o the triple block.
The ball slammed into Hinata's hands and rocketed outward,
Nakashima allowed himself a confident grin.
I don't fear your momentum plays.
BOOM!
Confusion spread across Wakutani's team.
The shot was a clean tooling-out spike, meaning the rebound should have flown far out of bounds for Wakutani's point.
And yet, the ball had landed on Wakutani's own court.
Everyone slowly looked upward.
Next to Hinata, a figure was still suspended in the air.
Someone who had chased the flying ball and spiked it back with one hand.
Ichinose Guren.
Even Hinata was left with his jaw hanging.
"G-G-Gorilla swatting a fly, "
Ichinose's sharp stare immediately snapped toward him.
"Guren-sama's perfect decisive spike!!" Hinata corrected at lightning speed.
No one was listening to Hinata anyway.
Everyone, Karasuno, Wakutani, the crowd, was stunned by the sheer height of Ichinose's jump.
"What kind of joke is this? The captain already finished his swing, how did he still get to it?!"
"I only caught a bit, it looked like he dashed the moment Nakashima swung!"
"Stop lying! Even if he predicted it, how do you chase down a ball that's already flying away and spike it BACK?!"
"How would I know!? Look at the replay!!"
All eyes swung to the big screen.
The slow-motion footage showed it clearly:
Nakashima had executed a perfectly trained tool-out spike, hitting Hinata's palm edge to change the ball's exit angle, a technique designed specifically to be unreturnable.
But,
Ichinose had read it before the swing even finished.
He turned, sprinted, jumped with ridiculous explosive power,
and struck the ball down from above before it could leave the space his jump could reach.
A block kill from the air.
A play that shouldn't exist.
"…I must be hallucinating. Humans can't do that."
"Here, let me slap you."
SLAP
"OW, ! Nope. Not a dream. We're screwed."
"If that ball can be returned, why are we even playing volleyball anymore?"
"I'm gonna go home and study."
In the stands, some spectators felt their volleyball ambitions shatter.
On the coaching bench,
Ukai Keishin sat frozen, staring at the replay from multiple angles.
He had watched volleyball for years, international tournaments, university leagues, pro leagues,
But he had never seen this.
What am I supposed to say? Explain that play?
Hell, I've never even SEEN that play before.
On the court:
"Daichi, could you do that?"
"Don't joke. If I predicted it perfectly, maybe I could chase it and receive it… maybe."
"But spike it from mid-air like that? Absolutely impossible."
Just one play.
Only one play was needed.
And every scout in the arena immediately bolted out of their seats, scrambling to make phone calls.
"Hello!? Matsushita-san?! I've found a monster!"
"A first-year with a 3.55m attack height, DO YOU WANT HIM OR NOT?!"
"Get me budget approval. I don't care how. I'm tracking this player personally."
And so it began.
Ichinose Guren,
With daring instincts and overwhelming ability,
Had conquered every scout present… with a single play.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria