Haikyuu - Chapter 334 (Patreon)

Iizuna chased after the volleyball, and once he had judged where it would come down, he jumped to set it.

He had originally wanted to answer Shirabu with a setter attack of his own, but remembering Sakusa's instructions before the third set, he restrained himself.

Iizuna was near the net, with Sakusa to his left and the two blockers to his right. Seeing the opening, he immediately sent Sakusa a fast, low quick set. Sakusa jumped and launched a quick attack close to the setter.

As Iizuna set the ball, Tendo had already adjusted his position until he was directly across from Sakusa. Sakusa rose into the air, raised his right arm, and drove the volleyball down with a fast, vicious cross-court spike.

Sakusa wasn't in good enough form right now to produce one of those super-sharp cross-court shots, so Tendo didn't hesitate. He sealed the cross-court lane.

"Bang!"

The spike crashed into Tendo's hands. The volleyball spun violently against his block, and Tendo couldn't keep his wrists completely steady. In the end, the ball deflected off his palms and flew into the backcourt.

As the ball went behind them, the rest of Shiratorizawa began their approaches. This time, their intent was obvious. They were setting up a full-team multi-directional attack.

Everyone knew without even looking that Yamagata would get the ball up.

Yamagata rolled forward from the backcourt and managed to receive it.

But Sakusa had put tremendous force and spin on the spike. Tendo's block had been unstable, and Yamagata's receive was affected as well. The first pass was only partially on target.

That wasn't a problem.

Shirabu was there.

He would adjust to the ball and turn it into a usable set.

The moment Yamagata got the ball up, Ushijima quickly backed out for his approach. Reon began retreating as well.

Shirabu glanced across the court in midair, then calmly prepared to set.

Aside from Yamagata, Shiratorizawa's players all began moving. Tendo and Kawanishi ran on opposite sides at the same rhythm, deliberately trying to disrupt Itachiyama's block.

Sure enough, Nishio and Kishimoto were immediately confused.

Everyone was moving at once, and at first glance, they all seemed to be using the same rhythm. That made it extremely difficult to tell who would actually jump and attack.

Their only option was to read Shirabu's setting motion.

But if they looked more carefully, there were actually different rhythms mixed together.

Reon and Ushijima were moving toward positions two and four, spreading the block apart. That was one rhythm.

Tendo and Kawanishi were running ahead of them on another.

Nishio was already sweating from the pressure.

He had no idea who he should block.

Judging from Shirabu's movement, however, Nishio thought the ball would probably travel farther.

If that was true, then the likely options were Ushijima at position four or Reon at position two.

But which one?

That depended entirely on Shirabu.

He could use a back set.

Or he could send a long set across the court.

It was extremely difficult to judge.

While Nishio was still hesitating over whether to jump, Tendo and Kawanishi took off, one from position two and the other from position three.

The moment Shirabu saw that Nishio hadn't jumped, he knew the play was theirs.

Once Kawanishi and Tendo had beaten him into the air, it was already too late for Nishio to recover.

Shirabu released the set in the next instant.

Kawanishi was roughly two body lengths away, with Tendo between them. It was the kind of set that demanded excellent precision.

For Shirabu, that wasn't a problem.

The ball reached Kawanishi's hitting point almost the instant he jumped and swung.

Kawanishi looked at the completely open frontcourt, then at Komori guarding the backcourt, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

It had been a long time since he'd had such a clear view.

His arm whipped forward.

"Bang!"

The volleyball slammed into the floor before anyone could react.

Neither Nishio nor Komori could reach it in time.

"Beep————!"

The referee awarded the point.

"Woohoo!"

Kawanishi clenched a fist and cheered.

That one had felt fantastic.

"Nice set, Shirabu. Watching that made me want to hit one too."

Reon walked over with a smile.

Shirabu was always respectful toward Reon-senpai.

"You're giving me too much credit, Reon-senpai. Everyone coordinated well."

And Shirabu wasn't merely being modest.

Without the entire team's cooperation, Kawanishi never would've had such a clean attack.

Shiratorizawa's side was cheerful.

Itachiyama's side, however, was considerably less so.

Mostly because Nishio was miserable.

He kept replaying the previous attack in his head.

What exactly had happened?

Why had his attention been drawn toward Ushijima when Tendo and Kawanishi had been right in front of him?

