Chapter 35 IH Group Stage Ⅰ Yuihara Kaoru, are you serious...

It’s still the familiar stadium, the familiar smell of rubber.

The IH National High School Volleyball Tournament kicked off successfully.

Of the nearly 80 men's and women's teams from across the country, 40 will be eliminated on the first day.

It seems that you can feel the cruelty and ruthlessness of the game all at once.

If you don't move forward, others will crush your dreams.

The first match was against Furukawa Gakuen, one of the top schools in the country, and the pressure on everyone was palpable.

Hanemio raised his hand again tremblingly: "Ah... I think I need to go to the bathroom."

Teacher Misaki looked at the time helplessly: "Five minutes, go ahead, it's time to start warming up."

Haneo ran away in a panic.

Matsumoto Genon reminded others to check their protective gear and shoelaces, and asked the attackers to wrap their hands with tape.

Furukawa Academy has a 193cm tall secondary attacker who is said to have been a basketball player before being recruited by Furukawa's coach. He is invincible at the net.

This is really difficult for Lihai University.

After the warm-up, the starting players showed off their numbers.

The audience at Rikkai University noticed that the number on the back of Yuihara Kaoru's black team uniform had changed to 5, replacing Hayami Asuka's number.

Senior Hayami knew that she could not keep up with the current team's pace, so she submitted an application to withdraw from the team before the training camp. Today, she is sitting in the stands as a cheerleader, hoping that her junior sisters can create a new miracle.

The recorder has finished checking and the game begins.

Furukawa served and Rikkai had a pretty good rhythm. Matsumoto Genon passed the ball to Aiko Masuda at the second position. Masuda's right-hand spike was blocked by Furukawa.

The 193cm tall outside hitter stood up and smashed the ball along the path of the front row player, landing near the bottom line.

Furukawa excitedly hugged and celebrated.

The game continued, and this time Abe Makoto's serve was still easily resolved. Matsumoto Genkion was optimistic about the situation and passed the ball to Igarashi Harumi at the fourth position.

Igarashi Harumi glanced at the opponent and saw that the blocking player had not yet jumped, so she immediately hit the ball towards the unguarded area in the middle line and scored a point.

Teacher Misaki asked everyone to keep a close eye on the 193cm tall player, so after Matsumoto Gen's serve was received, Abe Shinji moved forward a step and left the backcourt completely to Yuihara Kaoru and Matsumoto Gen's.

Everyone had a clear division of labor in defending against spikes and lobs. In the three rounds of offense and defense, they forced the opponent to pass the ball to the main attacker and gave up the secondary attacker who had a huge advantage.

Then, Abe Makoto took another step back, and with the help of Igarashi Harumi and Masuda Aiko's blocks, he adjusted the main attacker's spike and passed it to Matsumoto Genon.

Yuihara Kaoru had been waiting for this moment for a long time - she stepped back and jumped, raised her right hand high, and slammed the volleyball into the opponent's court.

Rikkai's strategy worked, and the score was gradually narrowed to 15:10. After Yuihara Kaoru scored again with a spike, the opponent's coach finally couldn't help but call a timeout.

Everyone returned to the sidelines, encouraging each other on their good teamwork. Teacher Misaki glanced worriedly at the other team's court and suddenly asked, "Matsumoto, Yuihara, what do you two think?"

Matsumoto Genyin said first: "We can hold on for now. Our current position is very good. The front row has concentrated firepower and the back row has good defense."

Yuihara Kaoru added, "Be careful with the lobs and the gateways, because their secondary attacker is coming up soon."

Misaki then said, "Masuda, after serving, you and Abe will switch positions. From the fifth position, you can use your left hand to hit long diagonal and straight shots. Let's try to maintain our advantage."

Masuda Aiko nodded and moved her left arm.

This is a weapon that has never been seen by outsiders, and it must be used to its full potential.

When the return whistle blew, more than ten people, including the coach and manager, fist-bumped and shouted, "Come on!"

Everyone in the stands started to cheer. Xiangcheng raised both hands and waved at them.

She looked past the students in the front row and saw two old men sitting quietly at the back. When they realized she was watching them, they raised their hands and made a cheering gesture.

Her grandparents came to watch her game.

Then you have to... become stronger.

The match continued. After serving, the opponent placed the tallest player in the middle third position in the front row, forcing her to do something at the net.

The opponent made the first pass, and the second pass pulled the ball quickly. The outside hitter didn't need to jump and directly spiked the ball. The three front row players of Rikkai couldn't keep up with the rhythm. Fortunately, Abe Makoto saved the ball in time.

Yuihara Kaoru jumped in front of Masuda Aiko, successfully luring the opponent to block her diagonal shot. However, Masuda in the back row stretched out her left arm and hit a straight line at the right position amid the exclamations of the audience on the sidelines.

The opponent had no one defending here, and Rikkai scored another point.

The whole audience was shocked.

"That girl... can spike the ball with both hands?"

"What a dark horse! It's just a recommended school, how can it be so strong?"

"It looked like Furukawa hadn't even figured out the situation before his defenses were overwhelmed."

......

Rikkai's teammates were sincerely happy for Masuda.

——Her parents have always wanted their daughter to be like normal people and did not want her to become an "abnormal". Whenever Masuda wanted to use her left hand, they would knock it as a warning.

But now, "outliers" also have their place.

"Thank you everyone!" Masuda Aiko said with tears in her eyes, "Let's keep winning!"

