After laughing, Keiji Akaashi explained gently,
"I've heard of Motoki Eiro-senpai too. He used to be very famous. He could use every useful factor on the court to turn a match around from a disadvantage. His mentality and technique are both extremely stable."
"Wow! If Keiji Akaashi rates him that highly, he must be seriously amazing!" Bokuto's mouth fell open. To him, anyone Keiji Akaashi called amazing had to be incredibly strong.
Ryosuke blushed a little. Seeing everyone start talking, he tried to sneak away again, but Keiji Akaashi noticed him. Keiji Akaashi said gently,
"Sorry, Ryosuke. Please continue."
Ryosuke pulled back the foot he had secretly stepped out with and resigned himself to continuing.
"Next are the opposite hitter and the Libero. The opposite hitter is Yuji Nishida. This senior is really incredible. Four years ago, he was selected for the men's national volleyball team roster, then followed the national team all the way to the world stage.
"They placed fourth in the world, and he made the Best Lineup and won Best Opposite. That was a world competition.
"Three years ago, he helped the JTEKT Stings win the V1 League championship and MVP, then was selected for the twelve-man roster for the Tokyo Olympics. Two years ago, they defeated Australia 3 to 1, earning their seventh win and moving up to fourth in the standings."
That long list left everyone stunned.
"S-so amazing!" Yaku's eyes widened. This senior's career record was unbelievably brilliant. If it were him, he would definitely turn all of it into a little booklet and pass it down as a family heirloom.
"Hiss… so they're not actually coming for a practice match. They're coming to smash the place up?"
Komori asked with a raised brow. Sakusa gave him a disgusted roll of the eyes, then shifted farther away from Komori to avoid being infected by his stupidity.
"Sakusa!"
Seeing Sakusa's reaction, Komori was clearly annoyed.
As expected of Sakusa. He really knew how to break Komori's defenses with a single movement.
"There's still one more, right?" Kageyama's attention was focused only on the national team.
Ryosuke nodded, then began telling everyone about the final Libero.
"The last Libero-senpai is Tomohiro Yamamoto. He's been active for many years already. Three years ago, he joined the men's volleyball training roster, so he should be from the same group as Nishida-senpai.
"On May 20 of that same year, he was selected for Japan men's volleyball's seventeen-man roster for the Volleyball Nations League. On June 21, he was selected for Japan men's twelve-man roster for the Tokyo Olympics. On September 3, he successfully made the roster for the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship that September and helped Japan win the silver medal that year."
"Yamamoto-senpai is a Libero truly worthy of respect. He has played through injuries many times in major tournaments, but he still guarded the team's back line. In that match against Country M, he directly lowered the opponent's scoring rate by three points."
"Oh my god…"
Yaku listened in a daze. How was this a Libero? This was clearly a superhero.
Komori also looked full of admiration. At this point, he was no longer nervous about tomorrow's practice match at all. He only wanted tomorrow to come faster so he could ask Yamamoto-senpai for an autograph.
"Then we're finished."
Atsumu Miya lay pale-faced on the chair, his eyes lifeless.
"They're all seniors who've been through national and world-level competition. How are we supposed to play against that?"
Atsumu Miya's words spoke for everyone, but there was nothing they could do. The organizers simply refused to act human.
"It's not like there's absolutely nothing we can do."
Kiryu, who had stayed silent until now, finally spoke.
"They're the national team, and we're the future national team. We're bound to face them sooner or later. Besides, they're no longer as unstoppable as they were back then. Other than Takahashi-senpai, who doesn't have many injuries and is at just the right age,
"the other seniors must be feeling the strain to some degree."
Bokuto shot to his feet and started shouting, cutting Kiryu off.
"Wakatsu, you liar! Those national team players clearly get craftier the older they get. They can make even one kind of spike look completely different every time, and you're saying they're feeling the strain? Weren't we fooled by how they looked last year too? Wakatsu, you're way too innocent!"
Kiryu choked. Had he really just been called innocent by that single-celled Bokuto? He hadn't misheard, right?
Ushijima frowned and said nothing. Hirugami also let out a heavy sigh.
"Alright. No matter what, we still have to play tomorrow's practice match. First, let's decide who's going on court."
After a moment of silence, Ushijima spoke again.
As soon as he said that, some of the more timid people were already preparing to sneak out, but Ushijima pretended not to see them.
Let them do whatever they wanted. People who ran away right before a battle would never stand on the national stage in the end.
