Chapter 50 : Preparations

"Ushijima's Spike?"

"I've heard of this!"

Hearing Akira's words, Sugawara said thoughtfully from the side:

"I heard that his spike is extremely powerful!"

"It is simply difficult for ordinary people to defend against his attack!"

"That's right!" Daichi added. "This is also the impression that most people in the prefecture have of him!"

"A super scoring ace!"

Akira nodded with a smile. "That's right! But when I was playing against others in the arena some time ago, I heard some rumors about Ushijima Wakatoshi!"

"Huh?"

"What rumors?" At this, everyone looked over with curiosity.

"Everyone knows Ushijima Wakatoshi's spiking power, but they've overlooked a crucial detail about him! If you don't pay attention, you will suffer a big loss!"

"Details??"

Hearing his words, Kageyama's eyes couldn't help but light up. After experiencing Akira's countless tactical instructions, he had become very sensitive to this word!

Facing his gaze, Akira said unhurriedly:

"This detail is—Ushijima Wakatoshi is left-handed!"

"Left-handed?"

Hearing Akira's words, Daichi said thoughtfully:

"I once saw a report about Ushijima Wakatoshi! It mentioned this, but I didn't really think much of it."

"That's right!" Akira smiled slightly and continued. "Often, it's these easily overlooked details that are the key to victory or defeat! Ushijima Wakatoshi's dominant hand being different from most players means that his spiking angle, the rotation of the ball, and other factors are different from what we usually encounter! If we're not prepared beforehand... and then add his terrifying spiking power..."

"It's hard to defend against it in the moment!"

Akira's words hit everyone in Karasuno like a thunderclap!

"This…"

"Ushijima's powerful spikes... combined with this never-before-seen angle..."

The thought of facing such spikes unprepared in tomorrow's game made Daichi break into a cold sweat!

"So... what do we do?"

"Should we go ask Ushijima to practice with us?"

Hinata, flustered, blurted out his thoughts.

Hearing his words, Kageyama couldn't help but punch him. "Baka! What are you thinking?! Have you lost your mind?!"

Then, turning his attention to Akira, who was smiling, Kageyama spoke indignantly:

"You always have a plan when you bring up something like this! Spill it already! Stop dragging it out!"

After Kageyama said this, everyone else snapped out of their initial shock and turned their attention to Akira.

"Yeah! Akira, since you mentioned it, you must have a countermeasure!"

Akira nodded with a smile. "That's why I called everyone over!"

As he spoke, they arrived at the volleyball hall.

Akira, walking in front, opened the door and turned back with a confident look. "I can imitate Ushijima Wakatoshi's left-handed spike so that everyone can experience it firsthand..."

"What that ball really looks like!"

"W-what?!"

"Akira, are you also left-handed?" Tanaka asked in shock.

"Why haven't I heard this before?"

"Haha! Of course, I'm not left-handed!" Akira grinned. "But imitating a left-handed spike... isn't that hard for me!"

"What?!"

"You can mimic a left-handed spike??"

Before this season's qualifiers, Akira certainly wouldn't have been able to pull this off.

But after his intense training during the Miyagi Arena tour, his ball control had improved dramatically. Now, mimicking spikes—even left-handed ones—was within his ability.

After hearing Akira's words, everyone in Karasuno stared at him in disbelief.

Although Akira had surprised them plenty of times before…

Being able to imitate a left-handed spike was another level of shocking!

People's dominant hands are vastly different. If someone who normally uses their right hand tries to do something complex with their left, it's almost impossible to match the same level of skill.

Likewise, for a right-handed person to spike a ball with both power and technique using their left…

That should be impossible!

Sugawara spoke up with skepticism. "Akira, it's not that we don't believe you, it's just..."

"Imitating a left-handed spike is a bit much…"

Facing their doubts, Akira just smiled slightly. "Come in and see for yourselves."

He then turned and stepped into the volleyball hall.

Behind him, everyone exchanged looks before following him inside.

"The left-handed spike has two biggest characteristics!" Akira explained, standing before them.

"First, the positioning when blocking the net is different! Normally, when blocking, we jump towards the hitter's right arm. But when facing a left-handed spiker, this habit must change! You have to jump toward his left arm instead!"

"This small difference doesn't require special practice, just awareness during the match!"

"What really needs attention is the second point!"

In the quiet gym, everyone sat on the floor as Akira continued explaining.

"A spike hit with the left hand has a completely different trajectory and spin compared to a right-handed spike! This affects both blocking and receiving. Without adjusting for it, defending against his spikes is nearly impossible!"

"So, we start training now!"

Akira's smile turned serious.

If they waited until after tomorrow's semifinal match to prepare, there wouldn't be enough time!

And practicing during the lunch break would wear them out before the finals.

That's why he had to use tonight's training session to get his teammates accustomed to it!

"Receiving practice starts with Nishinoya!" Akira announced.

As the team's libero, Nishinoya was the key to their defense.

And as someone with a natural instinct for reading the ball, he was the perfect player to start with.

"Alright!" Nishinoya jumped up, eyes blazing with excitement. "Let's do this!"

Everyone gathered around, their doubts now replaced with determination.

If anyone could prepare them for Ushijima… it was Akira.

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5/8✅