Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 555: Now It Really Begins (Double-Length)

Serve returned to San Juan.

Bruno stepped up for a powerful jump serve—

Mikhail received it cleanly and passed it perfectly to the setter.

Swoosh!—

Kobzar sent the ball to the right—Ivan launched a quick attack.

—BOOM!!

The ball soared over Oikawa's head and slammed down into San Juan's court.

Ivan scores!

[San Juan 5 – 7 Nizhnev]

—"Nizhnev has begun to target San Juan's blocking weak point—Oikawa—and it's proving effective!"

Serve returned to Nizhnev.

Ivan delivered a solid jump serve—not flashy, but controlled and aimed straight at San Juan's back row.

Taichi received it with ease—perfect pass.

Oikawa leapt in the front row to set.

Kobzar and Volvich had already shifted positions to block in front of him.

Swoosh!—

The ball sailed toward the middle—Conte leapt up for the spike.

"Double block!" Victor and Volvich rose to challenge.

BOOM!!

The ball slipped past their block and angled toward the far corner.

Smack!

Yaku got under it!

"Cover!"

Mikhail shifted in to take second contact—Victor came in from the left wing for the attack!

"Double block!" Ramos and Conte sprang up in front of him.

SMACK!—

The spike was met at the net—it ricocheted high into the air.

Net joust!

"Conte!"

"Volvich!"

—"Stuff it!" / "Block him!"

WHAM!

Both players clashed hands over the ball.

"What a pity...In this kind of matchup, there's no beating him."

Volvich used his 210cm frame to overpower Conte, pressing the ball back into San Juan's court.

—BOOM!

Point for Nizhnev.

[San Juan 5 – 8 Nizhnev]

"Tweet!—"

Technical timeout.

"Looks like the Polar Bears aren't so easy to deal with after all…" Ramos said, a bit helplessly. "Not only are their hitting points ridiculously high, but it's hard to shake their blocks too."

San Juan's roster ranked only mid-to-lower among World Championship teams in terms of average height. Russia, Italy, Poland, and Brazil all had taller players across the board.

Oikawa frowned. His blocking—at best—might slightly limit the angles. But as a setter, his priority had to be orchestrating the offence.

Nizhnev didn't have a clear offensive powerhouse on par with Taichi—Oikawa was certain of that.

But Mikhail, Igor, and Victor, those three combined were just as formidable as Conte—making them an extremely difficult trio to handle.

"Maybe you're focusing too much on their height," Taichi suddenly spoke up.

"Hm?" The others looked at him.

"I'll leave the offence to you guys. Let me talk about how to handle their attacks."

Taichi raised an eyebrow. Coach José handed over the tactics board without hesitation.

"Against strong hitters, the usual approach is to disrupt their rhythm, block, or dig."

"But Nizhnev's offence doesn't rely on precision passing or tricky tempo. Even if we disrupt their first or second touch, they always fall back on the same solution—high balls."

"Exactly, and their hitting point is too high. We can't get clean blocks on them," Bruno chimed in—but promptly shut his mouth when he caught Taichi's look.

"When it comes to blocking high balls, the focus should be on receiving, not blocking," Taichi said. "Because they're so reliant on their height, their attacking patterns are actually simplistic. Just use two blockers up front to limit them. Everyone else backs up to cover defence."

"Taichi," Oikawa interrupted. "Two blockers aren't enough."

"Not for Victor and Mikhail," Taichi nodded. "They've got top-level technique, especially in the wrists. It's hard to shut down their attack paths."

Oikawa gave a small nod—at least he hadn't overlooked that.

"Then bait them. Leave open the angles they prefer. Let's see what they do with that," Taichi added with a meaningful smile.

"Alright then," Coach José Blanco said as the timeout neared its end. "Oikawa, try opening up the wings more. Pull apart their block. And don't be afraid to extend the rallies—we'll get more chances to study their offence that way."

"Yes!"

"Nizhnev does have the height advantage. So don't get pulled into their rhythm—hit them from another angle!"

"Understood!"

-----

Timeout ended. Play resumed.

Nizhnev serve. Ivan with a powerful jump serve.

Taichi received it perfectly.

Oikawa sent it to the left wing—Ramos took off for the spike!

Victor went up for a solo block.

BOOM!!!

The ball avoided the block and struck Yaku's arm—flying out of bounds.

