Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 545: The King, the Tsar, the Emperor

"Trentino scores again!"

"Perugia's defence is being torn apart effortlessly!"

"And the one making all of this happen is Trentino's new setter—Kageyama Tobio!"

"Don't panic!" Ricardo shouted loudly, trying to steady his teammates. "We're still in the lead. We only need two more points!"

"Just two more and the set is ours!"

Trentino continued serving.

Yuri sent out his second serve!

Perugia received the ball solidly, and Ricardo began orchestrating the attack.

But Alexander and Zaytsev's blocking was like a shadow—constantly in the way, never letting the spikers shake them off.

BOOM!!!

Smack!

Fabio received the diagonal spike steadily.

"Every Trentino player who touches the ball now—"

"—they're all looking for that Asian setter! They want to give every ball to Kageyama Tobio!"

Kageyama moved quickly into position. He leapt to set, composed as ever.

It didn't matter whether Trentino was leading or trailing—his form never faltered.

Zaytsev was charging at position 2 for a quick.

Alexander had already jumped at position 4 in a striking pose.

Yuri hovered at the back row, ready to launch a pipe attack.

With a single glance, Kageyama grasped all his teammates' states.

"Incredible!"

"Forget the decoy! Block the right!" Ricardo shouted.

Yes, it had to be a feint.

As a fellow setter, Ricardo understood the weight behind that kind of pass.

But doing it consistently was nearly impossible, right?

They had only pulled it off once out of three attempts.

And last time, Zaytsev had been the decoy—was that to increase the scoring chance?

No, that couldn't be it.

There was no way someone could execute that kind of pass after a poor first touch.

Zaytsev must have become the decoy by necessity.

Which meant Alexander now was also just bait!

The real threat was the guy who hadn't jumped yet—

That insane kind of set was just a gimmick to distract them!

Ricardo signalled his teammates to shift right.

"Heh~"

Ricardo froze.

He thought he heard a faint scoff.

And then—a creeping sensation that he'd been read like a book.

Whoosh!—

The ball flew to the left.

BOOM!!!

Alexander spiked and scored!

[Trentino 23 – 23 Perugia]

The score was tied!

"Once again, that unbelievable set! Another unbelievable quick!"

"Kageyama Tobio is like an artist sculpting Trentino into the form he imagines!"

Alexander raised an eyebrow and gave Kageyama a firm thumbs-up.

Kageyama couldn't understand the commentary, but he could feel the arena erupting in cheers.

"Damn it!!" Ricardo glared at Kageyama, fury burning in his eyes.

Just a foreign rookie setter…

Yet his sets were as precise as a supercomputer's.

Trentino continued serving.

Yuri sent out his third serve!

BOOM!!!—

The power behind it was immense.

Their streak of consecutive points had Yuri fully fired up.

Smack!!!

Part barely got the first touch up. Ricardo scrambled to set.

Giovanni leapt from the back row to attack.

Perugia's scoring had stalled—they desperately needed someone to break the momentum!

BOOM!!!—

Smack!!!

"But rushing things won't help."

"Touch!"

The ball deflected off Zaytsev's arm and popped into the air.

Fabio easily received it and passed it cleanly.

Alexander had already grown addicted to this kind of quick.

He sprinted laterally and leapt in a single stride.

"Triple block!"

Perugia had only one thought now:

We have to shut down this quick attack!

If Trentino had more time to coordinate, Kageyama might've tried breaking through the triple block directly, to crush Perugia's spirit all at once.

But it wasn't the time for that.

Kageyama's setting form remained unchanged—

but in his mind, he was already passing to the right.

"Give it to me!!!"

Alexander roared midair.

Did you hear that, Kageyama?

I'm going to break this block right here!

"Ah."

Kageyama knew that feeling.

Whoosh!—

The ball zapped to the left wing, flying in front of Alexander with exact precision—

Not too high, not too low. Not too far, not too close.

For a split second, it even seemed to pause in midair.

"—?!"

Alexander's pupils contracted.

What the hell was this?!

This set was even more perfect than what he had imagined!

BOOM!!!—

The ball sliced through a sliver of space between the triple blockers—

THUD!!!

—and crashed into the centre of Perugia's court!

Alexander scores!

[Trentino 24 – 23 Perugia]

"Nice spike," Kageyama Tobio complimented.

To be able to find a gap in a triple block under such a rapid offensive tempo—no doubt, that was the power of a world-class ace.

"Ah…c-cough." Alexander nodded awkwardly. "Your set wasn't bad either."

"Haha." Zaytsev gave a knowing smile.

He understood Alexander well—his aggressive call for the ball earlier hadn't been about tactics at all. It was just that after hearing the commentators praise Kageyama, Alexander had wanted to assert his dominance in the offence, as if to say he was still the lead actor on stage.

And yet, Kageyama didn't seem affected at all. The ball he delivered—

It had a style entirely his own.

"Hahahaha…"

"Zay!" Alexander's face flushed red, as if Zaytsev had just called out his true intentions. Of course, he had pulled the same move on Zaytsev before.

Zaytsev dropped the grin and spoke seriously. "Let's finish this—just like this."

Trentino to serve. Yuri stepped up for his fourth serve.

BOOM!!!—

Another powerful serve once again disrupted Perugia's offensive rhythm.

Ricardo barely managed to piece together a play—Fromm leapt for the spike.

Smack!

Fabio received it cleanly and passed a perfect ball to the setter.

Kageyama leapt to set from the front row. Zaytsev and Alexander both jumped at the net in unison.

"Who's he going to set?"

"Just one decoy? Or both of them?"

Ricardo's mind spun in chaos.

But they had no choice—Perugia's blockers had to follow both attackers.

BOOM!

"Huh?"

They should've guessed it by now—

This guy was far too composed to be just a rookie.

THUD!

The ball hit the floor.

Kageyama Tobio scored with a setter dump!

[Trentino 25 – 23 Perugia]

"The final point—Kageyama didn't set to anyone!"

"Perugia's blockers could do nothing but watch the ball land right in the middle of their own court!"

"Beeeep—!"

A long whistle echoed through the stadium.

Set over.

Set 1 winner: Trentino Volley!

Zaytsev and Alexander turned to stare at Kageyama Tobio.

This guy…even they got fooled!

And on the grand stage of the Italian SuperLega League Finals—

A court where the average player height was over two meters (except for liberos)—

The one who sealed the first set…was a foreign rookie setter standing just 186cm tall.

-----

[Trentino Volley 25 – 23 Umbria Volley Perugia]

[Trentino Volley 25 – 20 Umbria Volley Perugia]

[Trentino Volley 25 – 18 Umbria Volley Perugia]

Fans had expected a Trentino win.

But no one expected a complete blowout.

Since Kageyama Tobio's arrival, Trentino had become an entirely different team.

Their offensive tempo was on a whole other level.

Trentino swept Perugia in straight sets!

"The King from Japan—Kageyama Tobio."

"The Tsar from Russia—Ivan Zaytsev."

"The Emperor from Italy—Alexander Delloro."

"This is just too extravagant!!"

Riesen could only marvel at the sight of the three standing side by side on the court.

This might just be the strongest Trentino roster in history.

This year—

They were going to defeat everyone.

They were going to stand at the top of the world.

_________

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