𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗥 ⸺ 𝖴𝖽𝖺𝗂 𝖳𝖾𝗇𝗆𝖺

𝟒𝟗 | "Cʜᴀʟʟᴇɴɢᴇʀ"

A/N: Hello, readers! Sorry for the long wait! The past few weeks have been rough for me, so I haven't been able to update as much. Enjoy the chapter!

edited on april 30th, 2022 @ 3:30am

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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE - CHALLENGER

"FREE BALL!" Nishinoya shouted out as he received the ball and everyone else started to do the synchronized attack. Tobio sends the ball towards Daichi, who ended up getting blocked.

Futakuchi clenched onto his stomach as Aone walked over to see if he was okay in which Futakuchi just held up his hand.

The whistle blew as Karasuno was currently in the lead by one point.

Ukai walked over towards Hinata and Tobio. "Yeah... The best thing for you to do..." He started to say.

"...is to get lost in the crowd, right?" Hinata finished.

"Free ball!"

Date Tech realized Hinata wasn't running up as Karasuno did their synchronized attack once more. Kageyama tosses over towards Asahi who jumps up and spikes the ball.

"Asahi-san, nice kill!" Tanaka complimented as Karasuno had won the set.

TWEEEEET!

"All right! A round of diving drills!" Daichi breathed out.

"Daichi, we won." Asahi informed.

"Oh... Force of habit." Daichi stated.

"Seal walk!" Futakuchi shouted out.

The Date Tech members then began walking like a seal. "It looked like Date Tech hesitated on their last block." Takeda pointed out.

"Up until now, whenever Kageyama was the setter, Hinata wasn't involved with the synchronized attacks. Because he was attacking one tempo faster." Ukai explained.

"So everyone else was coming in on a first tempo attack and Hinata-kun was on minus tempo." Takeda spoke.

"Everyone is on guard against that freak quick attack. They'd be on guard as soon as they saw it, and even more so once they know about it." Ukai continued on. "But right now, we're playing against Date Tech. Even if they were to change up their block formation for strategic purposes, it's still rare for them to let their opponents confuse them."

Tsukishima took a drink of his water. "The amazing thing about Date Tech is that even when Hinata gets in a freak quick attack, they're able to move on from it." He pointed out.

"Yeah, it doesn't faze them." Yamaguchi agreed.

"Just because Date Tech is really good at blocking, that doesn't mean they're trying to stop everyone. Even if they can't completely stop an attack, they'll have at least two blockers show up, and they can at least touch Hinata's freak quick attack. Even if they can't fully stop an attack, if they can limit its range, their floor defense will probably get it. And..." Tsukishima paused for a moment. "In the last half of the game, Hinata will be exhausted and get rooted."

"Say what?!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Karasuno will be completely helpless. That's Date Tech's ultimate, ideal story!"

"Hey, what team are you on?" Sugawara questioned.

"The more Hinata scores, the more likely they are to hesitate. But..." Tsukishima trailed off.