Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 547: Nizhnev vs Ryujin (Double-Length)

Compared to Al-Rayyan Club from Qatar, Russia's Nizhnev Club, based in Moscow, was much closer to Japan.

Moreover, Japan had just defeated Al-Rayyan in the Asian Championship to claim the title, so when selecting a practice opponent for the Club World Championship, it was only natural to choose the stronger team.

And up until now, Japan's win rate against Russian teams in international competitions?

Zero.

"Oi, aren't they, like…way too tall?" Miya Atsumu whispered to Ojiro Aran.

Atsumu had previously faced off against a U.S. high school team that had left a strong impression on him. To be honest, had both sides gone all out from the beginning, Japan probably wouldn't have won that exchange match.

But now, their opponents were even taller, even stronger—fully professional Russian players.

"Atsumu, are you whispering because you're afraid they'll hear you?" Aran asked dryly.

"Ahem. I'm being polite, not scared," Atsumu clarified, not denying it.

"You? Polite?" Aran muttered, then added seriously, "They probably don't understand Japanese anyway."

Atsumu: "…"

"Hmph, of course I knew that!" Atsumu puffed up his chest confidently. "Relax. No matter how tall or huge they are, I'll lead us to victory."

"Big Bro, what's he saying?" Ivan Glukhov leaned down and asked Yaku Morisuke in a low voice.

"He's talking tough," Yaku replied with a grin.

"They may not understand Japanese, but Yaku can translate…" Aran said with a crooked smile, looking sideways at Atsumu.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Atsumu gave Aran a betrayed look, then quickly turned to smile at the entire Nizhnev team who were now glaring at him.

Both teams were composed of professional players, so pleasantries were kept to a minimum. After brief introductions, they entered their warm-up routines.

-----

Thirty minutes later.

The players took their positions on the court. With a crisp whistle from the referee, the first set of the practice match between Ryujin Club and Nizhnev Club officially began.

Ryujin's starting lineup:

Front row—Setter Miya Atsumu, Middle Blocker Hirugami Fukurō, Outside Hitter Bokuto Kōtarō.

Back row—Outside Hitter Kiryū Wakatsu, Middle Blocker Meian Shūgo (Libero: Komori Motoya) and Opposite Hitter Hoshiumi Kōrai.

Nizhnev's starting lineup:

Front row—Opposite Hitter Mikhail (202cm), Middle Blocker Igor Kulikov (209cm), Outside Hitter Ivan Glukhov (204cm).

Back row—Outside Hitter Viktor Bohl (196cm), Middle Blocker Volvich (210cm) (Libero: Yaku Morisuke) (176cm) and Setter Kobzar (198cm).

Among Ryujin's starters, not a single player stood over 2 meters.

In fact, both middle blockers—Hirugami Fukurō (197cm) and Meian Shugo (196cm)—were actually shorter than Nizhnev's setter.

What surprised the Japanese players even more was that Nizhnev's so-called "Twin Stars," Viktor and Igor, were stationed at positions 5 and 3, respectively.

Instead, the team's ace—wearing the symbolic No. 4—was the young opposite Mikhail.

The match began with Nizhnev serving first.

Setter Kobzar jumped and launched a powerful serve!

BOOM!! fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

The ball streaked across the court like a blur, heading straight for Ryujin's back row.

Smack!

Hoshiumi received it cleanly and delivered a perfect first touch!

"Whoa, just like Yaku-san said—Japanese players really are amazing at receiving!" Ivan said in awe.

"Just wait. You haven't seen the really surprising stuff yet."

Atsumu jumped into his set at the front row, eyes scanning the opposing court.

Across from him, Mikhail stood silently, waiting in the middle of the net.

Whoosh!—

The ball sailed across the court—precisely arcing toward the right wing!

So fast! So accurate!

Mikhail's brows twitched in surprise as he took a step back.

Thud!

Bokuto sprinted along the sideline and soared into the air for a spike!

"Double block!" Kulikov and Glukhov leapt together.

"Oi oi oi—is this even fair?!"

Spectators on the sidelines (staff from the Japanese Volleyball Association) widened their eyes.

Bokuto's hitting point was completely smothered under the block!

The angle was sealed—tight and lethal!

A double block that rivalled the effectiveness of a three-man block in the Japanese league!

