Chapter 69: The Call
All the Karasuno members watched the volleyball that had been violently slammed to the floor by Oikawa Toru's serve, bounced twice, then slowly rolled to a stop.
A weight called pressure settled on everyone's shoulders.
"I was hoping to score another two or three points before increasing the power."
"You saw through my second layer trap too early."
Oikawa Toru's face, which had been gloomy just five seconds ago, now wore an ambiguous smile, his eyes gleaming with undisguised cunning.
'Besides being deceived by his eyes, I was also deceived by his expression.'
'This setter from Aoba Johsai is trouble - his dirty tricks are endless.'
'Compared to this guy, Mori and Kageyama's schemes are like elementary school level.'
Even Hyakuzawa Yudai, with his steadfast heart, was having his mentality somewhat shattered by Oikawa Toru's series of attacks. Though his mouth was still forcing a smile, the irritation between his brows was obvious.
It was a bitter smile.
The bitter smile of being completely targeted.
"So this is the Great King?"
Hinata Shoyo was captivated by Oikawa Toru's consecutive serving points, unconsciously murmuring to himself. His mind kept replaying those three serves from Oikawa Toru, yearning for the day he too could deliver such powerful jump serves.
Even the other Karasuno players, including Tanaka Ryunosuke who didn't know what fear was, were struck silent by Oikawa Toru's gorgeous, powerful technique.
They deeply felt that even in the team sport of volleyball, there existed something called the ultimate offensive weapon - the serve.
Without relying on teammates, without needing first or second touches, using only one's own toss, approach, jump, and strike, one could crush an entire team.
Similarly, they deeply felt just how strong Oikawa Toru was - this captain who led Aoba Johsai West, the team that had felt like it was missing something, the person Kageyama Tobio had always looked up to.
In contrast, the Aoba Johsai West side began cheering for Oikawa Toru's consecutive points.
"Well done, Oikawa!"
"Strong as always, you bastard."
"Don't just focus on looking cool, Trashkawa!"
Tweet!
The referee blew the whistle for a timeout. Looking at the Karasuno bench, volleyball advisor Takeda Ittetsu had already made the timeout gesture, and the referee responded quite promptly.
Even as an outsider who had only recently begun learning volleyball knowledge and rules, Coach Takeda could see that Aoba Johsai West, having scored three consecutive points through serves, was now unstoppable.
Although their own team was still leading by one point, if the next ball was also recovered, the momentum of this match would completely shift to Aoba Johsai.
In high school level matches, morale - the collective mental state - was an extremely important factor affecting the game.
It often happened that a team clearly stronger than their opponent would be pressured and ultimately lose by a two-point margin due to morale issues.
"Oh, calling a timeout?"
"He doesn't look much like a coach, but his timeout timing is quite good~"
Oikawa Toru had to stop spinning the volleyball in his hands. With a light toss, he threw it to a nearby teammate responsible for the match, then turned and walked toward the bench area to discuss tactical choices with his teammates.
On Karasuno's side, they gathered together with Sawamura Daichi rallying everyone's spirits.
"It's fine! We're still in the lead!"
"If we can just defend the next ball, we can deploy our offense."
"Kageyama also said that Oikawa is a super offensive setter - his defense definitely won't be as impressive as his serves. Don't let his serves intimidate you!"
"From those last few balls, you could all feel that their captain is a tactical master. This kind of psychological warfare is definitely within his thinking range."
"Pull yourselves together! Defend this ball!"
After speaking, Sawamura Daichi looked around at his other teammates to see if there was anything to add, especially lingering a bit longer when he swept past Ichise Guren.
Because he had high expectations for this underclassman with excellent volleyball technique and thinking. But to his slight disappointment, Ichise Guren was just quietly nodding, agreeing with his thoughts.
He didn't jump out as Daichi had hoped, using his leadership to guide everyone out of danger and successfully defeat their opponents.
But this thought didn't linger long in Sawamura Daichi's mind before he threw it out.
'When did I start having thoughts of depending on others?'
'He's just a middle school graduate. Even if his technique is solid, he probably can't think of a solution right away.'
'There's nothing to be disappointed about. Doing what I should do, fighting for every ball and every point - that's what I should be doing right now!'
Just as Coach Ukai had said, in their short time together, he had already felt the extremely tenacious will in these current third-year students.
And Sawamura Daichi, though not the most steadfast about volleyball among the third-years, was definitely the one most unwilling to give up or surrender in matches.
"Let's go!"
The voices of his teammates coming back to life rang in his ears.
Carrying their rekindled fighting spirit, Sawamura Daichi continued leading his team's little crows back to the court. The match wasn't over yet!
Sawamura Daichi saw that Hyakuzawa Yudai was still hanging his head, earnestly thinking hard about how to break the situation. He didn't rashly exercise his captain's authority to make Hyakuzawa Yudai follow his arrangements.
Instead, he let Hyakuzawa Yudai think and grow on his own.
He believed his teammate wouldn't disappoint him.
After careful observation, Hyakuzawa Yudai positioned himself extremely precisely. For short balls, he could rush forward and get them in time.
For bombardment aimed at his shoulders, he could dodge and still let the serve go out of bounds, thus breaking the opponent's momentum of consecutive serving points.
But how could the Great King, Oikawa Toru, let Hyakuzawa Yudai have his way? On the court, making opponents uncomfortable was his greatest satisfaction.
He seized upon the weakness in receiving coordination due to insufficient practice time and teamwork in Karasuno's lineup. Using his pinpoint ball control ability, he accurately placed the ball in the intersection between Hyakuzawa Yudai and Sawamura Daichi's receiving zones.
This made both players unconsciously slow their steps when they saw the other's approaching figure at the moment of receiving, perfectly missing the timing to receive the ball.
Aoba Johsai scored another point.
The score became 19:19, tied.
But the momentum had completely shifted to Aoba Johsai West.
Although everyone on Karasuno was well aware that their offense would be hard for the opponents to defend against, Oikawa Toru's words rang true.
No matter how strong the attack, if you can't reach the attacking moment, it's just a castle in the air, a rootless duckweed.
Just as gloom descended over their side of the court, Ichise Guren spoke up. He took a deep breath and shouted loudly:
"If you're not satisfied, go back and practice receiving three hundred times! Right now, trust your teammates!"
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