Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 391: You’re Not Good Enough (Double-Length)

Serve rotation. Ichibayashi to serve.

Uchizawa Iori launched a powerful jump serve, which Yahaba Shigeru managed to receive.

Kunimi Akira quickly stepped in and unhesitatingly sent the ball to the left wing.

Thud!

He was here.

The players of Ichibayashi, who thought they had mentally prepared themselves, still felt their hearts skip a beat the moment they saw that figure leap into the air.

"Triple block!" Matsukawa Takuya, Yasui Junichi, and Shiramine Sōji all jumped together.

Kaedehara Taichi showed no change in expression, as if the wall in front of him didn't exist at all. He simply repeated his usual movements—tightening his arms and swinging out fiercely from behind.

BOOM!!!

A high-reaching spike.

The ball slammed hard into the centre of Ichibayashi's court and bounced high into the air.

Kaedehara Taichi scored.

[Aoba Johsai 7 - 4 Ichibayashi]

Simple. Direct. Brutal.

Unlike the earlier back-and-forth, where the two sides were locked in a tight tug-of-war, the moment Taichi launched an attack, the equilibrium on court was shattered.

Ichibayashi's players stood frozen, their faces tense.

Even the spectators were stunned by that spike—the entire arena seemed to freeze in that instant.

"You don't need to look that shocked." Taichi turned his head casually and said, "You all should've known you couldn't block me, right?"

Serve rotation. Aoba Johsai to serve.

Now that Taichi had rotated to the front row, Aoba Johsai's entire aura shifted. A powerful presence seemed to radiate from the team, as if the entire court had fallen under his control.

Kindaichi Yūtarō fired off a confident, powerful jump serve.

Araki Kōsei received the ball, clearly the target of Aoba Johsai's serve strategy while he was in the back row.

Matsuo Satoshi stepped in and sent the ball once again to the far left.

Yasui Junichi jumped to spike.

"Triple block!" Yūki Yōji, Kaedehara Taichi, and Kunimi Akira rose in unison.

A triple block was definitely intimidating, but Yasui Junichi never intended to confront it head-on—his target was the player closest to the sideline: Kunimi Akira.

Bang!—

The ball flew toward Kunimi's right side.

"So that's what it is."

Kunimi's eyes narrowed slightly. Yasui wasn't aiming for a tool off the block—he was going for a block-out.

The two were similar, but not the same.

A tool off the block was when an attacker deliberately aimed for the blocker's fingertips or the sides of their palm near the sideline, carefully adjusting power and direction so that the ball would deflect out of bounds. It was a trick, designed to create a misdirection and win the point through touch.

But a block-out was fundamentally a direct attack. The spiker's goal was to score through sheer power and precision. If the defenders didn't attempt to block, the ball would most likely land in bounds, resulting in a point. But if the blockers did jump but failed to properly position themselves, the ball would hit them and bounce out of play—a defensive error by the blockers.

"That's why Kindaichi couldn't afford to just let it pass…"

Kunimi didn't act rashly. He was never a blocker by trade.

Smack!

The ball struck the sideline on Aoba Johsai's right and bounced up.

Yasui Junichi scored.

[Aoba Johsai 7 - 5 Ichibayashi]

"Nice spike, Junichi!" Matsuo Satoshi praised loudly.

It was true that they had no answer to Kaedehara Taichi. But as long as they kept scoring, even little by little—the match was still within reach.

Serve rotation. Matsukawa Takuya launched a powerful jump serve.

Nakamori Daiki easily received it. A perfect pass.

Whoosh!—

—Boom!

Ichibayashi's players didn't even understand what had just happened.

The ball had already bounced off their court, right in the middle—and Kaedehara Taichi was already landing from his jump.

Kaedehara Taichi scored again.

[Aoba Johsai 8 - 5 Ichibayashi]

This was Ichibayashi's first time witnessing Aoba Johsai's ultra-quick attack in person.

The sheer speed of the play was incomprehensible. They couldn't even tell when the ball had been set to Taichi.

It wasn't just that they couldn't defend against it—most of Ichibayashi's players simply couldn't process what was happening.

"Don't dwell on it!" Matsuo Satoshi shouted. "Even the best plays are only worth one point!"

"Let's take the next one!"

Ichibayashi could only shift all of their focus to offence.

Score! They needed to score as quickly as possible!

Only then could they force Kaedehara Taichi into the back row!

Serve rotation. Aoba Johsai to serve.

Kunimi Akira sent out a jump float serve—unlike before, he no longer targeted Araki Kōsei.

This time, the ball was aimed straight at Yasui Junichi.

If he was turning into a problem, then shut him down before he even got the chance to join the offence.

Smack!

Yasui received the ball. Matsuo Satoshi rushed up to set.

Without height on his side, Yasui had no impact at the net if he couldn't get a proper running start.

He had been thoroughly neutralised.

Whoosh—!

