But it was true; the term "Little Giant" had too much impact on Hinata.
Coach Kurosu, who also noticed Hinata's state, did not intervene.
Getting worked up isn't always a bad thing; having some drive in this match is quite good. After all, Shonan is also very skilled at slow-paced gameplay, so directly wearing them down with Quick Attacks is the best choice.
Although Shonan is good at playing Quick Attacks, it is obvious that a negative-tempo Quick Attack is beyond Shonan's capability threshold.
Continuing to play like this will be beneficial for building enough confidence in Hinata.
Watching Suzuki spike the ball toward his side, Hinata immediately bent his knees and crouched, adjusting the direction of his arms.
With a loud bang, the volleyball soared steadily, delivered right above Miya Atsumu's head.
Hoshiumi was a bit surprised: "That was a beautiful receive."
It shouldn't be his illusion; Hinata's condition today was unexpectedly good.
Hinata's eyes also lit up.
He knew his own limits well. The reason he was able to receive this ball so smoothly.. was mainly because the number 4 spiker from Shonan's spikes were a bit like Aran-senpai's, so he could completely predict where the opponent was going to spike.
On the court, Hinata Shoyo once again started from the back row for a Quick Attack, but this time it wasn't a cover, but a genuine spike.
Tachikawa once again questioned his own sharp judgment, the kind even Coach Anromi had acknowledged, during the match against Inarizaki.
Did he misread it again?
That can't be right. Even with that last ball, Hinata felt like he had just stumbled upon a stroke of luck, but he still managed to receive it.
Could it be.. some kind of character trait?
After giving up on testing and switching to a strategic approach to avoid spiking to Hinata and the Libero, Shonan continued to play a standard game.
When the serve returned to Hinata's hands once again, Inarizaki's score had reached a staggering 13 points, just shy of being double that of Shonan.
Watching Hinata walk to his approach position while clutching the volleyball, Hirugami Fuku was also somewhat surprised: "A jump serve? That's impressive."
Even though it's a standard skill for anyone playing nationally, being able to master a jump serve in your first year is already quite an impressive feat.
The second Hirugami Fuku spoke, Hinata, who was just about to toss the ball, lost his grip and let the ball slip right out of his hand.
Hirugami Yukio had a vague premonition: "This is going to be bad."
Fortunately, Hinata didn't have a time limit on his serve, so he could pick the ball up and toss it again.
Of course, it was also because the serve wasn't too high; otherwise, whether it would be called a service fault would depend on the referee's mood.
Despite the error at the very beginning, Hinata quickly adjusted his condition during the subsequent approach for the toss.
It was no big deal; he just needed to keep serving the ball steadily.
That's right, just like he usually does—
Taking a running start, he jumped nearly twenty centimeters before the end line, finally raised his hand to spike.
The moment he spiked, Hinata's expression changed slightly.
Damn, I think I hit it too low, it's not going to hit the net, is it..
With a soft sound, the volleyball was struck by Hinata, traveling on a trajectory that wasn't particularly high as it slammed into the top edge of the net.
Everyone in Shonan was stunned.
A net touch?!
The ball, hit with full force by Hinata, rolled steadily over the top of the net after clipping the white tape.
Players from both sides of Shonan dove for it one after another, but in the end, none of them could reach it.
The volleyball hit the ground, Hinata scored a point with a service ace.
"Nice play! One more!!" The supporters in the back immediately erupted in cheers.
To be able to pull off such a precise wipe shot, they truly are worthy of being Inarizaki players!
Hinata also started cheering along, as if that ball had been set specifically for him: "Yes!!"
Hoshiumi, standing by the court, narrowed his eyes and quickly deduced the whole situation: "It was just a fluke, right?"
Hirugami Yukio nodded. "Yeah, it was a bluff."
Hirugami Fuku was still dazed: "Huh? That serve just now was so amazing."
After a round of applause from everyone on the court, Hinata returned to his serving position, brimming with confidence.
This was his first service ace! A moment worth commemorating!
The whistle blew, a slightly impatient Hinata tossed the ball up immediately.
Nice! The toss felt great!
With a three-step approach, Hinata slammed the ball down with a loud bang.
The moment that spike was struck, it wasn't just Hinata's expression that changed; Miya Atsumu's expression twisted as well, while Coach Kurosu, watching from the sidelines, simply raised his hands to cover his eyes.
As expected, Shonan's excessive disregard for Hinata Shoyo caused his previously warm touch to go completely cold..
The volleyball, carrying heavy topspin, flew over the net; its overall speed wasn't particularly fast, but its angle was very steep.
A string of question marks popped up in his head, Kamiya was left feeling completely dazed.
Wait, it's a bit high?
Could it be some new serving technique, a spin serve that drops suddenly before the baseline?
Reason told him that it was a near-perfect out ball.
But his intuition told him that he was Inarizaki's Little Giant, it was impossible for him to make such a low-level mistake, especially since Hinata had just landed a beautiful wipe shot.
The next second, the volleyball flew over his head and slammed into the area far outside the court.
In an instant, the entire stadium went silent.
"Was that an error?" The Inarizaki cheering section also fell silent, people began to whisper among themselves.
