Chapter 91 Qingcheng 3 I wonder if Hyuga is at Tsunayoshi's house...
Hyuga, perhaps honed at Tsunayoshi's house, is not intimidated by the Guardians who argue at the drop of a hat, unlike the new Aoki member who seems to have appeared out of nowhere.
The opponent's spikes were just like his personality—fierce and aggressive.
"Little Rabies, you did a great job!"
Oikawa Tetsu praised the new contestant with a smile, but the member known as "Little Mad Dog" remained silent. Sawada Tsunayoshi was terrified; the other's expression was all too familiar—arrogant and unruly, as if he might turn and walk away at any moment.
But the other party still didn't leave. The new team member quietly looked at Oikawa Tetsu, then looked away.
Hyuga smacked his lips loudly in Tsuna's ear. Tsuna looked at his childhood friend, who seemed to have gone completely mad, with a puzzled expression. The other boy then whispered in his ear...
"Look, even that obviously delinquent guy knows he can't disobey the setter, sigh~"
Sawada Tsunayoshi chuckled, "But I haven't seen you follow Kageyama that much."
It hit the nail on the head. Hinata looked around and thought, "Kageyama is different. He's my rival."
The arrival of the "Little Mad Dog" added something new to the already well-coordinated playing style of Aoba Josai, making it sharper and even more difficult to defend against.
Another ball veered and hit Tanaka's arm. He stopped abruptly, slowly straightened up, and then began to complain impatiently.
"Why does everyone like to hide new members? It's one thing for Otoko, but even Aoki has hidden one!"
Dong Fengxu reminded the other party, "We also have a super rookie in Wuye, who has no right to talk about Qingcheng."
Tanaka fell silent and went out of his way.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was stunned for a moment before realizing that the "super rookie" was referring to himself. He touched his hair, a little embarrassed, and after thinking for a moment, said...
"Besides me, who switched schools halfway through, Yinju's Lev didn't get to play before because of his poor foundation. So, despite his excellent natural talent, he didn't get to play. I wonder if Qingcheng's new teammates are like me, or if they also have the disadvantage of not being able to play?"
As his words fell, Karasuno's eyes gradually brightened, and Hyuga stood in front of the net.
"Want to make a bet, Kageyama?"
Kageyama didn't ask him what he wanted to bet on, and simply replied, "I bet on the latter."
"Huh? I want to bet on the latter too!" Hinata muttered. "What kind of bet is it if everyone chooses the latter possibility!"
Karasuno's gaze fell on the little mad dog. Let them find out what flaws this guy has.
Kentaro Kyoya felt a chill run down his spine. He jumped up like an animal and cautiously looked around. After searching in vain, he looked back at the volleyball with questions in his mind.
He thought to himself that he was probably mistaken.
Sawada Tsunayoshi watched this scene thoughtfully, seemingly like Hyuga, occasionally revealing a ferocious side.
This time it was Oikawa Tetsu's turn to serve. Sawada Tsunayoshi remembered that Hyuga had said that Kageyama's serve was learned from Oikawa. He was on high alert. Not only him, but Karasuno also looked like he was facing a formidable enemy.
"Bang—!"
It's an enhanced version of Kageyama!
Tsuna looked up, the ball cutting through the air, and Nishiya Yu's eyes sharpened as she quickly moved to the landing point.
"Protect!"
He managed to receive the ball with difficulty, then moved below it, keeping his eyes on the net as the ball landed in his hand.
The pass was a bit rough, but it was enough!
At the net, it's a competition between attackers, but at this moment, it's a contest between him and his senior, Oikawa.
He glanced at the net out of the corner of his eye, and Hyuga was radiating an aura of "Pass it to me, hit that move..."
Kageyama's head was about to explode from Hyuga's urging, but now he also thought it was a good time to use that move.
The crisp sound of the ball hitting the ball with fingertips was almost inaudible amidst the athletes' silent breathing, but Hinata reached mid-air early on, the sound seeming like a reward for himself, even his hair exuding joy.
Oikawa Tetsu had been able to catch them off guard with his quick attack before, even though Hyuga was so fast that his teammates didn't even have time to react. But this time was different; Hyuga had a clear view of the western field of Aoba Castle.