"Hosho said anyone can play, but the team we form has to be a new team. Everyone can only play a new position."
Hirugami repeated Hosho's words.
"For example, I'm a middle blocker and Hoshiumi is an outside hitter, so the two of us can simply switch positions."
Hoshiumi nodded repeatedly, looking as if everything Hirugami said was absolutely right.
"Outside hitter and middle blocker are relatively easy positions to adapt to, but what about setter, Libero, and opposite hitter?" Komori asked Ushijima very seriously.
He was a Libero. Did a Libero have to know how to spike on top of receiving? That was way too ridiculous.
"For Libero or opposite hitter, give one of those positions to Ryosuke."
Ushijima spoke. He believed this was the most suitable choice. The middle blockers were not as good at receiving as Ryosuke, and the receivers were not as good at blocking or spiking as Ryosuke. Both positions were tied to the team's defense, so Ryosuke had to take one of them.
"Then I'll take opposite hitter," Keiji Akaashi said, standing up with a smile.
"Keiji Akaashi!"
Bokuto looked at Keiji Akaashi with admiration. Wow, Keiji Akaashi stepping forward in a crisis was way too cool!
"My serve receive may not be as good as Komori-senpai's or everyone else's, but I'm more than capable of handling the opposite hitter position."
Keiji Akaashi looked completely serious.
"Then let Ryosuke be the Libero," Kiryu also said.
The others might not have seen Ryosuke receive before, but everyone who had trained together at the Fukurōdani camp knew it very well. This kid's receiving was genuinely good.
"Then what about the two setters and us?" Yaku, who was standing beside Komori, suddenly asked.
Komori shrugged.
"Don't include me. I can play setter. Iizuna used to teach me specifically."
"I can play middle blocker. I used to be a middle blocker," Atsumu Miya said with a blink.
Now the situation became awkward. Kageyama and Yaku had no positions left.
Kageyama was indeed a genius, but he only knew how to set. He could spike, sure, but if he had to play a full set as a middle blocker, that really would not work. He did not have Hinata's talent or reach either.
Yaku had it even worse. He had been a Libero ever since elementary school. The great Libero Yaku's blocking was truly a complete mess. Now he could not even get the opposite hitter position. Yaku's setting was passable, but only if he stood still. If he had to move around, no one could say where the ball would end up.
Yaku sighed. He had always believed that as long as he focused on developing one area, that would be enough. He had not expected this training camp to give him new ideas. Yaku decided he would train his other skills too and strive to become a well-rounded player.
"Now that we've figured out who's playing which position, next we should decide who starts tomorrow."
Hirugami made the suggestion, and everyone agreed. So a group of grown men happily chatted in Kiryu's room for two or three hours.
When they went in, their faces were glowing. When they came out, every single one of them had dark circles under their eyes.
Fortunately, no one saw this scene. Otherwise, by tomorrow, this incident might have spread everywhere.
Something like, "Shocking! Why did all these top players secretly gather in the middle of the night? Was it a distortion of human nature, or the collapse of morality?"
But as long as no one saw it, that was fine. Even Hibarida, who usually loved sneaking peeks, was currently being scolded by his superior.
... On the other side, Hinata was training with everyone. He had just sat down on a chair to rest when he received a message from Ryosuke, then shot to his feet with a "swoosh."
"Whoa! Ryosuke and Ushijima-senpai are playing a practice match against the national team tomorrow!"
Oh my god! A practice match against the national team! Kageyama, you've really made it! Ugh, I'm so jealous! Hinata's tears had already formed an ocean in his heart.
His shout was loud enough that everyone's attention immediately shifted over.
"Seriously?"
"The national team?!"
In just a few seconds, everyone had surrounded Hinata so tightly that not even water could get through.
Oikawa looked at the wall of tall people blocking him from the front. No matter how he tried, he could not squeeze in, and he was so angry his voice cracked.
"I want to see too! Let the great Oikawa in!"
But no one noticed Oikawa's cries.
Reon said to Hinata, "Can I see the message Ryosuke sent?"
Hinata looked up in confusion.
"Reon-senpai, didn't you check your own phone? Ryosuke should've sent it to everyone."
Reon slapped his own forehead. Seriously, training had scrambled his brain. For something this big, Ryosuke and Ushijima would definitely tell him. He ran back to the locker room and started searching for his phone.
Oikawa was also looking for his phone, then stomped his foot in frustration.
"Damn it! Why didn't anyone send it to me?!"
Tsutomu Goshiki could not even be bothered to get his phone. He squeezed in beside Hinata and looked with him.
