The volleyball traced a long arc through the air, landing steadily toward Owari Aran, who was charging toward Position 4 to prepare for a spike.
Coach Irihatsu felt a tingling sensation on his scalp: "This power and control.."
To be honest, given his insight, Oikawa Tooru was already a top-tier Setter.
Looking across the entire prefecture, even Kageyama Tobio would not surpass Oikawa Tooru in terms of overall performance in the Setter position.
But the sudden appearance of Miya Atsumu completely shattered their preconceived notions; it was a strength that could almost be described as "irrational."
If one were to make an analogy.. it would be someone who possesses both Oikawa Tooru's strategic vision and tactical control, as well as Kageyama Tobio's innate talent and ball control as a Setter.
That was a truly strongest Setter, someone who had transcended the limitations of the word "genius," having been polished from extreme imperfection into perfection.
He felt he needed to have a chat with that coach from Inarizaki, even if he had to swallow his pride to do it.
It wasn't just for Seijo, it was even more so for Oikawa.
The score gap never narrowed, as the captain, Oikawa raised his hand to request a timeout from the head referee.
Watching Owari Aran's back, Iwaizumi Hajime couldn't help but frown: "Is it just my imagination? That Ace seems even harder to deal with than Ushijima."
Oikawa Tooru shrugged. "It's not an illusion; that guy is in incredible form."
Excluding the so-called Big Three, the other two among the top five wing spikers in the nation are both people whom various media outlets have designated as those who can surpass the Big Three when in peak form.
Furthermore, a part of Ushijima's strength comes from the fact that it is difficult to adapt to the spin from his left-handedness.
Having played against Shiratorizawa so many times, they were more or less used to Ushijima's uniqueness; instead, it was the well-rounded strength of someone like Owari Aran that was more troublesome to deal with.
Understood," Oikawa Tooru said decisively! "Stop blocking! Just like when we played against Ushijima, focus on touching the ball during the block. Makoto and Watari, follow up!
"Understood." Everyone nodded.
Iwaizumi Hajime frowned deeply.
He still felt that something was wrong..
Even though Inarizaki's specialty is a playstyle involving quick attacks and battery-like rotations, from the start of the match until now, Miya Atsumu has not explicitly organized any quick attacks.
The only two times it happened were because Miya Osamu stepped up on his own initiative, even then, his movement speed was clearly out of sync.
Even if these people's spiking skills are quite good, this attitude is.. far too arrogant.
As if sensing what Iwaizumi Hajime was thinking, Oikawa spoke directly, "Iwa-chan, don't let your guard down. Watch out for the Miya Twins."
Komatsu, Kindaichi, Miya Osamu, move in advance and be sure to follow up.
"Unless I had memory lapses or hallucinations last night.. Inarizaki did indeed play a type of quick attack during the finals of this year's IH qualifiers that was several times faster than a standard quick attack," Oikawa Tooru said.
The speed of those two starts by Miya Osamu was about the same.
Everyone from Seijo expressed their disbelief: "Are you serious? That kind of speed?"
That counts as a Quick Attack? How is the Setter supposed to set that?
Iwaizumi Hajime simply raised an eyebrow. "So you kept watching even after I left yesterday?"
Caught red-handed, Oikawa Tooru felt guilty and snapped, "Iwa-chan, you're not my mom, so stop nagging me."
He knew he was in the wrong, but changing was out of the question.
The timeout ended, Oori Ren served, Hinata swapped positions with Akagi to return to the court.
Bouncing on the spot, Hinata, who had stepped back onto the court, had completely shaken off the shadow of just having dealt a heavy blow to his teammates.
Alright, he is ready!
Regarding Hinata's return to the court, the members of Seijo did not pay much attention.
After all, Hinata himself had a physical limitation in terms of strength; even if he could hit the ball above the block, under normal circumstances, he couldn't produce a ball that was completely unreceivable.
They were more focused on Owari Aran and Miya Osamu.
For the members of Seijo, it was this kind of over-the-top spike that was even more difficult to deal with.
Oori's serve was somewhat lacking compared to the others.
Watari Chikaharu received the ball with a deft hand, sending it toward the top of Oikawa Tooru's head.
What a great receive!
Following Kindaichi's cover in the middle, Oikawa Tooru delivered the ball into Iwaizumi Hajime's hands.
As the Ace Spiker of Aobajohsai, Iwaizumi Hajime possessed incredibly strong offensive capabilities, especially since the blockers chasing him down were Hinata and Aran.
A block that is clearly a head shorter is the best weak point.