The ball stopped in front of his hand, Hyuga's smile deepened, and with a swing of his arm, the ball flew from one side of the net to the other.
It wasn't a landing point predetermined by Kageyama; rather, it was a suitable landing point that Hyuga himself had considered.
Oikawa Tetsu stood up straight. "I see. These two have evolved again. It's really annoying."
He gritted his teeth, while Iwaizumi remained expressionless.
"If you're unhappy, at least try to hide that excited look on your face."
"It's fake! What is that?!" The spectators from the west of Aoba City were nowhere near as calm as the people on the court, and some who had never watched a volleyball match before were also quick to ask questions.
"What's wrong? Was that shot really that good?"
Longtime viewers started explaining to them how Karasuno and his partner had such amazing chemistry this year, despite not having practiced much.
Having lost points, they naturally wanted to get them back. Aoba Johsai was not to be outdone, with Oikawa Tetsu passing the ball to Kyotani Kentaro one after another.
Sawada Tsunayoshi felt something was off. Although Aoshiro was a player with good skills and powerful spikes, why did they keep passing the ball to him?
This guy has always been the one spiking, and Tsuna is starting to get used to it.
Yuu Nishiya and Tsukishima high-fived, loosened their joints, and left the arena. He exchanged glances with Tsunayoshi Sawada, and the little boss nodded, indicating that he would clean the floor properly from now on.
Sawada Tsunayoshi is not a very proactive person most of the time. For example, right now, he will only rush up when it is his turn to spike or when Kageyama gives him a hint.
Hinata patted him on the shoulder, exasperated, saying that he clearly had so much strength, so why wasn't he willing to use it?
Tsuna smiled and said he would follow orders.
He received an even more disbelieving look from his childhood friend.
A round trip on the court can be over in just over ten seconds, which requires a high level of dynamic vision from the players. However, this is not too difficult for the young leader to learn.
The experience he gained in battle also found a place here. He could observe and understand the enemy's moves, and similarly, he could also see the opponent's every move.
Reborn loves surprise attacks, and Sawada Tsunayoshi, who was always startled by them in middle school, developed a remarkable ability to predict their movements.
And perfect dodging ability.
However, on the field, dodging should be replaced by counter-attacking.
In a split second, Sawada Tsunayoshi lunged forward, the ball nestling securely in his arm. He adjusted the angle and passed it to Kageyama.
"Ah..." The Qingcheng cheerleaders in the stands, who were about to cheer, sighed.
"I thought it would be easier for Karasuno to score when that libero came off the court." A girl nervously curled the strands of hair in front of her.
"It's not that easy," the other girl said, with a more relaxed attitude.
"Kanasano is not like the teams we've played against before. They've recruited a lot of promising young players this year. Take receiving the ball, for example. Apart from the libero, their little number 10 player also keeps the floor spotless."
"Hey? That number 10 is amazing at both spiking and receiving the ball!"
"I don't know what kind of luck Karasuno had. That little setter is one thing, but where did this monster 10 come from? And those two are another thing, but what's with this new backup? I thought 10 was going to handle it."
The girl's face was filled with twisted envy. She had probably started watching volleyball matches a year or two ago and knew quite a bit about them.
The other girl listened, seemingly confused, "So, does that mean a lot of people in Karasuno are good at receiving the ball?"
“Yes, oh.” Her expression twisted even more.
On the other side of the net, Kentaro Kyotani frowned as he watched his ball being caught. His already fierce expression was now so intense it could frighten a child to tears, yet also make them too scared to cry. He clenched his fists, feeling a sense of unease.
So the force applied was stronger.
Sawada Tsunayoshi had been beaten countless times, and had long since developed a body of steel. He went up to catch the ball without even blinking, while several female spectators groaned in pain, as if they were experiencing the same pain.
The ball was so powerful that Tsuna was knocked back a step or two. The huge impact seemed to be about to flip him over, but he kept his footing steady and his arms straight. Despite the impact, his movements did not change at all.
Finally, he calmly passed the ball to Kageyama. This time, Hinata didn't rush out, but instead joined the rest of Karasuno and launched an attack together.
