No Room for Complacency

"One touch!"

Hinata, who was front-rowing and doing a one-person block, shouted. Although he blocked the ball with his palm, the ball's trajectory was tricky. Kageyama went to save it. In volleyball rules, a player can only touch the ball once per team's possession. A block touch by a front-row player does not count as one of the team's three hits. Therefore, after a block, the team can still hit the ball three more times. Kageyama had already touched the ball after Hinata's block, so he couldn't set it up for an attack.

Fortunately, Nishinoya was still on the court.

"Leave it to me!"

After exchanging a glance with Hayato, he fixed his eyes on where the ball was falling. He glanced at the three-meter line with his peripheral vision and jumped before that. The ball was tossed high, and he executed a perfect combination with Hayato, who rushed from the back row. The ball shot straight through the gap between the double block.

The libero couldn't handle the ball, and it went out of bounds off his hands, scoring a point.

"Libero toss and back-row attack!"

Sugawara, cheering from the sidelines, excitedly called out the name of this coordinated attack. After another five or six rallies, Sugawara was substituted out and was now cheering from the sidelines.

When Asahi was on the court earlier, he and Nishinoya had successfully executed this play once. Now, with Hayato, it was successful again. Both of Karasuno's aces had completed this attack.

"Nice!"

"Well done, Nishinoya senpai!"

The cheering from the sidelines made the two players who had successfully executed the attack very excited.

"Nice one, Nishinoya."

"Oh! How was that? Should I toss it higher next time?"

"No, the trajectory was perfect."

Bokuto, who had conceded a point again, looked resentfully at the two celebrating on the other side.

"Damn it, we can't just give up like this."

Led by Bokuto, they managed to win back a point. Facing Daichi and Hinata's double block at the net, he scored with an extremely tricky cross-court spike, narrowly staying within the court boundaries.

This stifled Karasuno's momentum, but no one was discouraged. They got back into position, ready to counterattack.

Spikes have two types of trajectories: a straight spike and a cross-court spike. Cross-court spikes can effectively avoid the opponent's block, but they also test the player's skill. If not executed well, the ball can fly out of bounds without touching a blocker, losing the point.

Finally, the score reached 23:22, with Karasuno leading by one point. If they could prevent the score from reaching 24, forcing a tie, Karasuno would secure their first victory. But unfortunately, their opponents, Fukurodani, were not weak.

The two teams were tied. After 24 points, the match would continue until one team led by two points to win.

To score consecutive points, every player on both teams was giving their all. This was only the first day of the training camp, and winning the first match was very meaningful. Moreover, losing meant facing a penalty.

Karasuno scored another point, making the score 25:24, and they reached match point.

After the spike was defended, Fukurodani launched an attack. Their ace, Bokuto, was at the net and used a very clutch tip to send the ball into Karasuno's court. Hinata desperately lunged forward to save the ball, but unfortunately, he couldn't reach it in time.

The score was tied again.

"Hee hee hee, how about that? This is Fukurodani's strength."

Ace Bokuto raised both hands in a celebratory gesture.

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

Hinata quickly apologized. He was the closest to the ball.

"It's okay, he fooled us too."

Hayato, who was blocking at the net, comforted Hinata and then looked back at Bokuto across the net.

Even he had been fooled by that tip. He truly was Fukurodani's ace. Such a lively person when playing, but so quiet when tipping.

Karasuno, regrouping, immediately retaliated. Hayato's powerful spike sent the blocker recoiling backward, and the ball flew out of bounds, unrecoverable by anyone. It was an "out of bounds off the blocker" point, and match point was once again Karasuno's.

"All right! One more point!"

No one expected the first practice match to be this intense. The Karasuno club members cheering from the sidelines shouted loudly.

They sent a chance ball to Fukurodani's side, and Fukurodani immediately organized an attack. The attacker was again ace Bokuto. This time, he didn't choose a tip but aimed for a spike to score. Since only Hayato was jumping to block, a tip would easily be saved by others. Bokuto, jumping high, aimed for a spot and spiked the ball diagonally with a twist of his wrist.