However, the reality is always unpredictable. In less than ten minutes, the score suddenly changed to 21:18, and Rikkai fell behind by three points.

Furukawa, the second main attacker who seldom took shots, suddenly seemed to have observed all of Rikkai's moves clearly, and began to lob the ball crazily behind the second and fourth positions, and when Rikkai retreated, he sent the ball to the gateway.

Teacher Misaki had to call a timeout.

Yuihara Kaoru was the last to leave the field, still staring at the main attacker.

She guessed that the opponent would not be defeated so easily, but she did not expect that there would be someone who could be so like a lurking poisonous snake and hit the target with one strike.

Teacher Misaki commented shrewdly, "Compared to the secondary attacker who doesn't use her brain much, this main attacker is the most difficult to deal with. But by now, they should have all reacted."

"Do you want to... defend?" asked Matsumoto Genon.

Teacher Misaki shook her head. "Giving up the attack is the worst option when facing an opponent like this."

Matsumoto Genyin thought about it carefully: "You mean...back row attack?"

"Yes," Teacher Misaki nodded with satisfaction: "As the president, you are finally no longer obsessed with defense."

"Let's use all the attackers!"

When they went on the court again, Xiangcheng looked at her grandfather again. He made a gesture that only the two of them understood. Xiangcheng replied with "OK" and whispered to a few teammates.

Rikkai gradually regained its rhythm, and Aiko Masuda's spike went straight to the opponent's outside attacker.

The deputy attacker squatted down nervously, but seemed a little clumsy due to her height. While she was hesitating, a pair of hands stretched out from the side to block her. Before she could adjust her posture, the volleyball flew towards Rikkai's court after she caught the ball.

It's the main attacker.

This time, Li Hai seemed to have opened up his Ren and Du meridians, and tried his best to send the ball to 193, causing the opponent to panic and have to ask others to rescue him.

As a result, Furukawa's first pass system was completely paralyzed.

Without a strong attack, Rikkai naturally had the opportunity to counterattack.

In this game of six players against six players, Rikkai won perfectly with a score of 2:0.

During the break, everyone was asking, "How could Xiangcheng so accurately tell that 193's first pass was so poor? He clearly didn't show many flaws in the first game."

Xiangcheng proudly pointed at the old man in the stands and said, "I have the third eye!"

It’s a pity that she didn’t show her new moves to grandpa in the first game.

Teacher Misaki couldn't bear to put more pressure on Haneo, who was still very nervous even though she won the next game, so she simply closed her eyes and allowed them to move freely before the next game.

Xiangcheng naturally wanted to go find his grandparents, so he separated from his teammates who were going to watch other games.

She happily came to the stands and saw that her grandfather had an occupational disease attack and was teaching Mo Mo and Xiao Hei who came to greet her.

Both of their expressions darkened instantly - they had just been criticized by Coach Nekomata.

Xiangcheng slowed down her pace and didn't want to join the criticism meeting led by her grandfather.

At this moment, a bottle of orange-flavored canned Fanta suddenly appeared in front of her. Yukimura followed the hands and saw that Yukimura had walked to her side without her knowing.

"Looking for something?"

Xiangcheng shook her head and whispered, "Let me hide here first!"

Then he took the drink and got behind Yukimura, muttering to himself, "You can't see me, you can't see me."

Then I heard my grandfather's low voice: "Xiao Xiangcheng, what are you doing?"

Ah...how did I get discovered?

Xiangcheng poked his head out from behind Yukimura, smiling awkwardly and saying hello, "What a coincidence, Grandpa and Grandma, and Xiao Hei Momo~"

Xiao Hei and Mo Mo laughed at the same time. Of course, they were the ones who reminded them. After all, it would be better for me to die than for my fellow Taoist to die!

"Come here!" Seeing that his grandfather was about to get angry, Xiangcheng immediately slipped over, stood between the young children, lowered his head and prepared to listen to the lecture.

Yukimura Seiichi rested his chin on one hand and watched the scene with amusement.

The next second, she saw the black-haired boy on her right pat her head familiarly.

He clenched his hands and tried to look away, but his eyes met with Grandma Xiangcheng who was sitting in the last row of seats. He lowered his head and bowed, and Grandma Xiangcheng also leaned forward slightly to return the greeting, then waved to him, motioning him to come over.

Xiangcheng's grandmother asked him to sit on the other side of the aisle and said, "Are you Xiangcheng's friend?"

Yukimura, displaying his excellent upbringing, replied gently and modestly, "Yes, we are classmates and we usually have a good relationship."

In the corridor, Kuroo Tetsuro, who was still listening to Yuige's grandfather explaining the problems in the game, pokes Yuige again, reminding her to go see her grandmother and Yukimura.

Xiangcheng hit back, and the two of them were not willing to be outdone, their movements becoming more and more violent, until the grandfather roared: "Yuhara Xiangcheng, are you listening carefully?"

"Yes..." Xiangcheng stood up straight and tacitly moved closer to Momo, away from the troublesome Kuroo.

Grandma noticed Yukimura's eyes on Kuroo and Mamoru, and smiled, "Those two kids grew up with Kaoru. They all love playing volleyball, just like real siblings."

Growing up together?

Grandma's eyes shone with cunningness: "Classmate, I don't even know your name yet!"

Yukimura came back to his senses: "Oh, sorry, my name is Yukimura Seiichi."

"Yukimura-kun! That's a great name~"