Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 449: The Ace’s Obsession (Double-Length)
"Sorry, my bad!" Kobayashi Takuya shouted.
It was hard not to be overwhelmed by Kaedehara Taichi's presence every time he went on the offensive. Judging by Iizuna Tsukasa's posture and body movement, no one would've guessed it was going to be a sideways second-touch attack.
"Don't worry about it, next point!"
Maybe it was because their team had done too well in last season's V3 League. That string of victories had made everyone a bit overconfident. Now, thrust two tiers up and facing a powerful V1 team, the players were clearly struggling to adjust.
DH continued serving.
Kitajima Kippei delivered his third serve, which Ōhira Reon received cleanly.
Rather than starting strong and trying to seize the initiative, Coach Nick preferred to spend the opening plays gauging the opponent's reception level. Strength needed to be used at the right moment—gaining an early lead could be a double-edged sword.
Sometimes, a team could lock in their win early and ride that tiny lead all the way to the end. But other times, a quick lead could backfire, causing players to misjudge the opponent's true strength.
The moment they let their guard down, that lead would crumble—and worse, the momentum could shift instantly, with the other team riding a wave of renewed morale into a full comeback.
"I got it!" Kobayashi Takuya stepped in to cover and made the set.
The previous two rallies had made it clear—Kaedehara Taichi was untouchable when it came to blocking. This time, without hesitation, he sent the ball to the right wing.
Ogano Daiki leapt for the spike.
"Double block!" Iizuna Tsukasa and Tom Wilde jumped together.
For blockers like Tom Wilde, who specialised in sealing off attack routes, Iizuna had no hesitation lining up with him side by side.
BOOM!!!—
The volleyball cut through the air, flying past the left side of the block. A textbook cross-court shot dropped perfectly into DH's back corner.
Smack!
Kubo Wataru stepped in and received the ball smoothly.
Yoshii Hiyu advanced without hesitation and set the ball high to the left.
Thud!
A solid stomp echoed across the court.
Kaedehara Taichi jumped up for the spike.
"Double block!" Akiyama Kazuhiko and Kobayashi Takuya rose up to meet him.
Kiniro's blocking coordination was quick, with the middle blocker and setter rising in unison to close off the path.
"So high…"
But the block wasn't enough.
BOOM!!!
THUD!
The ball blasted through the top of their hands, landing hard near the three-meter line behind them.
Kaedehara Taichi scored.
[DH 3 – 0 Kiniro]
"Is that even legal…?" Kobayashi Takuya couldn't help glancing back at the spot where the ball had landed.
Judging from the angle of that spike, Kaedehara Taichi wasn't just a little higher than them—he was on a completely different level. Even after an entire season in the V3 League, Kobayashi had never seen anyone hit from such a high point.
"No wonder he went straight to V1. What a freak…"
Kiniro quickly adjusted their receive formation. With a spiker at that height, Akiyama could still somewhat disrupt the attack path—but there was no point in having Kobayashi attempt a block at all.
DH continued serving.
Kitajima Kippei delivered his fourth serve.
BOOM!
The ball dropped toward the middle of the court.
"I got it!" Nakashima Takeru rushed in and bumped it up with an underhand receive.
"Nice receive!" Kobayashi Takuya turned sideways midair to set the ball.
BOOM!!
Ogano Daiki powered the ball past Tom Wilde with a clean straight shot that grazed the sideline.
Point for Kiniro.
[DH 3 – 1 Kiniro]
"Not bad at all," Kaedehara Taichi said, visibly intrigued.
Even though Kiniro was a V3 team, their execution and precision were nothing like the high school teams he'd played against. These guys weren't just individually skilled—their strength lay in disciplined teamwork. Just like with their defensive plays, these pros responded as a unit on offence.
Kitajima Kippei's serves were sharp and well-placed, but Kiniro handled them without flinching. Every player executed their role with a wordless understanding: Nakashima stepped up for the receive, the setter was already in position for the second touch, and the wing spiker was ready to attack. Even the opposite middle blocker, Akiyama Kazuhiko, threw in a convincing fake, drawing DH's attention away from the real play.
Yoshii Hiyu glanced over at Kitajima.
"Hehe, my bad," Kitajima chuckled sheepishly.
The serve rotated—Kiniro to serve.
Akiyama Kazuhiko launched a powerful jump serve, but Yoshii Hiyu fielded it cleanly.
Iizuna Tsukasa jumped for the set from the front row. This time, Kobayashi Takuya was clearly watching him more carefully.
Whoosh—!
The ball flew to the right. Tom Wilde leapt for the spike.
BANG!!!
The ball smashed off Kikuchi Rinnosuke's arm with explosive force. Ōhira Reon couldn't reach it in time.
Thud!
Point for DH. Tom Wilde scored with a spike.
