No matter what people on the outside say, for the people of Shirabu, there is always only one answer.
Our Aba.. is the strongest Ace.
Kusubashi looked at Hinata beside him: "If you play with them tonight, remember to tell Aba; he'll be very happy."
Kiryu is good at everything, but he lacks a bit of confidence and spoils the others too much.
He should play more with Hinata; on one hand, it would help Kiryu build some confidence, on the other, it would let the others in Shirabu feel the urgency of being caught by their juniors.
It's a pity he can't be poached.
Although Hinata hasn't participated in official matches and therefore wouldn't face a suspension, he was, after all, the prized disciple of an old friend; if he were to poach someone, that person would cry.
"Alright!" Hinata nodded in agreement.
Feeling that Coach Kusubashi was in a good mood, Hinata also started asking questions directly: "By the way, Coach, I wanted to ask why Kiryu-senpai chose to spike to the left wing just now? Wasn't the opposing Libero over there?"
"In that situation, you can't play a block; if you want to score points reliably, the best way is to spike every ball straight down." Kusubashi also began to explain.
Moreover, Aba just lured the opponent's Libero to move in the opposite direction, which counts as actively increasing his own probability of a successful spike.
“Luring?” Having caught onto a new concept, Hinata asked immediately, “Is it a use for decoy tactics? Like using a Quick Attack as cover?”
But didn't he just see that no one else was providing cover for Kiryu-senpai?
"Hmm.." Kusubashi thought about how to explain it.
For a very strong Libero, they can adjust their initial positioning in advance by observing the Spiker's spiking habits, proactively creating opportunities for a 'direct receive.'
Hinata understood instantly: "Ah! Yaku-senpai did the same thing before!"
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So.. it could actually be used in the opposite direction?"
Kusubashi Michiko gave Hinata an affirmative answer: "That's right."
Tachibana-senpai used to play soccer before playing volleyball, so his dynamic vision and court awareness are excellent. Although his receiving might be average, he is the typical type of person who knows how to seize an opportunity.
Aba just used a slight adjustment of his body orientation after jumping to signal to the opponent that he would perform a Line Spike, thereby drawing the opponent away from his original position.
“The person who currently does best at this kind of thing..” Kusubashi Michiko looked toward the Inarizaki side, “is actually Suna.”
Hinata had an epiphany: "Oh—Suna-senpai really does play like that."
The difference might be that Suna-senpai can adjust the final direction of his spike at a large angle, whereas Kiryu-senpai only makes fine adjustments.
No matter how you look at it, this is an absolutely practical technique.
After all, his individual power was still far from enough; even if he could hit a high ball with an overhand spike, many times it would still be received by the opponent's Libero.
Kusubashi continued, "You can try to observe the defensive players' habits through video before a match, for example, whether they choose to side-step or dive when receiving spikes from different directions."
But this is also a skill that requires experience; practicing more and watching more will never go wrong.
After listening to Kusubashi, Hinata suddenly fell into silence.
Connecting the pieces of volleyball knowledge in his mind one by one, he looked up at the famous strategist beside him: "Coach, I have one more question."
Facing Hinata's gaze, Kusubashi Michiko couldn't help but freeze.
She quickly composed herself and followed up by asking, "What is it?"
“Coach just said that a Spiker can use feints to induce the opponent's Libero into making mistakes.” Hinata's eyes were filled with an excitement as if he had discovered a new world, his speaking pace became uncontrollably fast.
In that case, can a defensive player use feints to induce a specific spike path from the spiker?
As Hinata's voice faded, he stared into Kusubashi's eyes as if he had just let out a sigh of relief, waiting for the other's answer.
Kusubashi Michiko's eyes widened involuntarily, for a moment, she couldn't process Hinata's words.
After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly burst into laughter.
She looked at Hinata with undisguised admiration: "Of course, this is also the so-called third form of a decoy."
This little fellow's ability to learn from a single example is incredibly strong.
Regarding what was just said, she hadn't even explained those things to the Shirabu players.
First, they have inherent flaws in their receiving itself, let alone dedicating any extra energy to this aspect.
Second, their ability to think independently is somewhat lacking, so it is very likely to have the opposite effect.
Having received affirmation, Hinata secretly clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to jump up.
In her focused state, Michiko was quite patient as she explained the key points to Hinata: "Although volleyball looks like a sport that solves problems with absolute power, it is actually a game of intellect; at its core, a match is a psychological battle between both sides."
From the moment the Setter sets the ball to the one or two seconds during the spike, that is when the amount of information is at its peak.
“Take the three major spikers as an example; Sakusa and Ushijima's spikes possess an absolute uniqueness. This is an advantage that both they and their entire team cannot give up, which also means—" Kusubashi drew out the sound.
