Everyone from Inarizaki got excited: "Beautiful, Heisuke!!"
Aran couldn't help but remark with emotion, "You've truly inherited his essence."
Akagi nodded. "Yeah, not bad, not bad at all."
Seeing that the ball's height was insufficient and it was close to the net, the Nekoma members instantly grew excited: "They're breaking the formation! Follow it, follow it!"
But right at that moment, Miya Atsumu stepped forward, his center of gravity dropping extremely low, as he reached for the ball at an angle that was almost parallel to the floor.
Kuroo's face was filled with shock.
—He could actually receive that?
Hinata and Miya Osamu, who were originally on both sides of the net, retreated simultaneously, preparing to take their approach runs.
In fact, no matter how fast a Quick Attack is, its general use is to coordinate with an attacker on the other side to create a staggered offensive; with Inarizaki's even faster tempo, a Quick Attack would, at most, only be able to create a single layer of rhythm.
But.. that's only when there is a Miya Osamu.
Once Hinata moved to the front row, the pattern of mixing Quick Attacks into this normal tactic changed completely.
It turned into something that made one's scalp tingle—a Double Quick.
And it was a Quick Attack that was far faster than their usual Quick Attack..
Having regained his composure, Kuroo stared at Miya Atsumu, who was preparing to set, did not make a move.
Is it coming? That Quick Attack?
Left.. or right?
—Neither.
Miya Atsumu's upper body tilted slightly as he sent the ball directly toward the center of the back row.
Back-row attack!
With quick reflexes, Kuroo swiftly led Kai and Fukunaga as they prepared to jump for the block.
But Ginjima was one step faster, stepping forward with a large stride and leaping behind the three-meter line, raising his hand to smash the ball toward the newly jumping Nekoma block.
The power of a back-row attack is heavier than that of the front row, its penetration is several times greater than a front-row spike. Because the speed is not as high, it is generally used to forcibly break through the block.
But now.. Kuroo, whose attention had been completely torn in two by the Quick Attacks from both sides, actually failed to keep up.
The volleyball slammed into Fukunaga's fingers, bouncing high and out of bounds.
"Yes!!" Ginjima pumped his fist after successfully scoring a point.
Suna serves the fourth ball.
This time, Nekoma did not give Inarizaki another chance to counterattack. Kuroo's spike targeted the space behind the setter where the wing spiker was running in a cross pattern; Suna couldn't dive in time, Nekoma took the point.
“Interrupted! Nice!” Shibayama, who was standing by Coach Nekota, became incredibly excited.
As a key focus of Nekoma's training, he was also constantly kept close by the coach, just like Hinata.
Come on! Give us a good serve!
Sound the horn for Nekoma's counterattack!
As a third-year veteran of Nekoma, he is not outstanding in any single aspect, but in terms of fundamentals and overall strength, he is the most balanced and formidable in Nekoma.
He could complete any instruction to perfection.
His jump serve was heavy and powerful, precisely smashing into the path Miya Atsumu was taking to move forward.
Ginjima, who was responsible for receiving the ball for him, reacted a bit too slowly, directly blocking Miya Atsumu's path forward.
Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue lightly and gave up on moving forward.
“Osamu!”
Miya Osamu took two steps back, raising his hand to toss the ball to Rishia Heisuke on the other side.
This time there wasn't enough bait, so Nekoma formed a three-man block directly in front of Rishia.
Rishia's expression was calm, but in reality, he was panicking inside.
Miya Osamu's toss was nowhere near the level of Miya Atsumu's, which could give someone the illusion that they had actually improved, but it was actually quite precise.
The hang time was sufficient, giving Rishia plenty of time to think.
Rishia raised his hand, spiking the ball toward Kenma's fingers.
Knowing he was already being targeted, Kenma adjusted the block slightly, allowing Fukunaga to cover for him.
Fukunaga successfully touched the ball: "One touch!"
Yaku quickly moved into position to receive the ball: "I've got it!"
Kenma landed and returned to the offensive line, looking up at the volleyball above while using his peripheral vision to observe Rishia and Hinata on the opposite side.
Under Rishia's watch, Kenma suddenly took two steps back.
Rishia, subconsciously thinking he was going to set up a quick attack from the back, also retreated two steps, nearly colliding with Hinata behind him.
While the two were dazed, Kenma had already set the ball toward his own front.
Oh no!
Only Miya Osamu's block was easily broken through; Unabara rushed over to receive the ball, delivering an extremely skewed toss.
