Chapter 50: The Fiftieth Fox
Goshiki Tsutomu stood on the opposite side of the net, tossed the ball up, immediately served it over the net.
He didn't use a jump serve, after all, Hinata's receiving skills were obvious to everyone. If he let Hinata receive a power jump serve like that, there would be no need to practice spiking tonight.
Hinata quickly moved into position, once he was set, he reached out and bumped the ball up toward Wase.
Wase didn't look at Hinata's position, but instead sent a high ball out by setting it according to the most standard attacking pattern.
It had been quite a long time since he last set a high ball like this, the height of this one was slightly off.
But Hinata didn't panic either; adjusting his posture slightly, he spiked the ball steadily away,
Goshiki Tsutomu took two steps into position and skillfully received the ball.
Coach Washijo nodded.
His reaction speed and ability to actively adapt to the Setter are quite good, but it's obvious that his spike is very angled and not a standard straight shot.
In volleyball, a straight ball refers to a ball whose trajectory is parallel to the sideline, has nothing to do with the direction in which the player initially spikes.
He had already discovered during yesterday's match that Hinata was more accustomed to spiking deep cross-court shots into the corners and was not very good at these straight shots.
Generally speaking, the advantage of this kind of deep cross-court spike lies in its tricky landing spot.
However, for highly skilled defensive players, long diagonal balls are easy to predict, they have enough reaction time to handle them easily through techniques like diving.
Straight balls, however, are quite the opposite; they travel in a straight line via the shortest possible path, compressing the opponent's reaction time to the absolute limit. Once a player fails to anticipate them in time, they are bound to miss the receive.
For a player like Hinata, the scoring rate of straight shots would actually be even higher.
When it comes to straight shots, Goshiki is the best at Shiratorizawa.
However, Coach Washijo wouldn't have Goshiki teach him directly; after all, these two are true rivals.
Whether he can seize this opportunity.. is up to Hinata himself.
On the other side, Coach Saito and the others had already met up with the people from Itachiyama, the Shiratorizawa bus was also waiting in the station parking lot.
Having already scouted out the situation, Komori looked at the Captain walking at the very front. "By the way, Iizuna-senpai, Shiratorizawa has a little runt from Inarizaki with them right now."
As he spoke, he gestured toward his own shoulder, indicating that the opponent was roughly that height.
Iizuna tilted his head slightly. "Hmm? From Inarizaki?"
His mind raced through this information, he and the other Middle Blocker, Agatsuma Soushi, both looked toward the Shiratorizawa Captain standing beside them.
Ushijima thought seriously for a moment and replied, "There was a practice match against Inarizaki yesterday, they stayed here when they left."
“Left behind?!" Hearing this, Itachiyama's vice-captain Amatori Toru was visibly shocked. "That's so inhumane! That's going too far!"
Inarizaki is all the way in Kansai; if they're left here, how are they supposed to get back? Fortunately, Shiratorizawa is a boarding school with plenty of dormitories, so they won't end up homeless on the streets.
Pfft," Tendo couldn't help but burst out laughing beside him, "That's right, because he couldn't receive the ball, he was abandoned here by that villainous Setter.
Amatori Toru cried out in anguish, "So it really was Miya Atsumu!"
Iizuna's mouth twitched.
As expected.. just what kind of image does Miya Atsumu have in Amatori Toru's mind..
Don't listen to his nonsense," Coach Saito turned back, attempting to salvage some of the reputation of High School's Strongest Setter, "Coach Kurosu came over here to learn from Coach Washijo.
Amatori's expression became even more shocked.
He knew that old fox of a coach wasn't any good either!
The people from Itachiyama were exhausted after the long bus ride, upon arriving at Shiratorizawa, they proceeded one by one to the arranged dormitories to unpack and rest.
There was no training scheduled for today, but Iizuna still came to the Shiratorizawa Volleyball Gym, with only Komori following him.
Wase, who was gradually adapting to Hinata's hitting point, made no more mistakes, sending the ball steadily into Hinata's hands this time.
Hinata, adjusting the ball's trajectory bit by bit, finally managed to hit a decent straight shot, but unfortunately, Goshiki still caught it.
"Yes!" Goshiki Tsutomu clenched his fist secretly.
Placing his hand over his eyes, Iizuna watched Hinata dive under the net and remarked, "Wow, he's really tall."
Komori followed with a sigh, "Oh, so tall."
The reason he initially suspected Hinata was either a Libero or a Right Wing Spiker was also because of Hoshiumi Hikari.
A strong spike from the left wing might be difficult to handle, but the right wing is the perfect position for comprehensive coverage.
