He hadn't originally intended to let Hinata play in consecutive matches..
Well, originally.
Watching Miya Osamu spike once out of bounds and once into the net, Coach Kurosu eventually waved at Hinata Shoyo with a headache: "Come here, come here, sit here."
Hinata sat down in the familiar coach's seat: "Coach? Do you want me to serve in place of Suna-senpai?"
Kurosu waved his hand. "No. If Osamu makes another mistake, you're going up there to replace him."
Miya Atsumu, on the court, certainly noticed that his twin was not in his usual form today.
—Could it be because he snatched Osamu's dessert pudding and gave it to Suna this morning?
Chapter 84: The Eighty-Fourth Fox
Sitting beside the coach, Hinata clenched his hands tightly on his lap.
Both he and the coach could see that Miya Osamu was trying hard to adjust his condition, but overall, the results weren't very good.
Fine beads of sweat seeped from his palms, Hinata felt somewhat nervous.
Of course he wanted to take the court and play, but this was the first time he was playing because of a problem with the starting lineup.
This feeling was different; after all, in all previous situations, his seniors had always been there to back him up.
Even if there were a bottomless abyss at his feet, there would always be someone protecting him to ensure he didn't fall.
But if he were to be subbed in this time, he basically wouldn't be able to come off the court for the entire set.
Moreover, he knew very well that his fundamentals were nowhere near as solid as Miya Osamu's, who had been playing volleyball for nearly ten years, he could not completely replace Miya Osamu's role on the court, especially in blocking and receiving..
Coach Kurosu did not wait for Miya Osamu's next mistake; instead, he raised his hand to signal a time-out.
Miya Atsumu looked at Miya Osamu, who had sat down on the coach's bench, with equal trepidation. "What's wrong with you?"
He wasn't angry; on one hand, Miya Osamu's mistake wasn't that serious, but on the other hand, it was mainly because he felt guilty himself.
—Even though he knew it certainly wasn't such an outrageous reason.
Miya Osamu raised his hand and pressed the side of his head. "My head hurts; it's distracting me."
Coach Omimi's expression instantly grew tense upon hearing this, he quickly grabbed the thermometer that had been prepared beforehand to test Miya Osamu.
Seeing that the screen was still green, Coach Omimi breathed a sigh of relief: "He doesn't have a fever, but he might have been infected.."
Kurosu took the initiative to ask Miya Osamu, "Can you keep playing?"
The current situation is a bit difficult to judge, but Kurosu personally leans toward making a substitution.
Miya Osamu lowered his head and thought for a few seconds, looked up at Kita Shinsuke, finally shifted his gaze to Hinata Shoyo: "No, I want to take a break."
After all.. he had felt that something was wrong with his condition since this morning, he had even taken a small amount of painkillers at the time.
But once the effects of the medicine wore off, it was clearly even worse than before.
Kurosu said nothing more, merely following Miya Osamu's gaze toward Hinata: "After the match against Shoyo, I'll take Osamu to the hospital for a blood test."
Miya Atsumu pursed his lips, looking down at his twin brother: "You'd better be fine. Otherwise, once you're better, I'm definitely going to settle the score with you."
If it were because of Miya Osamu that the entire team's arrangement went wrong and they missed the championship.. that would be just too infuriating.
Miya Osamu raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
He should be the one feeling miserable right now!
After they finished discussing it, Kurosu quickly submitted a substitution request to the head referee and completed the substitution process immediately after the time-out ended.
In the stands, Usui Mitsuru narrowed his eyes. "Eh? Inarizaki made a substitution?"
Noticing that the one being substituted out was Miya Osamu, he became even more confused: "What's going on with the twins? Are they having conflicts on the court again?"
On the other side, Kiryu Ya saw it very clearly: "No, it should be that Miya Osamu's condition is off."
Along with Hinata, the Libero was also changed, with Akagi Michinari coming back in for Unabara, who had been subbed in to gain experience.
As Inarizaki's true all-rounder, Miya Osamu carries many responsibilities. Especially with the substitution of the inexperienced Hinata for receiving, it would inevitably place even more pressure on the Libero.
At this moment, Unabara could no longer continue playing; the correct choice was to substitute Akagi back in to shoulder the heavy burden.
Returning to the waiting area, Unabara wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That scared me.. When Osamu-senpai made that error earlier, I almost couldn't save the ball."
The pressure of starting on a national stage is truly immense, especially when he missed a few balls and was mocked from head to toe by his own cheering squad.
While waiting for the opponent's serve, Miya Atsumu immediately looked at everyone on the court: "Let's change our strategy and run an Opposite tactic."
His expression was exceptionally calm, his mind worked incredibly fast, as he immediately laid out the strategy for the upcoming plays.
“Aran, help Shoyo with his receives. Shoyo, pay attention not to move around too much; try to attack through the center or the left wing. Rintaro, keep up your current form, pay extra attention to my instructions for the back quick.”
Focus your center of gravity on receiving and setting; when necessary, I will call for back row attacks.
The referee on the opposite side of the net signaled for the serve, the Inarizaki members quickly returned to their positions.
Miya Osamu, sitting on the coaching bench, had already silently put on his mask, while on the other side, Coach Kurosu gave a subtle nod.
In terms of leadership on the court, Miya Atsumu is indeed quite strong, he possesses the ability to make everyone believe in him.
