"The national top four... They can go there and compete!"
"However, now that their opponent has been decided, right?"
Kuroo scratched his head.
"Looks like they'll be facing Inarizaki High tomorrow!"
"I don't know what the outcome of that match will be!"
"Inarizaki..."
At the mention of that team, everyone fell silent in unison.
Their match had been the first one played at this venue.
Everyone had seen with their own eyes just how strong they were.
Even if the members of Nekoma were quite optimistic about Karasuno, no one dared to assert that Karasuno would be the one to win.
"I can only feel their presence."
Kai hesitated for a moment before saying,
"I'm still more optimistic about Karasuno."
Just as the others were about to respond, they suddenly heard an exclamation from Yamamoto in the back!
"Hey! There's news from the other court!"
"The winner of the first match—it looks like Itachiyama Institute!!"
"What??"
Everyone from Nekoma turned to him in shock.
Yamamoto scratched his head, looking a bit incredulous.
"Looks like the result came in just when Karasuno's match started, but I only just heard about it now!"
"But... even though Itachiyama is really strong, it's still a bit hard to believe that Fukurōdani actually lost to them!"
"What was the score?"
"What's the final score?" Kuroo asked quickly.
"Itachiyama 2:1 Fukurōdani!"
"In the final set, both sides pushed past 30 points!"
"In the end, Itachiyama came out on top!"
"Huh? Really?"
Kai said, puzzled,
"The match was that intense? Could it be that Bokuto got shut down?"
"That shouldn't be it!"
"I don't know the exact details," Yamamoto said helplessly.
"I'll have to ask when I see them again!"
"Tomorrow, the Fukurōdani guys should come to watch the center court match too, right?"
"Yeah."
Kuroo nodded, also sounding a bit helpless.
Given this year's brackets, Fukurōdani had a real shot at reaching the final four.
"Man..."
"Even if they had made it to the top four, they would've had to face Itachiyama again in the semis."
"I think Itachiyama had a high chance of winning that."
"So they'd still have to deal with Itachiyama either way..."
"They still wouldn't make it to the finals!"
"But at the very least, the semifinals aren't the same as the quarterfinals! You get to play another match!"
Kuroo scratched his head again.
"Who doesn't want to play on center court?"
"Besides, if Bokuto had been in top form, even against Itachiyama, they might've had a shot!"
"That's true," Yamamoto nodded, recalling Fukurōdani's and Itachiyama's past records.
"But now they're out in the quarterfinals."
"What a pity."
...
While the spectators chatted, the match on the court raged on.
After Inubushi Higashi adjusted their strategy, Kageyama and the others were surprised to find that many of their usual scoring patterns no longer worked.
In the last set, whenever Akira was in the front row, the opposing defense would always focus on him.
Whether the block was effective or not, that was still their approach.
Before the second set started, the rest of Karasuno had been wondering whether Inubushi Higashi would be like other teams and opt not to block Akira at all.
But unexpectedly, they didn't give up on him!
Instead, they adopted a compromise.
They sent only one blocker to deal with Akira, while the other two focused on defending against everyone else.
This shift significantly disrupted the kinds of offensive plays Kageyama usually preferred to set up.
...
Smack!
Sawamura's powerful spike was blocked cleanly by an Inubushi Higashi blocker and slammed back onto Karasuno's side!
"Ugh..."
Kageyama frowned.
"Sorry, Sawamura-san!"
"That point was my fault!"
"Haha! No need for that!"
Daichi chuckled and scratched his head.
"I just didn't adjust properly that time either."
Kageyama turned to glance helplessly at Inubushi Higashi's blockers.
Even though Akira's spikes could still break through, the rest of their attacks were being shut down repeatedly.
It wasn't a critical issue yet.
But the variety in Karasuno's offense had clearly taken a hit.
"Can you keep going?"
Kageyama turned with concern and asked Akira.
He was starting to feel like Karasuno's scoring from here on out would depend almost entirely on Akira's attacks.
"Huh?"
Akira blinked at him.
"Keep going... what?"
"Uh..."
"Forget I asked."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Kageyama realized how dumb the question was.
After all the matches they'd played, no one had ever seen this guy run out of stamina.
Even in that high-frequency showdown with Shiratorizawa, he hadn't shown a hint of fatigue.
...
"Looks like Inubushi Higashi has changed tactics!"
"They're clearly targeting Karasuno's offensive structure!"
Udai Tenma watched the court with interest.
"It's a shame..."
"No matter how much they shift their tactics, the difference in strength isn't something that can be erased so easily."
Akiteru Tsukishima smiled a little sheepishly.
"In other words, after today, my little brother's gonna be in the national top four too."
"I still can't believe it."
"That guy doesn't even like volleyball that much!"
"Is that so?"
Udai glanced in surprise at Tsukishima on the court.
"A guy who doesn't even like volleyball..."
"By the way, their opponent tomorrow is the team from Hyogo Prefecture, right?"
"The one that won the earlier match?"
He seemed to have just remembered something.
"Yeah."