Beside them, the members of Shirabu's team felt as if several swords had been plunged into their backs for some unknown reason.
Even though no one was specifically named, it felt no different from being called out in front of everyone.
Shirabu—a team that relies on its ace's strength and doesn't pick and choose their plays, resulting in a somewhat careless approach to both receiving and setting.
Kiryu laughed, not paying it much mind.
The serve rotated down to Rishia Heisuke.
The whistle blew in his ears. Rishia patted the ball in his hands and tossed it up just as the time limit was nearing its end.
He wasn't as calculating as Suna, nor was he quite sure who he was supposed to be targeting.
For him, it was enough that the serve he sent out was heavy enough.
Heavy enough.. to the point where it can't be received.
BANG!!
Rishia's spike flew over the net toward Nekoma's back row, where Yaku, already in position, received it steadily.
Rishia's expression was not pleasant after failing to score, but he quickly composed himself and prepared for the subsequent defense.
Rishia's specialty is serving, which is why Coach Kurosu took notice of him and brought him into Inarizaki.
For him, this feeling of being unable to score with a serve.. was somewhat demoralizing.
Coach Kurosu frowned by the sidelines.
He had chosen this opponent to test the Quick Attack, thinking back, he had indeed overlooked Rishia in that regard.
He hadn't expected at the time that the coordination between Hinata and Miya Atsumu would result in such an effect where one plus one is much greater than two. Looking at it now.. would Karasuno have been better?
However, Rishia's temperament was much better than when he first met his opponent in high school, he was more confident than in the past, playing volleyball without being as restricted as he was at Yako.
Coach Kurosu looked at Hinata, who was moving forward to prepare for a block, let out a knowing smile.
For these two children, meeting each other must have changed something.
Nice spike, Hinata!
Beautiful!
Usui Mitsuru didn't know how many times he had sighed in exclamation: "So fast, I couldn't see it at all."
So a Quick Attack can be played like that?
Bōwàng gave Miya Atsumu the highest praise: "As expected of Miya Atsumu, that kind of ball setting.. I'm afraid only he could pull that off."
Currently, the widely recognized number one and two setters in high school are still Iizuna Sho, who led his team in the World Junior competitions and was once named the world-class best setter.
However.. it will soon be Miya Atsumu.
From serving, blocking, tactical coordination to his own abilities as a setter, everything Miya Atsumu demonstrated was even stronger than Iizuna Sho.
Moreover, Miya Atsumu is only in his second year; his strength will only become more terrifying next year.
For this country, he is a genius who, just like Ushijima Wakatoshi, can become a pillar of men's volleyball in the future.
I'm afraid.. there won't be another one after him.
But then again, you never know. After all, no one expected that Komori Motoya, who had always played as a Wing Spiker, would become the "strongest" immediately after switching to Libero.
However, it is quite possible that Inarizaki's Quick Attack will become a swan song.
After all, it's not just about the setter; more importantly.. it would be difficult to find another wing spiker who is willing to hand over all the initiative to the setter, while also being capable of running and jumping like that.
Nekoma was certainly unlucky to collide with them without any preparation, but they were also quite lucky.
But seeing how quickly their blocking and coordination were improving, it was clear they were being forced to grow.
"I'm feeling a bit like blocking them." Bōwàng spoke up, stating his thoughts directly.
Kiryu nodded. "I'll ask Coach Ami later if he can arrange it; I want to try facing him personally as well."
On the court, Kuroo lowered his eyes slightly.
The first set had nearly come to an end, their hopes of making a comeback were slim.
But.. there was no doubt that Nekoma was lucky enough.
Having the opportunity to face such an opponent at this stage, right at the start of the school year, is of absolute value for the cohesion of their entire team.
Exhaling a long breath, Kuroo turned his gaze back to Hinata, who had just returned to the front row.
Even the fastest Quick Attack can be adapted to by the human eye; as long as one can get used to the opponent's logic of movement, one can also make predictions.
Kuroo's footsteps faltered, the moment Hinata flashed past him, he took a half-step in the opposite direction.
At the same time, Hinata also completed the entire process of pulling away to the edge and running in the opposite direction.
Kuroo's half-step overlapped perfectly with Hinata's step-and-a-half as he turned back.
Watching the little guy jump right in front of him, Kuroo forced a smile.
—Got you.
—Really?
