National Top Five Wing Spikers

On the second day of the summer training camp, Hayato had just woken up when he noticed two empty beds in the first-years' area. Naturally, they belonged to the Kageyama-Hinata duo. It looked like they had gone out for morning run training. Since it was not time to wake up yet, Hayato quietly got up without waking anyone else.

Out of habit, he added Protein Powder to both his own water bottle and Hinata's. Ever since Hayato had returned from Hawaii, he had given Hinata some after their morning and evening workouts every day. This training camp was no exception, but the tub at home was too large to bring along, so he had filled a small plastic bottle instead.

When he arrived at the outdoor track, there were surprisingly few people doing running drills. It seemed the others felt the intensive daytime training was already enough. Aside from Hinata and Kageyama, there were a few familiar faces: Bokuto from Fukurōdani, Gora Masaki from Ikuei, the one with thick lips everyone called "cod roe lips," and Kuroo from Nekoma.

The captains of the stronger schools still refused to slack off when it came to this kind of routine training. Seeing Hayato approach, Bokuto waved and greeted him, asking whether he wanted to work out together. Hayato nodded and joined their jog.

Hinata and Kageyama, who were competing to see who could run faster, also spotted Hayato. They greeted him, then ran off into the distance while bickering again.

"Sorry. I think I hurt your team's glasses guy's feelings last night. You went after him afterward, didn't you, Kuroba-kun?"

While jogging, Kuroo raised one hand and apologized to Hayato. He should have apologized to Tsukishima, but since he was not around, apologizing to Hayato, his teammate, was necessary too.

"It got sorted out afterward. Don't worry about it."

"Man, I never would have expected Karasuno to produce an oddball like you."

Seeing that Hayato did not reveal any more details, Kuroo did not press further. Instead, he shifted the topic to Hayato, while Bokuto came closer as well.

"Yeah, Kuroba, you're really good at volleyball. How long have you been playing?"

"I played for a year in my second year of middle school."

"A year?!"

The two captains exclaimed in unison.

"Good grief, that might be the most surprising thing I've ever heard."

With a bead of cold sweat on his face, Kuroo gave Hayato a serious once-over. He could not help being shocked—Lev, who had the same physical advantages as Hayato, still struggled even to receive the ball.

"That really is surprising."

Bokuto sounded as though he were seeing Hayato for the first time as well. Forget anyone else—even Bokuto had started playing as a child and kept at it until now to reach this level.

Seeing the two captains so astonished left Hayato a little embarrassed. If his previous years of experience were counted too, he had probably been playing longer than either of them had been alive. Right now, he was simply relying on his physical gifts and his mature, seasoned volleyball experience to compete against everyone else.

Strictly speaking, he was not a genius. The ones who could join the national team were the real geniuses. Especially in Yanhuang, with its huge population, those selected for the national team were one in a thousand, one in ten thousand.

Hayato had never made it onto the national team, so he had never considered himself a genius.

But he did possess an ace's pride. Otherwise, he would not have shown off his abilities the moment he joined the Volleyball Club and fought for the ace position.

"Come to think of it, I heard Bokuto-senpai is one of the nation's top five Wing Spikers at the training camp."

"Oh? Isn't that amazing!"

"I just can't squeeze into the top three, though."

"Hey! Don't bring that up right now!"

Just as Bokuto was about to get smug, Kuroo cut him off.

"So, what are you trying to ask by bringing that up?"

"I'm gathering information. I'm interested in the other top five Wing Spikers too, so could Bokuto-senpai clear that up for me?"

To be honest, Hayato had only watched the anime. Through the manga, he knew how Karasuno's story ended, but the anime had only reached the match against Shiratorizawa. Before he could watch any further, he had arrived in this world.

So, among the national top five, he only knew Bokuto and Ushijima. He had no information at all on the others.

"Oh? Such a straightforward answer? Fine, I'll satisfy your curiosity."

Bokuto was not stingy with the information. Mainly because even if he did not tell Hayato, Hayato would find out sooner or later. Talking about it now could pass the time during their jog.

