He is merely a cornerstone of Shiratorizawa, helping the Ace fly even higher into the sky.
—This is the philosophy that should belong to the Shiratorizawa Setter.
Watching Hinata come down, Suzuki Nanao instantly abandoned his brother and rushed forward: "Hinata-senpai! That was amazing! To be able to score under such a strong block!"
That spiker went out of bounds, that was amazing!
Komori Motoya whispered to Goshiki Tsutomu, "Look, the natural crowd-pleaser is being cheered on by someone else."
Why does this scene feel a bit strange?
Suzuki Nanao's excitement was evident: "I want to be just like Hinata-senpai! Give it my all to receive the ball, then jump up for a spike to score!"
"That sounds good, but aren't you a Middle Blocker? You should be blocking, right?" Hinata struck a blocking pose.
Suzuki Nanao said with a face full of righteousness, "No, I'm not playing Middle Blocker anymore. I'm going to call my mom tonight and tell her I'm transferring to Wing Spiker."
At the same time, Suzuki Garaku collapsed, feeling as if his heart had shattered into pieces.
After a short while, he sat up again.
Forget it, if he doesn't play Middle Blocker, then he doesn't play Middle Blocker; as long as he's still playing volleyball, it's fine.
Maybe playing as a Wing Spiker could lead to something great; after all, the people they previously asked to estimate height were all over 1.9m, even taller than Ushijima.
Just keep dreaming.. maybe his younger brother will have a chance to join the national team too!
But speaking of which, Ushijima had already secured a permanent spot on the National Team not long ago.
Unfortunately, they didn't qualify for this year's London Olympics, otherwise we would have seen the sight of high schoolers competing in the men's volleyball wing spiker position at the Olympics.
Suzuki Nanao, who had originally only come along to watch her brother, also arrived on time the next morning, very proactively preparing to watch Ushijima Wakatoshi's match.
After participating in the morning's practice match as a referee, Hinata completed one last session of physical and receiving training with Goshiki Tsutomu and the others before lunch.
After taking a shower in the dormitory's shared bathroom, Hinata had to set off by bus to Osaka.
At the main entrance of Shiratorizawa Academy, Hinata wiped away his tears as he said goodbye to everyone: "Goodbye, Ushijima-senpai! Goodbye, Iizuna-senpai! Goodbye, Shinji-senpai! Goodbye, Motoya! Goodbye, Akari.."
Next time we meet will be the Interhigh, I'll definitely do my best to cheer for everyone!
Looking at the Inarizaki uniform on Hinata, Sakusa's expression showed visible disgust.
Komori struggled to force a smile: "The cheering.. let's just not."
To be honest, it was truly terrifying, especially the Inarizaki cheering squad when they went all out at the National Tournament.
Hinata blinked, he suddenly remembered that when he had said this to Hoshiumi-senpai before, the other man had reacted the exact same way.
But in his impression, Inarizaki's cheering should be alright? Everyone is very enthusiastic.
At the same time, there was another little kid crying: "Goodbye, Hinata-senpai! If my brother and the others can go to the National Sports Festival, I will definitely come along to cheer for you!"
Hinata opened his arms and hugged the child, who was almost as tall as him: "Alright! It's a promise!"
Once Nanao makes it to the Nationals, I'll come watch, no matter where I am!
The taxi called by Coach Washijo slowed to a stop at the main gate of Shiratorizawa Academy, honking its horn to signal that they could get in and leave.
Before getting in the car, Hinata waved his hands vigorously: "Everyone—goodbye—"
Meanwhile, in the Kaifang Academy gymnasium, everyone who had come to participate in the training camp had already arrived.
Scanning through the Inarizaki members, Kiryu Ya spoke up and asked, "Are you guys.. missing someone?"
—Specifically referring to a certain bowl cut who should have rushed up the moment they met.
Kiryu Ya speculated with a dead serious expression: "Could he be injured? Or is he sick?"
It shouldn't be like that; Inarizaki brought several extra staff members for logistics this time, so Hinata shouldn't be missing.
Besides, he couldn't quite imagine Hinata missing the Volleyball Club training camp for any other reason, unless it was for some reason that made it impossible for him to come at all.
Shirabu's setter, Usui Mitsuru, twitched at the corner of his mouth: "Why couldn't it be because he was forced to attend summer school after failing his final exams?"
Bōwàng replied, "Inarizaki is one of the top public schools in Hyogo Prefecture."
In other words, the grades required to get in wouldn't be too outrageous.
Rishia Heisuke fell silent for a moment.
Sorry, Hinata actually failed two subjects and had to stay behind for remedial classes, though he didn't have to stay for the entire vacation.
It was the reliable Captain, Kita Shinsuke, who provided the answer to the Shirabu group: "Shoyo will probably arrive in the evening; he should be on the Shinkansen by this time."
Hearing that he wasn't coming at all, Kiryu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
As long as he isn't injured, that's fine. For volleyball players like them, their greatest enemy is injury.
Usui Mitsuru blinked: "Where did Hinata go?"
Miya Atsumu had a stony expression, his entire being looked visibly impatient: "Miyagi, he left Shiratorizawa."
That's so far!" Usui Mitsuru was shocked, finally reacting, "Oh, so he's from Miyagi.
In this massive training camp where Kansai and Kanto accents were all mixed together, they had almost forgotten that Hinata was actually from Tohoku.
