The final eight points.
As long as Hank seized them, this match against Shiratorizawa Academy could be brought to an early end.
Aoba Johsai High would be able to take the ticket to Spring High again after so many years!
But if they failed to seize these final eight points, Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa would enter a fifth set. At that point, even if they still had methods left, or some other changes, Hank could not guarantee that they would win. After all, the overall strength of the teams was right there for everyone to see.
In a short amount of time, there was no way to overcome that gap.
"No matter what, we have to take these final eight points. We can't let go."
"If this drags on any longer, we may not get another chance to win."
Hank understood very clearly that what came next was a contest of both teams' final endurance. Oikawa was still on the court, and he could still provide Hank with a few precise sets for his left-handed and right-handed spikes. That meant… this was the only window of time in which they could continue launching attacks.
Barring anything unexpected, this was the final stretch.
"Looks like that guy is planning to score everything in this set. Stop him!"
When Tendō saw that Hank had already made his final preparations, clearly intending to take this set completely and end the match, he immediately became unwilling to accept it. At this stage, if they lost… Shiratorizawa would be eliminated on the spot.
Aoba Johsai would take the Spring High ticket directly. For Shiratorizawa, there was no way they could accept that.
Their original plan had been to drag out this set. As long as they could reach the final fifth set… then the match would become much easier. They could practically celebrate ahead of time, because most of Aoba Johsai's starting players were already showing signs of physical exhaustion.
But if Hank took this match right here, their plan would completely fail.
They would miss Spring High this year!
So no matter what, they could not hand over this match. They had to fight Hank to the very end!
...
Screech!
Along with the piercing sound of rubber soles scraping against the court floor, Hank leapt high from Aoba Johsai's position four. His entire body bent backward, like a crescent moon hanging in the sky. And at that exact instant…
All three Shiratorizawa players in charge of the front-row block jumped at once, preparing their block. They had all locked onto the timing of Hank's attack!
At the same time, they completed a triple block!
"A triple block… but you still can't stop me."
Hank clenched his teeth, then slammed his left hand down with tremendous force. The ball deformed in that instant, then struck Kenjiro's fingers. As expected… it forced its way through the block and hammered violently into the back-row floor.
A direct spike point!
With his left-handed spike, combined with the physical strength he had gained after battling through four hard-fought sets… the power behind this ball was already not inferior to the current Ushijima's at all. In fact, because of Oikawa's cooperation, Hank's spike speed was extremely fast.
"Good!"
The members seated on Aoba Johsai's bench saw Hank score another point, and their hands clenched unconsciously.
This was the beginning of the counterattack.
As long as Aoba Johsai could take this point…
Then they could take this match outright.
But Wakatoshi Ushijima would never hand over that opportunity for free.
(End of Chapter)
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