Coach Nekomata sat on the edge of the court, his sharp old eyes fixed on Jin. Before the match, Ukai had quietly told him to pay special attention to Karasuno's first-year ace. If possible, he wanted the veteran coach to give some guidance.
And just now, Jin had shown why. Despite a poor toss, he still powered through a back-row spike that earned Karasuno a point. It wasn't clean, but the force and timing were enough to slip through.
"Sorry, my reaction was too slow," Fukunaga muttered to Kuroo.
Kuroo didn't scold him. His gaze stayed on Jin, eyes narrowing with curiosity. "It's fine. That guy… it doesn't even look like a gap was there, and yet he forced one open."
From that distance, almost two meters between blocker and hitter, most would falter. But Jin had found a way in it anyway. That was dangerous.
Jin strolled to the service line, his aura heavy enough that even Hinata and Kageyama straightened up unconsciously. Facing Nekoma's cool-headed defense only made his blood race hotter.
"Everyone, step back a little," Coach Nekomata calmly reminded to the team.
Yamaguchi, watching from the bench, muttered under his breath, "Man… his aura is crazy."
Jin bounced the ball, spun it once in his palm, then tossed it with controlled force. His approach was perfect, three steps, explode, swing.
The ball cut like a whip between Kuroo and Yamamoto. The two exchanged a look, Kuroo pulled back, signaling his libero.
Yaku read it instantly, shifting his wrist at the last moment to soften the spin.
*Crack!*
The ball curved like it had slammed into a wall, but Yaku's form held. His body rolled backwards before he stabilized, arms still trembling from the impact.
"Sorry, that pass wasn't clean." Yaku clenched his fist, but even in apology his tone carried pride.
Coach Ukai whistled from Karasuno's bench. To force Yaku, Nekoma's libero, to scramble that hard on the first serve… Jin's power was no joke.
Kenma was already in motion, calm as ever. His soft set floated to Yamamoto.
Tanaka leapt up beside Hinata, barking, "Bring it on, city boy! Ryuu's wall won't let you through!"
Yamamoto grinned, muscles flexing. "No matter how sloppy the pass, I'll still score cooler than you!" He blasted the spike across Tanaka's fingertips.
*Thwack!* The ball sailed just outside the line.
Tanaka landed, shaking his stinging hands, cursing, "Tch, damn it! Out of bounds! City boy's got more power than I thought."
Yamamoto just smirked and shrugged, tossing a casual "heh" Tanaka's way.
But while the others exchanged looks, Jin crouched low, licking his lips with a predator's grin. His eyes gleamed like fire.
"Stop dawdling. Hurry up and start the next serve already."
That look wasn't arrogance, it was hunger.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Jin was staring down a team whose unity and discipline could polished even raw talent.
One-on-one, nobody matched him. But volleyball wasn't one-on-one. Nekoma was a shield forged by six players, moving as one.
And Jin wanted to tear straight through it.