[72] Grade 11: National Competition
Kita Shinsuke's entry into the game was like an ice cube sinking into boiling water, quickly and effectively suppressing the rapidly declining morale and near-out-of-control anxiety of the starting lineup on the Inarizaki field.
Despite being only a first-year student himself, his calm and composed aura, beyond his years, unexpectedly and profoundly influenced the restless upperclassmen and his peers in the room.
Infected by this powerful and reassuring atmosphere, the third-year setter in Inarizaki Jinchū suddenly exhaled a breath of stale air.
He slapped his cheeks hard, and his usually focused eyes lit up again.
"One goal at a time! Hold onto this point!"
Meanwhile, the ace attacker on the flank, also a third-year student, Inarizaki Ace, took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his earlier sense of defeat.
He twisted his neck, his knuckles cracking slightly, and a burning fighting spirit rekindled in his eyes.
As the captain, how can I be outdone by my juniors, and how can I be the first to show signs of wavering?
He looked at Kita Nobusuke and nodded heavily.
Then Inarizaki Ace looked at Imadegawa on the other side of the net, a fierce smile curving his lips.
"Hey! Stand up straight!" His roar boomed through the somewhat subdued half of the court. "It's only six points! From now on, we'll fight back, point by point! Do you hear me!"
This roar dispelled the last trace of confusion.
Inarizaki Ace was not only inspiring his teammates, but also declaring to his opponents and himself: Inarizaki Ace has not fallen!
The team's morale was stabilized by Kita Shinsuke's calmness, and then completely ignited by his roar full of leadership.
The Inarizaki team's formation changed; they were no longer the disorganized group that had been hit repeatedly, but had instead regrouped with a tenacious spirit of perseverance.
The suffocating feeling in the air hadn't completely disappeared, but it had subtly changed its nature—from a one-sided, crushing defeat to a painful yet more resolute sense of resistance.
Imadegawa stood on the service line, calmly observing all these subtle changes.
He saw the rekindled flame in Inarisaki's eyes, the renewed fighting spirit in Inarisaki's ace, and the burning fighting spirit on the faces of Oshiro, Akagi, and Ojima.
Ah, things are getting complicated.
A thought silently crossed his mind.
Amidst Inarizaki's burning fighting spirit, which reignited like wildfire, Imadegawa's seventh serve ultimately failed to become an ace that directly secured a point.
This time, Akagi, the libero of Inarizaki, let out a long-suppressed roar, and with amazing anticipation and tenacious will, he met the still tricky serve with his arm!
Thump!
With a heavy yet pleasant thud, the ball was steadily lifted, though the arc wasn't perfect, the spin wasn't enough, and the ball was caught out of bounds.
But it was enough to declare one fact: the seemingly invincible myth of serving has been shattered!
"Great pass!"
Even though the ball was caught out of bounds, Ooshiro couldn't salvage the situation.
But Inarizaki Ace's shout was filled with unprecedented excitement.
Undeterred, Imadegawa served his eighth serve. Although the ball was still unpredictable, Inarizaki's receiving formation, supported by the increasingly firm confidence of everyone in Inarizaki, allowed them to receive the ball more calmly and send it to the net!
"Counterattack!" Inarizaki setter shouted, then passed the ball to Inarizaki ace, who had already jumped.
The ace player also showed no mercy, swinging his arm and slamming the ball down in an attempt to turn the tide.
Unfortunately, the Tsurumeikan's tight blocking and defense system was not to be underestimated. The high wall of Aoyagi and Akiyama's double block was erected after the ace spike, blocking this furious counterattack.
The volleyball was blocked back to Inarizaki's half of the court. Although Akagi tried his best to save it, the rebound was too fast and he was unable to organize an effective attack.
"Beep—!"
The referee blew his whistle.
————
Tsurumeikan: Inarizaki
8:0
————
With Heming Hall in the lead, the match entered its first technical timeout.
Despite the still huge point difference, despite Tsurumeikan ultimately taking the point, and despite Inarizaki still not having scored a single point...
But when the Inarizaki players walked toward the bench, their steps were completely different from their bewildered state just moments before.
Their eyes regained their light, their unwillingness to give up, and their fierce determination to fight on even if it meant gritting their teeth.
Their successful return of Imadegawa's serve and their organization of an effective counterattack were a powerful motivator in themselves.
The pause signal was a respite for Tsurumeikan to consolidate their advantage, but for Inarizaki, it was the first horn to sound the charge for a counterattack.
——————
It's still the distant Hyogo Prefecture.
Miya Yu and Miyaji huddled side by side on the sofa in the living room of their home in Hyogo Prefecture, the flickering light from the screen reflecting on their faces.
The television screen was frozen on the scoreboard—
————
Tsurumeikan: Inarizaki
25:14
——
The point difference is extremely glaring.
In the ensuing silence, Gong You clicked his tongue, breaking the stillness in the living room.
He nudged the guy next to him with his elbow and gestured with his chin toward the screen:
"Hey... Aji, did you see that? It was a pretty embarrassing loss..."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "But those guys didn't fight badly either."
This refers not to Tsurumeikan, but to Inarizaki.
Gong Zhi, standing next to him, slowly hummed in agreement.
“Especially those counter-attacking balls,” Miyaji’s voice sounded a little muffled, “their organization was incredibly calm. Even though they were thrown off balance by that ‘miracle serve,’ they were able to regain their composure so quickly and try to break through with a fast break…”
"Right, right!" Miya Yu immediately perked up, as if he wasn't the one who had been frowning at the scoreboard just now. "Although we didn't win this game in the end, that fierceness and ability to adjust... tsk, as expected of Inarisaki."
