"Young man, are you okay with playing Middle Blocker?"
"No problem."
"Alright, let's start the match officially then!"
After confirming their positions, and Chiba confirming with the opponents, the match began.
Chiba and Akashi's side were the Red Team.
Kyoutani Kentarou was on the opposing Blue Team.
The format was six-on-six.
During the opening draw, the Blue Team won the toss and chose to receive, so the Red Team, with Akashi, served first.
The two teams, Chiba's and his opponents', were entirely different in quality from the amateurs Akashi encountered on the previous "pickup court." While these were also "amateurs," the fact that they formed dedicated teams meant their coordination was on a completely different level.
Furthermore, these were all university students. Even if they lacked the skill to advance to the collegiate league, their superior adult physique and years of focused training made them far stronger than the average high schooler.
THWACK!
The Red Team's setter opened with a jump serve.
Although the power was mediocre, the ball was received by the Blue Team. However, the tricky placement disrupted their organization, ensuring that the serve wasn't simply a free invitation for the opposition to attack, unlike what often happened in middle school games.
"My bad, the ball was off!"
"No worries, no worries, I've got it. Kid, we'll let you take the first attack!"
The Blue Team's setter conceded the first attack opportunity to Kyoutani Kentarou. This was a custom similar to what Akashi experienced in the previous gymnasium.
In these public venues, giving the first ball to a newcomer was a kind of unwritten rule.
Firstly, it was a greeting to the new player.
Secondly, it allowed the veterans to scout his ability, helping them coordinate better later in the match.
"Watch the block!"
The Red Team's setter warned. Akashi was currently positioned at the 2-spot (front-right). Since Kyoutani Kentarou was attacking from the left side, Akashi clearly wouldn't make it in time to block, leaving the defense to the other two Wing Spikers and the Middle Blocker who shifted over.
Kyoutani Kentarou's height, around 178 \text{ cm}, was not short, but it wasn't an advantage against these college students, whose average height approached 183 \text{ cm}.
When the Red Team's Spiker and Middle Blocker joined forces, four arms formed a high wall, literally casting Kyoutani Kentarou's entire body into shadow.
Not just the Blue Team, but even the two Red Team blockers internally shouted "Bad move," wondering if they had been too serious.
However, in the very next second, Kyoutani Kentarou, already airborne, suddenly contorted his body into an unusually strange shape. His right arm and legs stretched back vigorously, making him look less like a drawn bow and more like a C-shape, nearly forming an O-shape in the air.
BAM!
An explosive sound rang out from above.
The next moment, the volleyball traced an arc, slipping past the two blockers and smashing onto the floor behind the Red Team setter with lightning speed.
Kyoutani Kentarou landed, maintaining that same "arrogant" expression.
The Red Team setter hadn't even reacted yet. His hands remained bent in front of his body, petrified in place, with only a beautiful diagonal streak lingering in his eyes.
"Huh?"
The Red Team Spiker and Middle Blocker blinked, turning to look at where the ball had dropped, stunned.
"What the hell was that?"
"No way!"
"What kind of bizarre spiking form was that? Can a person's body really bend at that angle?"
The Red Team members were incredulous, especially the two blockers. They had clearly seen Kyoutani Kentarou initially prepare to spike straight, but after they sealed that path, he somehow adjusted his posture mid-air and instantly spiked diagonally.
It was utterly absurd.
Even Akashi was slightly taken aback at this moment.
Although he knew from the start that Kyoutani Kentarou possessed the talent for "free body control in the air," this was entirely different in the animated world versus reality.
Many things portrayed in anime are only approximations; the real situation often contains many unexpressed details.
It was like the previous match against Kitagawa Daiichi.
Akashi knew Kageyama Tobio had psychological issues at that stage, but it was Ota Miki, not him, who successfully exploited this with a counter-strategy.
While some of this was due to Akashi's own inexperience in volleyball strategy, it was mostly because successfully exploiting Kageyama's weakness required considering numerous details in real-time.
This required eyes that could perceive the overall situation during play, an ability Akashi did not possess, nor was it displayed on his system panel.
Ota Miki, however, had developed a similar capability through years of watching professional league matches.
Kyoutani Kentarou was the same case.
Had Akashi not witnessed it in person, he would have found it genuinely hard to imagine just how bizarre, ridiculous, and... unique this talent for instantly adjusting one's body mid-air truly was.
...
"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it. Let's focus on the next point's defense."
Kyoutani Kentarou's first attack certainly surprised everyone, as it was the first time they had seen such an anomalous offensive style.
But their shock lasted only a moment. Having played volleyball for so many years, they quickly recovered and prepared for the next rally.
After Kyoutani Kentarou scored, the serve went to the Blue Team. After one rotation, Kyoutani Kentarou was up to serve.
Kyoutani Kentarou delivered a very ordinary overhand hit.
In the original story, his serving was also excellent, but since there was still about a year until that period, Kyoutani Kentarou likely hadn't mastered the jump serve yet.
The Red Team's Libero in the backcourt received the ball, and the setter organized the attack.
Just like the Blue Team, the Red Team's first attack was initiated by Akashi. As the volleyball flew towards Akashi, the Blue Team's block instantly followed suit.
"Since you guys showed absolutely no mercy to our newcomer, we can't afford to be polite either!"
The Blue Team's block was also a double block. The two blockers, both over 185 \text{ cm} tall, arrived at the net, grinned, and instantly sealed off the spiking path in front of Akashi.
The Red Team members' faces instantly darkened.
Although both teams were ruthless with newcomers, the Blue Team's block was clearly a tier higher than the Red Team's. The Red Team's Spiker and Middle Blocker couldn't match the height of the Blue Team, forcing them only to seal the straight line.
But now, the two Blue Team players had blocked not only the straight line but also the diagonal path that Kyoutani Kentarou had just used.
Akashi sprinted from the back to the net, looked up briefly at the block, and then launched himself into a full jump.
Thud.
The floor seemed to emit a deep groan. The next second, under the dumbfounded gaze of both teams, Akashi soared into the sky as if he had wings.
"So high!"
The Blue Team blockers were startled, but immediately leaped up as well: "But height alone won't break through our defense!"
The two blockers naturally didn't jump as high as Akashi, but relying on their height advantage and timing, their four arms still sealed off the attacking path in front.
Akashi, mid-air, utilized the increased hang time from his improved Hang Time attribute. That extra fraction of a second allowed him to see the situation more clearly than ever before.
After a stoppage of mere hundredths of a second, Akashi finally found a gap.
Aiming for that sliver of space, he swung his arm fiercely. The next sound was a muffled "THWUMP," as the volleyball grazed the wrist of the right-side blocker and flew out in a laser-straight line, landing perfectly on the boundary line.
The Blue Team members: "..."
The Red Team members: "..."