Nice save!
Cover! Cover!
Fukunaga stepped forward to perform a bump set to the net, Hoshiumi, who was already prepared, leaped to spike the ball.
With a heavy thud, Miya Osamu firmly blocked the ball.
The members of Nekoma, unable to retreat in time, could only watch helplessly as the ball hit the ground, scoring a point for Inarizaki's block.
"Ah, it was blocked." Even as an opponent, Aran felt it was a pity.
Oori also nodded and said, "This Nekoma lineup.. it would be great if there were a spiker who could perform back-row attacks."
While it's true that volleyball isn't a sport where the side with the stronger firepower automatically wins, it's equally true that you can't win simply by pushing your defense to the absolute limit.
In the end, a long rally will inevitably lead to an error from one side, it is the same for both teams.
However, the most important thing right now is..
Oohhhhhh—Atsumu-senpai!!" Hinata jumped up directly, "It stopped! The ball really stopped!
It's practically a miracle—
Indeed, to be able to control the intensity of the rotation and the ball speed while simultaneously maintaining a steady trajectory.. it was simply incredible.
Kenma, who had crawled up from the ground, exhaled heavily: "Like a monster.."
Kuroo stood with his hands on his hips, also feeling an extremely heavy sense of powerlessness.
Unlike what they had expected—that they would be looked down upon—the training match today had felt more like Inarizaki was bringing out all their trump cards just to entertain them.
Is this the strength of the nation's top tier?
Miya Atsumu was not carried away by Hinata's excitement; instead, he rubbed his chin. "Off by three centimeters.. I'll have to recalibrate."
If it were even slightly further off, Hinata might not be able to keep up, at that point, the mistake would ultimately do more harm than good.
Author's Note:
Extra chapters will be added tomorrow, then there will be no updates on the day after tomorrow, but I'll make up for it the day after that!
And the merchandise for this book should be a giveaway after the New Year, still tin plates, paper cutouts, acrylic sets. Let me organize things a bit first to see where I should send the samples..
(Someone without an account on any platform falls into silence) (Actually, I think character cards would work too)
By the way, come check out my best friend's new story!
"Special Grade Cursed Spirit in the Friend Account," by Imayaku
Synopsis:
A white fox child from Yohara has descended upon the world.
Rumor has it that he possesses the ability to reverse life and death; as long as a name is written in his friend list, he can bring those from the past back into this world.
#
Natsume Takashi was unaware of the rumors arising because of him; he had come to this land with only one purpose.
——To find out exactly where the extra name in the Friend List came from.
It was not the name of a yokai, but a name belonging to a human.
But someone told him it was the name of a deceased person, the first one to appear by his side was the Tyrant of the Skies, who had passed away long ago.
Distressed, Natsume decided to return the names to them, helping them fulfill their regrets and wishes, break the curses.
＃
As everyone knows, there is someone in the Jujutsu World that no one dares to provoke—the "ordinary student" of Jujutsu High, Natsume Takashi.
He is a regular at Panshi, a student at Jujutsu High, a newly promoted Special Grade Sorcerer. He frequently maintains contact with curse users and is a "troublemaker" that even the Jujutsu higher-ups and the Big Three consider a nuisance.
But that wasn't all; he also maintained close ties with prestigious families of exorcists, such as the Jo and Natori clans, while simultaneously holding contracts with numerous yokai.
In Yokohama, he is a guest of honor for the Port Mafia, a key person of interest for the Special Ability Department, a regular external supporter for the Armed Detective Agency.
The youth, who considered himself quite ordinary, moved between various organizations, receiving protection and being fought over by various factions.
And when facing the King of Curses, who sought to destroy the world, the youth once again commanded the loyalty of many, summoning a Night Parade of a Hundred Demons to rescue everyone from the depths of suffering.
Everyone: "Natsume really does have someone covering him."
＃
[Special Grade Cursed Spirit 1]: The Heaven and Earth Binding of the Child Seeker (Subjugated)
【Special Grade Cursed Spirit Two】: The Possessed Leader of the Bansei Sect (Subjugated)
【Special Grade Cursed Spirit Three】: The Red-Haired Killer Who Can Foresee the Future
[Special Grade Cursed Spirit 4]: The red-scarf male ghost who died by jumping from a building
Chapter 22: The Twenty-Second Fox
Miya Osamu served, while Miya Atsumu stood at the net with his hands behind his head, quietly contemplating that toss.
