Kurosu watched Ginjima return to the waiting area, then said to Hinata, "The purpose of the substitution is not for serving."
It's obvious that Shonan has gradually gone from being unaccustomed to slowly adapting to our offensive rhythm, I don't want them to find their rhythm so quickly.
Hinata had an epiphany: "So we have to completely disrupt them before they find their rhythm?"
Kurosu gave a look that said "you're a quick learner" and continued with great satisfaction, "Exactly. What we want isn't just victory, but a victory achieved with as much quality and speed as possible."
It's best not to let a match that can be won in two sets drag on into a third; after all, a player's physical stamina is their most precious asset.
The most important thing is still to avoid being dragged into the opponent's rhythm, but that generally does not happen.
Unless.. the opponent's overall tactical adjustments are faster than Inarizaki's, to the point where they can't keep up at all, it is only then that they might be forcibly dragged into their rhythm.
But even if it really reached that point.. they would still have Kita Shinsuke to use to maintain balance.
After Miya Osamu entered the court, Miya Atsumu decisively began using his regular Quick Attack, instantly elevating the pace of the previously steady match to a whole new level.
Shonan, who had gradually grown accustomed to Aran's steady and methodical spiking style, was completely unable to adapt to the sudden increase in tempo, losing two points right at the start.
"Inarizaki is too much!" Tachikawa Yohei collapsed to his knees like a defeated dog, having failed to even touch Suna-senpai's Quick Attack.
Can't this guy pull off a Quick Attack? Why didn't he do it before!
Suna blinked, looking as if he had done nothing at all.
They were all too familiar with this type of team like Shonan; in fact, they had played against several high-spec versions of them before.
That's right, it refers to the Karasuno members who were currently watching from the sidelines, waiting for the match to be halfway through so they could go warm up.
Compared to Karasuno, Shonan's overall serve quality was somewhat lower, not to mention that their blocking intensity might not even match Karasuno, which was anchored by Hirugami.
But similarly, Shonan's receiving skills are very high; as long as the block can touch the ball, they can basically receive it and drag the rally into the next phase.
As long as you ensure the ball doesn't hit the floor on your side and you send it back, you will eventually catch the opponent making a mistake.
Tachikawa licked his lips and raised his hands to deliver a back set to the perfectly positioned Ace, Suzuki.
An excellent hunter must possess absolute patience, waiting for the moment the prey reveals a weakness, then delivering a single, fatal blow.
Inarizaki's block was deflected by Suzuki, when Oori landed, he couldn't steady himself and fell to the ground, which in turn restricted Miya Atsumu's ability to move on the other side.
Nice! Here's the chance!
Tachikawa quickly moved in to prepare for a block. In this situation, Inarizaki had no way to organize a sufficiently diverse offense, leaving them with only two options.
The moment Oori fell, he raised his hands to protect his head and lowered his posture as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Miya Atsumu jumped over Oori without a moment's hesitation, chasing after the ball that Akagi had just received.
Miya Atsumu's posture was very unstandardized, even facing away from the net, the ball itself was still spinning; if not handled properly, it would easily result in a double contact called by the referee.
Generally speaking, a Setter will set the ball to his most trusted Spiker during the most critical moments.
As for Tachikawa, this person was undoubtedly Suzuki.
But.. they had no idea who Miya Atsumu would give the ball to.
Under normal circumstances, Miya Atsumu's setting target should be his twin brother, Miya Osamu, with whom he shares an absolute unspoken understanding.
But looking at the footage from previous regional qualifiers, Miya Atsumu wouldn't even consider the idea of "giving the ball to Miya Osamu" many times.
Perhaps, he would trust the Ace, Aran, a bit more?
After a brief brainstorming session, Tachikawa led the way to block toward Aran.
But Miya Atsumu didn't look at the two people Tachikawa was considering at all; instead, he jumped and set the ball to Kita Shinsuke, who had always maintained a very low presence on the other side.
With a light sound, Kita Shinsuke spiked the ball right on the line, securing the final point of the set for Inarizaki.
Miya Atsumu lightly clenched his fist, then high-fived Kita Shinsuke. "Nice play."
His gaze swept across the people from Shonan, eventually settling into a rather "gentle" smile that left everyone from Shonan feeling as if they were being hit by a blast of winter wind, shivering as if they were trapped in an ice cellar.
Not to mention that the previous play wasn't even remotely an "emergency," but even at that moment, Miya Atsumu had one hundred percent confidence that he could maintain absolute composure.
Because..
Atsumu loves every Spiker equally.
Coach Unabara, standing by the sidelines, smiled with great satisfaction: "It's precisely because of this that he doesn't make many mistakes in these situations."
Of course, it's not that this is a bad thing, but rather that a Wing Spiker cannot carry the weight of such heavy trust.
To bear such boundless favoritism from a Setter, one must be able to score even when the opponent anticipates it and targets them.
Otherwise, it would be a weakness.
Coach Fire also laughed along, "But Atsumu can be quite willful at times."
He didn't focus on loving any particular spiker, but there were certain spikers he hated during certain periods, such as his twin brother.
Tachikawa fell completely to his knees.
An excellent hunter must learn to wait patiently for the prey to walk into the trap and reveal its weaknesses.
But his prey was not a little fox at all, but a.. monster wearing the skin of a fox!