But this time, Hayato had been watching him closely. The moment Bokuto's gaze shifted, Hayato forcefully swung his outstretched hands to the left in mid-air, transferring the power to his fingertips. Like an opening umbrella, he completely blocked the ball. The ball hit Hayato's palm with great force and rebounded directly into Fukurodani's court.

Fukurodani, unable to save the ball in time, lost the first practice match to Karasuno with a score of 27:25. Everyone happily formed a circle, placing one hand on the shoulder of the person next to them and clenching their other fist, all bumping fists to celebrate their victory.

"Damn it, my attack trajectory was seen through on the last ball. I'm sorry, everyone."

On the other side, Bokuto, who had lost the practice match, apologized to his teammates with his hands on his head, full of regret.

No one blamed him. They each came over and patted his shoulder. Setter Akaashi was the one who clapped his hands.

"Alright, regretting it won't help. Let's go, we have to accept our punishment."

This time, the punishment wasn't a week of rolling saves, but the unique, refreshing sprint up the deep green slope of the back mountain, a specialty of Nohebi.

As the Fukurodani players cheered, the punishment began. Karasuno could rest first and wait for the next practice match.

While the Karasuno players were resting, another match that had started at the same time but ended earlier, between Nohebi and Kamomedai, was won by Nohebi. After Kamomedai finished their punishment, they were temporarily on standby. Nohebi rested for a while before playing Nekoma.

The score had reached 10:8, with Nekoma leading. After this match, the winner would face Fukurodani, and the loser would go to accept their punishment first. Karasuno would then play against Kamomedai, who had just suffered a defeat.

This was the match schedule. Karasuno, having rested, fielded Hayato, Hinata, and Kageyama in the front row, with Tsukishima, Daichi, and Ennoshita in the back row. Hinata and Nishinoya would rotate.

There was only one libero on the team, so Nishinoya had to play every set. Fortunately, the rotation prevented excessive fatigue.

This time, they were also using a "five-on-one" formation, aiming to improve the substitute players through extensive practice and numerous training matches.

Ennoshita, who had just taken the court, was likely a bit nervous, as his defense wasn't very strong, costing them several points. However, with Hayato and Hinata working hard to score, the gap between the two teams wasn't too large.

After Hayato scored again, he came over and patted Ennoshita's shoulder, telling him to relax. Hinata, meanwhile, said very earnestly, "Ennoshita-senpai, on this side of the net, everyone is your teammate. It's okay even if we lose points; we'll win them back!"

As Hinata gave Ennoshita a thumbs-up, Tanaka, watching from the sidelines, nodded in agreement.

"Well said, Hinata! Who taught you such a great line?"

It was Tanaka who taught him. Nishinoya also joined in, putting his shoulder on Tanaka's and cheering for Ennoshita. As fellow second-years, Nishinoya thought highly of Ennoshita.

Comforted by everyone's words, Ennoshita took a deep breath and calmed himself. This time, he successfully received the ball and excitedly shouted, "Chance ball!" Hinata rushed forward.

"Give it to me!"

The familiar words were Hinata and Kageyama's agreed-upon signal for their modified Monster Quick Attack. Hinata, running at full speed, was like a bird, his soaring wings impossible for anyone to keep up with. Kageyama spun the ball and sent it flying with a whoosh, directly into a spike.

"Alright!"

Ennoshita was also happy with the successful score, as it was the chance ball he had managed to save.

With the score at 24:20, although it was a close game, Karasuno had managed to win this set. Winning two consecutive matches gave everyone present a new impression of Karasuno's strength, and the Karasuno players were also very happy.

After the previous training camp ended and they returned, Coach Ukai had diligently created a specialized training plan to address the weaknesses Karasuno had exposed during the camp. After basic training, everyone also very seriously engaged in individual practice.

Today's Karasuno was vastly different from before. Just as the Karasuno members were thinking this, Karasuno lost the third game to Nekoma. In terms of receiving and defense, Nekoma could be said to be unrivaled.

Lev, with his height advantage, also performed exceptionally well. Losing to Nekoma served as a good lesson for Karasuno.

Promptly having their complacency interrupted, Karasuno quickly adjusted their mindset, accepted their punishment by running laps up and down the slope to cool off, and prepared for their next match.