The threshold of an Ace that he pursues might simply be the act of pushing these abilities to their absolute limit.
So..
Even if there were an abyss at his feet, he would have to move forward without hesitation.
This is—the Ace's duty.
A loud thud rang in everyone's ears; despite having the least noticeable height on the court, the player soared into the air after that sound.
Bokuto, watching the live broadcast, widened his eyes.
Wait, it's flying?!
The eyes of Touryou's Middle Blocker were filled with shock. The moment he saw the height of this ball, he realized something was wrong and subconsciously adjusted his jumping timing, delaying his leap.
Even so.. why is he already falling while this guy is still at the peak!
The next second, the heavy sound of the spike rang in his ears.
The volleyball whistled through the air, flying just above his hands and smashing unerringly into the defensive blind spot in the middle-back of Touryou.
The ball was so incredibly fast that it gave the Touryou libero no time to react.
Landing on the ground, the Touryou Middle Blocker twisted his stiff neck to look at Hinata, who was barely up to his shoulder on the other side of the net.
Hinata, bending his knees to absorb the impact, slowly straightened up and looked up, meeting the Giant's gaze without flinching. That momentary surge of momentum made the Touryou Middle Blocker almost forget that he was the taller one.
Miya Atsumu, coming up from behind, raised his hand to high-five Hinata: "Nice hit."
Hinata chuckled, "Atsumu-senpai, that was a great set."
Miya Atsumu glanced sideways at the Touryou Middle Blocker over there, then turned to Hinata Shoyo and said, "The reaction over there is unexpectedly fast. Next time, I'll set the ball a bit higher so they can't catch up."
In an instant, cold sweat broke out on the Touryou Middle Blocker's forehead.
Whether it was the last match or that previous ball.. hasn't this guy reached his maximum jumping height yet?!
As the Inarizaki members stepped back to listen to Miya Atsumu's subsequent instructions, that intense sense of pressure also vanished from his perception.
He raised his hand and shook the collar of his shirt to catch his breath.
He had forgotten.
This isn't some little substitute at all; this is the one who crushed Shonan in the last match, leaving them with nearly double the score deficit..
Inarizaki's Little Giant.
Chapter 85: The Eighty-Fourth Fox
Oori Ren stepped forward and took his position at the net, while Hinata stayed slightly further back, maintaining a position that allowed him to adjust whether to block based on the opponent's attack.
In the back, Kumagai has already substituted in for Suna to serve.
He stood in his approach position, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle.
Watching an unfamiliar player take the court, the stands couldn't help but erupt in a bit of commotion.
Usui Mitsuru recognized Kumagai at a glance: "There he is, Inarizaki's substitute setter."
Unlike Hinata, who served as support but occasionally played in matches, Kumagai's presence could be described as quite low; before officially joining the First String, even when he followed the team, he remained part of the support staff.
Therefore, even for the Shirabu members who had an impression of Kumagai, they had actually never seen him play on the court.
Considering that Kumagai was able to join the Inarizaki First String as a substitute in his first year, it is highly likely that he is also destined to succeed Miya Atsumu, so his skill level certainly couldn't be that bad.
Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that Coach Kurosu might find a more talented Setter in the next term.
But.. considering the difficulty of training a setter, that possibility is slim to none.
The Libero of Touryou was also quite nervous.
The pressure brought by the unknown opponent was extraordinarily intense, especially considering that Hinata, the Ace reserve, had already set such a high standard.
And this guy's jersey number is actually 3? Even though he's only a first-year.
What kind of serve will it be? A power serve? Or a jump float?
The whistle blew, Kumagai calmly waited until the last second of the time limit before raising his hand to toss the ball.
The moment he jumped, the Touryou libero had already reacted, stepping forward two steps quite decisively.
Just as a power jump serve is a fundamental skill for a national-level wing spiker, judging the type of serve is a fundamental skill for their libero. Due to the differences in the point of force application and the spiking position, there is a relatively noticeable difference in the moment of takeoff between a power jump serve and a jump float serve.
And Kumagai's, without a doubt, was a Jump Float Serve.
—That annoying jump float serve.
His contact with the volleyball was a bit off, in the end, his fingers only brushed against the ball.
The ball flew high into the air and fell back toward Inarizaki.
"Free ball!" Akagi shouted.
Miya Atsumu quickly stepped forward to prepare to organize the attack, while simultaneously observing the defensive formation over at Touryou.
The middle blocker in Touryou's front row stared intently at Hinata's movements, remaining vigilant at all times in case he suddenly executed a quick attack or a high ball.
But he also knew just as well that if his attention was diverted.. the opponent would likely become a decoy.
Not to mention Inarizaki has the top-five Ace Owari Aran, who is the most solid foundation.
The moment he forced himself to shift his gaze away from Hinata, the ball in Miya Atsumu's hands had already flown out; it indeed wasn't passed toward Position 2 where Hinata was, but instead toward Position 4..
An orange shadow filled his entire field of vision once again.
