Oikawa looked up, his gaze locking onto Akagi in the back row.
Since the current serves cannot break through Inarizaki's defense, then..
Then he will be the one to break through this limit.
Let's go.
Author's Note:
Only two thousand more.. Waaaah, let's update together tomorrow [sobbing]
(Collapsed on the ground)
Chapter 36: The Thirty-Sixth Fox
Akagi positioned himself far back to receive, staying constantly alert to Oikawa Tooru's powerful jump serve.
Although Miya Atsumu's serve is also very powerful, in terms of raw strength, he is still somewhat inferior to Oikawa Tooru.
At first, he was a bit lucky with that ball, as he anticipated where it would land.
Even so, that ball ended up being passed quite poorly.
——It just looked like an easy receive.
“Get—ready!” Once again, the shouts of Oikawa Tooru's fans rang out from above.
In the next second, Oikawa Tooru raised his hand and tossed the ball high into the air.
Akagi swallowed the saliva in his mouth, his hands held at his sides, as his brain attempted to analyze Oikawa Tooru's serving style based on his movements.
Common serves generally include various types of spin, such as float serves, power serves, side-spin serves, as well as many other types like high serves.
Among the serving experts they are familiar with, Aran and Kiryu use powerful serves, while Sakusa and Ushijima lean more towards spin serves.
To put it simply, Oikawa Tooru's serves also belong to a type of dual wielding.
Miya Atsumu's Dual Wielding consists of jump float serves and normal jump serves, whereas Oikawa can skillfully vary his jump serves and all kinds of spin serves.
The preparatory movements for a jump float serve and a power serve are vastly different, to be wary of side spin, one can only judge it by the degree of upper limb inclination at the exact moment of the spike after jumping.
And the reaction time left for the Libero.. could be described as negligible.
Oh—Hey!
In the next instant, with a heavy thud, the volleyball flew over the net and slammed into the ground two steps to the side of Akagi.
Akagi decisively abandoned his original forearm pass stance, turning his body and lifting his shoulder in the shortest amount of time to face the ball head-on with his arms.
Very good, he can keep up with it.
Based on the speed of Oikawa's serve, he can control it like this..
Eh?
The moment the volleyball made contact, a force exceeding his original estimate surged through, Akagi, who had lost his footing while desperately trying to change direction, was knocked backward.
The world spun around, by the time Akagi reacted, the volleyball had already slammed into the second-floor wall.
Watching Akagi Michinari fall to the ground, a faint sense of absurdity rose in Miya Atsumu's heart.
Wait, this ball speed?
The difference compared to that first ball is way too large. Is Oikawa holding back?
—Not at all.
Catching the volleyball that was thrown back, Oikawa Tooru felt a sense of relief in his heart.
His serves were always kept under control in a state he could master perfectly; such a reckless increase in ball speed could be considered very dangerous.
Day after day of training and refinement is the best foundation for success, when one truly takes that step forward..
He suddenly realized that he could do it.
Oikawa looked up at the Inarizaki team across from him: "Alright, next ball."
Coach Kurosu's expression grew solemn: "An on-court breakthrough?"
This behavior could be described as quite bold, but it was obvious that Oikawa Tooru executed it perfectly.
Generally speaking, achieving this kind of effect is only possible when one's daily accumulation has reached a certain level.
Aran pulled Akagi up and clapped his hands to soothe everyone: "Stay steady, stay steady, it's fine."
Akagi nodded.
He had been caught a bit off guard just now, but now that he has the basic concept, there shouldn't be too much of a problem.. right?
“Oh—Hey!”
The cheers erupted from above once again.
Ever since stepping into the Seijo gymnasium, this was the first time Akagi had ever felt such overwhelming, mountain-toppling pressure.
So.. as expected, the greater pressure comes from the players themselves.
The same powerful jump serve as before flew over the net and slammed down beside Akagi.
Bang!
A heavy thud echoed, as they watched the volleyball soar high into the air, everyone from Inarizaki breathed a sigh of relief.