He was hoping the ball would be passed to him. The ball whistled past and flew to Hinata's side, startling Hinata who wondered if he hadn't coordinated properly. He turned around and saw his childhood friend already swinging his hand to spike the ball, returning a powerful shot that went straight towards Kentaro Kyoya.
The libero was anxious to make a save but couldn't get the ball to Jing Gu's side. The opponent looked serious and gritted his teeth as he rushed up to receive the ball, but the ball was so powerful that it deformed the air. He couldn't maintain his arm position, and the ball broke through his left arm and flew out of bounds.
Although Hyuga didn't manage to spike the ball, he was happy that Karasuno scored. He skipped over to give his childhood friend a high-five. When he looked up, Sawada Tsunayoshi extended his palm in response, and he noticed that the other's palm was bright red.
Sawada Tsunayoshi felt so strong that even his own hands went numb. He silently apologized to the Aoki player, knowing that he had used too much force.
But he couldn't do anything about his palms turning red. He used to use his fists or attack directly with flames. He rarely did hand-to-hand combat.
"What are you daydreaming about?" Tsukishima grabbed Hinata by the back of his collar, and the guy was about to run off the field the next second.
Hinata shook his head, his mind clearly elsewhere. "It's nothing."
Tsukishima: ...
But Hinata wasn't thinking about anything; he was simply shocked by his childhood friend's expression when he spiked the ball earlier.
They played ball together when they were kids. Although Tsuna would sometimes calmly receive the ball and seriously consider the situation.
But that's only a minority. More often than not, childhood friends will have very expressive faces, showing their panic and surprise when the ball is spiked or caught.
But things were different just now. Hyuga took a closer look at his childhood friend. Not only had he grown taller, but why did he have such a cold face when he spiked the ball?
How did his adorable childhood friend grow into this cold and aloof guy?!
Sawada Tsunayoshi had no idea how Hyuga was internally criticizing him. When he tried to think calmly, even without entering a death knell state, he was still affected by the battle and remained expressionless.
It's as if this will make my brain work faster.
Hayato Gokudera, clutching his chest, slowly slumped down in the stands, but unwilling to miss even the slightest expression on Tsuna's face, he braced himself against the railing.
"T-Tenth Boss is so handsome!"
Chrome was already quite skilled at this point, and she and Basil never left Sawada Tsunayoshi's side while holding the camera.
It seems that this is indeed the case. Sawada Tsunayoshi targeted Kyoya several more times afterward. The little mad dog's expression had turned ferocious, but Tsunayoshi showed a knowing smile.
Hinata had already been paying attention to his expression, and was startled when she saw him laugh.
"The hidden players in Qingcheng have very bad tempers and don't think much when they play. It seems like they just want to spike the ball, just like Xiao Xiang from elementary school."
Hinata waved her hands repeatedly in refusal, saying, "I'm not as fierce as him!"
"That's not what I meant. It's just that he's too focused on spiking, so he neglects his teammates. In other words, he's too self-centered."
"Of course our Xiao Xiang wouldn't do that. Even if you're thinking about spiking, you'll still observe your teammates' condition."
After talking about the other side, he then stroked his childhood friend's hair, a gesture so practiced that Tsukishima wanted to complain.
Hinata was very receptive to this approach, while Kageyama also noticed that Hinata wasn't keen on cooperating.
"In other words, we can break through from Qingcheng."
An impregnable fortress suddenly revealed a glaring vulnerability, and Karasuno would certainly not let this opportunity pass. The eerie feeling that sent chills down Kyōya's spine returned to his mind once again.
But this time he quickly figured out where the ominous feeling came from. Karasuno had somehow reached a consensus and kept hitting Kyotani with the ball. Kyotani was getting frustrated by the ball being hit and had to endure not being able to spike it.
Even first-time viewers noticed something was wrong.
"Why is Qingcheng's main attacker being targeted all the time? He can't score, so why does Senior Oikawa keep passing the ball to him?"
Longtime viewers were also puzzled, "The previous one was pretty good, why bring on this guy who looks like a delinquent?"
