A smile played on his lips, but his gaze was incredibly sharp. "He's nothing special."
After all.. you can't even receive a serve from a decorative pillow.
Miya Atsumu's expression twisted instantly.
Four points, huh?" Oikawa Tooru returned to the serving position, ball in hand once more. "I'll show you how to surpass that.
Miya Atsumu's gaze drifted toward Kita Shinsuke, who was standing by the sidelines with his arms crossed, his eyes practically screaming, "Kita Team, save me."
But neither Kita nor Coach Kurosu was moved; they just watched them quietly.
If it were an official match, Coach Kurosu would have long ago broken Seijo's momentum through a timeout or by substituting in key defensive players.
However, this was training; they should let the players find their own way to survive in such a high-pressure receiving environment.
Miya Atsumu brainstormed for a moment, finally said to Hinata Shoyo and Miya Osamu, "The front row, move back."
Normally, Aran would be behind him to receive the ball, but if they wanted to prevent a sudden tip like Oikawa Tooru's, the best option would be to position defenders in the front.
Normally, this shift of the front row might affect the subsequent offensive rhythm, but.. Miya Osamu and Hinata certainly won't let that happen.
But Oikawa Tooru didn't play this ball lightly; instead, he reduced the ball's speed and aimed for the sideline toward Ginjima.
After all, Ginjima's receiving skills were not on the same level as Akagi and Aran, so even though Oikawa had reduced the ball's speed to prioritize accuracy, he still failed to receive it.
Four points.
Omimi wiped the sweat from his forehead. "They've completely targeted this receive."
It's fine," Coach Kurosu said, maintaining a good mindset, "Every team has its own specialties, so it's only natural that you can't hold up if you try to force a confrontation.
However, no matter how strong the serve is, it's impossible to take all 25 points at once. We just need to wait patiently for our chance.
He looks under a lot of pressure, but in reality, with a lead already established, there is no need to be too rushed.
After all, Miya Atsumu's service rotation can reliably score points, not to mention that at this stage, Seijo is the one on the defensive.
Given the current scoring frequency, Aobajohsai won't be able to wait for Oikawa Tooru's next service game.
Just as Coach Kurosu said, Oikawa Tooru's fifth serve was received by Aran, Miya Atsumu, who had further pushed his own limits after learning from previous mistakes, delivered a relatively stable set for a Quick Attack.
Starting from the middle, Hinata instantly broke away toward the edge of Position 4, crossing paths with Miya Osamu as he moved toward the center.
With a light sound, Hinata raised his hand and spiked the ball.
Oikawa Tooru, defending in the back row, instinctively reached out his hand, but he still failed to receive it.
“So fast.” He spoke softly.
He scored four points from serves; although it was only enough to tie Miya Atsumu, the situation he faced was different after all.
All things considered.. he still won.
Sweeping his gaze past Miya Atsumu, Oikawa Tooru, who was in an excellent mood, looked toward Hinata: "Little Shrimp."
“Oikawa-senpai?” Hinata stood up straight.
He spoke! He spoke to him!
“Kindaichi said you have a grudge against Shoyo?” Oikawa Tooru asked.
Hinata replied, "You could say that.."
Calling that Ace "Little" Tobio is actually terrifying!
Oikawa Tooru waved his hand. "Kageyama Tobio can be considered my junior in middle school for the time being, but he really is super annoying."
He stared at Hinata with a face full of smiles: "So, I wanted to ask if you want to come with me and flatten little Tobio onto the floor?"
Hinata's focus was entirely on that first sentence.
It's a senior from Kamomedai? Then that means..
"The King?!" Hinata exclaimed.
"Huh?" Oikawa Tooru's smile froze for a moment.
Why couldn't he keep up with the rhythm? What did he mean by "Great King"? Him?
But he immediately forced the topic back on track: "What I meant was, do you want to come to Aobajohsai?"
“I'll set for you.”
Miya Atsumu, who had been ten meters away, flashed forward and arrived in front of Hinata.
He lifted his chin and looked down at Oikawa Tooru, who was just a little bit shorter than him. "Forget it, Oikawa-senpai. The kind of ball Shoyo-kun needs.. you definitely won't be able to deliver it."
Oikawa Tooru's smile vanished. "Huh?"
Miya Atsumu did not back down: "When it comes to being a Setter, I'm the stronger one, aren't I?"
The camera flashes went off, Suna tucked away his latest masterpiece with satisfaction.
