Complacency Has No Place

"One touch!"

Hinata, blocking alone at the net, shouted as he managed to stop the ball with his palm. However, its trajectory was extremely tricky. Kageyama moved to save it, but under volleyball rules, a player could only touch the ball once. A front-row block did not count as one of the team's touches, so the team still had three touches after a block. Since Kageyama had already touched the ball after Hinata's block, he could no longer set up an attack.

Fortunately, Nishinoya was still on the court.

"Leave it to me!"

He first exchanged a glance with Hayato, then fixed his eyes on where the ball would fall. He checked the three-meter line from the corner of his eye and jumped before it. The ball was sent high into the air, perfectly coordinating with Hayato charging in from the back row. It shot straight through the gap in the double block.

The libero failed to receive it. The ball struck his hands and flew directly out of bounds, earning the point.

"Libero set plus back-row attack!"

Sugawara excitedly shouted the name of that coordinated attack from outside the court. After the two sides battled through another five or six rallies, Sugawara was substituted out and was now cheering from the sidelines.

When Asahi had been on the court earlier, he and Nishinoya had successfully pulled it off once. Now that Hayato had replaced him, they had succeeded again. Karasuno's two aces had both completed the attack.

"All right!"

"Great job, Nishinoya-senpai!"

The cheers from outside the court made the two who had successfully executed the attack even more excited.

"Nice, Nishinoya."

"Yeah! How was that ball just now? Should I set it higher next time?"

"No, the trajectory was perfect."

Having been scored on once again, Bokuto unwillingly watched the two celebrating on the other side.

"Damn it, we can't just admit defeat like this."

Led by Bokuto, they successfully took back a point. Facing Daichi and Hinata's double block at the net, Bokuto used an extremely tricky cross-court spike, barely landing the ball inside the edge of the court.

Fukurōdani had checked Karasuno's momentum, but no one lost heart. They resumed their positions and prepared to strike back.

There were two types of spike trajectories: a straight spike and a cross-court spike like that one. Cross-court spikes could effectively avoid the opposing block, but they also tested a player's technique. If the angle was misjudged, the ball could fly directly out of bounds without even touching the blockers, costing the team the point.

At last, the score reached 23–22, with Karasuno temporarily ahead by one point. As long as they were not tied at 24 and pushed into a deuce, Karasuno could claim their first win. Unfortunately, Fukurōdani was no weak opponent.

The two teams still fell into a tie. After reaching 24 points, play would continue until one side pulled ahead by two points to win.

In order to score consecutive points, every player on both teams gave it their all. It was the first day of training camp, and claiming the first victory meant a great deal. Besides, the losers would have to accept punishment.

After successfully taking a point and making it 25–24, Karasuno reached match point.

After their spike was defended, Fukurōdani launched an attack. Their ace, Bokuto, was in the front row and calmly sent a tip into Karasuno's court. Hinata desperately dove forward to save it, but unfortunately, he was still too late.

The score was tied once more.

"Hey, hey, hey! How about that? This is Fukurōdani's strength."

Bokuto raised both hands in celebration.

"Sorry, I couldn't save that ball."

Hinata hurriedly apologized. He had clearly been the closest to it.

"It's fine. We got fooled too."

Hayato, who had been blocking at the net, comforted Hinata before looking back at Bokuto across the net.

Even he had been fooled by that tip. As expected of Fukurōdani's ace. Bokuto was so lively when he played, yet so quiet when he tipped the ball.

Regrouping, Karasuno immediately answered back. Hayato's powerful spike knocked the blocker backward, and the ball flew out of bounds. No one else could save it. It was a block-out point, and match point returned to Karasuno.

"All right! One more point!"

No one had expected the first practice match to be so intense. Karasuno's club members shouted loudly from the sidelines.

Karasuno sent over a free ball, and Fukurōdani immediately organized an attack. The attacker was still their ace, Bokuto. This time, he did not choose to tip the ball. He wanted to score with a spike. Since only Hayato had jumped to block him, a tip could easily be saved by the others. Bokuto leaped high, aimed at a spot, and twisted his wrist into a cross-court spike.