"Listen up. First, there's Ushijima from Shiratorizawa, your big enemy. He's a lefty, and his attacking stats are off the charts. You'd better be mentally prepared when you face him in the qualifiers. Next is Sakusa Kiyo'omi from Itachiyama. That guy's wrist flexibility is terrifying—his offense and defense are both maxed out."

"Then there's Kiryuu Hachi from Muzugawa. He's good at Trick Shots, and he can hit no matter how bad the set is. He's an all-rounder. Lastly, there's Ojiro Aran from Inarizaki. His fundamentals are solid, he's powerful, and he's consistent. Most importantly, look at that build."

After hearing the introductions, Hayato had a rough impression of the national top five. Ushijima's left hand really was a problem Karasuno had to face, but Hayato believed his own spikes would not be any less powerful. Once Nishinoya and the others had adapted to his spikes, dealing with Ushijima should not be too difficult, right?

"Kuroba, since I've been so generous with you, then tonight, how about..."

Faced with a genius like Hayato, Bokuto decisively wanted to invite him to play that night. Accepting Bokuto's goodwill, Hayato agreed, while Kuroo wore a look of disgust.

"This guy won't stop once he starts spiking. He's a real pain."

"Kuroo, you bastard."

Hayato shook his head.

"This is extra training with the ace of a powerhouse school. For Karasuno's sake, I still need to become stronger."

After crossing paths with Bokuto and Kuroo, Hayato had developed great respect for both their abilities. After talking with Kiyoko yesterday, he felt more responsibility resting on his shoulders and wanted to become even stronger.

Those fighting words made both captains see him in a new light.

"Oh? Weren't you making excuses yesterday?"

Out of habit, Kuroo provoked him with a wicked grin.

"Yesterday was yesterday. After hearing Bokuto-senpai say there are so many strong players across the country, I can't afford to fall behind. Besides, Bokuto-senpai, one of the national top five, is right in front of me. I can't miss a chance to get stronger."

First, Hayato shamelessly ignored Kuroo's teasing. Then, he slipped Bokuto a little praise. His perfect response made Kuroo laugh even more happily, while Bokuto let out his signature laugh.

"Wahahaha! Well said! Then come spike with us tonight too, Kuroo?"

Thinking of pulling Kuroo in as well, Bokuto turned toward him, only to find the same disgusted expression on his face again.

After Hinata and Kageyama finished their run, they greeted Hayato, who was jogging with the two captains, and left. Hayato walked over to the first-year duo and handed them the water bottles. The bottle prepared for Hinata had always been one of Hayato's spare bottles, so including his own, he only had two. He could not play favorites, so he gave both bottles to them.

"Drink up. You ran so fast without even thinking about saving your energy."

Hinata thanked him and habitually picked up the bottle to drink. Kageyama, seeing that Hayato only had two bottles, initially wanted to refuse, but Hayato forcibly pressed it into his hand, saying that he had only been jogging and did not need to replenish fluids yet.

"Um, Hayato-senpai, what's in this?"

After taking a sip, Kageyama noticed something was off and looked at Hayato curiously.

"Protein Powder. Tastes good, right? It helps build muscle."

After that simple explanation, Kageyama did not think much of it and kept drinking.

Perhaps because the current era was still early, or because they had never encountered such things, Hayato noticed that none of the sports clubs seemed to use Protein Powder. They truly relied purely on training and natural physical talent.

That made Hayato very curious.

After finishing the water and washing up, Hayato took the two first-years to the cafeteria for breakfast. By the time they arrived, most of Karasuno's members were already up, and everyone exchanged greetings.

Hayato spotted Tsukishima but did not go over to talk. He merely nodded at him, and Tsukishima did the same, which counted as a greeting. It was clear that Tsukishima had not fully recovered from yesterday's conversation. Even when Nishinoya noisily urged him to eat more today, he did not mock him as usual. Instead, he silently added another serving of rice.

That made Nishinoya very happy. He patted Tsukishima on the back.

"Eat more! Only when we're full can we train hard!"

After breakfast, the second day of summer training camp began.