Iizuna noticed Nishio standing there alone, looking completely lost in his own thoughts, and walked over.

He didn't really need to comfort him.

Iizuna already knew exactly what Nishio was struggling with.

"What was your first thought during that last play?"

Iizuna asked with a smile.

Nishio frowned as he thought back.

"There were too many people moving. Everything looked messy. I couldn't tell who was going to attack."

Iizuna snapped his fingers.

"There are only so many players on the court."

"It looked crowded because they all started moving at the same time and used similar rhythms. That's what confused you."

"It seemed chaotic because you haven't understood the foundation of the tactic yet."

Nishio's expression suddenly cleared.

"So the real issue is the rhythm?"

Iizuna nodded in satisfaction.

Not bad.

Young minds really did pick things up quickly.

"Exactly. You need to distinguish between a rhythm that can lead into an attack and one that can't."

"Once you understand that, you'll know who you need to block."

Komori walked over while scratching his hair.

He regretted that last point too.

Kawanishi had attacked at the exact moment everyone was still trying to process the formation.

"Ushijima and Reon were moving at one rhythm," Komori explained. "Look at how far they pulled back for their approaches. That meant the ball wasn't going to reach them immediately."

"Most multi-option attacks are built around surprise and getting one clean, decisive attack."

"Kawanishi and Tendo were moving ahead of them at the same rhythm. At first glance, it looked like they were just trying to fool you."

"But the moment they actually jumped, it was already too late for you to block them."

"Understand?"

Komori practically force-fed Nishio the explanation.

Nishio stood there processing it for two seconds.

Then the light returned to his eyes.

"I get it!"

Komori turned his gaze toward Kishimoto.

Now the pressure was on him.

Kishimoto nodded too, indicating that he understood.

Good.

Satisfied, Komori returned to position.

At that moment, the commentator's voice rang through the arena.

"After Itachiyama scored with Doichiro's back-row attack, Kishimoto served! Yamagata received the serve, and Shirabu moved in to set!"

"Ushijima and Reon approached the net. Ushijima jumps! And yes, he's successfully drawn the block!"

"As Ushijima takes off, Shirabu switches to a setter dump!"

"Unfortunately for Shiratorizawa, Komori was watching the frontcourt and managed to keep it alive!"

"Komori's receive gives Iizuna a chance to set. He sends the ball to Sakusa, Sakusa attacks, and Tendo gets a hand on it!"

"Yamagata keeps the deflection alive, and Shiratorizawa launches a full-team multi-directional attack!"

"The set goes to Kawanishi, and Kawanishi scores!"

"Whoa..."

Shoyo Hinata stared at Shiratorizawa with stars in his eyes.

That last play had completely won him over.

"Kageyama, let's learn that!"

"The thing where everyone runs at once and then one person attacks! That was so cool!"

"That's called a full-team multi-directional simultaneous attack."

A laughing voice came from behind them.

Daichi Sawamura walked over with a bag on his shoulder, followed by the rest of Karasuno.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi both stood when they saw them.

"Long time no see, Iwaizumi."

Koshi Sugawara smiled as he shook Iwaizumi's hand.

Ever since one particular practice match, Sugawara and Iwaizumi had somehow ended up getting along surprisingly well. They even occasionally arranged practice matches between their teams.

The two of them were basically their respective teams' diplomats.

Iwaizumi also had a good impression of Sugawara.

As far as he was concerned, Sugawara was an extremely dependable team parent.

Compared with him, Oikawa sometimes looked like a child who had simply grown taller without actually growing up.

Oikawa, on the other hand, had never particularly liked Sugawara.

That constant smile of his looked suspicious.

Oikawa was convinced Sugawara had all kinds of schemes hidden behind it.

Someone like that definitely enjoyed manipulating opponents on the court.

Iwaizumi shook Sugawara's hand and moved aside so the rest of Karasuno could file into the seats behind them.

Only Kageyama and Shoyo Hinata remained where they were.

Sugawara and Daichi sat down beside Shoyo Hinata.

Daichi needed to keep an eye on those two unpredictable idiots so they didn't say something ridiculous and accidentally offend someone.

Sugawara, meanwhile, patiently explained the previous attack to Shoyo Hinata.

"We'll definitely learn that kind of attack later, so don't rush."