Miya Atsumu rushed over quickly, jumping at the edge of the court to toss the ball.
Having already started his approach, Hinata perfectly received Miya Atsumu's toss at the four position, raising his hand to spike the ball for a point.
"Great toss, Atsumu-senpai!" Hinata was incredibly excited.
This feeling of knowing the ball will come to you no matter where you are is so wonderful!
Smiling at Hinata, Miya Atsumu turned his head toward the Libero, Unabara Uta, with an expression that was faintly dangerous: "Give me some good tosses."
He could certainly use the setter to make up for the receiving error, but he couldn't withstand the back row playing like this.
If he keeps running like this, his stamina will likely run out first.
No.. he didn't even want to ask for good tosses; just give him something he could actually hit.
Unabara Uta stood at attention: "Yes! I'll do my best!"
Damn it, he really doesn't know how to receive it!
It feels like he is a roadblock wherever he goes, seriously disrupting the rhythm of everyone else's offense.
Akagi covered his face: "We'll have to give Unabara some intensive training on various tactical positions later."
Kita added, "Ketsuya needs it too."
To think that the two most important reception points were just handled like that by Nekoma.. there is still a problem with the fundamentals.
On the other side, the first round of practice matches in Gym 1 had already concluded, Shirabu's opponent for the second round, Kaifang, seemed to have a scheduling conflict with the previous match against Inubushi Higashi.
After the coach intervened, the second round of matches was delayed for a while.
Having been given a chance to rest, Usui Mitsuru was the first to suggest, "Want to go take a look next door?"
He was curious about how that little guy actually played volleyball.
At the same time, Kaifang's coach finally lost his temper: "You two! Go outside and run twenty laps to cool off!"
The ace Karasuma Shinnosuke had a look of defiance written all over his face, but in the end, he stubbornly changed his shoes and went out to run.
The coach glared at his own setter: "You get lost too, if you don't hurry, you're doing five more laps."
The setter, Fujimaru Tetsuji, gave a light click of his tongue, turned, ran out through the door on the other side, only to run straight into the ace who was running toward him.
The two looked at each other in silence, eventually having no choice but to continue running side by side, neither yielding to the other.
Seeing Coach Kusubashi casting a curious gaze, the Kaifang coach's face was written with helplessness: "My apologies for the embarrassment."
They have a high turnover rate, the issues within the team are quite serious.
The Ace has a very straightforward way of thinking, he doesn't mince words. The Setter is also stubborn and refuses to be controlled..
Kusubashi and Michiko waved it off. "It's fine, mine are the same."
While things were chaotic over at Kaifang, the Shirabu crew also snuck into the second floor stands of Gym 2 after receiving permission from their coach.
Looking at the 17:12 score difference, Kiryu Ya's eyes widened. "This score gap.."
It was far too unexpected.
Renowned figures like Michiko and Coach Kusubashi are known by many coaches in the industry, this morning, they were also told about Nekoma's background.
Could the team trained by Coach Nekota really be dragged into such a large point deficit?
Aran from Inarizaki didn't even play, yet this lineup's offensive capability could actually break through Nekoma's defense?
"I've got it!" Unabara raised his hand to receive the ball, tossing it toward the top of Miya Atsumu's head.
Great, that was an excellent toss this time!
Miya Atsumu raised his hand, making a motion as if he were about to give Ginjima a Quick Attack after he had already rushed to his side.
Just as the opposing team was preparing to organize a block in the middle, Miya Atsumu snapped his wrist, using the momentum from his previous motion to flick the ball out in a pass.
Hinata leaped up by the net with a thud and raised his hand to spike the ball.
This time, his contact point was higher than any before, easily clearing Fukunaga's block.
Usui Mitsuru was filled with shock in the stands: "He flew! Did that little guy just fly?"
It felt like that spike height was around 3.5 meters; that's just too terrifying.
Kiryu's expression turned serious as well: "As expected of a prospect being specially trained."
As expected, Coach Kurosu never wastes time training players without potential; that single moment just now was enough to demonstrate his value.
Kenma, who had been observing the whole time, let out a soft breath.
This time, Ginjima performed a Quick Attack to use Hinata as a decoy, executing a short, flat sequence.
Miya Atsumu's toss was indeed difficult to read; it was basically impossible to tell which direction he was tossing it.
It still needs more observation..
Marui, the Kaifang Libero who had followed to watch the excitement, couldn't help but marvel, "Look at that receive, tsk, then look at that set.. truly beautiful."