He raised his hand, using the sweat on his fingertips to write the beginning of the character for "palace" on the ground, as if leaving a "death message."
The next second, Suzuki reached out and grabbed him by the back of his collar, dragging him straight toward the coaching bench, mercilessly crushed his death message with his foot.
Tachikawa's eyes were vacant. "Atsushi, avenge me.."
Suzuki rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
Chapter 68: The Sixty-Eighth Fox
Shonan failed to fight back in the second set, with a final score of 2:0, Inarizaki successfully advanced to the top eight.
On the other side, Shiratorizawa went to the third set against their opponents, but the match ended on a relatively stable note.
As Hinata packed his things to leave the court, he looked up and keenly noticed that the Shiratorizawa cheering section seemed to be changing their banners.
He looked toward Miya Atsumu on the other side with some confusion. "Atsumu-senpai, aren't they done with that one from Shiratorizawa?"
"A true powerhouse should be like this"—black text on a white background, how cool.
Miya Atsumu took a sip of water and explained, "When there isn't enough space, they do sometimes change the banners depending on the opponent."
If I'm not mistaken, the banner they're changing is for us.
As the words fell, accompanied by the sound of the announcer calling for readiness, a purple banner, almost identical in color to the Shiratorizawa uniform, was lowered.
Four large white characters were written on it—【Lion's Bravery】.
Hinata's words got stuck in his throat, he ultimately looked up to ask Kita Shinsuke on the other side, "Kita Team, what does this mean?"
Watching Hinata shift his target of questioning so decisively, Miya Atsumu subconsciously pursed his lips.
Kita Shinsuke explained patiently, "To describe a state of being as powerful and swift as a lion is usually used to refer to the aura of a king within a certain field."
That sounds amazing—" Hinata blinked, looking at Kita Shinsuke expectantly, "Kita Team, Kita Team, do we have a second banner?
Hearing this question, Kita Shinsuke suddenly gave a small smile. "Not at the moment."
"Currently?" Hinata immediately caught the key point, his eyes lit up.
Kita raised his hand and patted Hinata's head: "Once you all make a name for yourselves in the future, you can come back and give Inarizaki a new nickname. Coach Kurosu will definitely be very happy."
Lowering his hand, Kita's thoughts drifted away in a rare moment of distraction.
To be honest, his height had always been at the bottom of the club, Hinata was the first one who could pat his head so easily..
However, he is already in his third year of high school, while Hinata still has room to grow.
When I head back to Itachiyama, I'll also ask a doctor to measure Hinata's ideal height.
At present, Hinata's jumping ability has basically reached its peak; even with specialized training, the amount he can improve is negligible. Therefore, the focus of Coach Kurosu's training sessions is on "how to make the quality of his one-footed takeoff approach the quality of a two-footed one."
The only factor that can significantly impact future reach is height itself; players like Hinata and Hoshiumi would need to reach at least 3.5 meters on the professional stage to have sufficient value.
So.. if Hinata could grow another ten centimeters, it basically wouldn't be a problem.
Hmm, at the very least, it would be better if he were taller than him.
Hinata rubbed his chin and began to think seriously, "Really! Then I'll have to think hard about what to write."
Given a subtle hint from Aran's gaze, Nagumo, who was trailing behind, added a sharp finishing blow: "If you want to come up with something profound and inspiring.. you really should study Japanese literature properly first."
Nagumo, who had already taken on the responsibility of exhorting students in the Volleyball Club, leaned down to look at Hinata. "Isn't that right, Hinata-kun, who is one point short of passing?"
Hinata held his head. "I know I was wrong, Nagumo-senpai! I'll definitely pay attention in class—"
Miya Osamu turned his gaze toward the yellowish-green banner on the other side: "Isn't Itachiyama making any substitutions?"
Miya Atsumu curled his lip. "Why would we need to change now? It would be so much better to just hang a whole row of them when the finals come around."
Hinata escaped from Nagumo's lecture and caught up to the Miya Twins ahead of him: "Atsumu-senpai, do Kami-senpai and the others have other banners too?"
He was currently very enthusiastic about this matter, feeling extremely curious about what Itachiyama's second team banner was.
Miya Atsumu had a look of pure disdain on his face. "Those guys are the truly arrogant ones; they're at a level where they'd be collectively shunned if they went public."
—Specifically for the teams that have lost to Itachiyama several times.
Suna, who was trailing behind, said, "We'll see on the last day."
Rishia, who was trailing behind, originally intended to catch up with the others, but he was called by Coach Kurosu: "Heisuke, come here for a moment."
The Karasuno players in the back had already entered the arena to prepare for the match, Rishia also stood by the coach's side.
Coach Kurosu got straight to the point: "I will arrange for you to play in this afternoon's match, so get ready."
Rishia Heisuke's brain overloaded instantly, he failed to process at all what the coach had said.
What playing? What match? What preparation? Him?
Coach Kurosu, who had kept some of his attention on Shirabu, continued speaking: "For the match against Shiratorizawa, I want a player who can serve as a substitute for Suna. Suna's usual serving style probably won't work against Shiratorizawa.."
The coach finally noticed Rishia Heisuke, who had already shut down: "Heisuke? What's wrong?"
Rishia shook his head rapidly, restarting his brain.
He looked into the coach's eyes, which seemed to be spitting fire: "I'm ready! I will definitely complete the mission perfectly!"