Hinata was led away from the previous topic by Miya Atsumu's words, he nodded vigorously. "Of course! I've already watched all of their match footage!"
Especially during the previous Interhigh match between Inarizaki and Shonan, he felt as if he had watched it three times; he had already memorized the entire movement logic of the opposing blockers.
Alright," Miya Atsumu nodded with satisfaction, "Shoyo, your task is also very simple. You only need to prove to everyone..
You are the stronger one.
The Setter looked down at the solemn little guy, his eyes appearing to hint at something, yet also seeming to be tempting something.
Do you want a starting position? Then come and take it, snatch it right from Senpai's hands.
As long as you can prove that you are an unquestionable "stronger one," the starting position will be yours, no one will question it.
Hinata seemed to understand something, his face lighting up with sudden realization: "Thank you, Atsumu-senpai! I get it now!"
As Coach Kurosu said, it would indeed be better for a birthday present to be an unquestionable victory.
Regarding the opponents they had won against so recently, Inarizaki itself hadn't done much pre-match preparation, leaving most of it to Miya Atsumu for real-time decision-making during the match.
While the Inarizaki members were waking up early to wait for the start of the match, a loud shout echoed from Fukurodani Academy, far away in Tokyo.
I'm getting annoyed!
Akaashi had just walked through the entrance of the volleyball gym when he heard Bokuto's shocking outburst.
In the next second, a figure rushed past him in a frantic hurry, his expression looking as if he were about to burst into tears.
Akaashi Keiji's mind went blank as he looked at the shocked Mokoba Akitsugu with an accusing gaze.
—What did he do to upset Bokuto-senpai this time?
Almost everyone present was his senior, but since Akaashi Keiji served as the vice-captain of the Volleyball Club, given the unreliability of the captain, Bokuto Kotaro, Akaashi's authority was quite high.
As that gaze swept over them, the people who had been preparing to complain instantly fell silent.
A certain substitute setter spoke with a pained expression, "I didn't even do anything; I just told him that the National Sports Festival opens today and mentioned a couple of things about Kyoto."
After all, Seito took third place in the nationals this time, but they didn't even get a spot to compete in the National Sports Festival..
Komi Haruki sighed along with him.
Talk about hitting a sore spot!
Akaashi hasn't been coming to practice much lately due to feeling unwell, which has caused some coordination issues between Bokuto and the substitute setter, to make matters worse, someone just couldn't keep his mouth shut.
Bokuto seems like a very carefree person, but he is surprisingly particular about things like this. Moreover, he has always believed that failing to win the Interhigh was his responsibility, he was depressed for several weeks because of it.
Akaashi pressed his temples and ultimately turned and chased after him.
Walking skillfully into an activity room in the teaching building, Akaashi leaned down and found Bokuto under a table.
Bokuto turned his head away, pretending not to see him, clearly still sulking.
He held up the tablet in his hands and shook it toward Bokuto: "The National Sports Festival livestream, do you want to watch it?"
"No," Bokuto replied decisively.
Akaashi added, "We watched the match between Inarizaki and Shonan, Hinata is on the roster this time."
The large lump under the table finally looked at him: "Hinata? He made the starting lineup?"
"Yeah, so do you want to take a look?" Akaashi Keiji nodded, using the digital player roster to entice Bokuto Kotaro.
The photos on the roster were clearly newly taken ID pictures, Hinata was already wearing the Inarizaki uniform, looking full of energy.
After struggling with his thoughts for a few seconds, Bokuto-senpai finally moved to crawl out from under the table: "Look."
Watching Bokuto's somewhat frantic movements, Akaashi spoke instinctively, "Bokuto-senpai, watch out—"
Before Akaashi could even finish his sentence, Bokuto's head slammed into the table with a dull thud.
Clutching his head, Bokuto's expression looked even more aggrieved.
.." Akaashi remained silent for two seconds before decisively choosing to ignore the fact that Bokuto had just hit his head. He pulled out a chair and gestured for him to sit down. "Bokuto-senpai, sit here.
That's right, at a time like this, one shouldn't emphasize the fact that he bumped his head. If too much focus is placed there, Bokuto-senpai will most likely actually cry.
The correct approach is to quickly find something new to divert his attention, allowing the previous matter to end.
As expected, Bokuto Kotaro's attention was quickly drawn away.
"Ah, it's about to start." He leaned over the table, watching the live stream where the members of both teams had already walked to opposite ends of the court to bow to each other.
Akaashi nervously gripped his pants under the table.
To be honest, he used Hinata to lure Bokuto out, but in reality, Hinata only appeared on the roster and most likely won't even take the court.
If things turn out that way and Bokuto can only watch Miya Atsumu's serves.. things could get even worse.
He also knew that his expectation was outrageous; after all, he didn't know how good Hinata's skills actually were, or if he could reach the level required to be a starter.
But Inarizaki's little guy, please try starting in the next match!
Today! Right now!
Akaashi closed his eyes, in the next second, the commentator's voice drifted from the tablet that Bokuto had reached out to turn up the volume on.
