The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Just like any sport outside, half of the volleyball game was an intelligence battle.

It wasn't just about a better team beating the worse one, but deeper behind that, both teams who played against each other would always try their best to figure out how to deal with their opponent, from searching the weak link, figuring out opponent's attacking pattern, to the point of noticing even the smallest detail of the opponent's body language, those were all the things any team usually tried to find as quickly as possible.

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It was just like a miniature version of war. While a team that had better players had a better chance to win the game, that didn't mean they would win it easily. They could still be outsmarted by the opponent who grasped the intelligence about them and figured out how to deal with it. And that was exactly what happened in the game between Tsunemori High and Kyoei Gakuen right now.

While Kyoei as a better team managed to beat Tsunemori in the first set, they were outsmarted in every aspect in the second set, couldn't even put up a decent fight against a 'weaker' team on the paper. And it was all due to the misinformation about one particular player from the opponent side, Yuki Kobayashi.

They all thought that Yuki was just a defensive specialist player and wouldn't be able to change the direction of the game. Some even said that the worst thing the glasses could do for them was to make Tsunemori's defense more stubborn than before, yet they were still confident they could beat their opponent.

Oh, how wrong they were.

In twenty minutes he played for the second set, Yuki proved to be more than that. He had a unique style of ace services, could be an emergency setter, knew how to attack, was good at blocking, and was a beast at game reading. He turned into a versatile player which made them all wonder about how could such a player join a weak team like Tsunemori.

As a result, they were humiliated in the worst way possible, couldn't even score more than ten points in the second set. When they all saw the score 25 – 7 on the scoreboard, all the Kyoei players wanted to dig a hole and jump onto it straight away, too ashamed of the result. They didn't expect that misinformation about one player would cost them so much today.

Still, Saito, the head coach of the team wasn't that worried. He had decided for a long time that the second set was a loss cause. Instead of making a futile effort to overturn the score or something impossible like that, he decided to fix the problem his team had right now, and that was intelligence.

'Listen, I don't think we can win this set. So, we will use this as a way to collect intelligence. Here is what you are going to do…'

During the last timeout he took for the team, Saito instructed his players to target specific spots and specific scenarios while he who was on the bench observed Tsunemori players' movement carefully. Even though his players felt uncomfortable for giving up like this, they still followed his words, believing that it was just like what Saito said, a calculated loss to bounce back for the final set.

And their effort to follow his arrangement was paid to the fullest as Saito had a huge grin on his face, finally had enough data to make a move.

"Okay, listen, everyone," Saito spoke. "I know that you feel the humiliation you have to bear this time is too much just for a mere intelligence gathering. But I promise you, we will return the favor ten-fold." He said solemnly.

It was in the intermission before the final set began, and all the Kyoei players stared at their coach in disbelief. They didn't know how the coach could be that confident after only observing the opponent for one set.

"Okay, listen carefully to what I said." Akira ignored the doubtful gaze of the others. "First, as expected, their number 19 is well protected by the other players. Whenever we are going to target him, there is always one player, usually the number 5 who is ready to cover his job.

It convinces me that one, the number 19's position on the team is important and they are afraid of losing him again, and two, he is the weakest link on the team."

His words left his players dumbfounded, not knowing whether the coach was joking or not. When they saw Akira's serious expression though, they knew he meant business here.

"But, Sensei…" One of the players asked hesitantly. "How come he is the weakest link? He should be the strongest link, right?" The others also nodded in agreement.

"I know that you will think about that." Akira nodded, acknowledging his words. "But think about it carefully. Although he is an amazing defensive player, they decide to protect him behind. Why do you think they would do that? Isn't that contra-productive?"

Even though they were still doubtful, all the Kyoei players started to get Saito's point. Still, they couldn't really answer the last question their coach threw, though, so they stared at him intently, waiting for the coach to answer the question by himself.

"That only means one thing. They hid him because he couldn't withstand receiving so many spikes in a row! He doesn't have a pain tolerance! That means he is a complete rookie! We can exploit this for the final set!" Saito got excited all of a sudden.

Unfortunately, he didn't notice that his words stabbed his players straight to their hearts. In their mind, there was a question popped up, is it the new insult the coach decided to throw at them? By saying that they are beaten by a rookie player? Anyway, who would believe such an amazing player like Yuki was a rookie?

Saito was confused when he saw his players didn't share the same enthusiasm. Still, he didn't think about it too much, blaming the humiliating loss in the second set as the excuse for why they were so down.

"Anyway!" He coughed. "It is proven that their number 19 is a rookie, yet a talented one. He is the commander of the team, and they are afraid of losing him once again. We all have already seen how they played without him, like a bunch of headless chickens. So, let's try to send him out first before we kill them all. Listen to me and do as I said…"