"What's wrong?"
As the players came off the court, Inarizaki's substitutes gathered around anxiously.
"It's Akira's Spike!"
Shinsuke Kita said calmly, shifting his gaze to Michinari Akagi.
"Yes!"
Akagi gritted his teeth and added,
"I think I've noticed something about his spike..."
"What??"
Everyone's eyes lit up at his words.
"Quick! Tell us!"
"Yeah! We can figure it out together!"
"Right!"
Akagi nodded, his expression tense.
"Just like Sakusa and Ushijima's spikes, Akira's spike has a unique kind of spin to it—his own kind!"
"Really??"
Taro Omi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed is still shocking."
"If Ushijima is naturally left-handed, his spike tends to spin slightly left."
"And Sakusa, with his incredibly flexible wrist, can deliver a powerful right-handed spin."
"So... what about Akira?"
"What kind of spin does his spike have?"
He turned his gaze to Akagi again.
"He... he..."
Akagi stumbled over his words, struggling to explain.
"What's going on??"
"Akagi-senpai?"
Hitoshi Ginjima spoke up, already growing impatient.
"The spin on his spike keeps changing!"
"Every single time—it's different!"
"I can't adjust to it!"
"What??"
The others stood there, mouths agape.
"Constantly changing??"
"How's that possible??"
Taro Omi asked, short of breath.
"It's like..."
Akagi clenched his teeth and explained:
"One spike curves left... the next curves right..."
"And the degree and intensity of the spin changes each time!"
"There's no pattern at all!"
"This..."
At that moment, everyone from Inarizaki was genuinely shocked.
Gulp...
A heavy swallow echoed among them.
"What does that mean??"
"Every time it changes??"
"Could it be that this kind of spin is actually under his control??"
Atsumu Miya asked the question that had been gnawing at everyone.
"I don't really know."
Akagi shook his head, confused himself.
How did Akira manage to manipulate the spin so unpredictably?
"But figuring out how he does it isn't our biggest problem right now!"
Just as everyone was lost in thought, Taro Omi interjected.
"Our immediate concern is figuring out how to handle that ever-changing spike!"
As soon as he spoke, everyone's brows furrowed.
He was right.
How Akira managed to pull off such a spike wasn't the urgent issue.
Inarizaki's real problem now was how to counter it.
The spin changes every time—how do you respond to that?
And judging by Akagi's earlier words, Akira's spikes didn't follow any discernible rule.
In other words, you couldn't adjust to it.
Just like Suna's broad attack range—Karasuno was still struggling with that even now.
When faced with it, there was a high chance the point would be lost.
So for a moment, the team was completely silent, unable to come up with a countermeasure.
Taro Omi glanced at his wristwatch, noting how little time they had left.
The 30-second timeout was almost over!
"Alright, here's what we'll do."
"Taro and I will continue discussing this off-court, and we'll call another timeout when we've come up with a solution."
"Yes!"
Everyone nodded. They all knew it was nearly impossible to come up with a strategy on the spot. The only way was to figure it out slowly.
Tweet!
On the other side, the referee blew the whistle—the timeout was over!
The match resumed!
Karasuno to serve!
The scoreboard now read: Karasuno 16 – Inarizaki 14.
Both sides had been trading intense rallies, keeping the scores close.
Smack!
Akira's serve headed toward Inarizaki's back row—but midway through its flight, it suddenly dropped!
Crunch!!
Atsumu Miya barely managed to dig it out, contorting awkwardly to reach the ball.
But as the setter, he couldn't make the second touch!
And the landing spot was terrible—Hitoshi Ginjima could barely get to it!
In the end, Shinsuke Kita had to send over a chance ball from the back row.
"Chance ball!!"
Daichi Sawamura's eyes lit up. He received it smoothly and passed it to Tobio Kageyama.
Now it was Karasuno's turn to attack again!
Smack!
Shōyō Hinata launched into a quick attack from the wing.
Ren Ōmimi rushed to block him—but at the last second, Hinata changed direction mid-air, dodged the block, and nailed the spike!
Tweet!
Karasuno scores!!
Right after, Akira's next serve was successfully received by Shinsuke Kita in the back row.
Inarizaki counterattacked—scoring one point back!
...
By now, the match had entered a high-stakes, high-intensity phase.