Chapter 90-Spike and Sync

The match between Nekoma and Ubugawa was about to end when the Karasuno players watched the match point unfold. Gora jumped and spiked the ball toward Nekoma's court, but Yaku managed to receive it and sent the pass to Kenma, who set it up for Kuroo. Adjusting the timing of his jump, Kuroo broke through Ubugawa's block and scored the point for Nekoma, winning the game 25-19.

"That move's insane!" Asahi said, watching Kuroo's final point and unable to hide how impressed he was.

"This time, Nekoma's defense totally owned Ubugawa's serves!" Sugawara noted.

"Yeah! It was like no matter how hard they tried to shake Nekoma's formation, they just couldn't! Well, at least when the ball didn't go to that silver-haired guy!" Tanaka said.

"But don't underestimate him. That guy might suck at receiving, but when he's attacking, it's like his arm's whipping the ball. He's good!" Hinata pointed out, glancing at Lev, who seemed to be getting scolded by Kenma for some reason.

"Alright, guys, it's our turn again, and now we're up against Shinzen! Let's warm up," Daichi said, clapping his hands.

"Now it's your turn, broccoli head. I really wanna see how you're gonna stop that first-year duo's quick!" Gora said in a laid-back tone.

"Shut up! I don't wanna hear trash talk from a guy who just got wrecked!" Ogano shot back, but in a playful way, as he went to warm up with his team.

"Well, all I know about the Shinzen team is that they love and are pretty good at using combo attacks…" Ukai explained.

"We'll have to stay sharp when reading their moves to block, or we might end up totally lost…" Hinata analyzed, a hand on his chin.

"Well, Hinata just cracked the code. I think if you guys don't mess up the blocking, you'll be fine this match," Ukai declared.

After a few minutes of stretching and warming up, all the players were ready to start the game.

"Let's do this!" Daichi said, lining up the players. They greeted the opposing team and then took their positions on the court.

Kageyama kicked things off, serving toward Shinzen's court, aiming for number eleven, Akatani, who struggled but managed to receive it and send the pass to Shimafu, number six, the glasses-wearing setter. As the ball headed his way, all the Shinzen players started moving in sync.

"Who's the ball going to?" Hinata wondered out loud.

"Here…" Tsukishima replied, jumping toward Ogano, thinking the first ball would go to their main hitter. But the ball left the setter's hands and went to the back of the court for Naguri, who spiked it past the block and scored the first point.

1-0 Shinzen.

"We're gonna need to get used to this…" Hinata said with a grin.

"Tsk… let's go…" Tsukishima muttered, slightly annoyed.

"That's wild! It's like the other team's players were moving as one!" Yachi said, surprised.

"Yeah, that's called a synchronized attack, and it seems to be our opponents' biggest weapon," Kiyoko explained.

After Shinzen's first point, it was Shimafu, the setter, serving toward Karasuno's court.

"It's mine!" Daichi yelled as he received it.

"Nice receive, Daichi-san!" Kageyama praised, getting ready to set.

"Send it my way!" Tanaka shouted, charging forward.

"Got it, Tanaka-san!" Kageyama said, delivering a perfect set to Tanaka, who faced a double block from Shinzen's players.

"Take that!" Tanaka yelled, hitting the side of one blocker's hands and sending the ball out.

1-1 Tie.

"Let's go! I scored!" Tanaka shouted, pumped up.

"Nice one, Ryu!" Nishinoya cheered.

"Might be a bit early to say, but their block doesn't seem as solid as Fukurodani's, even though that one guy's pretty tall…" Takeda observed, eyeing Chigaya.

"Like I said, Takeda-sensei, Shinzen's a good team for us to work on our block-reading weaknesses. If we can handle their combo attacks, we'll win," Ukai said.

"So Fukurodani's probably a good team to train our blocking strength against, to stop their number four," Takeda guessed.

"Exactly. That's why we're here. Winning or losing doesn't really matter—we need to fix our weak spots, and the victories will follow," Ukai explained.

"But I gotta say, that middle blocker looks skilled. He almost reacted to Tanaka's spike…" Ukai warned, his eyes landing on Chigaya, who was gesturing tips to his teammates.

After scoring, Tanaka grabbed the ball and headed to the serving position, smashing it with all his strength toward Kodama, Shinzen's number eight and libero, who received it and sent the pass to the setter. As Shimafu prepared to set, all the Shinzen players moved in sync again. Then Shimafu set the ball to Chigaya, who jumped and faked a spike, letting the ball pass to Ogano instead. Ogano leaped and spiked it past Tsukishima's arms, scoring another point.

2-1 Shinzen.

"Yeah! We scored on them, team!" Ogano cheered, clenching his fist excitedly.

"Damn it! Are we really gonna let this broccoli head score on us like that?" Kageyama grumbled.

"Shut up! What's your deal with my hair?!" Ogano complained.

"Hahaha, it's true! His hair's totally broccoli!" Bokuto laughed from the sidelines, watching the game.

"Hey! Don't act like this is the first time you've heard that nickname!" Ogano snapped, glaring at Bokuto.

"I told you to change that hairstyle, but you never listen…" Chigaya said with a shrug.

"I'm not changing anything, got it?!" Ogano yelled for everyone to hear.