The ball flew to the right side. Shiramine Sōji and Matsukawa Takuya jumped simultaneously.

"We've got more than just Junichi who can attack!"

"One…two—"

"Jump!"

"Double block!" Yūki Yōji and Kaedehara Taichi rose together.

Though it looked like a standard multi-position play, Taichi quickly spotted the real attacker—hidden in the back row!

BOOM!!

Araki Kōsei launched a back-row spike.

Smack!

The ball struck Taichi's arm and bounced high.

"One touch!"

"Chance ball!" Kunimi received it.

Yahaba sent the ball to the high right side.

Thud!

Taichi leapt.

"Triple block!" Yasui Junichi, Shiramine Sōji, and Matsukawa Takuya all rose to meet him.

BOOM!!!

A high-reach spike.

No touch. Clean hit.

Kaedehara Taichi scored once more.

[Aoba Johsai 9 - 5 Ichibayashi]

"Damn it, Junichi's being totally shut down by that sneaky bastard," Matsuo Satoshi muttered, frustrated. The opponent was adapting too fast, and Ichibayashi couldn't spare the strength to cover for Junichi.

"…Hanyū, it's all up to you now." Matsuo's face was tense.

Taichi's scoring was just too easy. If they couldn't find some way to contain him, there was no chance the momentum would shift.

Hanyū Kōmitsu wiped the sweat from his palms onto his shorts and said firmly, "I'll do my best."

Aoba Johsai continued serving.

Kunimi Akira served again.

Yasui Junichi had no choice but to take the first pass once more.

Whoosh!—

Bang!

Matsuo and Shiramine suddenly burst through the middle with a quick attack.

Smack!

"Touch!" Yūki Yōji reacted instantly—the ball hit his hand and bounced up.

"Chance ball!"

Smack!

Nakamori Daiki passed it straight up to the high right side. Kaedehara Taichi jumped to spike.

Aoba Johsai was giving Ichibayashi a taste of their own quick attack!

Matsukawa went up to block, but his timing was a step too late.

Boom!

Thud!

Hanyū Kōmitsu dove awkwardly—the ball landed half a meter out of reach from his fingertips.

Kaedehara Taichi scored again.

[Aoba Johsai 10 - 5 Ichibayashi]

"Ah…even though Hanyū's desperate dive was inspiring to watch, it's still too much to expect him to stop a spike from Taichi," the commentator said with a trace of pity. It really did feel like Hanyū was fighting a battle he had no chance of winning.

Kaedehara Taichi cast a cold glance at Hanyū, who was sprawled out on the floor—his eyes showing not a hint of compassion.

"Your courage is commendable."

That was the highest compliment Taichi could give from the depths of his heart.

On the sidelines, Coach Tamakawa frowned deeply.

Just one more point—if they could just take one more point, Taichi would rotate to the back row.

But of course, it was at this very moment that they hit a rotation jam.

No wonder so many teams had no choice but to put their ace up directly against Kaedehara Taichi. Even knowing they'd get crushed—there simply was no better option.

Because with Taichi's devastating offense, everyone forgot one more thing:

He was also Aoba Johsai's strongest blocker.

Kunimi Akira served his third ball.

"I got it!"

Kunimi Akira's third toss was aimed slightly inward, giving Shiramine Sōji a chance to assist Yasui Junichi.

Smack!

But the receive was off-target—the ball flew toward the back row.

Matsuo Satoshi moved in quickly to cover. It was far from an ideal setup, but it was the best opportunity they were going to get.

Whoosh!—

The ball was set high above the left wing. Yasui Junichi widened his steps, took a running start, and leapt up.

"Triple block!"

In midair, Yasui was surprised to find that Kaedehara Taichi had switched positions with Yahaba Shigeru.

The two now faced off in the air!

Taichi's block was clever—he deliberately left the straight path open, using his body as a visual anchor. Meanwhile, the triple block formation completely sealed off the diagonal.

Yasui knew that forcing a spike into Taichi's block would almost certainly end in a shutdown.

And yet, the straight shot looked so inviting—so much like a trap laid just for him.

Boom!

He had no time to hesitate. The window for the spike was gone in an instant.

The ball shot down the sideline toward Aoba Johsai's court.

Smack!

Nakamori Daiki received it. "This is nothing," he said coolly.

Kyōtani Kentarō was already in place to set it to the right wing, where Kaedehara Taichi rushed laterally, took a quick approach, and leapt up.

"Triple block!"

Ichibayashi's front row followed Taichi into the air. His attack was rushed—anyone could see that. But Ichibayashi had no choice except to chase him all the way up!

BOOM!!!

Smack!

Shiramine Sōji didn't even understand how Taichi managed to generate that kind of power. His arms were forcibly knocked apart, and the ball slammed into Ichibayashi's court.

Smack!

But this time, Hanyū Kōmitsu, who never gave up, managed to dig the ball.

