Ginjima Yui's spike was received by Sakusa, but the ball's trajectory was too high, it flew straight back over the net.
“Free ball!” Akagi shouted.
Miya Atsumu quickly pressed his hands down by his sides, signaling the others not to receive the ball, as he would take the direct set.
At the same time, Miya Osamu had already stepped forward, leaping into the air with a thud in front of the net.
The side of Itachiyama reacted immediately, gathering at the center to prepare to block Miya Osamu at the net.
There was no reason not to use a Quick Attack for a first touch like that.
And the ball tossed by Miya Atsumu reached Miya Osamu's hands perfectly, but just as Itachiyama's block was closing in, Miya Osamu instantly spun in mid-air.
He touched the ball with both hands, instantly sending it toward Suna, who had already moved to Position 2 on the other side.
A true fake spike.
Komori dove for it, but in the end, he still couldn't reach the ball.
Inarizaki successfully scored and took the lead.
"Nice play!" Miya Atsumu raised his hand to high-five Miya Osamu.
Coach Kurosu, standing by the sidelines, had a grim expression on his face; although things seemed fine for the moment, the speed of the twins' coordination had already begun to decline.
The reason Itachiyama didn't notice was simply because both sides' states were not as good as before.
Sakusa took a deep breath and leaped from the back row, chasing after the ball Iizuna had tossed.
Miya Atsumu and Ginjima quickly followed up to attempt a block, but the moment he jumped, Miya Atsumu had a bad feeling.
Damn, I jumped a bit too early.
Sakusa could not miss this opportunity; having already jumped from the back row, he immediately fixed his gaze on Miya Atsumu's fingers.
A block that jumps too early is the perfect springboard for tooling the block, unfortunately, Sakusa, who isn't that strong in terms of raw power, is extremely skilled at tooling the block.
Miya Atsumu instinctively wanted to clench his fist and pull his fingers back, but Sakusa's reaction was even faster, giving him no chance to withdraw his hand.
With a loud thud, the volleyball struck Miya Atsumu's fingers, which he had instinctively tried to pull back but was too slow to do, the ball bounced out of the court.
Akagi rushed to save the ball, but it flew a bit too high to be saved.
An extremely critical point that closed the gap that had persisted throughout the set.
“Great play, Sakusa!” Itachiyama cheered.
Hinata stood up immediately by the sidelines; having been observing Miya Atsumu the whole time, he instantly noticed that Atsumu's expression was a bit off.
His fingers spasmed involuntarily; it was clearly a bad sign.
Coach Kurosu immediately stood up and requested a time-out from the head referee.
This was Inarizaki's last time-out of the set, but they had no choice but to take it.
Hinata rushed up to Miya Atsumu, his face full of anxiety: "Atsumu-senpai! Your finger!"
Miya Atsumu, however, remained quite calm, immediately giving Hinata an order: "Bring me some painkillers."
As soon as these words were spoken, the Inarizaki members, who hadn't yet realized what was happening, instantly exploded into an uproar: "Atsumu is injured? His finger?"
Miya Osamu crossed his arms over his chest, watching Hinata rummage through the first-aid kit for painkillers, said somewhat angrily, "The force of Sakusa's last spike wasn't enough to cause an injury; you just hit the ball because you tried to pull back."
Miya Atsumu said nothing.
Yes, Osamu was right; that was exactly how it was.
His concentration dropped, which is why such an obvious misjudgment error occurred.
Alright, now is not the time to argue over who is right or wrong." Coach Kurosu defused the tense atmosphere between the Miya Twins. "Nagumo, go on and sub in for Atsumu. Try your best to stabilize the situation; we'll handle Atsumu's issues.
Nagumo nodded. "Okay, I'll do my best."
Wakamura, who had been silent in the spectator stands, let out a sneer: "Inarizaki is finished."
Matou, sitting beside him, had a look of disapproval on his face. "Saying things like that here might get you jumped by the whole crowd."
“I'm just telling the truth. Who do you think the absolute core of Inarizaki is?” Wakamura-senpai leaned back against his chair. “It's the Setter.”
In these two sets, Inarizaki has been focusing on the Quick Attack, which is what they are best at, but Nagumo can't organize a Quick Attack at all.
Matou remained silent.
—That was true.
The match they played against Itachiyama the day before yesterday ended in a 2-0 loss, leaving them completely helpless.
The pressure exerted by the blocking and receiving over there was simply too immense, not to mention the two cannons on the Middle Blocker and Spiker positions who were extremely skilled at the Quick Attack..
It could be described as absolutely flawless.
A 30-second time-out was only enough for Coach Kurosu to briefly brief Nagumo on the strategy and approach. As the buzzer sounded, Inarizaki officially made a substitution at setter.