But this time, Hayato had been watching him closely. The instant Bokuto's gaze shifted, Hayato violently swung his outstretched hands to the left in midair, channeling his strength to his fingertips. Like an opened umbrella, he directly blocked the ball. It slammed hard into Hayato's palms and rebounded straight into Fukurōdani's court.

Unable to save the ball in time, Fukurōdani lost the first practice match to Karasuno, 27–25. Everyone happily formed a circle, one hand resting on the shoulder of the person beside them and the other clenched into a fist. The whole team bumped fists to celebrate their victory.

"Damn it, they saw through my attack route on that last ball. Sorry, everyone."

On the other side, Bokuto, who had lost the practice match, held his head in both hands and apologized to his teammates in deep regret.

No one blamed him. One by one, they came over and patted his shoulder. Finally, their setter Akaashi clapped his hands.

"All right, regretting it won't help now. Let's go. We need to take our punishment."

This punishment was not a lap of diving rolls, but Shinzen's unique, refreshing sprint up the deep-green slope behind the mountain.

As Fukurōdani's players shouted, the punishment began. Karasuno, meanwhile, could rest first and wait for the next practice match.

While Karasuno's players rested, the other group that had started at the same time as them—Shinzen versus Ikawa—had already finished. Shinzen had won. After completing their punishment, Ikawa waited on standby, while Shinzen rested briefly before facing Nekoma.

The score had already reached 10–8, with Nekoma temporarily in the lead. Once that match ended, the winner would face Fukurōdani, while the loser would go accept punishment first. Karasuno would face Ikawa, who had just suffered a defeat.

That was the match schedule. After resting up, Karasuno sent out Hayato, Hinata, and Kageyama in the front row, with Tsukishima, Daichi, and Ennoshita in the back row. Hinata rotated with Nishinoya.

There was only one libero on the team, so Nishinoya had to play every set. Fortunately, the rotation meant he would not be overworked.

They were using the five-and-one lineup again, hoping that plenty of practice and plenty of training matches would allow the substitute players to improve as well.

Ennoshita, who had taken the court, might have been somewhat nervous. His defense was not very good, and he lost several points. However, with Hayato and Hinata working hard to score, the gap between the two teams did not grow too large.

After Hayato scored another point, he came over and patted Ennoshita on the shoulder, telling him to relax. Hinata then said very seriously,

"Ennoshita-senpai, everyone on this side of the net is your teammate. It's okay even if we lose points. We'll win them back!"

As he spoke, Hinata gave Ennoshita a thumbs-up. Tanaka nodded in agreement from outside the court.

"Well said, Hinata. Now who taught you such a great line?"

Tanaka had taught him that. Nishinoya also joined in, resting a hand on Tanaka's shoulder as he cheered for Ennoshita. As fellow second-years, Nishinoya thought highly of Ennoshita.

Comforted by everyone, Ennoshita took a deep breath and steadied himself. This time, he successfully received the ball. Excitedly, he shouted, "Free ball!" Hinata rushed forward.

"To me!"

Those familiar words were the signal Hinata and Kageyama had agreed on: the improved Monster Quick Attack. Hinata, running at full speed, was like a bird spreading its wings into flight, impossible for anyone to keep up with. Kageyama sent the spinning ball flying with a whoosh, and Hinata slammed it down.

"All right!"

Ennoshita was happy as well after they successfully scored. It had been the free ball he saved.

24–20. Though it had been another evenly matched set, Karasuno still ground out the win. Two consecutive victories gave everyone present a new impression of Karasuno's strength, and Karasuno's players were delighted as well.

After returning from the previous training camp, Coach Ukai had seriously drawn up a specialized training plan to address the weaknesses Karasuno had exposed during camp. After their basic training, everyone had also worked diligently on individual practice.

Today's Karasuno was already very different from the Karasuno of before. Yet just as Karasuno's club members were thinking that, they still lost the third set to Nekoma. When it came to receives and defense, Nekoma stood above the rest.

Lev, with his height advantage, also performed exceptionally well. Losing to Nekoma gave Karasuno a solid lesson.

Karasuno's complacency was cut off in time. They quickly adjusted their mindset and went to cool their heads with punishment runs back and forth on the slope, preparing for the next match.