When he was with the Junior National Team at the beginning of the year, he once set for Hoshiumi Hikari; the opponent's contact point was even higher than this, but Hoshiumi Hikari's specialty is playing with the hitter and the timing.
After all.. that kind of jump is truly deadly.
Iizuna also rubbed his chin and took the initiative to walk over to greet Wase, with whom he was fairly well-acquainted: "Good evening, Wase."
"Good evening, long time no see." Wase nodded to Iizuna.
And Hinata noticed Komori immediately: "Good evening, Komori-senpai!"
Finally, an opportunity to ask for advice!
As if seeing through Hinata's restless heart, Komori simply raised his hand. "Let me warm up first, then we can play together later."
They hadn't managed to play at noon, so he was also very curious to see just how much weight this little thing from Inarizaki actually carried.
While waiting for Komori and Iizuna to warm up, Hinata thought seriously about what questions he should ask.
Finally, when Komori arrived, he asked, "Komori-senpai, about that.. what should I do about how I can't seem to control my body's direction when I move forward for a back-row attack after receiving the ball?"
Wase's face was filled with shock.
This is way too familiar! Does Komori not even know Hinata's name yet?
Ah, this.. it might be that the follow-through was too slow after the receive..
Listening to Komori start talking, Wase was even more shocked.
He's even more overly familiar!
After a brief explanation, Komori Motoya looked at Wase Eita: "Let me show you a demonstration. Wase-senpai, can you set for me?"
"Sure," Wase agreed.
On the other side of the net, Goshiki Tsutomu delivered a jump serve following Komori's signal.
After sending the ball over Wase's head, Komori stepped forward to take a running start, perfectly completing a back-row attack straight down the line.
After landing, Komori looked at Hinata: "Do you get it now?"
Hinata rubbed his chin. "A little bit?"
Komori understood; he only half-understood, it seemed a more professional person was still needed.
He looked at Ushijima: "Ushijima-senpai, could you show us a demonstration?"
Ushijima shook his head. "My right-handed spike isn't that good."
He could do it, but after all, he was left-handed. The spikes he produced had limited reference value.
Everyone turned to look at Sakusa, who had entered a moment later, having just taken off his mask after warming up and was preparing to practice serves.
Hinata also looked over as well; he was still a little afraid of this senior who had been fierce toward him during the day.
Sakusa, who was being watched, froze for a moment. He instinctively wanted to refuse, but under the gaze of Ushijima, Iizuna, the others, he ultimately walked over.
Receiving, the approach, the spike—even if the initial direction was off, the straight line was still perfect.
The downward spin was so intense that Goshiki Tsutomu completely lost control, the ball flew straight off.
Hinata's eyes widened.
As expected of the Three Major Spikers, so amazing!
But—I didn't understand.
“That's just how it is.” Sakusa looked at Hinata, his face full of certainty.
His answer was—he didn't need to adjust his initial orientation.
Looking at Hinata's even more confused expression, Komori didn't know what to say for a moment.
“Haha..” Komori Motoya laughed awkwardly for a moment before looking at Iizuna Sho. “Iizuna-senpai, are you coming?”
Iizuna asked back, "Are you sure?"
He probably isn't even as good as Komori.
In the end, everyone followed Ushijima's gaze and looked toward Goshiki Tsutomu, who had been casually practicing receiving on the opposite side.
A flash of inspiration struck Hinata.
That's right! Goshiki Tsutomu can hit that kind of super straight shot!
Under the watchful eyes of his seniors, Hinata ducked under the net and looked at Goshiki Tsutomu with eyes full of anticipation: "Goshiki-kun!"
“Can I see that super straight spike that just slammed down with a WHOOSH from the back row! The one that even Akagi-senpai couldn't receive! It was amazing!”
A string of compliments crashed down on Goshiki Tsutomu, he awkwardly averted his gaze. "A.. a straight shot, right?"
“Right!”
Under the watchful eyes of a group of seniors by the sidelines, Goshiki Tsutomu stepped forward and completed the entire offensive process more perfectly than anyone before him.
Iizuna nodded: "Impressive."
As expected of Shiratorizawa's future Ace, that spike was truly clean and beautiful.
Hinata raised both hands high: "So cool—can we do one more!"
The highly praised Goshiki Tsutomu replied, "You can."
With Goshiki Tsutomu's standard example to follow, Hinata's next attempt went much more smoothly.
Watching the ball Hinata spiked, Komori froze for a moment. "I'm only just realizing it now, but that ball speed.."
Why is it so fast?
Coach Washijo, standing by the sidelines, nodded inwardly.
In terms of the arm swing alone, Hinata was stronger than most of the people on the court.