[86] Grade 11: Spring National High School Competition
First ball, second ball, third ball...
Jin Chuchuan calmly counted the days in his mind.
The score of 12:1 on the sidelines was converted into another number in his mind.
—The ball is now in its seventh place.
Imaichi Kawa lowered his eyes, his long, thick white eyelashes concealing his golden eyes, which always shone brightly in the light.
He casually rotated his wrist twice.
—This was also his seventh consecutive serve to score.
The undercover supervisor of the Fukutani Road called a halt.
The players from Owl Valley formed a circle, with Coach Anro standing in the center, probably saying something encouraging or inspiring.
I'm not very interested in leaving Sichuan now.
Little Chubby Bird wasn't very interested either.
He no longer occasionally took advantage of his unique ability to be seen only by Imadegawa, like he used to, to sneak up next to the opposing team members and listen to how they planned their tactics during timeouts.
Given this disparity in scores, the supervisors from each school will basically be saying the same things over and over again.
Little Chubby was tired of hearing either warm words of comfort or stern reprimands.
Imaichi Kawakami had occasionally listened to Principal Kotori's broadcasts, but to be honest, he didn't care much about them.
He only cared about the specific fluctuations in the opposing players' condition after the timeout ended, influenced by the coaches' words.
The coaches are very familiar with their players' situations, and usually, with their positive reassurance or serious guidance, the players' performance can improve slightly.
However, the extent of this recovery depends on the score difference that Heming Hall scores against the opponent. The larger the score difference, the smaller the recovery will be.
Given the current state of Xiaogu, the probability of a significant rebound is not high.
At this point, Fukutani didn't have a good hand like Kita Shinsuke or Ushijima Wakatoshi, who were rational or calm enough.
Ace has a childlike, easily discouraged nature.
The characters in the story with names and surnames are all first-year students. Even after a year of training, they don't have the superior mindset of their seniors.
What's even more interesting is that none of the senior regulars in Fukutani have a particularly good mentality.
In particular, the third-year setter, who is another core player of Fukutani, showed a passive attitude no less than that of Bokuto in the match against Imadegawa.
Perhaps in a few months, when the calm and collected Kyoji Akaashi, the setter for Fukutani, who is completely focused on Fukutani's ace, comes online, Fukutani's condition might be even better.
Unfortunately, at this time, Akaashi Kyoji was still diligently studying as a third-year junior high school student at Todoroki Middle School.
Now, Chu Chuan thought with a touch of wicked humor.
However, since the IH national record for consecutive service points has already been broken once—
Let's break Spring High's national consecutive serve scoring streak just like that.
Anyway...
Now, as I leave Sichuan, I slowly begin to look up.
His gaze calmly swept over the backs of his teammates and turned to the other side of the net.
—It seems that Xiaogu has no chance to turn things around now.
......
The sound of the scoreboard flipping over became increasingly rapid.
13:1、<(olTm)br>
14:1
15:1
16:1...
The numbers below the Crane Cry Pavilion jumped relentlessly, widening the gap into an irreparable chasm.
Dazzling serves and fearless saves alternated rapidly on the court.
Konichi's serve remains unpredictable, sometimes like a sharp arrow piercing the corner precisely, and sometimes like a falling leaf drifting erratically.
Owl Valley's defense was like a lone boat tossed about in a storm, giving it its all with every leap and roll.
But just as their fingertips were about to touch the ball, or after a powerful push, they would watch helplessly as that afterimage crashed to the ground again.
Until the second technical pause was initiated.
The color had completely drained from the faces of the Xiaogu team members.
Wooden Rabbit was panting heavily, its hands supporting its knees.
Konoha stared blankly at the scoreboard.
Xiao Jian even staggered back half a step after the whistle blew.
There were no long rallies in this game, or rather, apart from the first 7 points, Shirotani had no chance to pull off long rallies in Imadegawa's service games.
But they looked as exhausted as if they had played half a long rally.
All I could see was emptiness.
......
"It's really hopeless."
Taihei shook his head reluctantly.
"That's a 15-point difference!!!"
Yamagata was also somewhat shaken, as he, as a libero, could better understand the pressure on the players receiving serves in the court.
"And in such a crucial third game..."
With drooping eyelids, Semi reluctantly said, "In this situation, even if Imadegawa twists his ankle on the field and gets off, Fukutani can't save him."
He felt awkward every time Imadegawa's name was mentioned.
IH's targeted attacks by Imadegawa did leave a slight shadow on him; as a setter who should be in control of the entire game, he ended up as someone else's pawn...
—It's really awkward, okay?
Especially when reviewing the match where Shiratorizawa lost after returning to school, Semi was almost driven to the brink of despair and turned into a villain on the spot.
Later, because the Tsurumeikan group participated in the National Sports Festival, Coach Washi Takumi specially collected the videotapes, and the more Semi studied them, the more depressed he became.
Imadegawa usually relies on controlling the tempo and randomly pressuring the attacker or applying overall pressure when playing against others. Only when playing against Shiratorizawa was he consistently targeting him.
Only him!
Only him, Eita Seti!!
Only Eita Semi was targeted by Imadegawa alone!
The detestable Imadegawa—
He, Eita Semi, is sworn enemies with this guy!
Tian Tong pinched his chin with two fingers and added with a smile, "Unless everyone in Heming Pavilion gets sick and forfeits the match, Xiao Gu has no chance of winning."
"We can get ready to congratulate Xiaoxihe and the others on winning their second national championship!" Tiantong said casually.
Ushijima nodded silently.
He was only familiar with the rest of the people in Owl Valley, but as someone who had fought against Bokuto long ago, he had a fairly good understanding of Bokuto's situation.
After all, Ushijima was one of the opponents who had driven Bokuto to the brink of collapse during their junior high school years.