—One more time.
Osamu, serve a good one!
Miya Osamu did not practice the Dual Wield like Miya Atsumu; instead, he focused on his jump serves.
In terms of serve quality alone, Miya Osamu's jump serve is undoubtedly top-tier.
"I've got it!" Yaku stepped forward, lowering his center of gravity to steadily send the ball up, his entire body remaining completely airborne.
Kaifang's Libero, Marui, said, "Nekoma's receives.. the Setter must feel so blessed."
He could never do it, not in this lifetime.
Being able to receive a serve like that is already quite an achievement, let alone delivering it precisely to the Setter.
"Aho!" Kenma raised his hand and sent the ball to Yamamoto Takeshi, who was jumping from the back row.
If Nekoma's front-row attacks cannot effectively break through the block to score, then let's try using back-row attacks with even greater penetrating power.
Yamamoto, who had been unable to score a point with a proper spike, held his breath and delivered a powerful spike.
But Inarizaki still didn't give him a chance; Miya Atsumu and Rishia adjusted their block at the same time to create a touch.
Touch!
"Tsk." Yamamoto gave a light click of his tongue, preparing for the follow-up defense as he landed.
"I've got it!" Unabara Uta received the ball steadily, sending it toward the attack line.
Currently, only Hinata and Rishia are at the front row for Inarizaki. While the possibility of back-row attacks cannot be ruled out, those are all much slower in tempo.
For now.. just keep your eyes on Hinata.
Hinata leaped to his highest point, raising his hand ready to spike.
In his field of vision, Nekoma's blockers had already caught up, the two of them standing before him like a wall.
The volleyball flew toward him, arriving in an instant.
This ball has spin, so it will be just like the previous ball—it will stop at its peak.
In that instant, Hinata's gaze locked onto Fukunaga Shohei's fingers.
The next instant, with a loud thud, the volleyball hit the net and then flew toward the second-floor stands.
Nice spike, Shoyo!
Nice spike!
Kiryu Ya reached out to grab the volleyball and tossed it down with one hand.
Miya Atsumu and Hinata nodded silently after high-fiving.
Very good, the margin of error was even smaller this time, though the hang time was a bit short.
But even in this situation, Hinata was able to pull off a back-set, which shows that his own reaction speed is even better than he expected.
So.. is it possible to further compress the setting time to pursue even more extreme speed?
Usui Mitsuru, finally realizing something was wrong, spoke with a trembling voice: "What was that set? Is that a ball a human is even capable of setting?"
While maintaining the ball's speed, to achieve an effect where the ball's highest point overlaps with the spiker's contact point within a split-second touch..
How was that even possible?
Although he was also shocked by Miya Atsumu's ability, Kiryu Ya was focused on something else.
"Nekoma is in trouble." He felt a headache coming on behalf of Nekoma.
Watching where the volleyball landed, Kuroo frowned deeply.
—This is bad.
The reason their blocking choice focused on Miya Osamu was simple; it was just because Miya Osamu's spikes were harder to receive.
Although Hinata is fast, his predictable patterns make him easy to read and counter.
Now.. while playing the Quick Attack, Hinata has also begun to try more technical plays.
Even though his performance could only be described as passable, he still managed to forcefully elevate an offense that previously relied solely on "speed" to a whole new level.
Hoshiumi said, "We can't just leave it like this."
Even if Yaku could use a cloning technique, he wouldn't be able to account for so many possibilities at once.
"Just follow him." Kuroo also nodded.
Yaku raised a question: "What about Miya Osamu then? We can't afford to let either of them through."
The members of Nekoma fell silent for a moment, before Kuroo finally made the call: "Let's defend the two sides with 2+1. Restrict their lateral spread, move from both sides toward the center quickly."
While it wasn't impossible that the opponents might run a Quick Attack from the middle of the back row, a Quick Attack launched from both sides simultaneously was much more of a headache.
Miya Atsumu noticed the change from Nekoma immediately: "Oh, the opponents have changed their formation."
The formation had changed from the original three-person concentration to the kind of 2+1 formation that Karasuno was proficient at, the two on the side were also positioned quite spread out.