Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 429: An Unexpected Gain (Double-Length)
"Beep! Timeout requested by Team Japan."
"They were already struggling against the American spikers, and now the setter's offence is just as dangerous as theirs…"
"How are they supposed to handle the rest of this match?"
"Is this really the time to hang your head? They're only two points behind—get it together and turn the game around!"
-----
"Beep! Team Japan substitution."
"Hoshiumi Kōrai OUT, Miya Osamu IN."
"Sakusa Kiyoomi OUT, Sarukui Fūto IN."
"Hirugami Sachirō OUT, Kai Suzuharu IN."
The American players glanced toward Team Japan. Just like they had done in the first set, Japan had swapped out three players in one go.
One of them looked nearly identical to their current setter. The other two were clearly rookies—one of them was even visibly trembling.
"Are these their secret weapons?" Thomas Jaeschke asked with a hint of amusement.
Torey DeFalco pointed toward the stands and replied in a flat tone, "Obviously not. Just look at the crowd's reaction."
No wonder Torey had picked up on it—disbelieving gasps and sceptical mutters rippled along the sidelines.
"Are they giving up the second set?"
"Who the heck are those two? Are they even close to Sakusa and Hirugami's level?"
"What's the point of subbing in first-years now? They're only down by two—just push forward with the main lineup!"
Even though the American team couldn't understand the language, the intensity of the audience's emotion spoke volumes.
They were reminded of their earlier thoughts—Japan was stronger than they had initially expected. But if the Americans simply took things a bit more seriously with their starters, it still didn't seem like it would make much of a difference.
-----
The timeout ended. The match resumed.
Aaron Russell's expression didn't change. To him, winning was simply a given.
BOOM!!!
Aaron Russell launched his fourth serve.
Smack!
Kaedehara Taichi received it cleanly. Miya Osamu jumped from the back row to set.
"Averill—!" Micah Christenson suddenly shouted.
Whoosh!—
Boom!!!
Thud!
Miya Osamu dropped down from the net.
A lightning-quick attack—the twin version. Point scored!
[Japan 5 – 6 USA]
Taylor Averill's block had once again come just a step too late.
"Sorry…" he muttered sheepishly. He'd only just let his guard down, and Japan hit him with that?
"It's fine," Micah replied calmly.
The fact that more than one attacker could execute this kind of "negative-tempo" quick set was a surprise—even to him.
Was this Japan's regular tactic? Micah wondered, making a mental note.
Serve rotation—Japan's turn to serve.
They'd waited a long time for this moment. They'd finally broken serve.
Aone Takanobu delivered a powerful jump serve. Aaron Russell received it without a hitch.
"This guy's serve probably hits a hundred kilometers per hour too. Japan's serves are no joke."
Micah moved to cover and set the ball.
Seeing him rotate to the back to set, the Japanese players collectively felt a sense of relief.
Whoosh—!
The ball soared to the left wing. Thomas Jaeschke leapt to spike it.
"Hold up!" Kai Suzuharu shouted, "One, two—jump!"
A flicker of surprise crossed Jaeschke's eyes—he hadn't expected his feint to get read!
Torey DeFalco sprang up from the back row for the spike.
"Triple block!" Miya Atsumu, Sarukui Fūto, and Kai Suzuharu all leapt together.
"The timing's great, but the block height is even lower than the previous guys…"
—BOOM!!!
Smack!
The ball blasted straight through above Miya Atsumu's block and struck near Aone Takanobu's feet, bouncing off.
Torey DeFalco scored with a spike.
[Japan 5 – 7 USA]
Effortlessly, the Americans reclaimed the serve.
Micah Christenson walked up to the service line.
Huuuh—A collective breath of relief escaped from the audience. Seeing him rotate out of the front row always felt like a reprieve.
They'd never seen a setter this offensively dangerous. Even now, Miya Atsumu looked like he was being completely outplayed.
And yet—another figure surfaced in everyone's minds.
That man—Oikawa Tōru, whose coordination with Kaedehara Taichi had been nothing short of perfect. If he were on the court right now…would the tide be different?
"Tweet!—"
The whistle snapped the crowd out of their thoughts.
Micah tossed the ball, took his approach, leapt, and struck.
BOOM!!!
The ball flew straight toward Miya Atsumu.
