Sugawara Koushi recognized Hinata standing next to Coach Kurosu at a glance: "Ah, it's Hinata."
Being able to be brought to the court as a manager to watch the match from up close—he truly looks like a proud disciple.
Kageyama's eyes darkened slightly.
So.. this guy is already this far ahead?
Chapter 72: The Seventy-Second Fox
[The current match is the Men's Volleyball final of the Interhigh Junior High School Comprehensive Sports Festival (known as IH).]
[The match between Tokyo's first representative, Itachiyama Academy, Hyogo Prefecture's first representative, Inarizaki High School.]
【The match is about to begin.】
As the stadium announcements rang out, the cheering section on Itachiyama Academy's side erupted into a synchronized chant.
The Inarizaki side was not to be outdone, as the Brass Band immediately began to play under the direction of the conductor in front of them.
The players from both sides lined up at opposite ends of the court and bowed to each other upon the referee's signal.
Please take care of us!!
Kita Shinsuke stepped forward and shook hands with the Iizuna setter across the net.
Hinata stood beside Coach Kurosu, looking around the entire gymnasium with excitement, before finally letting his gaze rest on the overly conspicuous banner hanging at Itachiyama on the opposite side.
Before this, the banner Itachiyama had been hanging was 【Effort】, subtle and sincere.
But at this moment, right next to that banner of "Effort," there was another one placed more centrally—"Everlasting Victory."
There were no overly flowery words, yet a kingly aura surged forth, as if victory were simply a matter of course for Itachiyama Academy.
Listening to the cheers from both sides that sounded like they were about to turn into a brawl, Hoshiumi frowned. "That's terrifying."
Having completely recovered from his heatstroke, he leaned against the railing in the front row, looking out at the court, which was already crowded with media reporters and scouts.
Hirugami was also a bit surprised, but he tried his best to identify the people he could recognize.
He pointed a finger at someone in white standing by the court: "That person seems to be a coach from Adler."
He is not the head coach, but he had seen him before while following his brother; he is a coach on the coaching staff responsible for scouting new players.
Hoshiumi glanced at the person Hirugami was pointing to, then turned his head to look at him. "I remember your brother is the captain of Adler?"
Hirugami nodded, "Yeah, he just took over."
His older brother and sister are both serving in professional volleyball teams, since he had been exceptionally tall from a young age, he had been in contact with people from those teams since he was very young.
However, after they later learned that he had no intention of pursuing further studies in volleyball, they were all very supportive of him.
Hirugami laughed and looked at Hoshiumi Hikari, who seemed lost in thought. "Speaking of which, your brother is actually playing basketball instead."
Hoshiumi pouted, "No, I should say that I'm actually playing volleyball."
That's right, he is the odd one out in his family.
Watching the players from both sides making their final tactical arrangements on the court, Hoshiumi couldn't help but complain, "Why is Inarizaki starting first again? Should we go pray to the Inari God too?"
As a team that relies on serves and blocks as their primary scoring methods, Karasuno needs to start more than anyone else.
Hirugami agreed, "Sounds good. After we go play a match against Inarizaki, we can stop by Fushimi Inari Shrine on the way back to pray."
But that is all in the future; for now, they only need to quietly witness the final match of this battle.
As players from teams that had already been eliminated, they no longer had passes to enter the court to watch. Sitting here in the stands, they could only think that perhaps one day they too would be standing on the court like this..
—But that is exactly why they had worked so hard to get this far.
[Next, we will introduce the starting players for both sides.]
[Itachiyama Academy, No. 1, Captain, Iizuna Sho]
Iizuna Sho, who had gained fame early on, received a round of applause from the entire crowd as soon as he stepped onto the court.
Without a doubt, he is the most mature captain of this tournament, far ahead of the rest in both skill and leadership.
【Number 2, Vice-Captain, Amatori Toru.】
[Number 4, Agatsuma Soushi.]
Two Itachiyama Academy seniors, whom Hinata was relatively familiar with, entered the court one after another and stood beside Iizuna.
Even though they had been such approachable seniors when he met them before, at this very moment, they inexplicably exerted a powerful sense of pressure on Hinata.
Number 6, Koldorf.
The fair-haired Caucasian stepped out from the waiting area, high-fiving two coaches before entering the court.
Hinata gripped his pants nervously.
This person is so tall, his frame is so large. He remembers that during yesterday's meeting, the coach emphasized this person; it seemed he was Russian and very skilled at follow blocking.
[Number 8, Inamura Gen.]
The Itachiyama Setter-Opposite stepped forward slowly, standing with his hands behind his back beside Koldorf.