[DH 4 – 1 Kiniro]
Two meters tall, a violent power hitter, and you're telling me his dream is to become a painter?
If Tom Wilde's brain didn't function on the same bizarre wavelength as Kindaichi Yūtarō, Kaedehara Taichi would never have believed that line.
-----
Kobayashi Takuya served.
The ball sailed straight toward Kaedehara Taichi in the front row.
"Seriously? You're underestimating me," Taichi said, stepping up for the receive.
"I've got it!" Iizuna Tsukasa had somehow already appeared beside him.
"Huh?" Taichi quickly moved out of the way.
Iizuna's brows furrowed as he bumped the first touch directly to the left.
"Something's off…"
Thud!
Kaedehara Taichi took one step forward and slammed the ball down.
BOOM!—
The ball struck Kobayashi's arm and flew out of bounds.
Point for DH. Taichi scored again.
[DH 12 – 8 Kiniro]
"That was close. If I hadn't used my left hand, I might've missed it," Taichi muttered to himself. The toss hadn't felt like Iizuna's usual set.
Besides, Kobayashi's serve had been nothing special. Even if he received it himself, it wouldn't have disrupted their attack rhythm. The others should've known that too—there'd been no reason for Iizuna to take that receive for him.
"Tweet!—"
DH called for a timeout.
"…Now of all times?" Taichi blinked.
"Taichi, I'm impressed you managed to spike that one," Kitajima Kippei grinned. "Being ambidextrous is so handy, huh?"
"I got lucky. It was a bit too high, almost messed it up," Taichi laughed awkwardly.
"Idiot, Kippei wasn't complimenting you," Yoshii Hiyu said, glancing over. "That toss wasn't meant for you at all."
"It was for me. I was right there!" Niita Asahiro raised his hand.
"I knew that. But I could clearly attack faster from my position," Taichi replied calmly. "The defence on the other side was already leaning toward Niita-senpai anyway."
"Huh? So you saw all that?" Yoshii looked surprised. "And you still went for the ball?"
"More importantly…" Taichi turned to Iizuna Tsukasa. "Senpai—why didn't you set to me?"
The moment Taichi's gaze landed on him, Iizuna felt a sudden chill—a kind of indescribable pressure bearing down on him.
"Taichi," said Nick Foster, "The moment you chose to go for the receive, the right to take the first attack no longer belonged to you."
"Why? Even if I receive, I can still initiate the offence," Taichi asked insistently. "Wasn't that exactly what I did the day I joined the team? Think about the next play while receiving. Think about defence while blocking."
"It's different now. Very obviously—there are six people on this side of the net," Nick Foster said slowly.
"You can attack even after receiving, but the quality of your spike is completely different from when you go in fully prepared. Besides, you clearly didn't recover properly just now. The lack of a run-up proves that."
Kaedehara Taichi fell silent. So this timeout...was called specifically because of him.
Nitta Asahiro was a middle blocker for Japan's national team. Even though Taichi had confidence that his spikes were better, in that situation just now, launching an awkward, rushed attack was indeed not as steady as Nitta's choice to set.
"Taichi…"
The first to speak was Iizuna Tsukasa, who was always calm and composed. But when he was directly questioned by Kaedehara Taichi earlier, he'd felt an unexpected tension rise in his chest. The other's overwhelming presence was like an invisible force, tightly wrapping around him.
Still, Iizuna knew this clearly—this was the sheer, uncompromising obsession of an ace when it came to claiming the right to attack.
"…I understand. I'm sorry, Iizuna-senpai."
To everyone's surprise, Kaedehara Taichi actually accepted the coach's reasoning so quickly.
"Whoa, well that's—unexpected," Yoshii Hiyu blinked in disbelief. He hadn't expected the so-called "volleyball genius" to be so reasonable. He'd been bracing for their first major clash.
"…But next time, even if I'm the one receiving, I will make the adjustment to get the timing right," Kaedehara Taichi added calmly.
"No problem at all!" Iizuna gave a firm nod. A spiker with this much hunger for offence—he was every setter's dream.
The timeout ended. The match resumed.
Service change—DH was now serving.
No one really understood why DH would call a timeout despite having the lead, but for Kiniro's team, it bought them some time to adjust and cost DH a timeout. It was a win-win for them.
Iizuna Tsukasa stepped up to the service line and sent a powerful jump serve aiming for the back left corner.
BOOM!!
Smack!
Kobayashi Takuya was forced to receive the ball. Nakashima Takeru covered quickly and set it to the left wing—Ogano Daiki leapt up for a spike.
"Double block!" Yoshii Hiyu and Nitta Asahiro both jumped to intercept.
BOOM!!
The ball passed above Yoshii's block.
Smack!
Kitajima Kippei made a clean receive.