Smack!
The ball struck his forearm and shot out of bounds.
Micah Christenson scored a service ace.
[Japan 5 – 8 USA]
"Even his serve is that powerful…"
"Is he targeting Atsumu?"
Micah picked up a second ball from the side and slowly returned to the line.
"The setter is the brain of the team. If you want to break a team fast, you destroy their setter."
He served again.
BOOM!!!
Smack!
"Damn it!"
Same trajectory, same result. The ball once again struck Atsumu's arm and flew out of bounds.
Kaedehara Taichi lunged, appearing beneath the ball in a flash.
"Left wing!"
Whoosh—!
The ball soared high to the left wing—but Taichi wasn't calling for Kai Suzuharu, who lacked offensive power—
Thud!
Sarukui Fūto leapt from the front row.
"Double block!" Thomas Jaeschke and Taylor Averill both jumped to meet him.
The two across the net may not have been central players for the U.S., yet their blocking pressure felt no different from facing Hakuba Gao or Hirugami Sachirō.
There was no fear in Sarukui's eyes. "Let me show you what training camp gave me!"
BOOM!—
Smack!
The ball slammed off Taylor Averill's arm and shot out of bounds.
"Too naive."
Micah Christenson was already on the far right sideline!
He caught the ball with both hands, softening its spin with his wrists and fingers, and swiftly launched it back.
Whoosh—!
The ball flew across the entire U.S. court, rising high on the far right side.
Torey DeFalco leapt from the front row for the spike—this time jumping even higher than before!
"Double block!" Miya Osamu and Kai Suzuharu followed close behind.
"They're keeping up?" Torey frowned slightly. Japan's blocking had started to feel…strange.
But height was absolute.
BOOM!!!
An off-the-hand spike!
The ball once again soared over the block and slammed into Japan's court.
Smack!
Nakamori Daiki dug it, then jumped backward to absorb the impact. The ball rose high into the air!
They received it?!
"Nice dig!"
Miya Atsumu quickly repositioned himself—this time—
Whoosh—!
The volleyball flew steadily into the frontcourt at a high arc.
From the height alone, there was no doubt—this ball wasn't for Sarukui Fūto.
Thump!
Kaedehara Taichi soared up from the back row to spike!
"Triple block!" Torey DeFalco, Thomas Jaeschke, and Taylor Averill jumped in unison.
As expected, the triple block aimed at Kaedehara Taichi last time hadn't been a fluke!
The American team's notoriously weak diagonal defence was completely sealed. Micah Christenson positioned himself along the straight line to receive.
Taichi's arms tensed. Muscles rippled faintly under his jersey, and in that instant, all the power beneath his skin erupted—
BOOOM!!!
Super spike!
The ball shot past Taylor Averill's block and slammed hard into the court right in front of Micah Christenson, leaving a faint dent on the floor…
Without a single touch!
Kaedehara Taichi scores with a clean spike!
[Japan 6 – 8 USA]
"Even the USA's two-meter fails to stop a spike from the skies!"
"A foreign genius setter can only look on in frustration—!"
"—As he claims the point with thunderous force!"
"KAEDEHARA TAICHI—!!!" freēnovelkiss.com
"Nice spike, Taichi!" Miya Atsumu shouted excitedly.
Taichi gave a soft smile. That sensation he'd been chasing was slowly becoming clearer.
Side switch. Japan to serve.
Miya Osamu stood lazily at the service line, mumbling, "Not like anyone expects me to score an ace anyway…"
"Tweet!—"
The whistle blew.
Team USA's receivers instantly braced themselves.
One second passed. Osamu held the ball in both hands, letting them hang naturally.
Three seconds passed. He didn't move at all.
Five seconds. Thomas Jaeschke threw a confused glance toward the Japanese service zone.
"…What the hell? Did that guy fall asleep?"
On the seventh second, Osamu finally tossed the ball into the air.
BOOM!—
Nearly skimming the edge of the 8-second violation, the ball dove sharply toward the USA's front row.
The referee frowned. This kind of stalling behaviour clearly added to their burden.
"This guy—!"
Taylor Averill had just straightened his posture when the ball came plummeting over the net.
Smack!
Caught off-guard, Averill stumbled and awkwardly dug at the ball. It bounced off the net and dropped.