Ramos scores!

[San Juan 6 – 8 Nizhnev]

-----

Ramos with a powerful jump serve.

Ivan received it—a shaky pass.

Kobzar jumped to set from the front row—Victor and Volvich each started approach runs from opposite wings.

"Left wing!" Taichi had kept it simple during the timeout—but executing it was far from easy.

Kobzar's setting wasn't as sharp as Oikawa's, but in a match this fast-paced, predicting the direction with certainty was near impossible.

—BOOM!!!

Bruno was a step late. The ball thundered into San Juan's court and bounced high.

Victor scores!

[San Juan 16 – 19 Nizhnev]

"Sorry, I'll be quicker next time," Bruno said. He'd hesitated when Taichi shouted the direction—missing the timing to shift.

"No—you can't," Taichi replied bluntly. "I told you before: two blockers is enough. You should've dropped back into defence."

Bruno went silent. Taichi's words weren't just instructions—they questioned his ability to block.

"Lima, you actually blocked Loser's coverage lane," Conte said directly. Having played together for years, they could afford to speak plainly.

"Huh?"

Bruno frowned and thought back—he realised Loser had rotated over from the right. That kid trusted Taichi's calls unconditionally.

"…Got it," Bruno said quietly.

"Bruno," Oikawa added in a hushed voice, "Taichi only said that because he trusts your defensive skills."

"You know how he is—he's never cared much for blocking."

Bruno glanced sideways at Oikawa. He knew it was a diplomatic spin on Taichi's criticism—but somehow, it did sound better that way.

Serve returned to Nizhnev.

Volvich with a power jump serve!

Santiago received it cleanly—perfect pass.

"Well then—"

Oikawa leapt to set. Taichi took off from the back row!

"Double block!" Victor and Kobzar jumped—never letting their guard down.

Whoosh!—

The ball went left instead—Conte leapt to strike!

They got faked out!

Igor went up for a solo block.

BOOM!!!

The ball sliced past the right edge of the block and struck Volvich's arm at the deep corner—flying out of bounds!

Conte scores!

[San Juan 17 – 19 Nizhnev]

Serve returned to San Juan. Taichi rotated to the front row.

Conte with a powerful jump serve—Yaku barely managed to dig it up.

"Cover!"

Kobzar moved into place. Igor jumped from the middle for the attack!

"One…two!"

"Double block!" Loser and Taichi both went up!

—SMACK!!!

The ball was stuffed clean back into Nizhnev's court!

Loser with the block!

[San Juan 18 – 19 Nizhnev]

-----

BOOM!!!

Loser's powerful jump serve was calmly received by Yaku.

Kobzar sent the ball high toward the right wing—Mikhail went up for the spike!

"Double block!" Taichi and Ramos jumped simultaneously.

BOOM!!!

The ball slipped past the left of Taichi and shot toward San Juan's back row.

"I've got it!"

Smack!!!

Bruno covered for Loser and managed to dig it up!

The ball popped high into the air. Oikawa rushed in to cover.

"Nice receive!"

Taichi shouted as he sprinted laterally toward the left.

Volvich stuck with Taichi, and Ivan remained locked on Oikawa's movements from the middle.

Swoosh!—

"Left wing!"

Ivan immediately shifted to the left. Mikhail followed the moment the ball left Oikawa's hand.

"Triple block!"

A towering wall rose in front of Taichi.

BOOM!!!—

The ball struck Volvich's arms and shot toward the ground.

Smack!

Kobzar tried to save it, but the ball ricocheted off his forearm and bounced farther out of bounds.

Taichi scores!

[San Juan 22 – 23 Nizhnev]

San Juan to serve again—Loser launched his second serve!

BOOM!!!

A direct shot—Victor received it solidly. The pass was a bit off target.

Kobzar stepped in to set. Nizhnev's front row surged forward—all three players launched into a coordinated attack!

If San Juan was trying to sacrifice blocking in favour of defence, then Coach Maksim was having none of it.

A three-point offensive forced San Juan into one-on-one front-row defence. Their blockers were pulled apart, and Bruno couldn't rotate back in time.

Swoosh!—

The ball flew high to the left wing—Volvich went up for the spike!

Taichi jumped for a solo block.

"Right here!"

Volvich's arms coiled, targeting Taichi's right side—then whipped forward with full force.

