The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

The game resumed, and after gaining the upper hand with his serves, Yuki finally realized how overpowered his service arsenal was. There wasn't a single team that could stop it directly without losing at least two or three points first. In the next moment, as he returned to the service line, Yuki made them suffer twice as hard as before.

His ability was so ridiculously overpowered that some players, lacking confidence in their defensive skills, decided to give up when they saw him on the sideline. After about three and a half hours of long, exhausting battles, Yuki and Tanaka emerged as the winners of this 2v2 tournament, achieving significant margins against the other teams. While it surprised anyone who didn't watch the game directly, anyone who saw the perfect combination between Yuki and Tanaka would understand that those two deserved to win it all.

Contrary to what people thought, the two didn't solely rely on Yuki's service. While it played a major role—not only in contributing points but also in intimidating the opponent before they even stepped onto the court—there were still some players who managed to handle his serve, albeit imperfectly.

Yuki and Tanaka proved why they were invited to the tournament. Just as Yuki described his playing style earlier in a conversation with his partner, his survival ability was top-notch. He was like a pest, always coming back up after saving attack after attack. As for Tanaka, although he wasn't the quickest to react, he moved like a metronome, always accurate and timely, covering all the weak spots.

The combination of those two proved to be the best among the other eight pairings. As for the other teams, the results were quite surprising:

Yuki – Tanaka – 11 – 3Ichiro – Miyauchi – 7 – 6Riku – Ono – 4 – 7Ryo – Koda – Aizawa – 3 – 6...…

Yes, the table was unbalanced because it was a knockout game. The more a team won, the more they had to play. That's why Yuki and Tanaka participated in the most matches, while the team with the least games played only eight matches, with two wins and six losses.

"Oi, Yuki, congratulations!" Riku, ever the paragon of sportsmanship, suddenly approached him after everything was over. His move surprised the other players, who never thought someone would congratulate the winners openly like this. "You got us good today, bastard! I will remember the humiliation you put on me later!" He grinned, throwing his arms around Yuki's shoulder.

Yuki snorted, not from Riku's sudden move but from the others' reactions. Their dumbfounded expressions indicated that everyone was ready to move on and forget about this little tournament. But Yuki knew Riku well enough to understand that there was no way his friend would let anyone go without acknowledging their efforts.

"Urgh… Kobayashi-kun…" Tanaka suddenly nudged his shoulder, snapping Yuki from his thoughts. The atmosphere was pretty awkward with everyone waiting in anticipation of how he would react to Riku's bold statement.

In the end, Yuki just snorted at his friend. "Well, maybe if you could save my serves more, you'd be able to go further than your current position," he said playfully.

Everyone gawked, not expecting Yuki to say that out loud. Some were even offended, knowing his words could apply to all of them, since no one was able to handle his serve perfectly. Riku, however, laughed heartily, appreciating that Yuki's response aligned with his friend's characteristic of never mincing his words.

"Well, no one told us your serve would be this ridiculous, Kobayashi-kun! No wonder you could score five points in a row just with your service skills, even against Konan High," one of them chimed in.

"Hey, you're exaggerating, Miyauchi-kun. In the end, you managed to handle it the best and snatched two wins against me, right?" Yuki shot back.

"Well, that doesn't mean your service isn't overpowered!" The boy identified as Miyauchi retorted.

Yuki snorted, but ultimately, he had no argument against that. Miyauchi, with his partner Ichiro, ended up in second place and were the only team that managed to beat Yuki and Tanaka twice. But in the end, they still couldn't overcome the problem caused by Yuki's serves, which was enough to conclude that it was indeed too OP.

The conversation melted the tension among the players. They started chatting and laughing as if the tournament that had ended just fifteen minutes ago had never happened. Hasebe, watching this unfold, smiled unconsciously, happy to witness the scene.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

'This is truly the charm of teenagers. They can be at each other's throats one moment and the best of friends the next. What a wonderful sight.' Enjoy new chapters from empire

Still, while he enjoyed the scene in front of him, it was his task to put everything in order. After waiting for the players to relax, he coughed to gain everyone's attention. "Okay, I know you all are tired, but we have something to discuss regarding your performance."

Everyone straightened their backs immediately.

"First, congratulations to Kobayashi-kun and Tanaka-kun. Their performance today is probably the best I have seen in a while. So, please, give your best applause for them." Right after he said that, everyone clapped excitedly, making both Yuki and Tanaka blush with embarrassment.

"Secondly, I hope you haven't forgotten what Sato-sensei said: I am here to scout you for the national team, right?" All the players nodded eagerly. Excitement surged as soon as this matter was mentioned. "Well, it is fair to say that Kobayashi-kun and Tanaka-kun are the strongest candidates to be on my team right now."

If looks could kill, Yuki and Tanaka would be six feet under at that moment.

"But!" Hasebe raised his voice before chaos erupted. "You must know that the key word is 'candidates.' While they are at the top of my list, it is not a fixed list, and I will be watching all of your improvements during this training camp to decide whether I will invite any of you or none at all. So, I hope you all can show me your best attitude for the rest of the week. Do you understand?"

Hearing that, everyone's eyes lit up with excitement as they nodded in unison, shouting, "YES, SIR!"