"Idiot!"
Smack!
Micah Christenson slid in beneath it, diving to save the ball.
Thomas Jaeschke adjusted for an attack.
"Double block!" Sarukui Fūto and Kai Suzuharu leapt together.
BOOM!!
Smack!
"First touch!" The ball hit Kai's block and popped upward.
"Chance ball!"
"Nakamori, it's yours!" someone shouted.
Nakamori Daiki received cleanly.
Miya Atsumu jumped to set the ball from the front row. Both Kaedehara Taichi and Osamu simultaneously leapt from the back row, charging toward the net.
"Wait—two quick attackers at once?!!"
Torey DeFalco and Taylor Averill jumped, positioning in front of each attacker.
BOOM!
The ball landed right on the sideline to the right of the American court.
Miya Atsumu scores with a setter dump.
[Japan 7 – 8 USA]
"Now that there are more decoys, he's even harder to predict."
Micah Christenson furrowed his brow. Japan's setter was turning out to be trickier than he'd thought.
"Osamu!"
"Atsumu!"
—"Nice one!" The twins exchanged a perfectly synchronised high five.
"Uh," Taichi stood between them, "shouldn't I be included too?"
The twins turned toward him. For a brief moment, all the grudges from their three battles in Nationals seemed to fade away.
—"Come on!"
The twins exchanged a glance and raised both hands to Taichi.
"Oh, sorry. I'm not used to doing childish stuff like that," Taichi said flatly, turning back to his position without hesitation.
Atsumu: "…???"
Osamu: "…???"
—"You jerk! Taichi!!"
With a pleased smirk, Taichi casually cleaned out his ear. Sacrificing his dignity to ease the team's tension, he thought, "Truly, I'm a man of selfless service."
-----
Japan continued to serve.
Osamu served again.
BOOM!
This time, he launched the serve the moment the whistle blew, sending it sharply into the USA's front row.
After all, with Erik Shoji, Aaron Russell, and Micah Christenson in the back row, Osamu didn't believe for a second he could ace past them.
The ball plummeted just between Taylor Averill and Thomas Jaeschke.
Surprisingly, neither moved.
"Mine!"
Smack!
Micah Christenson rushed in, setting the ball high toward the middle.
Thomas Jaeschke jumped to spike.
"Double block!" Sarukui and Kai jumped together again.
Whoosh—!
A feint! Jaeschke faked the spike and set the ball again—this time for Aaron Russell rising from the back row!
BOOM!!!—
Japan's blockers had already landed.
BANG!
Sarukui Fūto felt a chill on his scalp as the ball smashed into the floor just behind him.
Inside the three-meter line.
Nakamori Daiki's arms were frozen mid-dive.
Aaron Russell scores with a back-row spike.
[Japan 7 – 9 USA]
"Didn't expect such a low-key guy to pull that off…"
Japan realised once again—there was no true weak point on this American team.
Side switch. USA to serve.
Jeff Jendryk rotated to the front row, instantly raising the team's blocking height.
"Tweet!—"
The whistle blew.
Taylor Averill launched a powerful jump serve.
BOOM!!!
Smack!
Osamu barely managed to receive it.
Atsumu moved in quickly to set the ball high to the right.
Even though Japan's new rotation looked weaker in individual power, at least in these past few exchanges, everyone had been performing within their strengths—and the result wasn't half-bad.
Thump!
Kaedehara Taichi sprinted along the sideline and leapt to spike.
"Triple block!" Jeff Jendryk, Torey DeFalco, and Thomas Jaeschke all jumped to block.
Given the height of the block, Taichi's only option was a straight shot. Micah Christenson immediately swapped positions with Averill to cover that lane.
BOOM!!!--
Smack!
Even though his hit point was above the blockers' reach, Taichi deliberately aimed for Thomas Jaeschke's arm.
The ball fell between Jaeschke and the net.
Off-the-block and down.
Kaedehara Taichi scores again.
[Japan 8 – 9 USA]
"Is it just me…or did that guy jump even higher than in the first set?"
Micah Christenson narrowed his eyes, gaze locked onto the spot where Taichi had landed.
"Don't tell me…his absurd rate of improvement can happen mid-match?"
Side switch. Japan to serve.
Kaedehara Taichi rotated to the front row…
_________
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