Hinata knelt in front of Miya Atsumu, after spraying him with analgesic, he waited for Coach Kurosu nearby to confirm the condition of the injury.
After the examination, Coach Kurosu breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not a major problem, but he must avoid re-injury. Shoyo, tie his ring finger and middle finger together."
Miya Atsumu didn't say anything unreasonable either.
Although this method would indeed compromise his finger flexibility, he knew how to prioritize.
Atsumu simply said as usual, "Help me wrap my left hand as well."
If his right hand is injured, he will need to transfer a certain amount of pressure to his left hand.
His left hand was not as skilled as his right, so the probability of injury was even higher; it would be best to take some precautions in advance.
"Okay," Hinata responded.
As he lowered his head to clumsily wrap Atsumu's two fingers tightly together with bandages, Hinata couldn't help but bite his lower lip.
A setter's fingers are their most precious possessions..
His hands trembled slightly, as if he were about to cry.
Atsumu, who had been frowning while contemplating the tactical arrangements over at Itachiyama, snapped out of his thoughts and immediately noticed that something was wrong with Hinata.
From this angle, he could only see the fuzzy hair on top of Hinata's head, but even so, he could still feel the emotions being transmitted through that hand.
Atsumu raised his other hand and pressed it gently against Hinata's wrist.
Hinata snapped his head up and saw Atsumu's face, which showed no significant emotional fluctuation.
It was as if the injured person wasn't him, the wound on his hand didn't hurt at all.
Atsumu's voice rang in Hinata's ears: "Don't be afraid, I'm fine."
It's just a contusion; since no bones or nerves were broken and he can still move, there shouldn't be any major problems.
The road to the top is paved with blood, tears, sweat, getting injured is nothing more than a common occurrence.
At such a critical moment, one just has to grit their teeth and keep going.
"Yeah," Hinata responded softly, before tying a knot at the base of Atsumu's finger.
At Miya Atsumu's signal, Hinata picked up the bandages and wrapped them around the index and middle fingers of Atsumu's left hand respectively.
"Done." Atsumu quickly stood up and turned his head to look at Coach Kurosu.
Coach Kurosu did not hesitate, immediately requesting a substitution from the head referee.
Miya Atsumu is undoubtedly the core of Inarizaki. In just this short period, Itachiyama quickly took 4 points; without the support of the Quick Attack, Inarizaki's scoring ability has visibly declined.
Watching Miya Atsumu return to the court and immediately begin adjusting the rhythm, Coach Kurosu nodded.
Miya Atsumu was undoubtedly the most reliable teammate on the court, though his personality might cause friction in daily life.
If he could treat everyone like Hinata, he could rest easy leaving the team in Miya Atsumu's hands.
But it was obvious that right now, as soon as Atsumu left the court, he was completely unreliable, so he was entirely outside the scope of his considerations.
Don't rush it. Growth is something that.. must take its time.
Inarizaki failed to close the gap that had suddenly opened up, the final score of the third set ended at 25:23.
The decline in the core setter's condition clearly affected the entire team's rhythm, especially since his lack of finger flexibility following the injury led to a decrease in the precision of his setting during quick attacks.
Coupled with Miya Osamu's dwindling stamina, the two even experienced a breakdown in their coordination.
Hoshiumi sighed, "It's over."
Hirugami did not refute him; indeed, anyone with eyes could already see the outcome of this match.
—It was Itachiyama who won the gamble.
The long whistle echoed through the entire stadium at that moment, followed immediately by loud cheers from the Itachiyama side.
The score on the scoreboard ended at 25:20, with a final set score of 3:1.
The King personally crowned himself once again.
Miya Atsumu let out a soft breath and lowered his head, biting his lip.
Aran didn't say anything, he just walked over and lightly patted his back.
Hinata followed Coach Kurosu, watching the seniors walk back, joined in the applause.
But ultimately, the tears surged uncontrollably from his eyes.
Miya Atsumu took the towel Hinata handed him and said softly, "Don't cry."
It wasn't a match worth feeling regret over; even if he hadn't been injured, the final result wouldn't have changed much.
What they must do is remember this defeat, then next time.. win it back.
Reaching up to wipe the tears from his face, Hinata said, "I'm crying because Atsumu-senpai's six consecutive championships can only become five consecutive championships now."
Miya Atsumu was silent for two seconds before replying helplessly, "Your nine consecutive championships will also become eight."
As soon as these words were spoken, the previously somewhat silent Inarizaki team relaxed considerably.
Aran raised his hand to wipe away some sweat, keeping his mission as the group's straight man firmly in mind: "You two are being way too ambitious."
Everyone looked at Aran.
Aran rubbed his chin and said seriously, "I'm quite content; just let me win one championship before I graduate."
Rarely, Kita Shinsuke went along with everyone's nonsensical ideas: "Make it two consecutive championships."