But that doesn't mean it's bad; after all, being able to be absolutely reliable in terms of individual skill is already quite impressive.
The key issue.. is whether the Spiker can shoulder such a heavy responsibility.
The whistle blew, Hinata, who had already started his approach run, came to a halt.
Akagi walked back, looking somewhat frustrated. "Sorry! I couldn't reach it!"
The speed of this ball was unexpectedly fast; he was momentarily obstructed by the camera behind the guardrail as he rushed out, he couldn't save the ball before it hit the ground.
Aran raised his hand and pointed at Suna: "It was Suna's fault; he shanked the ball."
How is this even worse than Shoyo's ability? At the very least, give Akagi a chance to save the ball.
Actually, Suna Rintaro, who had intended to block the spike outright, said nothing, but simply looked silently at Miya Osamu beside him.
Miya Osamu, whose coordination had faltered because he hadn't intended to kill the ball directly, narrowed his eyes. He said nothing, but instead used his gaze to shift the blame onto Suna Rintaro.
Shonan's Spiker, Imagawa, serves.
On the national stage, a Power Jump Serve is basically standard equipment for a Spiker, Imagawa's serve was also the most standard Power Jump Serve.
He was also wise enough to avoid Hinata and Akagi, choosing not to target the setter, instead served the ball to the Ace, Aran.
Although he didn't know how good Hinata's receiving was, they, who had already seen Hinata alongside Hoshiumi Hikari, didn't dare to provoke him at all.
After all, that little guy.. looks like he's incredibly strong!
"Atsumu!" Owari Aran sent the ball steadily right above Miya Atsumu's head.
Under Umezawa's watchful gaze, Hinata quickly swapped positions with Suna and rushed to the Center.
Komori expressed his amazement: "So fast."
There was a feeling that if one let their guard down for even a second, he would dart right out of their field of vision; it was impossible to take one's eyes off Hinata.
That was exactly why, when you had this feeling, you could turn your attention to the other Spikers.
Umemawa also understood this principle, so after feeling that incomparable presence from Hinata, he immediately split his attention to focus on Suna's movements and the movements of Aran following behind him.
But it was that split second of distraction that allowed the nimble, small fox to slip through the giant's fingers and vanish.
The sound of the ball hitting the setter's hands rang in Umezawa's ears. By the time he snapped out of it, the ball had already reached the area next to the position 2 marker, delivered as an improper flat quick attack.
Because.. it was just too fast..
Umezawa and Suzuki, who was already in Position 2, both widened their eyes almost at the same time.
Wait, who was the one who spiked?
The light sound of a spike had already rang in everyone's ears.
Before anyone could react, the volleyball had already cleared the net and slammed down near the three-meter line behind Suzuki.
Kamiya, in the back row, exerted all his strength to dive forward, but in the end, he still couldn't touch the ball.
Wait, wait, wait, how did that spike reach the three-meter line?
To spike it onto the three-meter line like that, just how high do you have to jump—
Kamiya looked up in disbelief and saw Hinata landing smoothly from an incredibly high contact point.
Coach Shonan, who had watched the entire sequence from a third-party perspective, was filled with shock, at the same time, felt like his head was about to explode.
It wasn't just a matter of speed and coordination with the Quick Attack; even after charging toward Position 3, he was able to change direction instantly, after approaching Position 2, he leaped to such a high height with a single-foot jump..
"Nice play! That little brat is so cool!" The middle-aged man took off his hat and waved it frantically, his bald head reflecting the overhead lights, adding a dramatic atmosphere to the cheers.
Does that guy have springs in his feet?!
Miya Atsumu raised his hand and high-fived Hinata.
He looked down at Hinata, whose face was written with "praise me," and leaned in slightly toward his ear under his expectant expression.
Warm breath brushed against Hinata's ears, but the words spoken made his hair stand on end.
Listen.
They are cheering for you.
Hinata covered his ears and took a sudden step back.
After a long time, he lowered his hands, but in that instant, he heard someone shouting "Little Giant."
Who? Are they talking about him? The Little Giant?
Looking up and meeting Atsumu's smiling gaze, Hinata felt as if a loud bang had gone off in his head.
Eh?" He raised a hand and pointed to himself. "Me?
Atsumu nodded: "Of course."
Having finally received the correct answer, the corners of Hinata Shoyo's mouth curled up involuntarily. Overwhelmed by immense joy, he rushed toward the coaching bench and raised his hand to signal Coach Kurosu for a high-five.
Coach Kurosu responded with a laugh, "Well played."
He paced around the waiting area once more, just as he was about to go and high-five Hoshiumi under the deathly gaze of the referee on the sidelines, the head referee finally lost his patience and blew the whistle.
The referee at the side of the court said in a low voice, "Player Hinata, please go and prepare to serve immediately."
Watching Hinata running all over the court in the live broadcast before finally being scolded by the referee, Kageyama's face was filled with confusion: "What is that guy doing?"