Still—it wasn't over.

The receive deflected off his arm and headed out of bounds.

Araki Kōsei chased it down. Just outside the endline, he jumped and sent the ball flying back into play.

The ball traced a high arc through the air and began falling toward Aoba Johsai's back row.

Smack!

Nakamori Daiki caught it cleanly. Kunimi stepped in and sent the set high toward the right wing.

"Block him!!"

To Ichibayashi's eyes, Kaedehara Taichi looked less like a human being and more like a wild beast in human form. His eyes sharpened instantly.

Thud!

Taichi soared upward, his body coiled like a drawn bow—tense, taut, bursting with potential energy.

"Triple block!!!"

His eyes didn't even flicker toward the blockers. His arms tensed, muscles roping tight, and he locked onto the libero who'd been watching him intently—

And he struck.

—BOOM!!!—

The ball flew like a cannonball, a faint white vapour trailing behind it as it exploded toward Ichibayashi's back row with terrifying speed and power.

BOOM!

Hanyū didn't need to move a single step to meet the ball—but the moment it hit his arms, he was shoved backward, landing squarely on his butt beyond the endline.

The ball soared high. The rest of Ichibayashi's players looked up…only to be blinded by the glaring lights of the gym ceiling.

Hanyū came to his senses and tried to get up, but his hands were still trembling.

Thud!

The ball landed hard beside him.

Kaedehara Taichi scored.

[Aoba Johsai 11 - 5 Ichibayashi]

—"That ball bounced off the libero's arms like it was some kind of ceiling serve!"

—"Ichibayashi's defence didn't even have time to react before it was already hitting the floor!"

—"Kaedehara Taichi's spike—cutting straight through the block—was simple, direct, and absolutely unstoppable!"

"He's terrifying…"

Inubushi Higashi's team, who had been eliminated that morning, now sat huddled in a corner of the stands.

"That guy's spikes are like he's saying to the libero, 'Wanna receive it? Go ahead. Try.'"

Moriyama Makoto shivered at Kai Suzuharu's words.

"Hey, can you not put yourself in that situation?" Akiha Kazuma groaned. "We already lost. What are you scared of now?"

Makoto shot him a glare. "If Akiha-senpai had ever taken one of Taichi-senpai's spikes, you wouldn't be saying that."

Akiha: "…"

He hadn't, true—but he had tried blocking them before. Even as a power-type player, he'd had to hold his breath and brace his arms just to stay in position. How could the smaller, wiry liberos even hope to endure it?

"Looks like the first set's already over," Sanada Shunpei said with a note of regret. "Man, I wish we were the ones still playing Aoba Johsai."

Kai nodded. Playing against them made you feel like you had to surpass yourself every second. Like stopping for even a moment meant the beast behind you would devour you whole.

-----

Twenty minutes later.

Even though Ichibayashi had thrown everything they had into the game, the gap in skill was undeniable.

If anything, the effort they'd shown only highlighted the gulf between the two teams even more clearly.

"This is brutal…"

"If only they hadn't run into Aoba Johsai so early."

The way Ichibayashi fought had made the spectators feel like they could've had a shot against anyone—except Aoba Johsai.

No. That wasn't quite right.

It wasn't Aoba Johsai.

It was him.

Kaedehara Taichi.

Their struggle was completely meaningless in front of him.

Bang!

Yasui Junichi sent a jump float serve toward Taichi's position—not trying to score, just trying to disrupt him if even a little…

Smack!

But Taichi received it easily. The first touch was perfect.

Kunimi stepped in and set the ball.

"Give it to me!"

Taichi sprinted along the right sideline and launched himself from the back row.

"Hard to believe he's been carrying the offence this entire set," Kai murmured, eyes fixed on the airborne figure. "Any normal player would've burned out by now—so why can he still…?"

That nearly perfect form—Kai couldn't help but imagine himself standing as the blocker on the other side of the net.

Kunimi floated the set high to the right.

"First off, thinking you can stop him just because he's in the back row? That's your first mistake."

Thud!

"Triple block!" Shiramine, Matsukawa Takeya, and Araki all jumped in unison.

Ichibayashi's strongest wall now faced Kaedehara's back-row attack.

BOOM!!!—

Smack!

The ball tore through Matsukawa's block and slammed into Ichibayashi's court.

"A triple block only works if every single person is strong enough."

Taichi scored.

[Aoba Johsai 25 - 16 Ichibayashi]

"Yasui Junichi?"

Kaedehara looked to the corner of the court, eyes falling on the player his age who'd been matched against him.

"It's got nothing to do with whether or not you're a genius. You're just not enough to face me."

"BEEEEEEEP!—"

The long whistle echoed through the venue.

End of Set One.

Winner: Aoba Johsai.

And perhaps most shockingly—

Kaedehara Taichi had scored 17 points in that single set.

Just one more than Ichibayashi's entire team combined.

_________

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