"The Road to the Final Boss" (Japanese: "ラスボス"への
Overview[]
Karasuno struggles against Shiratorizawa and loses the first set. While they attempt to find their footing against Ushijima, a new troublesome adversary emerges as Tendō stops Hinata's spike and thwarts Karasuno's efforts to contain Ushijima.
Plot[]
Ushijima receives Hinata's spike and immediately calls for a toss from Shirabu. He slams the ball toward Hinata with enough force to crush Karasuno's triple block directly. Afterwards, Tendō notes how unusual it is for Ushijima to go after another player. Shiratorizawa maintains their lead and eventually wins the first set 25-16.
During the break, Tendō questions Ushijima about Hinata and learns of their encounter prior. Ushijima declares that he hates Hinata and is irritated by his baseless self-confidence. Meanwhile, Coach Ukai reminds Karasuno that attacks against Shiratorizawa do have an effect and will magnify over time.
The players return to the court for the second set. While the game progresses, Takeda asks Coach Ukai about Shiratorizawa's blocking proficiency. Ukai explains that Date Tech is by far the best in the prefecture for their solid and flexible blocking system. Just then, Kageyama deflects Reon's spike and earns Karasuno a free ball. Hinata moves in and jumps diagonally while Kageyama sends him a toss. To their surprise, Tendō appears and shuts down Hinata's spike completely. Ukai remarks that at this level, blockers can still be really good even without a proper blocking system in place as long as they possess the experience and intuition. After the successful block, Tendō declares that Karasuno must go through him first if they want to defeat Ushijima.
Appearances[]
- Karasuno High
- Asahi Azumane
- Chikara Ennoshita
- Shōyō Hinata
- Tobio Kageyama
- Hisashi Kinoshita
- Kazuhito Narita
- Yū Nishinoya
- Daichi Sawamura
- Makoto Shimada
- Kiyoko Shimizu
- Kōshi Sugawara
- Ittetsu Takeda
- Yūsuke Takinoue
- Ryūnosuke Tanaka
- Saeko Tanaka
- Akiteru Tsukishima
- Kei Tsukishima
- Keishin Ukai
- Hitoka Yachi
- Tadashi Yamaguchi
Chapter notes[]
Character revelations[]
- Ushijima explains more fully why he hates Hinata (due to his baseless self-confidence).
- Tendō is shown to be a highly proficient blocker, despite the fact that much of his blocking relies on intuition and guesswork.
- Sugawara finds out about Hinata's prior run-in with Ushijima from Yamaguchi.