Komori stepped back, while simultaneously looking up to track the ball's trajectory.
Seeing that the ball's landing point was definitely out of bounds, he shouted loudly, "Out!"
The volleyball ultimately did not touch the baseline, landing less than five centimeters from the three-meter line.
The referee at the side of the court raised the flag, signaling a point for Itachiyama.
Usui Mitsuru stared with wide eyes from the stands: "A short diagonal? Since when did Inamura learn that?"
Although it was clearly unpracticed, it was quite useful as an unorthodox move.
His first serve was broken up, Miya Atsumu's expression looked quite unpleasant.
A good Spiker can break through an opponent's iron wall, but a formidable Libero can kill a Spiker through both oppressive serves and attacks.
As a teammate, he is naturally incredibly reassuring, but as an opponent.. it's just too much torture.
That's exactly why he hated those powerful Liberos.
Amatori Toru served from Itachiyama, Sakusa Kiyoomi moved to the front row.
"I've got it!" Akagi reached out, receiving the heavy, powerful serve and sending it to a spot two steps away from Miya Atsumu.
Miya Osamu had already started moving almost as soon as Akagi received the serve, rushing toward Position 2.
Agatsuma, with incredibly fast reflexes, quickly followed up and rushed toward Miya Osamu.
This is.. the Inarizaki Quick Attack that was emphasized during yesterday's meeting.
But in the very next second, Miya Atsumu raised his hand and set the ball to Aran, who was attacking from the back row: "Aran!"
Aran took a deep breath and took advantage of the open net, where no blocker had followed, to spike the ball into the short diagonal.
Komori had originally positioned himself near Position 1 to defend the other side's Quick Attack, leaving the short diagonal as a defensive blind spot for the opponent.
Sakusa chased up in two steps, pushed off the ground, dove to save the ball.
Great save!
Coach Unabara, standing by the sidelines, was momentarily stunned: "What happened just now? Miya's takeoff was too early."
The key thing is, how did Agatsuma and Inamura actually manage to keep up?
It's normal for one person to make a mistake, but when three people make mistakes together, it's practically a performance.
Before Coach Hiya could answer, Aran had already received the spike from Sakusa on the court.
Miya Atsumu took a step forward, dropping his stance into a lunge, flicked the ball out before anyone could react.
The ball flew over the center, passing Suna before he could even jump, landed above Position 4.
Bam.
Almost at the same time the volleyball reached its peak, Miya Osamu's hand had already made contact with the ball itself.
Acting purely on instinct, Komori ultimately only brushed the edge of the ball, because he was completely caught off guard, he failed to receive it entirely.
Hoshiumi narrowed one eye. "What just went past?"
Hirugami also widened his eyes: "Whoa."
Usui Mitsuru nodded. "It really is terrifying, but it's still not the complete form."
A single-sided Quick Attack was already terrifying enough, but the ultimate perfected form of Inarizaki's Quick Attack.. it was a Double Quick.
The court fell silent for a moment, before an explosion of gasps erupted. It wasn't just the Inarizaki side cheering; the Itachiyama side was equally filled with amazement.
Miya Atsumu narrowed his eyes slightly.
It was somewhat unexpected; Komori actually touched the ball on the very first serve..
As expected, was it not fast enough?
Coach Unabara's eyes lit up from the sidelines: "This Quick Attack.."
Coach Hiya nodded in agreement: "It's faster than any other type we've seen before. Essentially, it's the Setter delivering the ball directly to the Spiker's hitting point, rather than the Spiker having to go to the ball."
Unabara rubbed his chin, instantly catching the crux of the problem: "It is indeed a surprise weapon, but I want to know if this is a play exclusive to the twins."
One is whether other Spikers can achieve this same effect, the other is whether this ball-handling technique itself is something only Miya Atsumu can do.
After watching a few more plays, Coach Hiya thought seriously for a moment: "At this stage.. it should be considered a specialty, since no one else in Inarizaki can spike like that."
Just like Miya Atsumu's ominous premonition at the beginning, Itachiyama's adaptation speed was astonishingly fast.
Not just Komori, but even their blocking was gradually catching up to Miya Osamu's Quick Attack. Although they hadn't managed to shut it down completely, they were able to keep up and restrict the ball's trajectory.
Combined with the coordinated defense from Komori and Sakusa in the back row, even the powerful attacks from Aran and Suna, who were acting as decoys, were only moderately effective.
Itachiyama rapidly brought the score to 23:20.
With Miya Atsumu's Second Attack scoring the point, he also gained his final service for this set.
Standing at the service line, a somewhat restless Miya Atsumu looked at Komori, who was still crouching there with his legs spread apart like an immovable deity, finally adjusted his position once again.
Komori was just about to step back when he heard a whistle blow.
He immediately stopped his movement, but at the same time, he slightly lifted his heels and shifted his center of gravity forward as much as possible, maintaining a state where he could adjust his position at any moment with a shuffle step.
