55. A Volleyball Match

Before the match started, Izumi whispered to Shouyou and surprised him. What Izumi said was unbelievable as if Izumi was just talking nonsense.

"Are you sure?"

"Yup. You won't know until you try it. You already understand that your quick attacks won't work anymore if your opponent already knows your attack pattern, right? So what's wrong with trying something new?"

"You're right." Shouyou nodded after hearing Izumi's suggestion.

The match started with a serve from Izumi. When he was holding the ball while looking into the court, he kept muttering to himself.

"Keep the maximum limit of strength. Don't use too much power. Controlling strength is the real power."

Izumi took a few steps back and then tossed the ball into the air. After that, he took a stance, dashed forward, and spiked the ball while jumping.

*Bang*

The ball rushed to the opponent's side without anyone being able to respond before the ball bounced off the floor.

Everyone was silent because the speed of Izumi's service ball was too fast.

Meanwhile, Izumi clicked his tongue because he was releasing a little too much power.

"Damn. Whereas if controlling the power in the legs is easier, why not with the hands?"

Daichi walked over to Izumi and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't mind! It's amazing if you can even do a jump serve."

Izumi just nodded. Then the match continued.

The service is performed by the opposing party. Izumi received the ball and then bounced the ball toward Tobio. Tobio quickly tossed the ball toward Shouyou who had already jumped.

But at that moment Izumi realized something that made him frown.

*Bang*

The ball was spiked into an empty space which surprised the opposing team as well as the new coach.

While they were dumbfounded by Shouyou and Tobio's performance, Izumi approached Shouyou and whispered to him.

Shouyou just scratched his head because he forgot what Izumi said.

"At this rate, you will never change. Neither will your team. Try to do it! If you still can't, I will help you as much as I can."

Shouyou put on a serious face. But, because their conversation was too quiet, the others couldn't listen to their conversation.

The match restarted. When Izumi's team got the ball, as usual Shouyou ran to an empty space and then jumped. Tobio sent the ball right at Shouyou's palm as usual, but…

The ball went out of court because Shouyou was late to spike the ball.

"What are you doing, you fool!?" Tobio approached Shouyou in annoyance.

"Ah, sorry. I was too excited to see the top view, and I forgot to spike the ball."

At that moment, Daichi realized what Shouyou wanted to do.

"Are you trying to spike the ball with your eyes open?"

Shouyou nodded, and that irritated Tobio even more.

"You just need to jump into an empty space, and I'll send you a toss as usual. Why are you opening your eyes when you can't spike the ball?"

Shouyou was so annoyed with Tobio's attitude that he snapped at him.

"If that's the case, I won't be able to reach the top! I know what I'm doing! If the opponent gets used to our attack pattern, and if my spike is stopped once, the next one will be stopped as well!"

Due to their bickering, the match was temporarily stopped.

Keishin approached them and asked why they were fighting. Daichi explained to Keishin which made him understand instantly. In essence, Shouyou wanted to improvise, but Tobio refused because their combination was considered quite good.

"Anyway, Hinata, if you can't, don't do it. It's better to obey—" While Tobio was speaking, Izumi suddenly interrupted.

"Obey my orders? You've returned, Kageyama Tobio?"

"Huh?"

Tobio turned his head toward Izumi.

"What did you say?"

"I said you're back, Tobio. Be the dictator on the court like you used to be. The glasses agree with me too." Izumi pointed back with his thumb. And Tsukishima Kei just grimaced because he agreed with what Izumi said. Kei then said.

"You have to obey my orders. Isn't that what got you reserved?"

The situation became so heated that Keishin and Ittetsu came down to intervene. But that didn't stop Izumi from saying.

"Tobio, you underestimate Shouyou. You only think of him as a boy who is agile and able to jump high even though he has no other abilities, right? Have you ever thought about drawing 100% or 120% of Shouyou's ability to score? Why is your senior named Oikawa able to draw 100% of the spikers' abilities? It was because he obeyed the wishes of the spikers and understood their true strength. But you don't. You're just like someone who has determined one's abilities at a glance without seeing any possible development from them."

As soon as Izumi spoke about Oikawa, Tobio fell silent. He wanted to reject what Izumi said, but he couldn't. Not only was Tobio silent, but everyone else was as well.

Keishin then decided to take a 10-minute break to cool off their heads.

Before ten minutes had passed. Izumi turned to Shouyou.

"Shouyou. The ability of a spiker is not only judged by the setter's passes. But the way you make decisions during a duel in the air."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"I mean, a spiker has a few ways to score too."

"Eh?"

"Do you want to know how?"

"Of course I want!"

"Hehe, then just look forward to it. I'll show you."

Shouyo's eyes lit up after hearing Izumi's words. Even though Izumi had just started playing volleyball, Shouyou didn't deny that Izumi was far more talented than him. In addition, he also gave advice that had an impact on Shouyou, so he admitted that Izumi was way better than him.

At that moment, Tobio, who seemed to have calmed down, approached Izumi.

"Izumi, what should I do?"

"Hmm, what do you mean?" Izumi just gave him a smirk.

"I mean, that thing, uh, how do I say? Umm—" Tobio didn't know what to say after Izumi's previous words had pierced his heart.

Izumi said.

"You want to draw 100% of Shouyou's ability?"

Tobio nodded. But then, Izumi continued.

"It's your task to find out. But there's another task for you as a setter. Try to pull out 100% of the other players' abilities on your team. It depends on whether you want to improve the ability of all the players in the team or not."

Tobio pondered what Izumi said. He seemed to have understood what he had to do. But he was still at a stalemate when it came to Shouyou.

When Keishin saw that everything had calmed down, he approached Tobio and talked about something. After that, he decided to continue the match.

When Kei got a good toss from Tobio, he immediately spiked it. Unfortunately, Nishinoya Yuu, who was a reliable libero, received the ball perfectly. The ball bounced toward Koushi, and as a setter, he immediately sent the ball toward Asahi.

He tried to spike the ball as hard as he could. But the spike was blocked by Izumi, then the ball bounced to his court. Shouyou received the ball badly, but the ball still bounced toward Tobio. Izumi called Tobio to give him a toss. Tobio immediately delivered the ball.

However, at that time, there were already two blockers in the way. Izumi certainly didn't flinch. Even though he possessed strength that far surpassed them, he didn't want to let it out and held his strength to the limit of an adult's.

Izumi, who has gotten used to controlling his strength, can target where the ball will be spiked.

*Bang*

Both blockers were unable to stop and caused the ball to bounce far back.

Shouyou immediately approached him and asked excitedly.

"Izumi, was that on purpose?"

Izumi nodded.

"If you open your eyes during a mid-air battle, you will be given three options. One of them is "block out" as I did earlier. So while I was in the air, I saw the fingers of one of the blockers, and then I went for it."

"Whoa, amazing. I want to try that too!"

"There are other options too. Do you want to know?"

"Yes, yes. Tell me!"

Seeing Shouyou who was eager to know, Izumi pulled Shouyou slightly to the sidelines and whispered to him. Then he said.

"Being a person with short stature does not mean that we are completely inferior to tall ones. Got it?"

"Yes. Whoahaha, I can't wait to attack again."

Keishin looked at Izumi and listened a little to what Izumi had to say to Shouyou. Honestly, he was surprised. He felt strange with Izumi because Izumi looked like an experienced player even though in reality it was the opposite. But more importantly, his presence on the team had a positive impact on others. He was also rather grateful to let him join.