"So amazing… the national team…"
In Tsutomu Goshiki's mind, the image had already formed. Everyone standing on the court in national team uniforms. That would be way too cool.
Reon frowned with worry. All he knew now was that the situation did not look good. The people coming were all top-tier names. How were Ushijima and the others supposed to play against them? Were they going to get wiped out completely?
"Not just anyone gets to play a match against the national team, you know. Besides, I bet little Ryosuke and the others are already annoyed to death. How many days has this training camp even been going? And they've already arranged the national team for them."
Oikawa, who had finally finished reading the message, spoke with a pout. He did not say much, but he was also a little excited. He wanted to see little Ushiwaka getting beaten.
"The national team came once during National Youth last year too," Kawanishi said, not understanding why everyone was making such a fuss.
Ushijima had clearly told everyone about it when he came back last year.
Yamagata rolled his eyes.
"You idiot. Everyone isn't worried about Ushijima-senpai. They're worried about Ryosuke."
"Oh, right!" Kawanishi suddenly understood. This was Ryosuke's first time going. What if he got crushed, then never recovered?
"What should we do? Should we tell Coach?"
"Coach Washijō probably knew ages ago. His information channels are much faster than ours."
Eita Semi lazily draped himself over Shirabu, speaking like a dead man. Shirabu shook his shoulder in disgust.
"Alright, relax. Anyone who can make it to National Youth isn't easy to deal with. Do you want me to count how many geniuses went this time?"
Tendo's words instantly woke everyone up.
"Right, Ushijima-senpai and Bokuto-senpai are there too," Hinata said, barely managing to feel relieved.
He hoped that guy Kageyama would take good care of Ryosuke too.
"This is actually a good thing."
The advisor teacher had been secretly listening ever since Hinata shouted that line, and only now did he step forward to speak.
"Hello, advisor teacher!" everyone said, bowing one after another.
The advisor teacher waved his hand.
"Leaving aside what the match result might be, as far as I know, this year's National Youth lineup is extremely strong. The ones who went are all geniuses from all over the country.
"Wakatsu Kiryu, Bokuto, Ushijima, Sakusa, and Hirugami…
"It's really hard to say who will win or lose."
"Besides, they're the national team, but Ryosuke and Ushijima are also future members of the national team. Those people are their seniors. They won't go too hard on them. It's very likely that they're there to choose suitable successors."
Those words instantly enlightened everyone.
Reon let out a breath of relief. With the advisor teacher saying that, it was enough. At least he would not have to keep worrying about them.
Oikawa's expression twisted with envy. He wanted to go to National Youth too! Just how ridiculously lucky were these people? Damn it!
"Alright, stop crowding around here. Hurry up and clean the gym, then go back. Any later than this, and none of you will be able to get up tomorrow."
The advisor teacher smiled as he drove them off.
Only then did everyone finally scatter.
By the time they finished cleaning the gym, it was already completely dark outside. Even the stars in the sky were visible.
Hinata stretched and walked off together with the Shiratorizawa group.
As Reon walked, he suddenly noticed that a strange person had blended into their group. He turned back and saw Hinata's eye-catching orange hair, then spoke with a headache.
"Hinata, the school gate is over there. I don't think this is the way home for you."
Hinata froze.
"I'm not going home. I'm going back to the dorm."
"What dorm?"
Now it was Reon's turn to be confused. What dorm? He had personally arranged all the dorms for the entire training camp. How did he not remember arranging one for Hinata too?
Oh no. He let it slip.
Hinata's big eyes darted around wildly, but he refused to speak.
After a long while, he finally lost under Reon's stare.
Sorry, Ryosuke!
He stammered,
"It's Ryosuke's dorm."
"Hm?"
"What?"
Tendo and Tsutomu Goshiki, who had unexpectedly overheard that, also turned back, successfully drawing everyone's attention.
"I didn't hear that wrong, did I? Ryosuke's dorm?" Tendo repeated.
Then everyone looked at one another.
Reon was completely confused and urged Hinata to explain what was going on.
"It's Ryosuke's dorm. When he left, he was worried I wouldn't have anywhere to stay, so he specifically left me the dorm key."
Hinata felt unbelievably guilty. From their tone, it seemed like none of them knew Ryosuke had a dorm.
"Take us to have a look," Eita Semi said with a grin, slinging an arm around Hinata's shoulders and walking forward.
Everyone exchanged glances, then followed.
There was no other reason. They were just genuinely curious.
***
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