And Hinata naturally followed up, "The more unique something is, the easier it is to predict?"
"Exactly, that's it." Coach Kusubashi made a circle with his hand.
Listening to Coach Kusubashi's explanation, Hinata carefully took notes from beginning to end.
Watching the coach who had completely disregarded them, Bōwàng, who had just been subbed out, felt somewhat lost.
Why did he feel like.. Coach Kusubashi was a bit too excited?
She continued, "When you first said Sakusa's serves are hard to receive, it was actually just because the sample size wasn't large enough."
His wrists are indeed flexible, but the angle of the ball itself doesn't change when the Setter sets it. Taking everything into account, you could actually narrow the options down to just two or three.
That being said, the amount of data required is so absurdly large that even Coach Kusubashi wouldn't make his Libero memorize it.
But at the same time, Hinata doesn't need to memorize them; he only needs to know that these special spikes all have the same specific precursors.
As for how to make use of this.. that is a matter for Inarizaki itself.
Kusubashi had a look of pride on his face: "Therefore, for a top-tier Libero, the type that is actually harder to deal with is someone like Aba."
"Kiryu-senpai is amazing!" Hinata admired Kiryu even more.
Kiryu, who happened to be standing nearby, heard this immediately. Before he could even begin to feel embarrassed, Hinata's voice rang out once again.
Then how can one judge Kiryu-senpai's spike?
Unable to listen any longer, Usui Mitsuru interrupted Hinata's questioning: "Inarizaki's little one, don't push your luck."
He should have just secretly studied their Ace, but now he's running to their coach to ask about secrets?
Hinata, glared at by Shirabu-senpai and the others, shrunk his neck.
Oh no, I'm getting a bit too carried away and forgetting that this isn't my own school.
Kiryu himself just laughed nonchalantly: "If you want to know, do you want to play together tonight?"
If he were to be studied so thoroughly so easily, it would only be because his own ability was insufficient.
Hinata jumped up immediately: "Long live Kiryu-senpai! Kiryu-senpai is the best!"
Kusubashi Michiko sighed in her heart for the fourth time.
It was a pity; how could such a wonderful child not be one of Shirabu's?
How about discussing it with Kurosu?
Anyway, they haven't even left Japan, so at worst, they could just live at school.. or even stay at her house, it's all fine.
Miya Atsumu looked toward Shirabu's side with great displeasure.
At this moment, Hinata had already blended completely into Shirabu's team; even his vest, which was already a similar color to theirs, didn't look out of place at all.
He frowned. "What are they doing over there?"
Coach Kurosu also looked over there, feeling a strange sense of foreboding rise in his heart.
As Coach Kusubashi approached, he raised his hand, having vaguely guessed what the man was going to say.
No, forget it, don't even think about it.
Kusubashi looked innocent: "I haven't even said anything yet."
The Inarizaki members all thought the exact same thing at the same time.
—It's written all over their faces!
Author's Note:
I don't know what to say, so I'll let Shoyo put on a performance for everyone. [Shy]
Shoyo: Trying to warm up his wrists like Sakusa—failure
Shoyo: Mimicking Suna's waist twists during warm-up—failed again
Summary: Today's Imitation Show—Complete Defeat
Shoyo: QAQ
Atsumu: It's fine, they won't be able to copy your warm-up either. (referring to bouncing in place like a spring)
Chapter 58: The Fifty-Eighth Fox
Watching Kiryu being held up to the heavens by Hinata over there, Coach Kusubashi smiled very gently: "Both Sakusa and Ushijima are people with extremely strong cores; in that regard, Aba is still quite a bit behind."
Being down-to-earth is certainly a good thing, but as the Ace who serves as the backbone of the entire team, one really needs to be able to exude that kingly dominance at the appropriate moment.
On the other side, Rishia Heisuke, having overheard the conversation between Kusubashi and Kurosu, lowered his eyes and couldn't help but let out a smile.
In this regard, he certainly has the most say.
Perhaps some people are born with confidence, but for people like them, it seems they still need that kind of unwavering affirmation from others.
Coach Kusubashi looked at Coach Kurosu seriously: "Seriously, how about you lend me the little guy for a few days?"
It's not for anything else; I mainly want to give our Setter a bit of pressure.
Kiryu would never be able to bring himself to demand anything harsh from the Setter, even if he did, it would be meaningless; Usui himself had to feel from the bottom of his heart that he needed to become stronger.
Coach Kurosu's mouth twitched: "You're still not giving up on that idea, are you?"
Kusubashi was eager to try: "So.."
Before Michiko could even finish her sentence, Kurosu had already said, "No, not a chance, don't even think about it."