Charging Forward

In a best-of-six match, even with Hayato, Karasuno could only secure three wins. The other strong schools were not weak either. Compared to Karasuno's recently assembled lineup, plus the absence of their first-year super combination, the others had been practicing together for a long time.

"Is Karasuno really this strong?"

"Yeah, especially that ace who does the jump float serve. His skill is comparable to Bokuto-senpai's."

"Wait, is he the first-year who gave Nekoma such a tough time?"

"No way, didn't they say he was a second-year just now?"

The players from Fukurodani and Johzenji, resting on the sidelines, were chatting as they looked towards Karasuno. Hearing them praise Karasuno, Hitoka's face filled with pride. Kiyoko, seeing her reaction, smiled and reminded her.

"This isn't even Karasuno's complete form. Don't forget about our first-year duo."

After six matches, everyone's stamina had decreased. However, Hayato was getting into the groove, feeling eager and looking forward to the next match. Currently, the game on court was between Fukurodani, led by Bokuto, and Karasuno's old rival, Nekoma.

Although Fukurodani's ace was ranked among the top five nationally, they were still struggling against Nekoma's strong defense. Many times, balls that seemed impossible to receive were dug up by Nekoma and immediately turned into a counter-attack.

The intense training match finally ended with Fukurodani's victory. Karasuno, having rested, was about to take the court against Johzenji. Just then, the gymnasium doors opened, and in walked Tanaka's sister, Saeko Tanaka, with her short blonde hair. Behind her were Hinata and Kageyama, who were late due to extra classes.

"The main characters always make a dramatic entrance, stealing all the attention."

Kuroo, Nekoma's captain, teased as he saw the two enter. After warming up, they joined the training match.

At this moment, Karasuno's new main lineup was finally complete: Hinata, Kageyama, and Tanaka in the front row, and Daichi, Nishinoya, and Hayato in the back row. Tsukishima would rotate with the libero, while Asahi sat on the bench.

Hayato had no complaints about Coach Ukai's arrangement. Through these few matches against other strong teams, he acknowledged that Hayato was indeed more skilled than him.

"Go~ Killer Serve~"

Hinata, in the front row, cupped his hands behind his head and dubbed Hayato's serve with this name.

Hayato, remaining very calm, once again used his signature jump float serve. With lightning speed, he smashed the ball into Johzenji's backcourt. Then, he wagged his index finger and uttered a slightly chuunibyou phrase.

"Call it the Railgun."

"Ooh! So cool! The Railgun is so cool!"

Only Hinata cheered for Hayato; the others were a bit awkward. A regular jump float serve had earned such a chuunibyou name from Hayato.

Daiki Kogarano, Johzenji's captain, who had naturally curly brown hair, also heard Hayato's words and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"You brat, quite arrogant."

Although he said that, he had to admit that the jump float serve just now was probably the fastest serve from the opponent that day.

"It's fine, we'll just block the next one. Focus, focus."

He clapped his hands to encourage his teammates while slightly spreading out their defensive formation.

Hayato, feeling that his serve was the most perfect one of the day, picked up the volleyball, ready to go again.

"I wonder how fast this serve will be."

Touching the texture of the volleyball, Hayato muttered to himself.

Xu Zhen, the world's number one jump float server, had a ball speed of approximately 150 kilometers per hour. Hayato, who considered him his idol, particularly favored the jump float serve. It was his unique skill back when he was Su Yun.

After becoming Hayato, he had practiced it specifically, but he was still far from his previous level.

The jump float serve gets its name from serving the ball in the air after jumping. It requires the server to fully extend their body during the jump, raising the point of contact, and using the momentum from the jump to make the ball fly faster and with greater force. It possesses strong offensive capabilities. The technical difficulty is high, and it demands a high level of physical fitness.

Its characteristics are great power, high speed, and a flat trajectory, with a short time over the net, making it highly threatening. The disadvantage is that the jump float serve consumes a lot of stamina and can easily result in a fault or an out-of-bounds hit.

However, the most important reason Hayato loves the jump float serve is that it's an original technique from Yanhuang.

After the whistle blew, Hayato served again, scoring another point. On the third serve, although it was a perfect serve, Johzenji had widened the spacing between their players, giving each of them more room to move, so it was received.

Upon receiving the chance ball, Johzenji immediately launched an attack. But Karasuno had their guardian god, and Nishinoya perfectly received the opponent's attack. At this moment, the freak quick attack came into play.

Hinata, with incredible speed, shook off the blocker and ran to the other end of the net, leaping up and swinging his arm with his eyes closed. Kageyama sent the ball right to him, scoring another point.

The Karasuno team erupted in cheers.

"Are you kidding me? What was that?"

"That was super fast!"

"I've never seen an attack that quick!"

The other players, shocked by the freak quick attack, marveled at Karasuno's strength. Coach Ukai and his group, sitting on the sidelines, all smiled. It seemed they were very pleased that they had managed to shock the other players.

When it was Hayato's turn to rotate to the front row, although he couldn't move as quickly as Hinata, his aerial dominance allowed him to stay in the air longer than the blocker who had jumped up. By the time the blocker landed, Kageyama's precise set arrived, and he spiked for another point.

The score on the court had reached 9:2. Karasuno, who had been evenly matched with everyone before, was now crushing Johzenji with the addition of the first-year duo. Everyone present found it incredible.

With this momentum, Karasuno pushed the score to 25:16, winning this training match by the largest margin so far. Everyone in Karasuno was overjoyed with this decisive victory. Hayato even lifted Hinata under his arm, hoisting him up.

"Nice job, Hinata! Half the points in this set were thanks to you!"

"Oh! Thanks for the praise! Kuroba-senpai!"

Hinata, who had perfectly executed his role as the ultimate decoy, performed exceptionally well in this training match. As long as Hayato and he were both in the front row, the opponent's blockers would be distracted by both of them, allowing Kageyama to better choose who to set for. If Hinata was being guarded, Hayato could spike for a point. If Hayato was being guarded, Hinata could shake off the blockers. Even when neither of them could attack comfortably, someone else would seize the opportunity to score.

"Kageyama's sets were also great this game."

After spinning Hinata around twice, Hayato let him down. While praising Kageyama, he extended his hand for a high-five. Kageyama, clearly not used to this kind of interaction, hesitated for a moment before extending his hand and meeting Hayato's palm.

After this set, Hayato went to the sidelines to rest. Next, Asahi would play in Karasuno's training match. As mentioned before, the jump float serve consumes a considerable amount of stamina. In these seven practice matches, Hayato wasn't just serving; he was expending energy on defense and offense, with no part of his play being effortless.

To have performed so well in the previous set was his absolute best. He drank a whole kettle of water and wiped the sweat from his head with a towel before finding a chair to rest properly.

At this moment, Coach Ukai walked over. He looked at the exhausted Hayato, paused for a moment, and then voiced his thoughts. Coach Ukai's idea was to alternate Hayato and Asahi during the Spring High preliminaries. This way, Hayato's stamina wouldn't be depleted too quickly, and Asahi would also get more playing time.

Since Hayato joined the volleyball club, he had significantly threatened Asahi's ace position. Today, he was even starting. Although Asahi had some flaws, he was still a great ace, which led Coach Ukai to come up with this plan.

Hayato did not refuse when the coach told him this. After all, volleyball is not a one-person game. Yes, this is very important and must be said again: why did Shiratorizawa, with their ace Ushijima, lose in the end? Their other players were also skilled, but placing all the scoring pressure on Ushijima was their downfall. Everyone has their limits.