The Touryou Middle Blocker's head buzzed, his body instinctively drove him to leap on one foot toward Hinata's position, attempting to touch the ball with his hand.
When did this guy move over there?
No, when did the Inarizaki side switch their front row positions?
From the moment he looked away until Miya Atsumu set the ball.. it was less than a second!
The boy with the bowl cut sprinted forward and leaped off one foot at an angle, chasing down the setter's sudden flat set near the antenna with an almost unbelievable speed—even faster than that.
Hinata didn't look like he was jumping very high, but in reality, he had adjusted his original height into lateral movement in pursuit of extreme speed.
But.. it's more than enough.
After all, he wasn't the only one who could perform a one-footed approach jump, in this field, no one could be faster or higher than him.
Only a single fingertip of the opponent's block appeared in his field of vision, so Hinata aimed his gaze toward a corner of the opponent's court.
Startled by Hinata's spike just now, the Touryou Libero instinctively took a step back, staying on guard against Hinata's smash at all times.
But in the very next instant after he stepped back, Hinata's hand lightly tapped the bottom of the volleyball.
—A tip.
A soft sound rang in everyone's ears, by the time the Touryou members reacted, the volleyball had already lightly touched the ground.
"Nice play!!" The Inarizaki cheering section instantly erupted.
If there is anything more exciting than an Ace's spike, it must be a feint that leaves all the opponents completely bewildered.
“Nice job,” Miya Atsumu said, reaching out to put an arm around Hinata's shoulder and whispering in his ear, “The opposing Libero probably won't dare to move after this; let's start using Quick Attacks to wear him down.”
He immediately looked up at Aran and said, "Aran, come to the center later and go straight for a strong attack; just spike it down. The ball I set for you will definitely be under the best conditions."
Hinata's face was written with excitement: "Understood!"
Being placed in the role of the Ace, there is bound to be pressure.
But for Hinata himself.. this pressure was actually the driving force that kept him moving forward.
After all, this was what he had always aspired to.
Coach Omimi nodded silently. "Shoyo's condition is quite good; he's even closer to his peak than in the last set."
At the same time, he also looked at Kurosu with some concern: "But.. is it okay? To continue performing high-intensity jumps like this?"
Kurosu crossed his arms in front of him: "After all, the situation is different; doing this is the right thing."
Even though I usually protect him quite a bit, Shoyo isn't some fragile vase. Besides.. isn't that exactly what all that training was for—to be able to produce this kind of effect on the court?
Kumagai prepared to serve the second ball.
Watching the high school match once again, Hirugami Fuku said softly, "As expected, the success rate for receiving jump float serves in the high school level is quite low."
Beside him, Hoshiumi pouted, "It's not that bad, it wasn't that hard to receive."
Hirugami Yukio raised his hand and lightly tapped Hoshiumi Hikari on the head.
He turned to his older brother and said, "Receiving with an overhead pass requires high technical skill, receiving spikes can injure your wrists and easily cause you to lose your balance, so many people probably don't practice it at all."
People like Hikari-kun, who can basically do everything, are the minority. Komori and the others only know how to use their hands to handle float serves.
Hoshiumi stood with his hands on his hips, humming with pride.
Hirugami Fukuro also added, "Indeed, Hoshiumi's receiving skills are stronger than most Liberos."
His gaze fell once again upon his primary subject of observation, Miya Atsumu.
If Miya Atsumu before the Interhigh was merely the widely recognized "High School's Best Setter" within a limited scope, then Miya Atsumu after the Interhigh—who simultaneously secured the titles of Best Server and Best Setter thanks to his Dual Wield serves and exquisite setting skills—is the undisputed "strongest."
And among these factors, that jump float serve, with a scoring rate so high it left everyone else in the dust, accounted for a significant portion of it.
On the court, Hinata began moving rapidly to perform a Quick Attack, possessing much more powerful mobility than a traditional Stronger Opposite.
On the other side, Aran also acted as a supporter, focusing his attention on receiving and positioning.
But likewise, Hinata's role as a decoy remains, it could even be said that, to some extent, his aggressive offense makes the situation even more complex.
Aside from the height of his spikes and the speed of his quick attacks, his spike speed was also a major headache for Touryou's Libero.
Watching the deficit caused by Miya Osamu's poor form being rapidly erased and overtaken, Kiryu Ya let out a slow breath. "They've overtaken us."
Although he knew Inarizaki would definitely regain the advantage, this speed was still a bit too outrageous; it had only just rotated to Hinata's serve.
Coach Kusubashi couldn't help but nod as well: "Inarizaki's tactical adjustment is truly magnificent; you could say they perfectly avoided the issue of Hinata's weak receiving skills."
Her face was full of admiration and satisfaction, along with a hint of regret.
His gaze swept over Miya Atsumu, who had already turned to the front row, Kusubashi suddenly looked at Kiryu beside him: "Aba, if I wanted to adjust this style of play, what would you do?"