As a volleyball powerhouse that has dominated Hyogo Prefecture for years, Inarizaki's strength is deeply ingrained in every defense and every counterattack.
This ability to quickly regroup and attempt to break through the opponent's defenses in adversity is precisely why, despite her critical words, Gong Gezi secretly admires it.
With a long-term vision for volleyball, the two, after careful consideration and at the sincere invitation of Coach Kurosu, have decided to both continue their studies at Inarisaki University.
That's why, during this Spring High School National Tournament live broadcast, they didn't even pay attention to the movements of Tsurumeikan, the other venue they had been thinking about. Instead, they followed every live broadcast of Inarizaki's matches closely, analyzing their future teammates' positioning and tactical execution without missing a single moment.
As for Heming Hall's performance—especially that intriguing golden-eyed setter—we can always find the baseline footage later to analyze it more closely. After all, they might meet again on the national stage next year.
The live broadcast on the screen continued. The two stopped talking, tacitly focusing their attention back on the screen.
——————
The second game was still very fast-paced.
As soon as the whistle blew, the volleyball seemed to come alive, rapidly shuttling between the two halves of the court, giving no one a moment to catch their breath.
It was as if the intense, head-to-head atmosphere at the end of the first game had not dissipated during the short break, but instead had been directly brought into a new contest.
The air was scorching, and every breath carried a tense, suffocating feeling. The sounds of shoes rubbing against the floor, the muffled thuds of volleyballs hitting the ground, and the players' short, powerful shouts mingled together.
Taking advantage of their first-set victory, Hemingguan continued their precise, stable, and efficient volleyball style from the start.
Hemingguan's attack does not rely entirely on overwhelming force, but rather is like a combination of punches, with multiple points of attack and every pass containing multiple possible killing opportunities.
Imadegawa calmly distributed the attack points, sometimes using Aoyagi's quick attacks to tear apart Inarisaki's block, and sometimes accurately feeding the ball to Akiyama on the wing to launch an overhand attack against Inarisaki.
Tsurumeikan's defense was equally impenetrable, with accurate anticipation and timely positioning, repeatedly deflecting Inarizaki's seemingly sure spikes and instantly turning them into sharp counterattacks.
However, Inarizaki is no longer the team that was stunned by Imadegawa's consecutive serves at the start of the first game.
Faced with the overwhelming offensive of the Crane Pavilion and their terrifyingly stable defense, they gritted their teeth and fought hard to save time and time again.
Akagi made several diving or side-diving saves to keep the ball almost touching the ground;
Big Ears engaged in an aerial battle with the Crane Pavilion's attackers at the net, trying to find the best opportunity to block his opponent.
As for their offense, Inarizaki clearly learned from their loss in the first game. They abandoned the tedious probing and continued to use their newly honed fast attack system.
Inarizaki's mind also calmed down completely, and his organization became increasingly bold and creative.
He no longer focused on competing with the opposing setter in terms of rhythm and control, but instead began to make fuller use of Inarizaki's own player characteristics.
Especially the quick attack combination between the third-year setter and Da'er – the moment the setter's fingers touched the ball, it instantly found Da'er, who had already jumped up.
The latter took the lead with a clean and decisive back-row attack, slamming the ball hard into the three-meter line of the Heming Hall.
However, the Crane Cry Pavilion responded just as swiftly.
In the next Inarizaki attack, without even much instruction from Imadegawa, Saotome, like a ghostly shadow, precisely blocked the straight path of Oshiro's powerful spike with an almost predictable sidestep.
With a dull "thud," the powerful smash was once again steadily raised and sent in a perfect arc to Imadegawa at the net.
The offensive and defensive transitions were completed in the blink of an eye.
Imaichi didn't need to adjust at all; the ball was already comfortably in his hand.
His gaze swept calmly over the Inarisaki players who were rapidly setting up their defense on the other side of the net. With a flick of his wrist, he didn't choose any point to attack, but instead casually pushed the ball to an open space near the fourth position sideline.
That area should have been Inarisaki's middle blocker Otsuka's defensive zone, but he was currently being distracted by Aoyagi's feint attack. With just a half-step hesitation, the volleyball had already quietly landed.
"Tsk!" Ace clicked his tongue impatiently. The opponent's tricky tactic of targeting the gaps in the defensive lines gave him a familiar sense of unease.
The match continued to progress amidst this high-speed back-and-forth exchange.
The numbers on the scoreboard were jumping wildly as both sides tried to wear down the other at the fastest pace.
Inarizaki scored frequently thanks to the increasingly seamless coordination between the setter and the big ear, as well as the unpredictable running attacks of Oshiro and the ace; while Tsurumeikan relied on Imadegawa's precise distribution and Saotome's impenetrable back row defense to close in step by step.
"Beep—!"
The referee blew his whistle, signaling that the second-chance point by Hemingguan was valid.
The score was 16-10, with Heming Hall leading by six points.
The high-speed racing gears were brought to a halt.
Both teams were panting, sweat dripping from their chins, as they walked toward their respective rest areas.
On Inarizaki's side, the atmosphere was slightly heavy. The third-year setter was frowning and gesturing, talking very quickly with his teammates about the problems from the previous few rounds.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Crane Pavilion, Imadegawa calmly accepted the water bottle handed to him by his teammate, his eyes still composed, as if the sneak attack just now was nothing more than a routine execution.
The first half of the second game was still a dazzling blitzkrieg.
This time, Imadegawa once again firmly grasped the reins of rhythm.
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(Tiredly patting the little ones' paws) What a busy day—I finished this comment just before the deadline and will reply later ww Goodnight!
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