"That tactic relies heavily on the whole team's coordination. If even one person's rhythm is off, the entire sequence falls apart."

"It took you and Kageyama more than eight months to really get used to playing together. With an entire team, it'll take time."

Shoyo Hinata finally calmed down.

His eyes, however, remained glued to the court.

Tsukishima had also seen Nishio hesitate at the net when he'd walked over earlier.

He could relate far too well.

That kind of blocking situation was mentally exhausting.

Apparently he'd need to practice more after this.

Tsukishima had no intention of ever looking that lost at the net himself.

With Karasuno and Aobajosai's core players now gathered together, the match below resumed as though it had politely waited for everyone to finish greeting one another.

The point Kawanishi had just scored also rotated him to the service line.

He confidently walked to position one.

After putting away that last attack, Kawanishi felt fantastic.

"Beep————!"

The referee signaled for the serve.

Kawanishi tossed the volleyball up and began his approach.

Komori waited patiently in the backcourt.

Once the ball reached the right height, Kawanishi jumped and struck it with his right hand.

But instead of contacting the center of the volleyball, he hit along its side and drove it forward.

"Bang!"

The ball floated across the court with an unstable trajectory.

One glance was enough to tell that it was a jump float.

The volleyball swayed widely from side to side, making its landing point difficult for Komori to determine.

Once it crossed the net and started drifting toward him, Komori finally narrowed down the general area.

He adjusted his footwork and moved into the predicted landing zone.

Komori had originally planned to receive it with his forearms.

But jump floats could be awkward to handle that way.

To be safe, he decided to take it overhead instead.

The volleyball floated downward.

Komori tracked it carefully, and once it reached the right height, he raised both hands and received it.

"Bang!"

The ball popped back up.

It was still wobbling slightly after Komori's touch, but nothing serious.

Iizuna was already running underneath it.

Meanwhile, Sakusa and Doichiro had begun their approaches.

Nishio kept his attention on Ushijima.

Kishimoto continued moving behind Doichiro.

At a glance, it looked like a staggered attack.

Tendo wasn't going to make that judgment so easily.

Itachiyama had already shown far too many tricks, and Tendo doubted they'd exhausted them all.

There was nothing wrong with being cautious.

Iizuna sent the ball toward the front of the net.

Doichiro and Sakusa were both moving into position.

Doichiro approached from the right.

Sakusa approached from the left.

It looked like a front cross.

By the time the ball reached the point where their paths overlapped, Tendo was certain that this was a crossing attack.

Now he only had to decide who would actually hit.

When the volleyball reached Sakusa's head, Sakusa jumped.

But it was a brief takeoff, almost immediately followed by a landing.

Tendo had been ready to jump with him.

The instant he saw Sakusa's takeoff posture, however, he stopped himself.

That wasn't the posture of someone about to attack.

Before Sakusa had even fully landed, Doichiro jumped right beside him.

By the time Doichiro was airborne, Sakusa was already back on the floor.

Doichiro attacked the ball Sakusa had deliberately left untouched.

Tendo saw Doichiro jump and followed him into the air.

But Tendo already knew he'd lost the timing again.

If he hadn't jumped now, he definitely wouldn't have reached the ball in time.

Still, Tendo wasn't going to simply let the point end.

As Doichiro prepared to hit, Tendo sealed the line.

Doichiro swung his right arm.

"Bang!"

The moment he saw the line closed, Doichiro naturally changed his attack.

He rarely challenged blockers head-on.

Especially Shiratorizawa's blockers.

Seeing Doichiro deliberately avoid the line, a smile appeared at the corner of Tendo's mouth.

He moved his left hand after the ball, pretending to shift his block toward the cross-court lane.

As expected, the moment Doichiro saw that movement, he quickly redirected into a cross-court spike.

But Yamagata had already been waiting near position four.

The instant Doichiro attacked, Yamagata dropped into position and received it.

"Bang!"

The attack was fast.

The receive was just as fast.

The Shiratorizawa players had been together long enough to understand each other almost instinctively.

A single movement or glance from Tendo was usually enough for Yamagata and Shirabu to understand what he intended.

That previous play was a perfect example.

Yamagata had originally been positioned behind Tendo.

Tendo could easily have tried to seal the cross-court lane directly.

Instead, he deliberately closed the line.

Yamagata immediately understood what Tendo was trying to do.