Iizuna quickly got into position and set to the right wing. Kaedehara Taichi leapt to attack.
"Double block!" Kikuchi Rinnosuke and Ōhira Reon jumped up to meet him.
For a split second, Ōhira felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
BOOM!!!
The ball passed cleanly over the blockers and crashed down.
Smack!
Kitamura Yūichi was knocked back onto the floor, and the ball flew far out of bounds.
"They've switched to a front-shifting defence…"
Kitamura realised it as soon as Kaedehara launched his spike—he'd moved up instinctively, and Nakashima had immediately covered the gap behind him.
Smack!
The more agile Nakashima dove past the end line and barely saved the ball back into play. But Kobayashi Takuya had no option but to simply return it across.
"Chance ball!" Kubo called out and received it steadily with a perfect first touch.
Iizuna jumped to set. And right on cue, Kaedehara Taichi once again appeared in front of the net—impossible to ignore. And yet, as their coordination grew smoother, Iizuna felt the pressure on him increasing with every pass.
Whoosh!—
The ball flew cleanly toward Taichi.
"Double block!"
Kiniro's defence responded even quicker this time.
—BOOM!!
The ball carved a flawless arc and landed sharply at the back left corner of Kiniro's court.
A near-perfect high-powered diagonal from over the block.
Kaedehara Taichi scored.
[DH 13 – 8 Kiniro]
"At that height, and he still has this much variation in shot trajectory?"
"How the hell do we defend against that…" murmured Kiniro's players, smiling wryly despite themselves.
Nakashima looked at where Kaedehara had landed and felt a vague sense of loss. He still remembered—back when they'd faced Seijoh, Taichi's signature weapon was spiking off the block and out of bounds. But in this match, not once had he seen Taichi use it.
All he'd been doing were clean, heavy over-the-block spikes.
And now, with some added angle variation…it was more than enough to dominate the entire set.
-----
Yoshii Hiyu's next serve was a strong jump serve, but it lacked threat.
Nakashima received it cleanly, and the pass was perfect.
Kobayashi jumped for a front-row set.
"Damn, they're watching me too closely."
Even though Kitajima hadn't jumped to block him directly, Kobayashi knew very well—Kitajima was absolutely ready to shut down any setter dump.
Whoosh—!
The ball flew to the left side. Akiyama Kazuhiko leapt for a spike.
"Gotcha."
"Triple block!" Iizuna, Tom Wilde, and Kitajima all jumped together.
This was DH's first triple block of the set—and they'd sprung it right in the middle, targeting Akiyama's quick attack.
BOOM!—
—Smack!
Caught off guard, the ball ricocheted off Tom Wilde's arm and dropped back into Kiniro's court.
"No way I'm letting it end like this!" Nakashima surged forward. "Even if my pace is slower—step by step, I'm still moving forward!"
Smack!
Nakashima picked up the blocked ball.
And that wasn't all—
The ball soared to the front left wing. Ōhira Reon launched a back-row spike!
"Not happening!"
DH's front line had just landed from the block. The net should have been clear—but suddenly, a pair of hands appeared again.
Tom Wilde had jumped again for a second block attempt!
Though his vertical was clearly reduced, it was still enough to disrupt the angle.
Whoosh—!
Tom's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Ōhira had faked the spike—and set instead!
The ball flew right to the right wing—Kobayashi jumped for the spike!
"The set's still rough…he delayed his motion to sell the fake…"
Kitajima went up for a solo block!
"Giving up a point is fine—but I will not get outplayed!"
BOOM!!—
In a panic, Kobayashi avoided the block and sent a sharp cross.
Smack! freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Kaedehara Taichi received the ball, and without missing a beat, surged forward.
"Set it to me!"
Iizuna jumped. Kiniro's blockers were already crowding the left side.
A setter dump or right-side switch would be good options right now…but if he did that, Taichi would probably get really pissed. Iizuna sighed and shook his head slightly—but the corners of his mouth lifted anyway.
Whoosh!—
The ball floated up, placed delicately in mid-air—just a bit higher than usual.
Even with an ordinary pass, you could see how carefully Iizuna had tuned it to suit Kaedehara's rear-row attack pattern. The speed, the height—everything was just right.
Thump!
Taichi launched from the back row.
"Triple block!"
"If you're that desperate to block me—then fine. Let's see if you can handle this."
Taichi's arms coiled. His body extended to its limits, posture impeccable.
In that instant, Ōhira seemed to catch a glimpse—of Ushijima Wakatoshi.
BOOOM!!!
The ball shot downward, tearing through the triple block like paper and bounced off the floor.
Kaedehara Taichi scored again.
[DH 25 – 18 Kiniro]
"Tweet—!"
Set 1 ends.
Winner: DESEO Hornets.
_________
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