Chapter 89- Block Party Showdown

After scoring, the Fukurodani team made a substitution:

Komi (libero) came out, and Washio stepped in.

"Damn it! That middle blocker is back in the game! This is gonna be trouble!" Ukai warned.

"Is that guy really that good?" Takeda asked.

"Yeah! From the times he's blocked our attacks, you can already tell he's a talented and pretty calm blocker," Ukai analyzed while eyeing Washio.

"So, do you think he might be able to stop Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun's super-quick?" Takeda asked.

"The last one who figured out how to stop that attack was Shiratorizawa's blocker, and it took him a whole set to learn how. I think that Shiratorizawa player was a rare talent at reading the game and people, which is why he beat us so fast… Fukurodani's team will probably need more time, but if I had to say, this blocker's even more consistent than the one from Shiratorizawa," Ukai explained.

"I see," Takeda nodded in agreement. 

Now it was Onaga, the first-year middle blocker, stepping up to serve. He jumped and hit the ball, sending it flying toward Karasuno's court.

"I've got it!" Hinata shouted as he received it, directing the pass to Kageyama.

"Nice receive," Kageyama said, exchanging a quick glance with Asahi, who then started running and jumped for a fast attack combo with Kageyama.

"Here," Washio said in a serious tone as he read the play and directed Akaashi and Konoha to jump with him, forming a triple block with perfect timing right in front of Asahi.

"No way…!" Asahi thought, sensing his quick attack wouldn't work, but he still swung with all his strength.

"THUD!"

Asahi's spike slammed into Washio's hands and bounced back down toward Karasuno's court.

9-8 Karasuno.

"Damn it!" Asahi cursed, clenching his fists.

"It's okay! You'll get it next time!" Sugawara shouted from the bench.

"Let's keep going!" Daichi yelled as he got into receiving position, waiting for Onaga, who served again toward Karasuno's court—this time aiming at Daichi, who handled the receive with ease.

"Nice receive!" Kageyama said as he thought about the next play.

"Tanaka-san!" Kageyama shouted, setting the ball toward Tanaka, who faced the same triple block Asahi had just encountered.

"Take this!" Tanaka yelled as he spiked a cross shot.

"THUD!"

Tanaka's cross attack hit the block again, this time smacking Akaashi's hands, who managed to redirect it down to Karasuno's court.

"They're not scoring!" Nishinoya shouted as he dove, sliding his hand under the ball just in time to keep it up.

"Great effort, Nishinoya-san!" Kageyama said as he got into position for another set, sending it back to Tanaka, who spiked again—only for the ball to hit the block once more, but this time it stayed in Karasuno's possession.

"Damn it! I can't get through that block!" Tanaka complained, frustrated.

"Send it to me!" Hinata shouted from the back of the court.

"All yours!" Kageyama replied, setting it to Hinata, who leapt powerfully and smashed the ball with all his might.

"THUD!"

Hinata's spike hit Fukurodani's block.

"It touched!" Akaashi said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Free ball!" Sarukui shouted as he received it and passed it to Akaashi.

"Set it to me! Let's show 'em how it's done!" Bokuto yelled.

"Alright," Akaashi said as he set the ball to Bokuto, who was still in the back row. Bokuto jumped and spiked it, clipping Kageyama's fingertips in the block and sending the ball flying out of bounds.

"Looks like scoring won't be so easy… we'll need to use the super-quick more," Hinata said to Kageyama.

"I agree," Kageyama replied. 

The game went on, with Karasuno struggling to score and block attacks—especially Bokuto's—but the same went for Fukurodani, who couldn't adapt to Karasuno's super-quick in time and lost the match 25-22.

"We won the first one!" Takeda said excitedly.

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy. Look at them…" Ukai said, glancing at Karasuno's players, who didn't seem satisfied.

"But we won…" Takeda said, confused.

"It's because they know they relied solely on the super-quick to win, and it's only a matter of time before the other team gets used to it and it stops working…" Ukai explained.

"Right! Everyone, let's watch the next match!" Daichi said.

"Yeah!" they all shouted in unison.

"Hey! You're pretty good for a first-year!" Bokuto said, approaching Hinata after finishing his punishment dive on the court.

"You too… your spikes are even better than mine," Hinata said humbly.

"Hehehe, I'm one of Japan's top four aces! Of course I'm good!" Bokuto boasted proudly.

"You just lost, you idiot!" Akaashi said as he walked by, dragging Bokuto by the ear toward

Fukurodani's team.

"Looks like the next match is Nekoma versus Ubugawa," Sugawara observed.

"We already know Nekoma, but I wonder how this other team plays?" Asahi said thoughtfully.

"They're a team focused on serving. All their players train hard on their serves!" Ukai explained.

"Oh, so Hinata should've gone to that school!" Tanaka said, laughing.

"Well, it sounds like an interesting matchup between those two teams…" Hinata said.

"What do you mean?" Daichi asked, looking at Hinata.

"Nekoma's a team specialized in defense, and they're up against a team that uses serves as their main weapon. I wanna see if they can break through Nekoma's defense," Hinata said, grinning eagerly.