Meanwhile, sitting in the stands, Ushijima clearly saw those familiar, unstable traits in Bokuto being gradually amplified under the suppression of Tsurumeikan.
—Wooden Rabbit is not yet a strong one.
No one could discern the true thoughts hidden beneath Ushijima Wakatoshi's composed demeanor.
Ushijima gave Imadekawa a serious look.
After two short training sessions with the national youth team, he still really liked Imadekawa's ball control.
This person just can't come to Shiratorizawa.
Imadegawa has his own team. Having taken control of the Tsurumeikan volleyball club since his first year, it's impossible for him to transfer to the unfamiliar Miyagi Prefecture.
Ushijima Wakatoshi also has his own team; he can't possibly abandon Shiratorizawa.
So we can only wait for the national youth team to hold more training camps and practice more with Imagawa.
......
Not only Shiratorizawa, but also many schools such as Tomi, Otokoma, and Itayama on the sidelines have made a definitive judgment on this game.
Iizuna unconsciously recalled the profound judgment made by the free agent senior before the game began, and was particularly shocked.
Although he had prepared himself mentally based on his senior's prediction, he still did not expect that the score difference in this game of Heming Hall would be so huge.
Even in the top few games of the national spring high school tournament, there has never been such an outrageous point difference.
At that time, the top schools had not yet faced off against each other; it was a competition between strong and weak schools.
But in the first few games this year, the score difference did not exceed fifteen points... No, even in the first few games of previous spring high school national competitions, it was rare to see such a huge score gap.
—This is the final of the national competition.
It wasn't a group stage match in a regional qualifier, nor was it just an ordinary practice match between a strong school and a weak school.
This kind of score can happen...
—Isn't that a bit too unbelievable?
Moreover, they have witnessed the strength of Xiaogu.
As one of the four strongest volleyball schools in Tokyo, Itayama, Tomi, and Otokoma are well aware of Fukutani's overall strength.
Having defeated Itayama in the national tournament at the end of the school year and advanced to the finals, the abilities of the first-year students newly recruited by Fukutani this year should not be underestimated.
However, this group of Ootori's regular players were completely outmatched by Tsurumeikan in this game, and the scene was nothing short of a complete rout...
Everyone fell completely silent.
The resentment that had been lingering in the hearts of Hu Mei and the others suddenly dissipated considerably.
Their resentment stemmed from the fact that they had spent a lot of time studying the tactics of the Crane Cry Pavilion and believed they were fully prepared, only to be overwhelmingly defeated in a head-on confrontation.
The feeling of meticulously planned yet utterly defeated is more unbearable than a simple failure.
But now, witnessing firsthand how even one of Tokyo's top tycoons, Furuya, has been beaten so badly...
—The other one among these top-tier figures refers to the unshakeable Jinga Mountain. The Tomi and the others knew perfectly well that while they might be able to contend with Otoko, they didn't yet possess the strength to challenge Jinga Mountain and Owl Valley.
...Tomi simply couldn't believe that Fukutani wouldn't have studied this year's IH national champion, Tsurumeikan.
Therefore, excuses such as underestimating the opponent and losing points are impossible.
Therefore, they easily came to the conclusion.
It's not that they didn't work hard enough, it's just that the level of skill on the Heming Hall stage is terrifyingly high.
"Let's go back... and practice some more."
Finally, someone from Hu Mei's team quietly said this.
There were no more complaints, no more resentment, only a firm resolve that settled after recognizing reality.
......
At the same time, the atmosphere in the audience was more straightforward, and the audience's thoughts were more direct and simple.
The shocking score difference on the scoreboard plunged the Akatsuya stands into an eerie silence—even the most loyal Akatsuya supporters lowered their waving flags, and the last glimmer of hope in their eyes was completely extinguished.
— Fukutani's performance in these two games declined too quickly and too abruptly, which is simply incomprehensible.
This precipitous defeat even makes one wonder: was the intense, back-and-forth battle in the first game, where both sides were evenly matched, simply a case of collective memory loss?
Meanwhile, the supporters of Heming Pavilion stood tall and proud, their eyes burning with fervent anticipation. Every breath they took was filled with barely suppressed excitement.
Furthermore, the shock of reality is being transformed into a virtual carnival under the live broadcast on television.
Posts celebrating Heming Hall's victory in advance sprang up like mushrooms after rain on online forums.
—This game wasn't even in its final stages; it was still during the second technical timeout.
But at this very moment, a consensus is spreading from the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium to all parts of the country.
The real sports arena and the virtual network together paint a picture—
The new kings are ascending their thrones with undisputed authority.
————————!!————————
(Sniffing claws—) I'll make up for the previous chapter as an extra update during the National Day holiday. I don't have time today, I'm rushing to catch the high-speed train after get off work. I was thinking of staying up late tonight to write, but I couldn't manage it.
I'll probably finish Owl Valley in two chapters at most, and I definitely won't write any more. This whole national project has almost exhausted me.
After that, I'll write some daily life entries to transition into the second year of high school (IH), but I'm still hesitating whether to write the daily life entries in the second year or after the spring semester of the first year...
I feel like it would be better to put it in the second year of high school, but I don't have any inspiration for everyday life right now, so I'll see how it goes. But if it's the second year of high school, maybe I can give Rintaro and the others a shout-out? Inarizaki has a geographical advantage, Miyagi is a bit far away, I really want to write about Shoyo and Oikawa, but I haven't had the chance.
So how exactly can Oikawa get into the second-year high school training camp? —Tsuru, please give me some inspiration on this! —(wish)
Because of my unlucky period, I missed a whole month of work in September (so sad). If only I hadn't taken my medication that day and hadn't been so sleepy, and had managed to write a little something, or if I had saved up some drafts beforehand (so sad).
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