BOOM!!—

But Bokuto didn't panic. He found an opening and spiked a sharp cross-court shot—cutting it through the left side of the block!

Smack!

Mikhail was there.

"He was waiting for the cross!" Atsumu's expression tightened. Their first offensive play had been easily read and stopped…

"I've got it!" Kobzar quickly repositioned and set the ball to the middle.

To be honest, the technique on Kobzar's set was rough—the Ryujin front row instantly read the trajectory and closed in on the centre.

Thump!

Igor launched upward for a middle hit.

"Triple block!" Atsumu, Hirugami, and Bokuto leapt together!

"Heh~"

But something about this attack felt different.

—BOOM!!

A high contact spike!

The ball soared over Hirugami's hands!

WHAM!

It struck Komori's forearm and ricocheted out of bounds.

Igor scores!

[Ryujin 0 – 1 Nizhnev]

"Oooh! That's the libero Yaku-san mentioned, right? Just like when he first joined us!" Ivan cheered. "Igor's spike was tracked perfectly!"

"I'm definitely stronger than before," Yaku said with a grin.

"Yes, Yaku-san!" Ivan responded with pure admiration.

Nizhnev continued to serve.

Kobzar sent out the second ball.

Smack!

Komori received it easily. Perfect pass.

Atsumu again jumped in for the set.

This time, Mikhail wasn't standing directly in front of him—he'd moved a step right, guarding the one-third zone from the centre.

"Leaving the lane open for a setter dump? Does he think I won't try it?" Atsumu frowned.

Whoosh!—

Without changing his expression, Atsumu sent the ball to the right wing once more.

"Smart play," Mikhail muttered, backing into the three-meter line to cover the diagonal.

Bokuto jumped again for a spike.

"Double block!" Igor and Ivan rose to meet him—the iron wall stood tall again.

Just like last time, Bokuto's hitting window was sealed!

BOOM!!!—

He aimed for the right sideline this time, trying to thread it in.

—SMACK!!

Too bad—Ivan anticipated it. His arm dropped fast and blocked the shot mid-air!

Thud!

The ball slammed back into Ryujin's court.

Ivan scores on the block!

[Ryujin 0 – 2 Nizhnev]

"Whew—that was a nasty shot choice," Ivan chuckled. "Just a bit too slow, though."

Suzaku Banjou wasn't surprised—he had already braced for this.

But part of him had still hoped that a top-tier Japanese ace like Bokuto might break through a world-class block.

Now the answer was clear: No.

"This is the wall every Japanese player must face to reach the global stage," said Hibarida Fuki solemnly. "Even Ushijima had trouble scoring when he first went overseas."

"Yeah." Suzaku's expression was heavy.

Blocking was the weakest link in Japanese volleyball—a skill that simply cannot be mastered by technique alone.

If you can't reach it, you can't block it.

The only thing that values height even more than offence is blocking.

But poor blocking isn't the true weakness of Japanese volleyball.

The real issue is this: when players are used to ineffective blocking, their own offense becomes stunted in turn.

That's the most fatal flaw.

"When faced with high-level blocks for the first time, no one breaks through immediately," Suzaku said. "That's exactly why we asked Nizhnev to train with us."

Hibarida nodded, then chuckled.

"Though…there is one exception."

"Hahaha." Suzaku laughed knowingly. "That guy's different. And lately, I'm starting to really understand what that means."

-----

Nizhnev continued their service. Kobzar launched the third serve.

Smack!

Kiryū Wakatsu received the ball steadily—though the pass was only semi-accurate.

"Tsk...This bunch doesn't give you even the tiniest crack in their serve receive," Kobzar muttered in frustration.

Three powerful serves in a row, and all of them were basically wasted.

Miya Atsumu stepped out slightly to adjust the set—this kind of deviation was nothing to him. But the real question was: how to break through Nizhnev's iron-clad block?

This match wasn't just a test of Ryujin's attackers—it was a test for the setter as well!

Front row: Hirugami Fukurō and Bokuto Kōtarō.

Back row: Hoshiumi Kōrai.

Three spiking options.

Plus Atsumu himself in the front row—a chance for a setter dump.

So many choices, and yet Atsumu found himself stumped.

Because Mikhail's positioning simultaneously cut off both Atsumu and Hirugami's options!

"I've got to test it out," Atsumu thought. "You can't block two people just because you want to."

BAM!!!