At the same time, an email notification from Tendo popped up.
Great, today's material is complete.
Author's Note:
[Good Luck Lotus] Normal update at midnight
Chapter 37: The Thirty-Seventh Fox
Aran's serve also successfully earned two points, during which Oikawa Tooru primarily used the Ace Iwaizumi for attacks.
With Inarizaki's front-row blocking height being somewhat insufficient, Iwaizumi's spike and Kindaichi's Quick Attack were quite effective.
Iwaizumi's serve was directed between Miya Atsumu and Aran, but Aran proactively received the ball for Miya Atsumu.
Hinata had already jumped in the front row, while Miya Osamu intentionally stayed half a step behind, creating a time difference between the two.
Kawarai stepped forward, lunging toward the area where the block had originally been.
The Little Orange will jump toward an obvious gap in the block.
He shifted his position slightly backward, not meeting Hinata at his highest point, but instead raising his hand to touch the ball as it fell.
“Touch!”
Nice!
Having received the ball, Oikawa Tooru decisively passed it to Kunimi Akira.
Watching the block by Miya Osamu and Ginjima, Kunimi raised his hand and lightly tapped the ball over in a tip.
The ball landed too far forward, leaving Akagi no chance to follow it; Miya Atsumu, being the closest, lunged forward immediately to save the ball.
Damn it!
Seeing that Miya Atsumu could not make the save, Miya Osamu quickly stepped up to take over the setter's duties.
He raised his hand and sent the ball toward Hinata, who had already rushed from beside the Position 2 marker to the center of the court: "Shoyo!"
Miya Osamu's judgment was correct; the opponent's number 12 was still too far away, only numbers 13 and 3 could potentially reach it. The height of these two was nowhere near the level of number 12, they had no way of competing with Hinata in terms of verticality.
As Miya Osamu had judged, Hinata's spike completely cleared Seijo's block.
With enough vision, the ball smashed steadily into the open space beside Oikawa Tooru in the back row.
Unlike many teams where the setter does not participate in receiving throughout the match, Oikawa Tooru always remains in a state where he needs to receive spikes due to issues with the overall receiving level.
However, their Libero was also a former Setter, so it wouldn't be a big problem even if he went to receive.
“Watari!” Oikawa Tooru called out, sending the ball up.
Watari Chikaharu jumped from the back row, raising his hands to prepare for a dig.
Coach Omimi froze for a moment. "A Libero setting?"
This method leads to errors if one is not proficient, but Seijo's Libero moves quite cleanly and efficiently.
Landing from a high point, Hinata took a step toward Position 2.
Their current block was to pull out the person in Position 2 for a one-on-one block, while he..
A figure rushed from Position 1 in the background, the Libero in the middle jumped behind the three-meter line. With extremely quick reflexes, Hinata moved another step toward his own right.
Is this.. the back-row attacking rotation for an Ace that Aran-senpai mentioned before?
The previous few plays had already proven that he simply couldn't keep up with Iwaizumi's spikes by jumping from a stationary position; he needed a higher blocking height.
And the ways to increase blocking height are nothing more than a running approach and a squat jump.
There was definitely no time for a running start, so he could only lower his center of gravity first.
The positioning in the back of Seijo changed significantly; Iwaizumi Hajime circled from the middle to behind Position 4, the closest person was Hinata.
Hinata crouched slightly, preparing to judge the timing through observation.
Suna-senpai said that the time it takes for a spike from the back row to reach the block is longer, so the timing of the jump must not be rushed.
The best time is just a little bit later than the Spiker's spike..
Now is the time!
Hinata raised his hands and pressed forward, mimicking Suna and the others by arching his body into a semi-circle to block the path of the volleyball.
But the moment he jumped, he realized he might have jumped too late.
In his desperation, he could only manage to force a change in his hand position, attempting to touch the ball.
But his movements were still too late; Iwaizumi's full-power back-row spike landed directly in front of him, while Miya Osamu and Ginjima, rushing from the other side from position 3.5, had only just arrived.
BANG!!
A deafening crash rang out, sending Hinata reeling backward from the impact, as the volleyball soared high into the air, landing outside the court.
Hinata, having completely lost his balance, fell to the ground, Akagi quickly rushed after him.
Nice touch, Shoyo!
He actually managed to touch the ball. That height and speed from Number 4 just now was truly terrifying; Miya Osamu on the other side was even a step too late.
He had already prepared himself to take the impact head-on, but he didn't expect the block to touch the ball.