To them, even being compared to a club like Aoba Johsai High from the same starting line was an insult. In the upcoming final, he would completely crush their momentum and destroy them.
As for Aoba Johsai High's strongest generation or whatever it was called, he did not care.
Much less being told to watch out for their ace.
"He's always been like this. You know that, don't you?"
Ōhira shook his head helplessly as he spoke. Asking Wakatoshi Ushijima to be careful of an underclassman, especially when the other side was Aoba Johsai High's ace, was simply unreasonable to Ushijima.
"No matter what kind of opponent we face, all we have to do is tear them apart with absolute strength."
Tsutomu Goshiki shouted loudly. However, before his voice had even faded, Satori Tendō began laughing at him.
"You should wait until you actually have that kind of strength before saying that."
For a moment, everyone around them started teasing him, making Goshiki, who had already been getting worked up, flush red and fall silent, not knowing what to say next.
After that brief round of joking, Shiratorizawa Academy finally arrived on the match court. The team facing them was not very strong.
Basically, every volleyball team that could be called strong had already been completely dealt with by Aoba Johsai High, the team Hank was on. So for Shiratorizawa Academy, this entire path had been completely smooth.
Just like that, they reached the final stage. They only needed to defeat one more team.
Then they would be able to meet Hank in the final, and to them, that was not difficult.
At this moment, roughly a day had passed since Aoba Johsai High defeated Karasuno, and the final match lineup had been completely announced. As expected, their final opponent was Shiratorizawa Academy, the strongest team in Miyagi Prefecture.
For Shiratorizawa Academy, a team that advanced to nationals every year, there was no doubt about their overall strength.
It could even be said that they were very likely to stop the currently surging Aoba Johsai High right outside the gates of Spring High. Anyone who regularly followed the current balance of power in Miyagi Prefecture knew this. Right now, Aoba Johsai High was not the only team in excellent form.
Shiratorizawa Academy had also advanced all the way here without losing. It was impossible to say which of these two teams would win the upcoming match.
"So Shiratorizawa Academy really did make it to the final. I thought maybe a miracle would happen and we wouldn't run into them."
"Looks like I was thinking too much."
When Toru Oikawa saw that Shiratorizawa Academy's name had truly appeared on the final match list, he immediately felt a headache coming on. He was extremely familiar with this team. They could be called the ruler of all Miyagi Prefecture. Compared to them, Aoba Johsai High could hardly be compared at all.
They were a team that advanced to nationals every year. In their team history, they had even once won the national tournament.
There was no doubt that this team currently had the strongest overall strength.
"Shiratorizawa Academy looks like it's giving you a real headache, Oikawa."
"But don't take it too hard. We'll all work with you."
Hajime Iwaizumi patted Oikawa on the shoulder and comforted him. The result of the bracket was already decided. All they had to do now was wait three days until the final began, then play the match. Before that, saying anything was useless.
The final result was what mattered most.
"Looks like someone familiar is back."
Just as Aoba Johsai High's club was thinking about the upcoming match, the upperclassmen still training on the court suddenly began discussing something. In their line of sight, a skinny boy with golden-yellow hair appeared at the entrance. Anyone familiar with him would recognize him.
It was Kentaro Kyotani, who had previously left Aoba Johsai High's club training because he did not get along with the upperclassmen.
It had already been a long time since he had stopped participating in club activities. No one knew why he had returned at a time like this.
"I want to play a match against this guy. If I win, let me play."
After Kyotani entered the club, his eyes did not look at anyone around him. Instead, he walked directly in front of Hank and spoke to him.
His words were full of provocation.
"What the hell? You say we should let you play, so we just let you play? You really are a freak."
"You haven't come to training for so many days, and the moment you show up, you say something like this to us? Don't bother coming back. Hurry up and go back wherever you came from!"
"Exactly. He really doesn't take any of us seriously."
Many people had no pleasant expression at all toward Kyotani. When he left, he had fallen out with many of the upperclassmen. Now, before the final, he actually wanted to play. That was completely ridiculous.
No matter the circumstances, they could not agree to such a request.
"I can agree to your request, but there's no way I'll allow you to join the team casually."
Hank spoke calmly. He did not care about Kyotani's request for a one-on-one. After all, he also needed to find someone to train with and sharpen his touch. If training with Kyotani could bring him an increase in stat points, that would be even better.
Even if it could not, it would still serve as simple practice.
It was better than training here alone.
"Of course."
After hearing Hank agree, Kyotani immediately turned around, picked up a volleyball, and walked to the net, preparing to have a one-on-one match against Hank. The rules of a one-on-one were also very simple.
Because there were only two people on the court, each person had three chances to touch the ball.
One person would complete the receive, set, and spike alone. This kind of format was fairly common in intra-team volleyball training.
"Kyotani came back?"
"And he actually wants to challenge Hank one-on-one. Looks like this guy's temper still hasn't settled down."
Coach Nobuteru Irihata shook his head as he watched Kyotani walk up to the net. As for Kyotani, he knew very clearly that the boy was absolutely a promising talent. Unfortunately, his personality was far too difficult to discipline.
That was why, when Kyotani left back then, he had not paid too much attention to it.
But he had not expected Kyotani to return by himself right before they entered the final. And immediately after coming back, he wanted to challenge Hank one-on-one. It was obvious that his competitive spirit was also extremely strong.
(End of Chapter)
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