Now, as a coach, the other thing he had to consider was.. when Miya Atsumu would be able to remain reliable and rational even when off the court.
His gaze swept past Miya Osamu beside him, Coach Kurosu looked toward the waiting area, briefly scanning the situation on the opposite side before decisively beckoning to Kumagai: "Kuniharu, come here."
On the court, the ace from Hokkaido representing Touryou was preparing to serve, while Inarizaki's current front row rotation consisted of Aran, Hinata, Suna.
The moment he saw Inarizaki's formation, Usui Mitsuru froze for a second. "Why is it Owari-senpai?"
Inarizaki's setter is currently in the back row, facing a national-level Ace's serve, it would be impossible for Inarizaki to use a formation with only two main spikers receiving the serve without a top-tier Libero.
Hinata, who had taken Miya Osamu's original position, should logically be the one stepping back to receive the serve for Miya Atsumu, but right now.. Inarizaki's formation had Owari Aran stepping back instead.
Sitting on the bus that had already departed from Gifu Prefecture, Goshiki Tsutomu, who was watching the live stream on his tablet, also frowned slightly.
Tendo Makoto, who had poked his head over from behind, was the first to react: "Are the foxes changing their playstyle?"
Goshiki Tsutomu and Shirabu Kenjiro, who was beside him, both looked up at Tendo Makoto, simultaneously conveying a signal of doubt.
Tendo held up a finger: "Exactly that, the Stronger Opposite."
He then pointed his thumb toward Ushijima, who was watching the video review of yesterday's match next to him: "Someone like Wakatoshi."
Shirabu understood instantly and looked back down at Goshiki's screen.
Although Goshiki didn't quite understand, he felt that he should, so he didn't ask anything more.
"I've got it!" On the court, Aran lowered his center of gravity, barely managing to control the receive.
"What a receive!" Miya Atsumu raised his hand, quickly coordinating with Suna to execute a Back Quick under the cover of the wing spikers on both sides.
The Touryou Libero dove forward and saved the ball.
"Nice save!" The Setter took his position.
The Ace, who had just served, leaped up from behind Position 1, the back-row attack performed a spike.
Akagi dove forward in a diving save, sending the ball back into play: "Atsumu!"
While Hinata adjusted his position, his brain rapidly reviewed the knowledge Coach Kurosu had instilled in him a long time ago, as well as the instructions Miya Atsumu had just given him.
Due to changes in certain volleyball rules and advancements in tactics and understanding, new playing trends have emerged in the international volleyball scene.
In traditional wing spiker tactics, the setter and opposite coordinate the overall strategy, while the right-side wing spiker provides a degree of protection.
Middle Blockers must consider both blocking and quick attacks, while leaving the heavy responsibility of breaking through defenses to the wing spikers on the left wing.
But many top international teams have now implemented a new "Opposite Tactic," which involves strengthening the receiving capabilities of the wing spikers on both sides of the court, based on a foundation of weakening the Middle Blocker's quick attack playstyle.
Entrusting the vast majority of strong attacks and spikes to the Opposite, who is always positioned against the Setter, to conduct targeted attacks at both ends of the net.
—In other words, the so-called "Stronger Opposite."
Hinata positioned himself at the side of the center, leaving enough space to take a running approach.
Atsumu-senpai had just told him that in this set, he was going to abandon his original playstyle as a defensive-oriented Opposite and become a true "Absolute Ace."
To be honest, beyond the excitement, what he felt more was nervousness.
After all.. he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do, for a moment, his mind couldn't come up with any answers.
Watching the volleyball falling from above, Miya Atsumu observed Hinata out of the corner of his eye.
Model answers like this actually exist, Hinata should be quite familiar with them.
Currently in high school, only Shiratorizawa consistently employs this tactic.
But Shiratorizawa cannot abandon their highly individualistic playstyle; many times, they are unable to maximize the value of this style by utilizing other players through strategic coordination.
Ultimately, it was primarily a matter of the setter's individual playing style and personality; someone who can only focus entirely on the Ace cannot become the bond that holds the entire team together.
Miya Atsumu's gaze rapidly swept across the opposing defense, then, with Aran already jumping near Position 4, he sent a high back set.
Watching the ball, Hinata took a deep breath.
That's right, don't be nervous. Just play the match step by step, just like yesterday.
Coach Kurosu rested his chin on his hand, his mind occupied not just with thoughts of the current situation, but more so with thoughts regarding the future of Inarizaki.
Setting aside the fact that Inarizaki is only temporarily using this style of play..
As for the Stronger Opposite tactic itself, if a player can't even manage to spike a ball to death after a perfect receive..
Then there wouldn't be a second way.
Watching the ball already tossed into Position 2, Hinata retreated diagonally to create space for his approach while swapping positions with Suna Rintaro.
His steps traced a beautiful arc, his eyes fixed intently on the volleyball that was a head taller than the opposing blockers, as he took a heavy final step.
The moment he jumped, his distracting thoughts were cast aside one by one.
At this moment, besides the information in his field of vision, the only thing in his mind was the state of Ushijima's jumps and spikes during his matches against Itachiyama.
That's right, just like Ushijima-senpai..
No, just like when he usually plays high ball..
Integrate all the knowledge learned and transform every difficult problem encountered into something he can master.