【Number 10, Sakusa Kiyoomi.】
【Number 13, Libero, Komori Motoya.】
Sakusa and Komori jogged forward one after another; Sakusa, who was honestly high-fiving the coach, stood in stark contrast to the full of energy Komori.
[Head Coach, Utsunomiya Tetsuya.]
Coach Utsunomiya bowed slightly to the crowd, Coach Himegomiya beside him also clapped silently.
[Inarizaki High School, Number 2, Oori Ren.]
Oori Ren, wearing the earliest number, took the court first in order, his broad back providing everyone with a sense of security and composure.
[Number 4, Vice-Captain, Owari Aran.]
【Number 5, Ginjima Yui.】
Almost every fan who had attended every Inarizaki match shouted the Ace's name: "Aran! Go for it—"
[Number 7, Miya Atsumu.]
As the visual representative of Inarizaki, Atsumu, who was much more willing to steal the spotlight than Osamu, received screams from numerous girls the moment he stepped onto the court.
Atsumu-kun—you look so handsome today too!
Atsumu high-fived the two coaches one after another, finally raised both hands as he passed in front of Hinata.
Hinata understood perfectly and lightly jumped up to high-five Miya Atsumu.
A satisfied Miya Atsumu turned his head toward Aran and the others, who were looking at him with speechless expressions, waved to the spectators at the same time.
【Number 11, Miya Osamu.】 【Number 10, Suna Rintaro.】
【No. 11, Miya Osamu.】
Completely different from the flashy Atsumu before them, Suna and Osamu both looked quite steady.
[Number 15, Libero, Akagi Michinari.]
【Head Coach, Kurosu Masamune.】
Feeling the gaze of the entire crowd projected upon him, Hinata straightened his body.
Although this wasn't the first time he had experienced this routine, he felt involuntarily nervous every single time.
Especially.. today, every eye in the arena will be focused here, not shifting even a fraction.
After confirming the initial positions of both sides, Miya Atsumu took the ball and prepared to serve upon the referee's signal.
With his movement, the entire court fell completely silent.
Spinning the ball in his hands, Miya Atsumu waited quietly for the referee's whistle.
Watching Miya Atsumu's movements, Komori Motoya decisively took a step forward, preparing to receive the float serve.
Before this tournament, Miya Atsumu's specialty was undoubtedly the Power Jump Serve.
But since he started switching to Dual Wield, the move he uses most frequently in tournaments has become the Jump Float Serve.
The reason is also very simple: most Liberos in the high school stage are not good at receiving serves. Furthermore, receiving a jump float serve with the forearms requires an extremely high level of proficiency; if it is not handled properly, the ball will be missed.
Of course, it was also because they capitalized on the fact that receivers in the high school stage lack experience, which often leads to misjudging the ball's landing point.
As opponents who had already worked together on the Junior National Team, Miya Atsumu knew very clearly that Komori was not actually that skilled at setting with his hands; many times, his precision with his hands wasn't even that high.
Similarly, for a setter whose skill level is not on his level, such a deviation would be fatal.
Licking his lower lip, Komori stepped back half a step to the side, found his position, lowered his center of gravity, proactively moved to meet Miya Atsumu's ball with a low serve.
Unfortunately, when it comes to receiving a jump float serve, Komori is the kind of Libero with incredibly high proficiency.
With a loud thud, Komori received the ball steadily, sending it high above Iizuna's head.
His entire receiving process was as smooth as flowing water, without the slightest pause or hesitation.
"That's amazing," Hinata couldn't help but exclaim.
When he was at Shiratorizawa, he was very close with Komori, he often sought advice from him regarding receiving.
Most of the people from Shiratorizawa used Power Jump Serves, so the entire receiving process over at Itachiyama Academy felt like it just ended with a sudden bang.
But Miya Atsumu's jump float serve itself wasn't that fast, allowing him to clearly see Komori's receiving motion.
It wasn't just reaction speed and judgment; that technique of handling a jump float serve with a forearm pass.. there was a sense of delicacy in it as well.
"Great receive!" Iizuna Sho quickly moved into position, raising his hands to set the ball to Inamura, who was jumping in Position 4.
A strong spike from the Opposite at Position 4 is a very common play internationally; in fact, the Ace of some teams is the Opposite itself.
Inamura watched Ginjima and Suna, who had already rushed up to block, raised his hand to spike the ball toward the other side of Miya Osamu.
The volleyball cleared the entire block, slamming into the three-meter line at a very sharp angle.
Aran dove to try and save the ball, but ultimately it hit the net, even Miya Osamu's follow-up attempt failed to send the ball over.
At the critical moment, Akagi kicked out, sending the ball flying upward as if he were kicking a soccer ball.