【Number 17, Hinata Shoyo.】
Akaashi opened his eyes and saw Hinata, who had finished high-fiving the two coaches and was now sprinting toward Miya Osamu.
Bokuto slammed the table in excitement: "Ohhh! Hinata is really here!"
[Inarizaki's Hinata is appearing in an official match for the first time. Standing at 163.9 cm, he is the shortest Spiker in this tournament.]
[Playing as a Wing Spiker on the right side in this match, it is a position that requires higher overall ability compared to the left side.]
Watching Hinata's uncontrollable grin, Sakusa, who had taken his position by the sidelines, was somewhat surprised: "Are they sending him on in the very first match?"
He thought Inarizaki would choose to keep him hidden for a bit longer, especially considering what Ushijima had previously relayed—that Hinata's performance in the Quick Attack was even better than Miya Osamu's.
Komori recalled those terrifying statistics once again: "It's actually normal. Hinata has higher endurance than the others; it might be because they were considering conserving everyone else's physical strength."
Inarizaki's Miya Atsumu serves first.
Shonan's Libero, Kamiya, worked hard to adjust his state.
The tragedy at Interhigh is still vivid in their minds; they probably won't be able to escape a first-round exit this time either, but.. at the very least, they shouldn't lose that badly.
Glancing quickly at Hinata, who was raising his hands to the back of his head in front of the net, Kamiya felt his heart settle slightly.
Sending such a little brat up like this.. They really want to conserve their strength for the first few sets after all.
Miya Atsumu spun the volleyball rapidly in his palm with his fingers.
The moment he scanned the opposing Libero, he curled the corners of his mouth into a slight smirk.
The whistle sounded in his ears, but Miya Atsumu didn't bother timing it with the whistle; instead, he had already raised his hand to toss the ball when he was nearly ready.
It was still a jump float serve that made it impossible to judge the ball's trajectory, landing precisely near the baseline.
Although it was impossible to determine whether the ball was in or out, Kamiya maintained an "err on the side of caution" attitude and dove straight for it with a diving save.
"What a great receive!" Tachikawa, the setter, took his position.
By the sidelines, Hoshiumi Hikari and Hirugami Yukio stood one after another by the railing, not far away were the two from Itachiyama.
Shonan's front row Wing Spiker, Imagawa, quickly swapped positions with Middle Blocker Umezawa, with Umezawa moving to Position 2 to execute a Flat Quick Attack.
At the same time, the wing spiker who had already reached the center court jumped one step ahead of the setter, maintaining the shortest possible distance to coordinate a quick attack.
Suna did not move.
When a Setter makes a pass, there are corresponding preparatory movements of the body and wrists; attempting to hide them is a highly difficult technique, currently, it is likely only Miya Atsumu, Iizuna, others in high school can achieve it.
And Shonan's captain is not among them; judging from the instantaneous movement of his wrist, it was clearly a front set, not a back set.
"Right side," Suna Rintaro said curtly.
And Hinata reacted just as quickly, moving toward Position 2 of Inarizaki almost at the same time as Suna.
That's right, Tachikawa had no intention of giving the ball to anyone in the front row.
His true target for the set.. was the ace of the back row attacks.
Facing the back-row spike from a national-level high school senior Ace, Hinata Shoyo did not try to meet it head-on, but instead slightly flattened his entire palm, proactively touching the ball.
Touch!
"Nice touch!" Akagi quickly retreated to receive the ball.
Hoshiumi's eyes lit up by the sidelines: "Oh—that was a beautiful touch."
At this stage, Hinata's touch on the block is already enough to ensure the ball doesn't fly too far away, by correctly absorbing the impact, he can provide the Libero with better conditions for receiving the ball.
The moment he landed, Hinata stepped back two steps before immediately taking a running start to charge forward.
Miya Atsumu jumped from where he stood after catching the ball, his body arching into a C-shape as he raised his hand to set the ball.
Umezawa was stunned for a moment.
What is he trying to do? That jump was way too early, even faster than the quick attack the Miya Twins used before..
No, is it possible to do it even faster?
This little shrimp?
Before anyone could react, the volleyball had already flown past Suna in the center and landed steadily in Hinata's hands.
With a loud bang, the volleyball slammed into the Shonan court, landing right on the sideline.
In the back row, Kamiya felt a sudden ringing in his head.
The heart that had just barely settled could not be lifted again, for it had already fallen to the bottom of the abyss.
He had, of course, studied the footage of the Interhigh finals and knew very clearly that Inarizaki's trump card was this kind of quick attack.
But anyone with a keen eye could see that this offensive pattern primarily required the skill of the Setter and the absolute trust of the Spikers, this kind of trust.. could it actually exist in a player who had never even stepped onto the court?
And it wasn't just a variation of that Quick Attack, it was something even superior—
Beautiful, Shoyo!
[It's here! Inarizaki's miraculous new quick attack pattern! Combined with Hinata's standard line shot, it secures the first point of this tournament for Inarizaki!]
As the crowd cheered, Komori raised a hand to stroke his chin: "As expected, having Hinata perform this kind of Quick Attack will only make it even faster."
Although he was usually unserious, Tachikawa Yohei, the Shonan setter, looked solemn at this moment.