Miya Atsumu looked up at the volleyball that was already falling toward him, he slightly lowered the hand he had prepared to contact the ball with, touching it with his fingers while his arm was bent.
The ball, which should have traveled in a straight line as before, flew upward and fell toward Hinata's side at an extremely high angle, its entire trajectory completely transformed into a parabola.
Kenma's eyes widened.
This guy—
Hinata noticed this as well, struggling to control his momentum in mid-air; he did not complete the spike, but instead landed in his original posture.
On the opposite side, Kuroo also descended from his highest point, the two landed almost at the same time.
And then.. jumping once more.
A time difference?
Kuroo froze for a moment, his reaction lagging half a second behind Hinata's jump.
But.. generally speaking, a person with greater height has an advantage in a vertical jump like this.
Using his height and wingspan, Kuroo easily caught up to Hinata, positioning himself in front of him. Fukunaga also rushed over from the other side, the two of them attempted a block to shut Hinata down.
Unabara Uta, defending in the back row for Inarizaki, rushed forward, preparing for a counterattack.
Bōwàng suddenly said from the sidelines, "It's wrong."
Usui looked at him, having no idea what he was talking about.
What's wrong?
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Kuroo and Hinata jumped simultaneously and both reached Kuroo's maximum jumping height, but Hinata managed to soar even higher than that.
“He overshot it.”
Bōwàng's expression remained unchanged as he quietly watched the Nekoma side.
For a player with exceptional jumping ability like Hinata, it takes him a bit longer to reach his maximum height.
Normally, a blocker should jump a little later than the opponent so that they reach their maximum height at the same time, rather than starting to descend like this.
However.. on the other side, Kiryu Ya noticed that Yaku in the back row had already taken a step back, preparing to receive the ball.
In Hinata's field of vision, Kuroo's fingers gradually disappeared; behind the block was Nekoma's most solid foundation.
It was too high, should he spike it?
Kuroo also realized that he had made a mistake due to his urgency, could only lean back slightly in an attempt to touch the ball.
—You can spike, right?
In the next second, Hinata's hand lightly struck the lower half of the volleyball.
The volleyball flew over Kuroo and landed softly half a step behind him.
A feint!
Kenma's eyes widened slightly.
So.. he could actually do that much?
Yaku and Hoshiumi immediately lunged forward from beside him, but they still couldn't save the ball.
Lying on the ground, Yaku punched the floor: "Damn it."
Seeing that the opponent wasn't giving him a straight set, he should have realized that there might be a change in the type of attack.
Preconceptions are a major taboo.
Coach Nekota frowned; the overall rhythm of the match had been pushed far too fast by Inarizaki.
The opposing side pressed them step by step, the Nekoma members, who were more accustomed to a slower pace, were completely unable to adapt, to the point where they could not make the necessary judgments in the shortest amount of time, ultimately leading to fatal errors.
Thinking of this, he requested a timeout once again.
"That was amazing! The set Miya Atsumu just gave me was perfectly timed for my jump!" Hinata raised his hands and shook them side to side.
I was thinking I was finished if that scary senior caught up to me, but Atsumu-senpai actually gave me a chance for a second jump! That's incredible!
Miya Atsumu accepted the praise without any hesitation, his smug expression practically screaming, "Keep 'em coming!"
Aran complained to Kita Shinsuke, "Only Hinata would be willing to flatter him like that. I feel like his head is about to swell to the sky.."
Kita had a faint smile on his face. "This is quite good, isn't it?"
Hinata still can't perform high-level techniques like a timed jump, but Miya Atsumu used a toss to show him a path, Hinata executed Miya Atsumu's somewhat cryptic instructions quite well.
Actually.. Hinata is quite impressive himself, being able to fully understand what Miya Atsumu wants to do and follow right behind him without missing a single step.
By the coaching bench, Miya Osamu interrupted Miya Atsumu's state of self-congratulation and said directly, "I feel like the opponents are catching up bit by bit. We can't keep going like this."
The opponents have already begun to adapt; if this continues, they will be caught bit by bit. While it might not lead to a loss, it certainly won't be as comfortable as before.
"This.." Miya Atsumu looked back.
It wasn't difficult to solve; in fact, they already had a plan in place.
It is now clearly the time that was previously mentioned, when the Quick Attack must be combined with technical balls.
However, the issue with the ball control..