And at this moment, what appeared in his field of vision.. was Hinata, who had already burst out from behind Suna and leaped toward the area near the Position 2 marker.
Suna, in the center, did not complete his spike; his hand stopped halfway through the motion and fell naturally.
The volleyball passed through the point where he had originally intended to spike, flying toward the outer edge.
Hoshiumi stared intently at Hinata's movements, stepping forward the moment he jumped, leaped up with a heavy thud.
A foot above the net, Hoshiumi and Hinata locked eyes.
After catching the slight look of bewilderment in Hinata's eyes, Hoshiumi suddenly adjusted the position of his blocking arms, shifting from his original position intended to block Hinata's short diagonal to a position that shut down the line.
With a loud thud, the volleyball Hinata had spiked fell straight back onto Inarizaki's court.
Hinata's pupils contracted, in his field of vision was Hoshiumi's triumphant expression.
Hoshiumi laughed with great pleasure, looking like a predator that had successfully captured its prey.
He stared at Hinata, silently conveying a single message.
—Got you.
Usui Mitsuru's eyes widened in the stands: "He blocked it! That timing! That Quick Attack! And it was a one-on-one block!"
Before his words had even finished falling, the crowd around him erupted into an uproar once again.
He saved it!
My God! He actually saved that!
Kita Shinsuke dove from the back row, using his arms to bump the ball up.
"Nice! Kita Team!" Miya Atsumu rushed over from the other side, dropping into a squat with his legs spread, maintaining an extremely low angle to pop the ball up.
After having his spike blocked, Hinata Shoyo did not hesitate for a single moment upon landing; he immediately swapped positions with Suna Rintaro and jumped toward Position 3, preparing to hit a high ball.
He shouted for the toss: "Atsumu-senpai! Give the ball to me!!"
The volleyball flew from the back row, passing over Hinata and landing in Aran's hands.
With Hinata Shoyo and Suna Rintaro both performing a Quick Attack at the same time to draw fire, Aran's spike essentially hit the empty net.
After the heavy sound, Kamibayashi Keiichiro dove and caught the ball in mid-air, but unfortunately, he couldn't control it.
The volleyball flew over the net and landed in Inarizaki's court, before Kita Shinsuke and the others who had just lunged forward to save the ball could return to defense.
The volleyball landed near the baseline, the Karasuno Libero scored.
"Nice!!" The Karasuno players cheered.
Miya Atsumu shouted his childhood friend's name, "Aran!"
His voice was full of accusation; after all, they had worked so hard to save that ball.
Aran guiltily averted his gaze.
Before Miya Atsumu could say anything more to Aran, Hinata Shoyo had already approached him: "Atsumu-senpai, when you give me a Quick Attack later, could you make the hang time just a little bit longer?"
I was going to hit a short diagonal just now, but I didn't have time to adjust.
Miya Atsumu made an OK gesture: "No problem at all. Also, Shoyo, do you want to pull a bit further away from the net? That would make executing a tip much easier."
When performing this kind of Quick Attack, the distance from the net can no longer have much of an impact.
Hearing Miya Atsumu's proposal, Hinata's eyes lit up: "That's right, we can do it like that too! I'll remember that!"
The blocking at Karasuno was incredibly oppressive, since he played many off-speed shots, he hadn't been able to score a single tip in the last set.
Moreover, in order to receive various spikes, Karasuno's back row was positioned quite far back, making it a truly great opportunity to score with a tip.
Listening to Hinata's demands, which were practically like ordering from a menu, Aran looked deeply melancholy.
This is blatant favoritism; clearly, no one else has scored yet..
Kita patted Aran's back, offering comfort while also signaling for him to adjust his mindset.
Actually, Atsumu didn't really treat him differently.
Miya Atsumu was already familiar enough with Aran's most comfortable spiking point, providing impeccable sets every time by taking the opponent's current defensive situation into account.
Therefore, the responsibility for Aran not scoring lies one hundred percent with Aran himself, not to mention that Hinata, Suna, the others were providing cover.
In summary, the main reason Hinata wasn't accused by Miya Atsumu was..
It was Hinata who complained first.
Bessho Chigen from Karasuno serves, while at the same time, Hirugami Yukio and Kamibayashi Keiichiro switch positions.
