Only Old Dogs at PVP Understand This Choice

Kageyama Tobio stood at the baseline, spinning the volleyball in his hands.

This kid's aura had changed. If he had been on the verge of rage in the first set because of Hinata's "back-of-the-head serve," then now, that emotion had cooled, compressed, and turned into pure focus.

He tossed the ball and began his run-up. The floor vibrated.

"Bang!"

It wasn't some flashy float serve, but a solid, powerful jump serve. The volleyball shot out like a cannonball, its trajectory clearly dipping as it smashed towards Aoba Johsai's backcourt.

"I got it!"

Aoba Johsai's libero, Watari Yūri, made an extremely accurate read. He dove into the ball's path just before it hit the ground, bringing his arms together.

A dull thud.

The ball was heavy, and Watari Yūri's body leaned back slightly, but his heels were firmly planted on the ground, completely neutralizing the impact. The volleyball sprang high into the air. While it didn't go directly to the net, for a team like Aoba Johsai, correcting such a ball was basic skill.

"Yahaba!"

Substitute setter Yahaba Shigeru quickly moved to the 3-meter line, setting the ball with an overhead pass.

At the same time, Hanamaki Takahiro on the front row had already begun his approach.

A three-pronged attack.

Tsukishima Kei and Tanaka Ryūnosuke quickly converged, forming a two-person block at the net. Hanamaki jumped, arching his body in the air, his right arm swinging high, his entire being tensed like a drawn bow.

This posture clearly indicated an intent to break through forcefully.

"Spike!" Tanaka roared, pressing his arm down with force.

At that very moment, Lu Ren's eyelids twitched.

Something's wrong.

From Lu Ren's perspective, Hanamaki's motion was full of power, but in the frame before his arm swung, the "charge bar" wasn't full. It felt like in a fighting game, where an opponent makes a heavy attack with a long wind-up, seemingly aiming for a defense break, but actually trying to bait you into using your own special move.

This was a read.

A throw after baiting a defense, or… a tip.

Lu Ren's body moved faster than his mind. As Tsukishima jumped, he didn't choose to stay back and defend the first line, but instead took two rapid steps forward, charging directly into the unoccupied zone within the 3-meter line.

In the air, Hanamaki Takahiro's palm didn't slam down hard on the ball. His wrist flicked incredibly smoothly, his fingertips lightly brushing the bottom of the ball.

The seemingly ferocious spike instantly turned into a gentle tip.

The volleyball traced a very short parabolic arc, just clearing Tsukishima Kei's outstretched fingers, and drifted lazily towards the open space behind the block.

Tsukishima was still descending and couldn't turn back.

"Got it." Hanamaki's lips were about to curve upwards when he saw a figure in a black uniform suddenly emerge from that open space.

Lu Ren, like an ambush predator lurking in the bushes, overlapped his hands and steadily positioned himself beneath the ball.

I've seen this cancel-animation-into-light-attack combo countless times in the arena.

Lu Ren sneered inwardly. After too much PVP, everyone looked like they were inputting special moves. This kind of feint might fool innocent high school students, but it was too early to trick a veteran like him, who had been beaten down countless times.

The volleyball was bumped up. Although the arc wasn't high, the direction was perfect.

Kageyama Tobio didn't even need to move his feet; the ball obediently landed above his head.

"Hinata!"

No extra signal was needed. The orange-haired boy had already dashed out the moment Lu Ren received the ball.

No running distance? No problem.

Bad angle? Doesn't matter.

Hinata Shoyo pushed off the ground with his feet, launching himself into the air like a spring unbound by gravity.

Kageyama's set was as fast as a laser, precisely piercing Aoba Johsai's still-unformed defense and hitting Hinata's swinging hand.

"Snap!"

A crisp sound.

The volleyball smashed into the center of Aoba Johsai's court, bouncing towards the ceiling.

16:12.

After landing, Hanamaki Takahiro looked at Lu Ren, who was getting up and dusting off his pants, his brows furrowed into the character "川."

Coincidence?

No, the way number 11 moved just now was too decisive. He had started running forward before Hanamaki even swung his arm, as if he was certain Hanamaki wouldn't go for a hard spike. What was in this guy's head? A radar?

"Don't worry about it! Next ball!" Iwaizumi Hajime clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back.

The match continued.

For the next few minutes, the scene became somewhat strangely… "peaceful."

Without those heart-stopping, god-tier shots, both sides entered a phase of battling with basic skills.

Aoba Johsai displayed their foundation as one of the top teams in the prefecture. Even without the great demon Oikawa Tōru on the court, the team operated with the precision of a Swiss watch.

The first pass accuracy was extremely high, the sets weren't stunning but were definitely steady, and the attackers' error rate was terrifyingly low.

Tsukishima Kei touched the ball on the block, slowing its momentum.

Sawamura Daichi dove to save the ball, bumping it up.

Tanaka Ryūnosuke hit the ball out of bounds off the block, scoring a point.

The rally switched.

Kunimi Akira scored with a light tap into the blind spot.

Iwaizumi Hajime forcefully broke through the block.

The two sides traded blows, the scores rising alternately.

Although Karasuno's offense was sharp, especially with Hinata and Kageyama's "Monster Quick Attack" still being a potent scoring tool, Aoba Johsai's adaptability was ridiculously strong. They stopped trying to keep up with the ball's speed and began to compress their defensive formation, using their positioning to limit Hinata's attack routes.