The serve returned to Team Irihata, and Kaedehara Taichi stepped up to the service line.
Since the second day of the training camp, Team Irihata had lost seven consecutive sets.
No one seemed particularly surprised—that was precisely the biggest issue.
Perhaps the coach only wanted to witness their growth, indifferent to the outcomes of wins and losses.
Or maybe, he was hoping that something would finally shift in the final set.
But Kaedehara Taichi understood this much: every player on his team, in every single match, was determined not to lose.
He tossed the ball with one hand and began his approach.
Oikawa Tōru's brow furrowed.
On the backline for Team Washijō were libero Yamagata Hayato, Oikawa Tōru, and Ushijima Wakatoshi—a receiving formation without any weak points.
The moment the ball was struck, Oikawa realized what had been strange.
A jump float…hit with the left hand?!
From Oikawa's perspective, the ball's trajectory and movement looked even more unpredictable than usual.
The serve rocketed along a nearly straight path toward the gap between Yamagata and Oikawa, but as it dropped, it suddenly veered toward Oikawa's side.
Startled, Oikawa reacted instinctively, lunging at the ball.
He barely made contact—just enough to send the ball flying behind him and out of bounds.
"Save it!" Oikawa shouted.
Ushijima sprinted after it and managed to knock the ball back toward the net.
"Impressive!" Futakuchi Kenji's eyes widened. "He managed to disrupt both Oikawa and Ushijima with one serve!"
Kunimi Akira prepared to spike, and Futakuchi jumped to block, with Tendō Satori eyeing him closely from the side.
A power spike was too risky.
Kunimi made his decision instantly and tipped the ball to the back of Team Irihata's court instead.
Iwaizumi Hajime calmly received it.
The ball soared above Shirabu Kenjirō, and in perfect synchronization, the other four players launched into a multi-layered attack.
The rapid-fire sequence threw Team Washijō's blockers into disarray.
In the end, Shirabu chose a quick set to Tendō, executing a perfect one-man time differential play.
[Team Irihata 4 – 2 Team Washijō]
"Damn it, what kind of monster trick has Taichi pulled off now?" Oikawa muttered with a bemused expression.
Back in the prefectural tournament, Oikawa, Kaedehara Taichi, and Kyōtani Kentarō had each possessed serves that posed varying degrees of threat to their opponents.
But on the national stage, powerful serves were a dime a dozen. Among them, only Oikawa's serves had maintained their impact.
It was during that time that Taichi's mind had begun churning with new ideas—ideas now coming to life before Oikawa's eyes.
Taichi's second serve flew into play.
A powerful jump serve—again, with his left hand!
Taichi had tried this serve once during the match against Inarizaki, though it had gone out of bounds.
There was a flash of something almost reminiscent of Ushijima's fearsome power behind the strike.
This time, the target was none other than Ushijima himself.
"Ushiwaka's reception is always reliable," Oikawa thought, letting his guard down.
The ball smacked into Ushijima's arms—and ricocheted out of bounds.
[Team Irihata 5 – 2 Team Washijō]
"Sorry," Ushijima Wakatoshi said, his tone calm but his expression thoughtful.
Only then did Oikawa realize—of everyone at Shiratorizawa, the one least familiar with Ushijima's left-handed serves was…Ushijima himself.
This…was getting interesting.
"No wonder you chose him as Aoba Johsai's ace." Washijō Tanji's sharp eyes locked onto Irihata Nobuteru.
The growth rate of this first-year was terrifying. Meeting him just once a month had been enough to notice the leaps in his development.
But now, under his direct gaze, that evolution was visibly unfolding in real-time.
Kaedehara Taichi stood at the service line, fully aware of how his body felt—perfectly in sync.
But a nagging thought surfaced: a powerful left-handed serve would only catch Ushijima off guard once.
So, for the next serve—
A standard right-handed jump float.
The ball skimmed over the net, plunging sharply at the three-meter line within Washijō's court.
Positioned in the centre of the back row, Oikawa had the largest defensive range to cover. He had no choice but to dive forward for the ball.
He barely managed to bump it up. Kunimi Akira leapt for the spike.
Futakuchi Kenji's block was already closing in.
"Tch, still can't fool them?" Kunimi faked a spike and sent the ball toward the far-left corner instead.
Terushima Yuji jumped, ready to finish the play.
Suddenly, from across the net, a figure darted in like a panther—swift, silent, and deadly.
Before Terushima could react, a pair of large hands smothered the path of his attack.
Tendō Satori's block sent the ball crashing back down at Terushima's feet.
[Team Irihata 6 – 2 Team Washijō]
"What a monster…" Kunimi muttered. He had already known that a direct spike would've led to the same result. Still, Terushima had been far too careless.
A stifling atmosphere hung over Team Washijō. Nothing about the current game hinted that the opposing team had lost seven straight sets.
"Don't worry, next ball!" Oikawa clapped his hands. "Terushima, your body's a little stiff, you know~?"
"Yes, senpai…" Terushima took a deep breath, his tension easing at the sound of Oikawa's voice.
Yamagata Hayato observed the interaction, finding it unfamiliar.
Shiratorizawa rarely faced true adversity, and Ushijima typically led through action rather than words.
Oikawa returned to his position and glanced around with a grin.
"This next point—we can't let them score again!"
"Got it." Ushijima actually responded, his expression calm as ever.
Three consecutive points in his service turn! Taichi could feel the adrenaline surging.
If players like Oikawa Tōru and Miya Atsumu, masters of both jump serves and float serves, were called dual-wielders, then with his additional ambidextrous capability, he had to be—
A right-handed jump serve.
The referee's signal wasn't even necessary—
"Pfft—HAHAHA!" Oikawa burst out laughing, wiping tears from his eyes.
He couldn't believe it. Kaedehara Taichi's trusty right-handed jump serve had sailed clean out of bounds. Even the coaches on both sides struggled to hold back their smiles.
[Team Irihata 6 – 3 Team Washijō]
"Stay calm, stay calm…" Taichi muttered to himself, forcing a composed expression as he returned to his position.
"Don't worry about it," Iwaizumi Hajime reassured him.
"We're in a good spot. Their two toughest servers are done with their rotations—it'll be much harder for them to close the gap now." Shirabu Kenjirō offered praise as well.
"Nice teamwork, Taichi!" Tendō Satori grinned mischievously.
Taichi knew exactly what he meant—each of his serves had disrupted either Oikawa or Ushijima.
And as long as it wasn't Ushijima spiking the ball, Tendō was confident in his blocks.
At least…when luck was on his side.
[T/N] - If you guys want to read 50 Chapters in advance of the current story, you can support me on my . Trust me, it's awesome!
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