But, has Hinata already become this strong?
Whether it was his blocking, his various offensive tactics, or even his speed and jumping ability itself, he was significantly stronger than when he last came to Karasuno.
This rate of evolution is terrifying.
But.. it also feels incredibly exciting.
Hinata's serve failed to score, but the Brick launched a Quick Attack from the back row to cover Aran, successfully securing a point.
Hoshiumi, standing by the sidelines, was slightly stunned. "Shoyo's jump serve was quite good; his stability is much better than before."
Hirugami looked at Hoshiumi, then looked at Miya Atsumu in the court.
Which one before? Before that serve that hit the back of Miya Atsumu's head?
Right at that moment, a voice they both knew well sounded from behind them: "It seems something incredible has happened."
The two turned around and saw the current captain of Shwaiden Adler, Hirugami Fuku-san.
Fuku-san.
Fuku-san.
Hirugami Fuku-san laughed, "Our matches are over, so we thought we'd drop by for a look."
He was also seconded back to the Nagano team to participate in the National Sports Festival, the adult division matches were held in a different hall within the same gymnasium as the high school matches, starting a day earlier.
He stood with his hands on his hips beside the two, watching the match on the court with great interest: "The coach gave me a new task, to see if there are any setters from the new generation who would be a good fit for our Adler."
Speaking of setters, I suppose I must first come and see the legendary 'High School's Best Setter'.
Hoshiumi's expression twisted slightly: "No, Miya Atsumu, he.."
Before he could finish speaking, the Shonan coach, who could no longer sit still, called a time-out, the match came to a temporary halt.
Tachikawa, who was crouching on the floor in the middle of the court, looked up through the net at Hinata and asked, "You, what is your surname? And what is the character?"
Hinata blinked. "Hinata, the 'Hi' from the sun."
As if having made a certain determination, Tachikawa raised his hand and used the sweat on his fingertips to write the beginning of the character for "sun" on the ground.
The next second, the Vice-Captain Suzuki grabbed him by the collar from behind once again, dragging him away while using his foot to stomp out the character.
“Atsushi..” Tachikawa struggled pitifully, as if he still wanted to make a final struggle against his own death sentence.
In the end, all he received were Suzuki's two cold and ruthless words.
“Shut up.”
Chapter 80: The Eightieth Fox
Coach Hoshi from Shonan rested his chin in his hand, his expression solemn.
We are not facing a normal Inarizaki, but an Inarizaki that has added a versatile player with exceptional speed.
Hoshiumi said what everyone already knew: "If I'm not mistaken, perhaps this is Inarizaki's hidden ace. Therefore, I deduce that they are definitely aiming for the championship this time."
The manager, Iwamoto Yugari, criticized mercilessly, "Coach, they were runners-up in the Interhigh; there's no way they aren't aiming for the championship at the National Sports Festival."
There was a strange pause, Hoshiumi continued, "No, what I mean is a player who is roughly equivalent to Hoshiumi Hikari could simultaneously fill the gaps in both Inarizaki's offense and defense."
Tachikawa added fuel to the fire: "Coach, as far as we're concerned, they didn't have any gaps to begin with."
—It's just that it went from being unable to cope to being completely unable to cope.
The young coach, who had just graduated from university and taken over the Volleyball Club from his retired former coach, fell silent, his head hanging low as he began to radiate a heavy, oppressive aura.
“Give Coach Hoshi some face.” Suzuki gave his own captain and manager an elbow each in succession.
As soon as those words were spoken, it was obvious that the pressure around the Coach dropped even lower.
Tachikawa clutched his side, his eyes downcast as the match he had just played out in his mind.
While the coach was still feeling depressed, he spoke softly, "It might just be my guess, but that number 17's reaction to the receive was a bit stiff. When he was waiting for Masaru's serve just now, his initial positioning was off. Actually, Masaru could have aimed directly at the setter."
His gaze shifted toward Imagawa Masaru on the other side: "Why don't you spike?"
Imagawa straightened up, but immediately offered a reasonable explanation: "Because I can't rule out the possibility that the opponent is intentionally baiting me."
Tachikawa Yohei clapped his hands and said to everyone, "Anyway, let's give it a try. The first-year freshmen don't have as strong a foundation as the upperclassmen, while they specialize in positioning, they might have flaws in other areas. Don't make the opponents out to be too terrifying."
In any case, the coach called this time-out at just the right moment. They really needed to calm down; it wouldn't be good if they let the opponent's fast pace dictate their play..
However, there was no need to say such things to the coach, lest he would get too worked up and do something outrageous.
"Yes!" the Shonan team responded.
Upon standing back on the court, Hinata felt as if everyone on the opposing side was eyeing him hungrily.
Watching Hinata get inexplicably excited, Miya Atsumu suddenly had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
It couldn't be that the sudden burst of excitement caused Hinata to get carried away, could it?