know just how strong No. 7 on Karasuno really is!"
"Huh?"
Harada's expression changed in surprise.
"Oh… That's right!"
"You mean, that No. 7 from Karasuno didn't go all out in the first two rounds?"
"But… I already thought he was way stronger than a typical attacker!"
"Could it be..."
"Yes!"
Daigo nodded and continued:
"In the match against Shiratorizawa, he showed a much higher starting jump and stronger spiking power!"
"And…"
"There was another detail in that video!"
"When receiving his spikes, Shiratorizawa's players made a lot of uncharacteristic errors!"
"They kept misreceiving the ball for seemingly no reason!"
"We're still not sure if it was just a coincidence or if there's some other trick to it!"
"Misreceiving those spikes for no apparent reason…"
Hearing this, everyone on Inubushi Higashi fell silent, heads lowered.
Even now, when they think back to that video, they still find it hard to believe.
Even as their former opponents, they had to admit Shiratorizawa was a powerhouse in terms of individual strength!
Although their coordination wasn't the best, mistakes on that level during a receive...
It just didn't match their usual level of play!!
But those receiving errors had undeniably occurred!!
Therefore, Karasuno's No. 7 had always remained a mystery in their hearts.
He gave off a feeling that was impossible to see through!!
If one couldn't understand the nature of his spikes, facing Karasuno gave an inexplicable sense of pressure.
"Phew!"
Seeing the nervous expressions on his teammates' faces, Yōsuke Fumizuki couldn't help but rub his forehead and say:
"We'll see for ourselves when we actually face Karasuno!"
"In the previous matches, I haven't seen him use that ability!"
"Maybe it really was just a coincidence!"
…
"Sigh!"
"All we can do now is hope that's the case!"
...
While the spectators continued discussing off-court, the match on the court had entered a critical moment.
Boom!
Tsukishima's near-net spike was immediately blocked by Nohebi's front row!
Creak!
But the referee's decision wasn't what the audience expected!
Point to Karasuno!
Nohebi committed a net touch violation!!
"Yes!"
"I did touch the net just now!"
Daishō bowed deeply to the referee at the sideline.
"Hmph!"
"So hypocritical!"
This wasn't the first time this had happened.
Even though Karasuno had mentally prepared themselves for Nohebi's little tricks, seeing them continue with these antics still left a bitter taste.
Although so far, the referee hadn't made any unfair decisions in favor of Nohebi—
Just looking at the double-faced behavior of these players—one persona for the referee and another for their opponents—filled Karasuno with disgust.
Off-court, they constantly threw out provocative taunts.
On-court, when speaking to the referee, they pretended to be model players.
What more could be said...
Truly a team that would do anything to win!!
Their actions completely aligned with their "win at all costs" philosophy!
Tweet!
The referee's whistle blew!
The game resumed!!
Thwack!
As soon as Nohebi picked up their serve, their front row moved into motion!
"Watch out!"
Now in Karasuno's front row were Kageyama, Hinata, and Tsukishima!
At this moment, all three had already taken their positions at the net!
Swoosh!
Across the net, Sakishima executed a back pass!
He sent the ball directly to the position of Hiroo behind him!
Quick attack!
Thwack!
But Hinata, moving at top speed, instantly darted in pursuit as soon as the ball was passed!
"One-touch block!!"
The ball struck Hinata's hand and bounced high behind him!
Then it was smoothly received by Azumane in the back row!!
Seeing this, Hinata, who had just landed, immediately took off again!
And on the other side, Hiroo followed him without hesitation!
In this round, his job was to track Hinata's every move and guard against the quick attack!
But this time, Kageyama's pass didn't go to Hinata!
Swoosh!