"Was it because his hands were sweaty and they slipped?" someone speculated.
Hoshiumi laughed loudly by the side. "Hahahaha, why did he hit it so high? That doesn't look like something Shoyo would do."
His spike should have been low enough to hit the back of the front row's heads.
Hirugami Yukio couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth for a moment, he looked at Hoshiumi Hikari with a hint of helplessness: "Hikari, you're really not going to let this go, are you?"
He was truly afraid that one day Miya Atsumu would come to Karasuno to plot against Hoshiumi Hikari; given certain people's personalities, he was entirely capable of it.
Hoshiumi's face was written with innocence: "Didn't you bring it up first?"
Hirugami Fuku, who had no idea what had happened, blinked. "A jump serve hitting someone in the back of the head doesn't seem quite right. If it's serious, it could cause a concussion.. even though the power of Inarizaki's number 17 isn't that great."
Hirugami Yukio looked back and replied, "It's fine. A setter's head is quite hard; at the very least, it could take five or six hits."
Hirugami Fuku was even more confused.
Hinata's expression froze on the court as he attempted to perform a sudden dogeza on the spot: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Miya Atsumu looked back at him and replied with a smile, "It's fine, he's just playing normally."
Suna poked Miya Osamu beside him, his face full of anticipation: "That guy is about to start."
Hinata Shoyo, being stared at by Miya Atsumu, suddenly took a step back, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Although Miya Atsumu was smiling, his eyes clearly said things like, "At least serve it in-bounds," "I've been teaching you personally for so long and you still make such a low-level mistake," "If you can't even serve a normal ball, don't even think about increasing your serve speed," and "If you hit another home run on the court, get off the court."
"Ahem." Coach Kurosu, standing by the sidelines, cleared his throat twice, stopping Miya Atsumu from intimidating Hinata before he could perform a dogeza.
Although Hinata's current state definitely requires him to calm down, overdoing it could potentially have the opposite effect.
Miya Atsumu brushed aside his hostility, put on a smile, said to Hinata, "It's okay, just serve well on the next one."
Watching Hinata walk forward with his neck hunched to receive Miya Atsumu's serve, Coach Omimi in the coaching area couldn't help but laugh. "It's a normal probability for Hinata's serve to succeed, considering the factor that Shoyo might be a bit nervous, it's quite normal. As for Atsumu.."
Coach Kurosu wasn't surprised at all: "He's been playing too smoothly lately, which has likely caused Atsumu to unconsciously raise his expectations."
Besides, Shoyo's rate of progress is indeed fast, so there's nothing wrong with Atsumu raising the bar.
But as for reaching true "perfection".. there might still be a very, very long way to go.
Hinata Shoyo's rapid growth is built upon the foundation of his extremely low starting point; as he catches up to the main group bit by bit, this speed will also significantly decrease, until he hits his first wall.
By that time, Hinata might have already left Inarizaki, or he might have crashed into that wall head-first and left himself bloodied and bruised..
As seniors, all they could do was pave the way for Hinata before that time, making his future even just a little bit easier.
Coach Kurosu rubbed his chin, contemplating the problems Hinata might encounter.
After thinking for a moment, he turned his head toward Omimi and asked, "Will Shiratorizawa's new intensive training camp be held again this year?"
Omimi was stunned for a moment. "It should be held again, but it's hard to say what the specific format will be."
The intensive training camps held by Shiratorizawa included, but were not limited to, those for specific Spikers, those for Interhigh participants, those restricted to locals, among others.
"Why bring up Shiratorizawa all of a sudden?" Coach Omimi was somewhat puzzled. Hadn't Kurosu been complaining every day not too long ago about how old man Washijo was stubborn?
Kurosu pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, his eyes filled with strategic wisdom: "I want Hinata to undergo intensive training to improve his balance. As for that, Shiratorizawa has professionals."
As everyone knows, although Shiratorizawa has also won the Haruko championship and produced many national-level athletes.
But they aren't most famous for volleyball, but rather for various ice sports and rhythmic gymnastics, even producing world champions.
Coach Kurosu continued to rub his chin. "Actually, playing beach volleyball would work too; it can strengthen training for ball control. Among the schools with a club for that sport, I remember Shirabu was quite good, wasn't he?"
Omimi couldn't help but glance at Kurosu several more times.
This person, he was hiding his true abilities before, now he's already daring enough to just throw them out there to be used?
Finally, Omimi spoke up, "Actually, if we're talking about training balance, I think Karasuno is also quite good. The snowboarding and cross-country skiing in Nagano are both top-tier in the country, so Coach Aran must have some connections there."
This time, Coach Kurosu remained silent.
After a long silence, he waved his hand. "This won't work, this won't work. Without a foundation, it's easy to get injured."
Rishia Heisuke, who was already by the sidelines waiting to sub in for Suna Rintaro's serve, screamed internally.
—As if the others wouldn't get injured!
As the two coaches from Inarizaki had already begun discussing future training plans, the expressions of the Shonan team members on the court were quite spectacular.
Listening to Inarizaki's remarks about "performing normally," Kamiya, the Karasuno Libero, finally snapped out of his daze, his expression contorting.