Iwaizumi did not hesitate to spike the ball into the gap above Hinata.
Miya Osamu lowered his center of gravity and received the ball steadily: "Nice serve."
And just as Iwaizumi hadn't even landed yet..
Hinata took off.
Just like Miya Osamu's confusing movements from before, almost at the same time as the back-row receive, Hinata had already lifted his feet and was charging from his original position in position 4 toward position 2.
And Aran had already retreated toward Position 5, preparing to take a running start and move forward for a spike.
Hinata leaped over the entire net, taking one final step with his right foot before jumping straight up on one leg.
It wasn't until this moment that Miya Atsumu, acting as the Setter, finally received the ball.
The next instant, the volleyball flew from Miya Atsumu's hands, reaching Hinata's hitting point with unerring precision.
A human's breath takes about three seconds.
From Hinata's approach to Miya Atsumu's set into his hands, finally to the ball hitting the floor, the entire sequence took only a little over a second.
Breath caught mid-air, the entire gymnasium seemed to freeze.
What happened?
It wasn't until Miya Atsumu turned around to look that the referee on the sidelines blew the whistle, as if finally snapping out of a trance.
The scoreboard flipped again; Inarizaki scored.
"Yes!" Hinata cheered.
You've got to be kidding me," Tendo said, his eyes widening as he stood by the back door after Ushijima's repeated suggestions. "What kind of spike was that? In the blink of an eye, it just went—whoosh—right through.
No, no, no, that little guy isn't just good at jumping high, is he?
Not just that," Ushijima said calmly, "his spike contact point isn't much lower than a high ball.
Tendo narrowed one eye. "Should this be called a Quick Attack?"
Coach Irihatsu's expression grew solemn: "It's simply like a monster."
Oikawa Tooru also suppressed his usual faint smile: "A monster Setter and a little brat who is also a monster?"
That's infuriating..
Iwaizumi Hajime finally realized what Oikawa Tooru's words meant.
A quick attack even faster than a Quick Attack.. that's just too ridiculous.
Seeing the shocked expressions of the Seijo team, Miya Atsumu's mood improved even more.
That feeling of startling people who weren't even on guard.. it's quite interesting, isn't it?
The serve passed to Miya Atsumu.
Holding the ball, Miya Atsumu stood still near the approach run, quietly waiting for the referee to blow the whistle.
"Power serve," Oikawa Tooru whispered from across the net.
At the same time, Seijo's original Receive Serve formation in the center retreated one step back.
Miya Atsumu's expression did not change.
After all, he even thought it was quite obvious himself, so being noticed was within his expectations.
However, being able to spot it is one thing; being able to receive it is quite another.
Looking at the quality of Oikawa's initial serve alone, he is undoubtedly stronger than him in the field of powerful jump serves.
However, Inarizaki's Libero can receive it, so.. can Seijo's Libero receive it?
—The answer was definitely no.
Watari Chikaharu, who had been targeted by Miya Atsumu, failed to control the ball entirely; the volleyball, still carrying a heavy spin, crashed directly into the second-floor railing with a dull, heavy thud.
Catching the ball as it flew back, Miya Atsumu said, "Again."
Miya Atsumu's second ball was barely sent up by Watari Chikaharu, who had dived for a back-row receive, but there was no way for the setter to make a proper play on it.
Oikawa Tooru lowered his stance, preparing to execute a bump set.
Generally, such a poor receive would be handled by a Wing Spiker other than the Ace, but.. Oikawa Tooru handed the ball to Iwaizumi Hajime without hesitation.
At a time like this, he chose to trust his childhood friend.
Holding his breath, Iwaizumi jumped between Hinata and Miya Osamu and spiked the ball down.
"Contact!" Hinata shouted.
The next second, Miya Osamu and Hinata, landing at the same time, split up in the middle and rushed toward both ends of the net.
And Aran also circled around to the back, leaving enough space for the front row.
It was that monster-like Quick Attack, a two-person version at that.
Oikawa Tooru's brain worked at lightning speed, in this instant, he realized exactly what Inarizaki was planning to do.
Double Quick?
No, it was a follow-up attack hidden within the rhythm of that Double Quick.
"Middle!" Oikawa Tooru shouted, forcibly stopping Kindaichi, who was originally about to rush toward the sidelines.
Aran's figure leaped in the middle, raising his hand to spike the ball tossed by Miya Atsumu.
Although Kindaichi's block was high, it lacked a certain level of solidity.
And this kind of block.. could be completely broken through with brute force.
With a heavy thud, Aran's spike forcefully smashed through the block in front of him.