"Mujinazaka is now making their next big move!"
"If they succeed, Karasuno might lose this final outright!"
The audience began to buzz with discussion about the match.
But right after that, voices of disagreement rose up from nearby.
"How could that happen??"
"Karasuno just scored another point!"
"Judging by the current situation, they'll probably take the second set too!"
"That means Karasuno will have match point for the finals!"
"No matter how you look at it, there's no way they'll lose!"
"That's not necessarily true!"
A voice countered from the side:
"Look at Karasuno's ace, Akira! Look at his condition right now!"
"Isn't it obvious he's running out of stamina?"
"Without their ace in top form, can they really handle Mujinazaka's counterattack?"
...
The audience's arguing voices continued outside the court, back and forth with no one convincing the other.
Meanwhile, on the court, Mujinazaka's situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse.
Karasuno's score had climbed to 21!
In other words...
There wasn't much time left for Mujinazaka!
And the players from Mujinazaka had noticed it too—the tension showed on their faces.
"Push through these last few points!"
Kiryu spoke in a low, commanding voice:
"The more exhausted he gets now, the better our chances later!"
"Yeah!!"
Bang!
As the referee's whistle blew, Kageyama launched a powerful jump serve straight to Mujinazaka's back row!
Thud!
Kiryu received the ball cleanly!
While Mujinazaka had been focusing on wearing down Akira's stamina, Karasuno had been subtly draining Kiryu's as well!
The only difference was—they weren't as obvious about it.
Their goal was simply to keep scoring!
With Usuri moving into position at the front, he set the ball to the highest point at his side!
At that moment, Keisuke Unnan had already leapt into the air!
This time, their quick attack was different.
Their previous fast plays had prioritized sheer speed.
If the opponent couldn't react in time, the point was already scored.
But this time, Usuri's toss emphasized height!
He took full advantage of Unnan's height as a middle blocker, allowing him to strike the ball from an extreme height.
So...
If Akira's jump height wasn't enough, he wouldn't be able to stop this one!
And judging from his recent movements, Akira might not have the stamina left to jump that high!
Sure enough!
In the surprised and delighted eyes of the Mujinazaka players, Akira's jump didn't reach the necessary height!
Keisuke Unnan's spike soared right over Akira's outstretched arms!
Thud!
Luckily, Nishinoya was lightning-fast in the back row and managed to dig it out!
Bang!
Following Kageyama's set, Tanaka Spiked the ball in from the left wing—another point!
"What's going on??"
Watching the match unfold, the Inarizaki players started sensing something off.
"Even if Mujinazaka is targeting Akira, he shouldn't be burning out this quickly, right??"
"It doesn't make sense!"
"Yeah!"
"I remember in yesterday's match with Karasuno, he was still going strong at the end of the second set!"
"Exactly! They went all the way to 32 points yesterday! And now it's only at 22—why is he like this already?"
"Could it be..."
"Is Mujinazaka's targeting actually working that well??"
"Then when we play Karasuno, should we do the same?"
...
Listening to the discussion around him, Shinsuke Kita furrowed his brows deeply.
With his sharp insight and experience, he had already noticed something unusual in this match.
Looking at his excited teammates, he couldn't help but speak in a low voice:
"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet."
"Whether or not Mujinazaka's strategy is truly effective—we need to see how the next set plays out."
"I have a feeling..."
"There might be a twist."
"Karasuno... isn't a team that's easily crushed."
...
Tweet!
The referee's whistle blew again—Karasuno had officially reached 24 points!
They had taken the second set!
At that moment, Mujinazaka's score was only 13.
The point gap this round was even wider than the previous set.
But the Mujinazaka players didn't seem as desperate as the spectators expected.
In fact, they even looked a little pleased.
Because Akira looked completely worn out.
His chest heaved with every breath, sweat dripped from his forehead in steady streams... even his steps looked unsteady.
But that didn't mean Mujinazaka let their guard down.
Even for this last point, every one of them still wanted to press harder on Akira!
Bang!
It was Karasuno's turn to serve!
And at that moment, Akira had rotated into the back row!
He would be serving.
Without hesitation, once the referee blew the whistle, Akira launched a jump serve from the back row!
Just from watching it, the Mujinazaka players could tell—
There was something off.
Because compared to the explosive serves he unleashed in the previous match, this one was too slow.