The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Konan's quick attack routine was always predictable. Even before the first set was over, all the Tsunemori players had already recognized the pattern behind it. They would only launch a quick counterattack after their opponent sent a serve to cut off the momentum. If the one who received the serve was Lucas, the final pass would be sent to Matsumoto.

Otherwise, the ball would be handed to the Brazilian boy.

Even then, Konan still had no hesitation to do that over and over again. They were confident that no matter whether the opponent knew about their intention or not, it wouldn't matter too much in the end. Lucas or Matsumoto would always be quicker and stronger for anyone to handle. This was the confidence gained by having probably two of the best players in the country on their team.

However, if the same trick was released over and over again, someone was bound to stop it sooner or later. And this time, the players who were able to do that were the two monster rookies from Tsunemori, Yuki and Riku.

When they saw Lucas start his run-up, they didn't even blink, moving in sync to form a wall in front of the Brazilian boy. And while they might not be the strongest blockers on the team, the combination of those two was enough to slow down the momentum of Lucas's spike and allow their teammates to pick up the ball.

"OH! Nice one touch, Yuki! Riku!"

"Follow it up! Don't let the ball fall!" Riku shouted when he saw the ball was about to touch the floor.

Kaede rushed to get the ball and send it back to the front line. Yuki who recovered first from the block took it over, acting as a setter. Since Koji managed to score a point in the last play, he sent the exact same pass as what Riku sent before, hoping that his senpai would be able to continue his momentum.

"Nice pass, Yuki!"

*BAM!*

"Oh! Block by Akihiro!"

"One touch!"

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Koji gritted his teeth when his spike was blocked by Akihiro. Unlike before, this time, Konan's middle blocker managed to absorb the impact from the spike so that the ball's speed was reduced a lot by the moment it was picked up by his teammates.

"Good job, Take! Nobu, follow it up!"

"I got it!"

Without even looking, Sawada tossed the ball at his back, sending it straight to Matsumoto with high precision as if he had another pair of eyes on the back of his head. He knew that the best blocker on Tsunemori's side was Yuki, so Sawada wanted to use this chance to avoid the glasses boy while also spreading Tsunemori's blockers thin.

However, even if he only faced Ogawa in front of him, Matsumoto failed to score the ball as it went straight in Kaede's direction. Even though Tsunemori's defensive specialist couldn't receive it perfectly, the ball was still flying in the air.

"Nice save, Kai!"

"Pick it up! Don't let it fall!"

Those were probably the most common sentences that could be heard in the last few minutes. No matter what kind of attack they launched, from the left, the right, the back attack, a fake, a dump, no matter how Konan bombarded Tsunemori, their opponent would always be able to save it.

"Damn! Nobu, give it to me!"Lucas who was frustrated by the unnecessary rally asked for the ball. This was the first time the Tsunemori players saw him without his grin. While they were ecstatic when they knew they managed to frustrate Konan's ace, they still did not lower their guard, knowing what came next would be different.

"Come on, Riku! Follow my lead! One! Two! Now!" Together with Yuki, Riku jumped, trying to block the spike. However, the next spike coming from Lucas was different than before.

The sheer power transferred to the ball was enough to make all the people there tremble in fear. And when the sound of his hand hitting the ball echoed loudly all over the building, everyone winced unconsciously, pitying Riku and Yuki who had to face the end of it.

"OH! YOSSHAAA!" Lucas roared, for the first time in the game showing excitement.

By now, the thought that Tsunemori was a weak, no-name team no longer existed in everyone's mind. If they could force Lucas to go all out like this, they deserved to get praised. And it wasn't often for them to see a team manage to hold Konan back for almost two minutes, so while they lost the point, Tsunemori somehow gained the respect of the crowd.

"Hahaha! Tsunemori is crazy!"

"I never expected them to be able to frustrate Konan like this!"

"If only they could do that since the beginning of the game, the result would be different this time."

"Well, not that different, of course. Konan would still win the game no matter what."

"Yeah, but you have to give a hat off to Tsunemori, right?"

Hearing the praises from the crowd, Amagi who was on the stand shifted his seat uncomfortably. If before, the praises were just lip services to encourage Tsunemori to not give up quickly, this time, it came from people's hearts as the acknowledgment that Tsunemori was indeed a strong team.

While he didn't have a grudge against Tsunemori, Amagi still felt uncomfortable when he remembered this weak team Matsukita destroyed a few months ago suddenly was transformed into a team that could give Konan trouble. Your journey continues at empire

Even though they were still a baby compared to giants like Konan and Matsukita, Amagi shuddered at the thought of how far Tsunemori would improve given one or two more years to develop.

Little did he know that the team was on the verge of disbandment and wouldn't be able to unleash their fullest potential in the future.

As the game went by, with each blow from their opponent, Tsunemori dove and leaped, pulling off miraculous saves that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Every time Konan players thought they had the match in the bag, Tsunemori would rally back, transitioning from defense to offense with newfound vigor.

As the rally stretched into what felt like an eternity, the frustration on the faces of Konan's players was visible, and no matter whether they were the best team in the country or not, facing such a situation, they were bound to get frustrated. And after a while…

*BAM!*

Matsumoto spiked the ball carelessly, wanting to end the play as soon as possible. However, even before he knew whether he scored the ball or not, the referee blew the whistle already, and when he turned around to inquire what happened, the blood drained from his face as he was too shocked by the referee's decision.

"Foul! Konan's number 4 touches the net! A point for Tsunemori High!"