BOOOM!!!—

—SMACKK!!!

"Huh?!"

The ball struck Taichi's arm and flew back into Nizhnev's court at even higher speed.

"He let his guard down—just because it was a solo block!"

Yaku dove in, hand sliding under the ball just before it touched the floor.

Smack!

The ball popped up—Kobzar immediately stepped in and sent a quick set toward the middle.

Ivan jumped for a quick attack!

BOOM!!!—

—SMACK!

Taichi blocked him again!

The ball floated high—Oikawa popped it toward the right wing, where Ramos leapt for a follow-up spike!

A swift transition from defence to counterattack—a second-touch kill!

BOOM!!!—

Ramos slammed the ball downward!

—SMACK!!!

The ball deflected off Mikhail's arm and bounced high off the sideline on San Juan's right.

"…!"

Mikhail scores on the block!

[San Juan 22 – 24 Nizhnev]

"What luck—got it by instinct!" Mikhail grinned. "Kaedehara Taichi, right? I think I got the name right."

"Thanks for the live demonstration. I've learned a lot from your blocking."

Taichi frowned. It felt like this guy had been waiting for this moment the entire time—waiting for Oikawa to set to Ramos so he could intercept it at the net.

Seeing Taichi unresponsive, Mikhail turned to Yaku and asked curiously, "Was my pronunciation off? I didn't mess it up, right?"

"No."

Even though Nizhnev had reached set point, Yaku's expression showed no relief.

"Mikhail—stay focused."

"I think the real challenge might be starting now."

Serve returned to Nizhnev.

Igor tossed the ball up and unleashed a powerful jump serve!

BOOM!!!

Smack!!

Maybe the pressure of the set point got to him—Conte's receive was off, and the ball veered toward the net.

"Cover!"

Oikawa quickly scrambled over and popped the ball high.

Nizhnev's front-row block gathered fast.

Thud!

Taichi took off from the middle!

"Triple block!"

A shaky first touch, a scrambling second set, not enough height for a full swing...

Put all those together, and Ivan could already picture the spike being blocked—Nizhnev taking the second set.

BOOOOM!!!

"…Huh?"

Even if we win this point, it wouldn't feel this disorienting, would it? Ivan thought vaguely.

BANG!!!!

The ball punched through the block and slammed into Nizhnev's court.

Ivan stumbled backwards and fell hard onto the floor.

Taichi scores!

[San Juan 23 – 24 Nizhnev]

"Heh. What were you daydreaming about?" Taichi looked down at Ivan, face expressionless. "Don't tell me you were fantasising about something ridiculous."

Ivan stared blankly. He hadn't even processed what just happened.

"You okay?"

His teammates rushed over, thinking he might've injured himself on the fall.

"Yeah…I'm fine."

Ivan stared dully at the scoreboard, then at Taichi's back as he walked toward the service line.

So that point…was his?

He scored just now?!

That shouldn't be possible—

But—

"Yaku, this is what you were worried about?" Mikhail asked. "He wasn't taking things seriously before?"

"No," Yaku said, eyes serious. "Taichi's always serious when he plays. It's just—"

"The more critical the moment, the stronger he becomes."

"Ah…" Mikhail immediately understood what Yaku meant.

Big-match temperament. Clutch performer. The kind of player who can end games with one touch…

In sports, there are many terms for such athletes.

But in volleyball, they are usually called:

The Absolute Ace.

Serve returned to San Juan.

Taichi stepped up to the service line.

"Why now, of all times…"

"Focus! Hold this point!" Yaku shouted. "Then we'll take the second set!"

"Yes!"

"Tweet!—" The whistle blew.

Taichi tossed the ball high, sprinted forward, jumped—and hit!

—BOOM!!!

The ball vanished into a blur—then reappeared directly in front of Victor.

"So fast! But I can still dig it!"

Victor stepped back, knees bent, centre of gravity low—calculating the ball's arc as he opened up the passing lane.

No time!

He stopped thinking and reacted on instinct—arms snapping up to create a platform.

THUD!!!

The serve dipped viciously with a bizarre curve—slipping past Victor's hands and hammering into the floor.

"That wasn't just a power jump serve…?" Victor gave a bitter smile. "No wonder I thought I had time to react."

Taichi with an ace!

[San Juan 24 – 24 Nizhnev]

The score is tied! Back to square one!

_________

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