Creak!
With the referee's whistle, Mujinazaka starts serving!
This time, they've adjusted their positions, putting Wakatsu Kiryū's rotation opposite Akira's!
That way, when Akira rotates to the back row, Kiryū moves to the front row!
This allows Kiryū to target Akira with his powerful spikes!
They want to wear him down!!
This is the strategy everyone at Mujinazaka just discussed!
In this set, it's not about winning—they're aiming to drain Akira's stamina to the maximum!!
It's better to make him burn out all his energy on those massive jumps!
Make sure he can't keep attacking as much!!
As long as Akira's stamina is gone, winning or losing this set won't matter!
Without Akira's explosive offense, the next set…
Even if it's not a guaranteed win, the Mujinazaka players at least feel…
They won't be as desperate as they are now!!
If things keep going like this—where they can't even receive the opponent's serve or spike—then forget about going all five sets!
...
In his current rotation, Kiryū goes for a powerful jump serve!
Even after that last set, his power hasn't dropped in the slightest!
That's a testament to the physical training the Mujinazaka team has gone through!
Boom!
His powerful serve slams directly into the zone behind Akira!!
Creak!
The referee's whistle blows from the sideline!
Point for Mujinazaka!!
Seeing this, the rest of Karasuno instinctively squint their eyes.
He really aimed at Akira!!
Until now, Kiryū had always avoided Akira during serves!
To score, he'd always target weaker receivers!
And now, even with Akira in the front row, Kiryū's aiming near him!
It's clear—he wants Akira to take the serve and waste energy!
Seems like…
They all exchanged looks!
In this set, Mujinazaka really is going all in to target Akira!
Now it's a question of whether he can endure it!
Or rather…
Whether Akira's acting skills can hold up!
...
Boom!
Kiryū sends another ball from the back row of Mujinazaka!
Again toward Akira's zone!!
But Yū Nishinoya, positioned nearby, seemed to anticipate it and sprang forward to pick up the serve!
Because Kiryū's intention is way too obvious!
"Go for it!"
Tobio Kageyama dashed beneath the ball's drop point, ready to set!
At the same time, Akira and Kei Tsukishima, who were in the front row, sprinted together!!
Whoosh!
Kageyama's set flies cleanly!
"Right wing!"
The Mujinazaka players shouted, rushing to the right side of the net!
But Akira, seeing the toss, jumped straight up!
The ball sailed over the Mujinazaka blockers and slammed deep behind them!!
One of Mujinazaka's defenders—Naoharu Ezota—flinched and instinctively moved toward the spike!
Bang!
The spike struck his outstretched arm solidly!!
But instead of catching it, the ball ricocheted diagonally and landed out of bounds along the sideline!!
Creak!
The referee's whistle blows!
Karasuno scores!!
"Phew…"
Haruma Bishin, who had just received the serve before, exhaled slowly and glanced at the rest of Mujinazaka.
Looks like…
It's true!
Akira's spike just now had a slight rightward spin!
It's different from all the previous spikes they've received!!
Earlier, some of them thought Akira's previous shots were just flukes!
But this spike shattered any illusions of luck!!
No more doubts!
No more what-ifs!
There's no safety net behind them!!
They can only hope to win by completely shutting down Akira—by stopping him from executing that kind of spike again!
Otherwise, under the weight of that point-guaranteed attack…
Even a miracle wouldn't be enough to win!
...
As the set progresses, it's not just Karasuno who notices Mujinazaka's shift in strategy!
Even the audience begins to pick up on the difference from the previous set!
"What's going on with Mujinazaka?!"
"Their blocking is so sloppy!"
In the stands, Kōtarō Bokuto spoke with some irritation.
"That spike just now—come on, anyone could tell who was going to hit it!"
"Why go for Tanaka?!"
"It was obviously Akira's ball~"
Others around him were equally puzzled.
Since the second set started, Mujinazaka seems to have stopped trying to block Akira altogether!
Even when they do go up to block, it's usually only one or two players!
Never again did they send three blockers up at once like they did last set!
"I think…"
"This must be part of Mujinazaka's new strategy," Keiji Akaashi said, uncertainly from the side.
"This time, they're clearly targeting Akira more!"
"I'm guessing…"
"They want him to attack more often and drain his stamina, right??"
...
Meanwhile, the Inarizaki crew was also analyzing the situation.
"Boss! Didn't you just say Mujinazaka needs to find a balance?" Osamu Miya asked, puzzled as he glanced at the court and turned to Shinsuke Kita.
"Why are they now defending everyone else like crazy?"
Hearing that, Kita scratched his head with a slightly helpless look, glancing at Osamu as if to say—can't you figure that out yourself?
Then, without waiting for him to continue, he answered:
"They've probably figured out the nature of Akira's spike!"
"So now there's no need to coordinate with the back row to defend it!!"
"After all…"
"Whether or not there are blockers in front of him, they still can't stop Akira's spike!"
Hearing that, the others nodded thoughtfully.
"So…"
"In this set, Mujinazaka's goal is to wear out Akira's stamina?"