Miya Atsumu decided not to use the jump float serve, after all, the scoring frequency in this set was a bit too low.
On the sidelines, Kita Shinsuke frowned.
It was clearly a wrong decision, after all, compared to a jump float serve, Komori and Sakusa were much better at receiving powerful serves.
With a heavy thud, the ball sent by Miya Atsumu was steadily received by Sakusa, who had dropped low to the ground with his hands pressed against the floor.
What a receive!
"Tsk." Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue.
Sakusa's set was high enough, not only giving the Setter enough room to play, but also leaving him enough space to take his approach.
So.. Miya Atsumu's serve failed to serve any purpose, Itachiyama was even able to maintain a state with four attackers across both the front and back rows.
After a heavy thud, Sakusa, who was in the back row, received and attacked the ball himself, using a wrist snap to hit a spinning serve that struck Aran's arm before flying out of the court.
24:21, match point for Itachiyama.
Miya Atsumu let out a soft breath.
His serve failed to bring the score back, this set was starting to look bad.
"Amatori, serve a good one!" Itachiyama cheered from the side.
Raising his hand to tidy his bangs, which were already soaked with sweat, Amatori ignored the boos coming from the Inarizaki side and tossed the ball into the air at the very last second of his service motion.
With a loud bang, the high-spin ball slammed into Inarizaki's court.
The ball was placed perfectly, landing right in the only defensive blind spot between the Libero and the Setter.
Akagi, with incredibly fast reflexes, instantly extended his leg, using his shin to perform an extremely difficult receive to pop the ball up. Although it wasn't high enough, it was enough.
At the same time, Suna retreated from the front row, Aran also quickly moved from his original position near Position 5 to the right side of the court, preparing for a massive approach run.
Glancing at Aran's position, Agatsuma decisively moved one step toward the center of the net.
After ruling out the possibility of a setter error, there were two offensive options available from Aran's approach position.
One was a tiered attack behind the Middle Blocker in the center, the other was a powerful spike from Position 4, timing the jump at the Three-meter Line.
Of course, the possibility of Suna spiking cannot be ruled out either.
Moreover.. Agatsuma's peripheral vision swept past Miya Osamu, who had already flown past the Inarizaki brand, he decisively stepped out to switch positions with Sakusa.
The ball in Miya Atsumu's hands had already been sent flying, passing behind Suna in the center and heading straight for Miya Osamu, who had already rushed to Position 2 and jumped.
Agatsuma Soushi stepped up in two strides, jumped on one foot, reached out diagonally, stretching his body as long as possible to touch the ball that Miya Osamu was preparing to spike in a straight line.
The entire process was so fast that even Sakusa on the other side didn't react in time; by the time he regained his composure, a heavy thud had already reached his ears.
The volleyball hit Agatsuma's left palm and was finally slammed down, landing within Inarizaki's court.
Miya Osamu instinctively reached out to save the ball, but in doing so, he lost his balance and ended up falling clumsily to the ground.
The sound of the volleyball hitting the floor was clearly audible, a whistle blew at the edge of the court; at this moment, the score jumped to Itachiyama 25:21 Inarizaki.
Agatsuma Soushi lowered his head, looking down at Miya Osamu, who had fallen to the ground.
His face showed no expression at all, as if being able to block that ball was only natural.
Hirugami rested his chin on his hand and remarked with emotion, "So this is the King's blocking."
The two blockers of Itachiyama have completely different styles; if Koldorf is a follow-up blocker who leans more towards a collaborative mode like Karasuno, then Agatsuma Soushi is a typical "single-point focus."
He could maintain his composure at all times and possessed absolute confidence in his own judgment, lunging without hesitation to tear at the prey's throat.
Hoshiumi narrowed his eyes: "I hate these the most."
Any predictable block can be dealt with using technical shots, but this kind of thing that relies entirely on extreme individual ability.. is truly a massive headache.
As a Middle Blocker, Agatsuma's height is definitely up to standard. But compared to Koldorf or Oori Ren and the others, Agatsuma's physique is undoubtedly quite thin.
Although he is of Asian descent, the lines of his legs are very similar to Aran's, possessing a fluid quality like that of an American cheetah.
Of course, this also brought extremely fast running speed.
Even this kind of Quick Attack coordinated by the twins was crushed by his powerful adaptability.
—Even with one hand.
Reaching out to pull Miya Osamu up, Miya Atsumu let out a soft sigh.
This is going to be trouble..
Itachiyama's adaptation speed was completely unexpected, this Number 4's reaction speed was no less than Hirugami's.
Wiping the sweat from his face with his hand, Miya Atsumu withdrew his gaze from the Itachiyama side.
Not enough.
They needed to be even faster.
After switching sides, Hinata and Unabara, who had come from the waiting area to help, quickly distributed towels and water cups to everyone, while making room for the team to rest in the coaching area.
Coach Kurosu crossed his arms over his chest, his face full of seriousness.
The matches over the past few days have been quite taxing on one's physical stamina.