Regardless of his subsequent performance, he had indeed been rattled by his own words at the beginning.
This was exactly what everyone from Nohebi wanted to see the most!
So...
Now, all eyes turned to Tanaka again.
"Relentlessly!"
"Target that bald player!!"
"Every serve, every attack!!"
"Send them all his way!"
"Even if his teammates are strong?"
"What we're going to do is isolate him from the rest of Karasuno!!"
"Even if his teammates are basking in applause, drag him into the abyss alone!!"
Daishō's expression remained composed. This was a strategy he had already conceived while still on the court.
"Relentlessly… break him!"
"Force mistakes. Make him feel guilty. Make him blame himself…"
"Let him… fall from the clouds!!"
"We can't beat Karasuno head-on, but if we shatter one of them first, we'll start to see cracks in the rest!"
"When facing a team that's clearly stronger than us…"
"All we can do is break them down, one by one!"
"Yes!!"
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, Karasuno's bench was also discussing Nohebi's tactics.
"Whew! Those jerks sure can talk!"
"During almost all their downtime just now, they wouldn't stop yapping at the net!"
Tanaka grumbled as he slumped onto the bench.
"Haha!"
"Tanaka, you clown!"
Nishinoya laughed and slapped him on the back.
"When you're in the front row, you talk just as much as they do!"
"If you ask me, don't even give them the time of day!"
"Nope! No way!"
Tanaka waved his hand, face lit with excitement.
"The moment I saw their sour expressions, it felt as refreshing as eating iced watermelon!"
"You don't even know, Noya, when I landed that spike just now, Nohebi's second setter looked like he swallowed a dead rat!"
"Hahaha! I'm gonna do it again next round!!"
"You're impossible…"
Nishinoya gave him a helpless smile.
"Tanaka-senpai!"
"In the next set, they'll probably focus their attacks on you."
At that moment, Akira, who had been watching Nohebi from the side, turned and spoke calmly.
"Huh??"
"Why?"
Tanaka wasn't the only one surprised—everyone else looked taken aback too.
"Hahaha…"
Akira scratched the back of his head with a grin.
"Because your last Spike was so outstanding!"
"For the strongest player on a team, isn't it natural for the opponents to target them first?"
"Oh…"
Tanaka froze for a moment.
Then he mumbled:
"So that's… how it is?"
"Everyone thinks I was the standout in the last set?"
He looked at the others, eyes full of hopeful anticipation.
"Ow! Crap!"
Before anyone could answer, Kageyama suddenly clutched his leg and let out a yelp.
It was as if something had pinched him.
He glared sideways at Akira, about to say something—but then noticed everyone was now staring straight at him.
Especially Tanaka, with those wide, expectant eyes.
A shiver ran up Kageyama's spine.
"Hahaha! Of course you were, Tanaka-senpai!"
He forced a smile.
"Your performance just now was absolutely top-notch!"
"Yeah, Tanaka! I was floored by those spikes you landed!"
With Kageyama breaking the silence, the rest of the team chimed in.
"Haha! Tanaka, you were on fire back there!"
"Seriously! Even the commentators mentioned you several times!"
"They said… something like 'he fooled the blockers all by himself!'"
"An all-around offensive threat!"
...
"Ahhh…"
Tanaka stared blankly as the praise washed over him.
"Was I really that good?"
"Even better than we're saying!!"
"And that's why…"
Sugawara clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"As the best player in the last set, it's only natural they'd target you next."
"Don't let them break you!"
"Hahaha!!"
Tanaka burst out laughing and jumped to his feet, pounding his chest.
"Don't worry, everyone!"
"In this world, there is no such thing that can defeat me !"
"I am Ryūnosuke Tanaka who gets stronger and stronger!!"
CREAK!
After a short break, the second set began!
This time, Nohebi stuck to the strategy they'd devised during the break!
BOOM!
Kazuma Numai's powerful jump serve hurtled straight toward Tanaka!
As Nohebi's ace, his offensive spikes were already the most powerful on the team—
And his serve? Just as brutal.
SMACK!
"Sorry!"
Tanaka managed to deflect the ball slightly, but not perfectly.
It didn't matter—Kageyama was already in position beneath the landing spot!
WHAM!
He sent a sharp pass to Akira—who scored cleanly!
Even though Nohebi lost the point, their players didn't look discouraged.
Because even in that one rally, they'd achieved their goal.
That serve had already reached Tanaka.