"Shiratorizawa.." Kiryu said with a hint of emotion.
Relatively speaking, among the nation's Three Major Spikers, he was not close to the other two, though this was partly due to their geographical locations.
After all, Oita Prefecture was truly quite remote; at most, they would come to places like Kyoto or Osaka, which were a bit more convenient.
Despite the slight regret, everyone felt relieved knowing that Hinata would return later.
After a quick tidy-up, the afternoon practice match began as usual.
After finishing the first day of training with a one-loss record, everyone took a quick shower and then went to the room converted from a classroom to rest.
Just as the Inarizaki members were chatting aimlessly, Coach Kusubashi's voice came from the doorway: "The Interhigh match schedule is out."
Upon hearing this, Miya Atsumu, who had been lying on the floor, suddenly sat up and rushed toward the coaches, who were already being crowded in the hallway.
Coach Kurosu sighed, "It's already been sent to your phones, so stop crowding around here."
After a quick glance at the match schedule, Seito's Libero Tachibana Shinji asked in confusion, "Why do you all have a bye?"
The seeding system for the Interhigh is the same as the Spring High, where the champions and runners-up from the last two Interhigh and Spring High tournaments are given automatic qualification.
Including the National Sports Festival, Inarizaki has taken third place three times in a row. However, in the previous few instances, Shirabu, who had finished fourth, defeated Inubushi Higashi in the semifinals of the Spring High earlier this year to advance to the finals, ultimately finishing as the national runner-up.
And during last year's Interhigh, Itachiyama successfully won the championship, while the runner-up was Kyoto's Rakusan.
But the team that advanced through this year's Kyoto Interhigh.. is Seito High School.
So that bye slot was left vacant, because of Itachiyama's two consecutive championships, the only two seeds for this Interhigh were Itachiyama and Bōwàng.
However.. Inarizaki drew a bye this time.
For a long-term campaign like the National Tournament, being able to skip a round is the greatest advantage.
As per tradition, the previous champions, Itachiyama, were in Block A, Shirabu was in Block D—the two positions furthest apart on the entire bracket—while Inarizaki was placed in Block C.
Miya Atsumu scanned the list from top to bottom, his eyes instantly lit up. "Isn't this Shiratorizawa?"
Ginjima frowned: "Why is Shonan High School here too?"
Akagi Michinari added another blow: "And there's Kindaichi Industrial here too."
Aran really couldn't hold it back anymore: "Wait, wait, wait, who put this list together?"
Someone please save him, where do I even begin to complain about this?
What kind of probability would it take to have four of last year's Interhigh top eight teams all placed in the same district?
Akagi laughed, "It's not a big deal. Kindaichi and the others' Ace graduated, the newcomers haven't grown yet."
This is a typical case of failing to cultivate a successor in advance. Similarly, there is another strong school in Kyoto, Rakusan, which has also encountered issues with the development of its Ace.
Relatively speaking, the more troublesome ones are Shiratorizawa and Shonan High School.
Miya Atsumu was full of energy; he had decided that this time, he would definitely beat Shiratorizawa 2-0.
And he will pray for Shiratorizawa, praying that they don't get eliminated before the quarterfinals.
Aran noticed the groupings below: "Hoshiumi and the others are in the same block as Shirabu."
If there are no dark horses, the qualifying spot for Group D will likely be a choice between Shirabu and Karasuno.
Hyogo's second representative, Municipal Kobe, was placed in Group A with Itachiyama, while Group B, where Seito High School is located, features several established powerhouse schools like Fukurodani and Aozora, making the competition quite intense.
Miya Atsumu couldn't help but say, "Have we been grouped with Shiratorizawa for four consecutive times?"
And every single time it was in the quarterfinals, without exception.
It's fate," Suna nodded. "But speaking of Shiratorizawa.. don't you need to pick up Shoyo?
Kita Shinsuke said, "He took a taxi from the station, Coach Kurosu is covering the cost for him."
They came by bus, the coach didn't drive, so it wouldn't be convenient for him to go pick them up.
If they took a taxi.. Hinata probably wouldn't get lost.
The commotion caused by the Interhigh rankings was only temporary; after all, most of those present were old friends, the crowd's enthusiasm quickly faded.
Generally speaking, the only things capable of sparking large-scale discussion would be something like Inarizaki stumbling at the last hurdle and failing to even make it into the prefectural finals.
—But that was impossible.
Shiratorizawa.." Ginjima rubbed his chin, "To be honest, they are still incredibly strong.
Originally, they relied on Ohira for defense, but now Goshiki's level is also rising bit by bit; he could completely become Ushijima's right-hand man.
Miya Osamu's expression was very calm: "However, it will be difficult for Shiratorizawa's strategy to change in a short period of time. After all, their playstyle, which emphasizes individual strength, is already deeply ingrained, unless one of their players can achieve a major breakthrough."
That may be true, but..
Before Miya Atsumu could finish speaking, the classroom door behind him was suddenly pushed open, followed immediately by a familiar, energetic voice.
I'm back!
The Inarizaki members looked up and saw Hinata, his face clearly written with excitement.
Rishia Heisuke, who was closest to the door, stood up in surprise: "Shoyo!"
He rushed forward and gave Hinata a big hug, nearly bursting into tears.
Help, he and Unabara Uta have been enduring Atsumu-senpai's low pressure every day in the Volleyball Club, there isn't even anyone by his side to cheer him on.