Chapter 78-Experience wins

"Ushiwaka, was the toss bad? Would you like it higher?" asked Kageyama, thinking his set might have been the reason Ushiwaka didn't score.

"It was a good toss. Keep it up," said Ushiwaka with a serious face.

After Tsuetate's point, Hoshino served, and the ball was received well this time by Reon, who directed the pass to Kageyama. Kageyama once again set the ball to Ushiwaka, who this time faced a triple block. He tried to spike the ball off the tips of Hinata's fingers, sending it flying to the back of the court.

"Tsk! I still can't stop him!" thought Hinata, looking over his shoulder to see where the ball would land.

"I've got it!" said Hoshino, running and making a backward pass toward the middle of the court. Onigashira ran under it, preparing to set the ball.

"To me!" said Hinata, raising his hand.

"Go for it, kid!" said Onigashira as he set the ball to Hinata in position four. Hinata faced a triple block from Ushiwaka, Kageyama, and Tendo but managed to spike the ball off the side of Tendo's hands, sending it out of bounds.

2-0 Hiromi University

"Hehe, take that, redhead!" teased Hinata.

"Tsk!" grumbled Tendo.

"That was a good spike! You've got talent!" praised Tsuetate.

"Seriously, you jump really high!" observed Onigashira.

"Thanks! Your set was great too," replied Hinata.

Hoshino served again, this time aiming for Yamagata, who managed to receive it.

"Nice receive!" said Kageyama.

"Should I set to someone else?" thought Kageyama as he positioned himself under the ball.

"AGAIN!" shouted Ushiwaka firmly, preparing to jump.

"Got it!" shouted Kageyama as he set the ball to Ushiwaka, who this time spiked it through Hiromi's block, scoring his first point.

2-1 Hiromi University

After Shiratorizawa's point, it was Kageyama's turn to serve. He delivered a powerful serve that flew toward Hiromi's court.

"I've got it!" said Hoshino, receiving the ball without much difficulty.

"Tsk! It seems they're all good at receiving. As expected from such experienced players!" thought Kageyama as he landed.

"Back of the court!" shouted Hoshino, preparing to jump. Onigashira set the ball to him, and Hoshino jumped before the midline. In mid-air, he noticed a triple block but managed to spike the ball to the back of the court, bypassing Reon's arms.

3-1 Hiromi University

The game continued with the university players maintaining their lead against Shiratorizawa until it was Ushiwaka's turn to serve.

"This should be interesting! Let's see how good a future Japanese national team libero is!" thought Hinata as he watched Ushiwaka serve toward Heiwajima.

"Whoa, that was tricky!" said Heiwajima, but he managed to receive it without issues and directed the pass to Onigashira, who set up a quick attack with Sakuragi. Sakuragi spiked the ball over Shiratorizawa's block, scoring another point.

After a few more minutes of play, the game ended 25-18 in favor of Hiromi University.

"That was a good match! There are a lot of talented players here," said Tsuetate, holding a water bottle.

"It was a pleasure playing with you," said Ushiwaka, bowing respectfully.

"Likewise!" said Hinata, bowing as well.

"HOW DO YOU TRAIN? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING VOLLEYBALL? ANY TIPS?" asked Kageyama, firing off questions at Onigashira, who was shrinking back as Kageyama got closer.

"HEY! SHOYO!" shouted Washijo.

"Yes?" asked Hinata.

"Don't forget my offer still stands! If you ever want to join a team that will bring out your full potential!" said Washijo.

"Thank you, sir, but I'm more interested in taking down your team with my friends!" said Hinata, bowing before walking over to Kageyama.

"Do you think Daichi will be mad at us?" asked Hinata.

"Oh no! Has it been that long? We need to hurry!" shouted Kageyama, running toward the exit.

"Thanks, everyone… that was fun!" said Hinata to everyone in the gym as he started running with Kageyama.

"Hey, do you have any idea how we get back?" asked Hinata.

"No! Let's ask someone!" said Kageyama, stopping to catch his breath.

"Hey, sir!" said Hinata, spotting a shopkeeper cleaning his sidewalk.

"Need help, kid?" asked the man.

"Do you know which way Karasuno High School is?" asked Hinata hopefully.

"Hmm… Karasuno, you say?" said the man thoughtfully.

"Yes," confirmed Hinata.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's that way!" said the man, pointing down a street.

"Thank you so much!" said both Hinata and Kageyama in unison before running off.

"I think it's this way. I remember this street," said Hinata as they ran.

"Just keep running!" said Kageyama until they reached the bottom of the hill and heard a voice.

"WHERE WERE YOU TWO?!" shouted Daichi.

"Well, it's a long story," said Hinata, shrugging.

"EVERYONE'S WAITING FOR YOU… WE NEED TO GO!" shouted Daichi, his face still full of anger.

The three of them made their way back to Karasuno and headed straight to the gym, where all the members were sitting and waiting.

"I finally found these two idiots!" said Daichi, pushing them forward.

"What happened to you two?" asked Ukai.

"Do you really want to hear everything?" asked Hinata.

"Of course!" said Sugawara.

"Well, long story short, we got lost, ran into Ushiwaka, who asked us to join a practice match Shiratorizawa was having with some university players. We agreed… I played on the university team, and we crushed Shiratorizawa, with Kageyama playing as their setter since their regular setter couldn't make it!" said Hinata, summarizing quickly and making everyone struggle to keep up.

"Wait, Kageyama played with them?!" asked Tanaka, surprised.

"And you played on the university team? Were they good?" asked Nishinoya, excited.

"Very! They had an amazing libero!" said Hinata.

"LIBERO?!" asked Nishinoya, getting even more excited.

"Let's save the details for later. Takeda-sensei was waiting for these two to arrive to make an announcement," said Ukai.

"Right, now that everyone's here, I'd like to announce that the Tokyo training camp is scheduled to take place in a month. You'll need your parents' permission since you'll be away from home. However, the final exams are right before that, and the supplementary exams are during the week of the training camp…" said Takeda with a somber expression.

"So if any of you fail… you won't be able to participate," said Takeda, making Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Kageyama shudder.