“Nice receive!”
“Atsumu!”
If the set is off, it's off; with Miya Atsumu there, it can be completely made up for.
“Give me the ball!” Hinata raised his hand, calling for the ball.
Miya Atsumu did not give the ball to Hinata for a Quick Attack this time; after all, it is difficult to handle a ball with such extreme precision, in this situation, he would choose Miya Osamu to strike.
Iwaizumi and Kindaichi quickly moved up to the sideline at Position 4.
Just as Oikawa had said before.
When the serve receive is good, Miya Atsumu usually lets Hinata or Ginjima or Aran spike, but with a serve receive this clearly out of position, there are basically only two choices: Miya Osamu or Aran.
And since Aran was out of position while trying to receive the serve, the only one left to set was Miya Osamu.
Touch!
Although he couldn't block Miya Osamu, Kindaichi also managed to make contact with the ball.
"Nice touch!" Watari Chikaharu quickly retreated and raised his hands to receive the ball.
The volleyball was tossed near the attacking line in the center, Oikawa Tooru, who had been positioned in the back, stepped forward with large strides and jumped directly behind the three-meter line.
Hinata was completely stunned.
Eh? Is he going to spike it directly?
Subconsciously, he jumped to block the center, Miya Osamu followed from the side.
Just as Oikawa jumped and was about to touch the volleyball, he suddenly turned in mid-air, raising his hand to set the ball toward the area near the antenna in Position 2.
Iwaizumi Hajime, who had already jumped from the wing, spiked the ball into the empty net, Ginjima in the back row failed to control it, ultimately letting it fly out of bounds.
"Tsk." Miya Atsumu's expression was quite displeased.
Forget it, he wouldn't scold Miya Osamu this time; it was true that his target as a setter was too singular and had been figured out.
Before he could even reflect on his own actions, Hinata was already looking at him with eyes full of anticipation: "Atsumu-senpai! What was that!"
He sent the ball flying in a sudden flash!
He thought this situation was definitely a back-row attack, he went in to block with the mindset that the ball might be blasted right past him.
As it turned out, Oikawa didn't even spare him a single glance.
“Which one?” Miya Atsumu blanked for a moment, then realized Hinata was talking about Oikawa Tooru.
Under the gaze of everyone from Inarizaki, Miya Atsumu's expression grew even sourer.
He gave a simple explanation: "It was a fake spike followed by a set, but whether to set or not is the setter's own decision; you were not wrong to follow up with a block."
As for Miya Osamu..
It wouldn't have been a problem for Hinata to defend the middle for a moment, but why did he follow him?
Miya Osamu stared at Oikawa Tooru on the other side of the net.
He remembered that this guy's spike was also quite good, he had indeed been a bit caught off guard just now.
Even though Oikawa didn't want to admit it, Seijo truly had a gap in basic composition compared to these top-tier powerhouse schools.
They had no way to gain an advantage in the confrontation and were constantly in a state of being suppressed.
And as an ultimate weapon, the serve is the only way Oikawa Tooru has to compete with these geniuses.
No.. it's not just a matter of competing with them.
He wants to be even stronger.
Oikawa Tooru serves the third ball.
The members of Inarizaki, having been heavily struck by the previous two balls, were on high alert, while Oikawa, just as before, raised his hand and tossed the ball high under the cheers of the supporters.
After a three-step approach, he leaped before the baseline, then raised his hand, tapped it lightly.
The volleyball flew over the net and quickly dropped toward the ground, landing extremely far forward.
Hinata, with incredibly fast reflexes, turned and lunged toward it, but ultimately fell just short of the ball.
The entire court fell silent for a moment, followed by an explosion of cheers from the Seijo side.
Great play, Oikawa—
Go all out in one breath!
Aran patted the somewhat frustrated Hinata: "It's okay, being able to react like that is already very impressive."
"Is Inarizaki strong?" Oikawa Tooru's gaze fell upon Miya Atsumu.