Atsumu's setting motion shifted sharply—he suddenly slammed the ball down for a setter dump.

Mikhail stepped sideways and jumped at an angle.

Tall frame, long wingspan, lightning-quick reflexes—

Smack!

Mikhail got a hand under it.

He didn't get the stuff block, but considering Atsumu had expected the block, and Mikhail had committed to guarding both players—that was an insane read.

"Chance ball!"

Seeing Yaku Morisuke move in to cover, Ryujin let out a collective breath.

Fortunately, Russia's setter lacked finesse—he wouldn't go for a quick attack right away.

Smack!

Yaku dropped into position and bumped the ball high and wide toward the right side.

"—?"

Yaku was setting up the offence! A one-touch bump-setup for attack!

Ivan clearly anticipated it. He leapt and spiked.

"Double block!" Hirugami Fukurō and Bokuto Kōtarō rose together.

—BOOM!!!

A high contact spike!

The ball soared over Bokuto's block and slammed down on the right sideline of Ryujin's court.

Hoshiumi couldn't reach it in time.

Ivan scores!

[Ryujin 0 – 3 Nizhnev]

"Yaku-san, what a set!" Ivan shouted with glee.

Yaku didn't say a word—he just silently raised his right hand and gave a thumbs up.

Was it really that great of a set? Not exactly.

Both Yaku and Kobzar were solid setters, but neither was among the world-class elites.

But for Nizhnev, that wasn't necessary.

As long as it was high and stable, that's all their spikers needed.

Breaking blocks? That was the attacker's job.

"Beep! Ryujin requests a substitution."

Sakusa Kiyoomi IN, Bokuto Kōtarō OUT.

Kunimi Akira IN, Kiryū Wakatsu OUT.

"Oh?" Nizhnev's head coach, Maksim, raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Ryujin to sub players rather than call a timeout.

And with these new players, Ryujin looked even leaner, physically.

"Are they trying to break our block with this lineup?" Maksim muttered.

"Kiryū, Bokuto, rest up and be ready to go back in at any time," Coach Suzaku instructed.

"Yes, Coach!"

Compared to Kiryū, who had only received one serve and done little else, Bokuto's two attacks—one dug out, the other stuffed—made it seem like he'd been subbed out for underperforming.

Kiryū imagined things from Bokuto's perspective—and instantly felt a twinge in his stomach.

"Bokuto…" Kiryū tried to find the right words to comfort him.

"I'm fine."

But Bokuto didn't look the least bit frustrated. He hadn't managed to break through the block—that was fact.

At the moment, he didn't care what the coaches thought.

His focus was still locked on the court.

"…I see," Kiryū nodded and turned back to the game.

If he'd been subbed out for Kunimi, then clearly Kunimi Akira had something worth learning from.

-----

Nizhnev served again. Kobzar sent out the fourth ball.

It flew toward Kunimi Akira.

Compared to the previous serves, this one carried the most terrifying force yet.

"As expected."

Kunimi received it cleanly, bumping it to the front of the net.

"Oh?" Mikhail's eyes lit up.

The pass quality wasn't great—it was easy to predict the set would go to the right side.

Sakusa Kiyoomi leapt for the spike.

Ivan jumped for a solo block.

Because the pass was weak and Sakusa didn't look particularly threatening, Nizhnev didn't commit a full block—they were more curious what Sakusa would do with the ball.

BOOM!!!

The ball slipped past the block and headed for Nizhnev's back row.

"Huh? He actually spiked it," Kobzar muttered, moving to intercept.

"Watch out—!"

Yaku's warning came too late.

Smack!!

The ball struck Kobzar's arm—and flew out of bounds.

Sakusa scores!

[Ryujin 1 – 3 Nizhnev]

"???" Kobzar turned to Yaku. "What was that?"

"Be careful. His spikes have a weird rotation—really hard to receive."

Nizhnev's players suddenly tensed up.

If Yaku Morisuke said it was hard to receive, then—

It was definitely hard to receive.

"Hahaha…" Mikhail quietly chuckled to himself.

"So this guy—Sakusa Kiyoomi—is Japan's ultimate weapon against us?" Kobzar asked.

"No clue," Yaku replied with a shrug and a grin. Back in Japan, he'd been practically invisible—he'd had very little contact with these so-called "geniuses."

"But one thing's for sure—never underestimate them."

_________

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