Wu Yang looked at Coach Ruyan sitting on the Qingcheng coaching bench. Even though Qingcheng was now being outmaneuvered by Wu Ye, he didn't seem flustered. He just looked at the field with a deep expression.
"Qingcheng won't let Jinggu leave the stage," he said confidently, listening to the whispers of the audience.
Coach Takeda asked curiously, "I don't understand this part. Why don't you let Kyotani go off the court? Although he can score, he's being suppressed by us a lot right now."
"But Qingcheng wants to change things now. If Jing Gu isn't on the field, it will revert to the old pattern. Although they can still compete with us, we've learned much more than that during this time. Qingcheng's setter is very smart; he must have considered this. So he wants to turn Jing Gu, this double-edged sword, into Qingcheng's sharpest spear."
"When we played against Shiratorizawa before, Coach Irien had the intention of making Oikawa a core player of the team, so he won't go against Oikawa's wishes now."
The coaches below could see everything clearly, and Oikawa Tetsu on the field also knew that something was amiss.
When the ball came back, Qingcheng, the opposite hitter, deliberately stood next to Jing Gu, so he could immediately signal the opponent to move aside.
"I'll do it!"
Before Jing Gu could even process what was happening, he was pushed aside by the receiving pass, and the ball took off again.
The ruthless setter stretched out his hand, "Little mad dog, one more time!"
He had actually asked for another round many times, so many times that even Kyōya, who didn't pay much attention to his teammates, found it strange. But Sawada Tsunayoshi remained calm; he had figured out his own fighting style.
Kentaro Kyōtani thought again, and the ball flew back to the Aoki court. Tetsu Oikawa passed the ball to him again. This time, he finally stopped being immersed in his own world and used his hand to flip the ball around Sawada Tsunayoshi and slam it down.
Dong Fengxu caught the ball in a panic, but didn't handle it well and knocked it onto the Qingcheng court.
Oikawa Tetsu was in a good mood, "A chance ball."
The ball fell close to the white net, Tsukishima paused, and the long tug-of-war finally ended, leading to the first game's technical timeout.
Jing Gu looked at the score, 8:7. Although he spiked the ball many times and made many mistakes, the score was unexpectedly not behind.
This wasn't his fault, but because of these things—his teammates?
Oikawa Toru, sensing the time was right, spread his arms and pushed his teammate off the court. The supporting player behind him trembled with fear.
"I was so scared when I pushed that guy away. I thought he was going to hit me."
The middle blocker comforted him, "Take it easy. Maybe he sees you as still useful, so he's holding back until the game is over before beating you up."
"...Can't you say something nice?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi, clutching his neck, frantically gulped down water from his bottle as soon as he stepped onto the court. "Only the first timeout? It feels like the whole game is already over!"
"Do you still find the competition easy?" Wu Yangxi asked with a smile.
Karasuno is down by one point, just one point. Thinking about how these guys performed on the field, the coach felt gratified but also had mixed feelings. These guys didn't even need his guidance to find a solution. Oh well, he, as the coach, hadn't really played a role.
"The players from Aoba City West have a very good foundation. The strategy we used against their new players was quite good, but it will probably be difficult to be effective in the next step."
Sawada Tsunayoshi and the others realized that Karasuno had been dragged into this situation by Oikawa as a whetstone. Hinata put down his water glass, his tone wistful.
"Why does it feel like our Karasuno is some kind of villain, being treated like a boss?"
Tanaka said, "So what? Villains are fine too. We'll have to see if they have the strength to defeat our boss!"
The coach was still racing against time, saying, "You guys need to play tougher from now on, Sawada, you too, spike more! We have so many offensive options, push forward!"
Feeling a bit guilty about being caught slacking off, Tsuna nodded to indicate that he had heard.
After the technical timeout, Qingcheng returned to the court and served first.
Tanaka cushioned the ball, and Sawada Tsunayoshi ran forward with Hyuga, raising one hand, but he couldn't jump up like Sho did.
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Author's Note: I'll gradually make up for the extra chapters due to the nutrient solution over the next few days.
I plan to finish this book before October; it's already 300,000 words! Victory is just around the corner! [Sprinkling flowers]
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