Hinata is currently in Position 2, which means this is the only rally where he will face Hirugami head-on.
Miya Atsumu adjusted his position, leaving space for Kita Shinsuke and Akagi Michinari to receive the ball.
Now, Hinata's task is to perform a Quick Attack. Since Suna has also moved to the front row, it would be best to pick up the tempo by using Double Quick attacks from both sides.
Of course, Hinata's power itself isn't that great, most of the speed of his spikes comes from the velocity of his arm swing, so he can't achieve the same difficult spin as Hoshiumi or Sakusa's spikes.
For this very reason, they had to prevent the opponents from simply giving up on the block and shifting the responsibility to the Libero in the back row.
And the solution was exactly what Hinata had told Miya Atsumu before: combining the Quick Attack with technical shots to precisely target Karasuno's defensive gaps.
Miya Atsumu glanced at the back of Hinata's head from the corner of his eye, feeling an inexplicable sense of excitement.
Since Hinata has the confidence to balance speed, height, technique at the same time, he, as the Setter, will also provide the best attacking conditions.
In the interval while waiting for Bessho Chigen to serve, Kusubashi Michiko glanced at the replay on the side big screen: "No matter how many times I watch it, I find it stunning."
If Shirabu's Kiryu Ya is someone who can spike any ball and dares to spike anything, then Inarizaki's Miya Atsumu is someone who can set any ball.
Moreover, given Miya Atsumu's devoted attitude toward volleyball, he would undoubtedly be a perfect Setter in any type of team.
As expected of High School's Best Setter.
Hearing the whistle blow, Coach Kusubashi lowered his eyes.
—Perhaps he will also become the strongest Setter in all of Japan in the future.
"I've got it!" Akagi stepped forward, receiving Bessho's serve.
"What a great receive!" Miya Atsumu added at the same time.
While observing Miya Atsumu, Hirugami used his peripheral vision to keep an eye on Hinata and Suna, who had already moved toward both sides of the net.
The two of them moved almost in sync; their coordination with Owari Aran, who was preparing for a spike in the center, formed a textbook double quick attack followed by an Ace's center spike.
But that was exactly where the problem lay.
To be able to stay in sync with Suna means.. Hinata has slowed down?
In the next second, Suna's figure appeared in his peripheral vision, rushing toward Position 4 to prepare for a Flat Quick Attack.
No, Suna had increased his speed.
Without further hesitation, the middle blocker Hirugami stepped toward Suna's position, maintaining a stance alongside Suwa to simultaneously block the spiking ranges of Suna and Aran, while restricting both of their paths.
Miya Atsumu decisively set the ball to Aran, Aran, who jumped near the net, intended to spike a shot toward the three-meter line, but it was saved by Hoshiumi Hikari, who had been on the other side preparing to block Hinata.
Watching Hoshiumi's diving save almost collide with the retreating Hirugami, Hirugami failed to dodge in time and blocked Nozawa's path. On the sidelines, Coach Kurosu shouted loudly, "It's disrupted! Follow up, follow up!"
Miya Atsumu retreated back behind the three-meter line, preparing for the next round of attack.
Actually, there was no option for Suna on that last play; after all, Suna wouldn't have been able to coordinate with a synchronized quick attack like Hinata's anyway.
Hirugami was deceived simply because Suna had previously executed a pre-planned, rhythm-breaking Back Quick, leading him to assume that Suna had mastered that technique.
With not many offensive options to choose from, Suwa sent the ball to Hakuma Mebuki on the other side.
Even though Hakuma is still a novice, with his own height and strength, the lethality of his spikes is not to be underestimated.
Hinata and Suna both lunged toward Hakuma at the same time, after adjusting, Suna also managed to make contact with the ball.
Touch!
If anyone else from Karasuno had spiked, Suna would have been one hundred percent certain he could block it dead, but Hakuma's spike height was still too high for him.
Akagi stepped forward, raising his hand to send the ball right over Miya Atsumu's head: "Atsumu!"
Hinata and Suna, who had been subbed out, ran towards both sides again for a Double Quick.
"They're at it again." This time, even the usually composed Captain Suwa felt a headache coming on.
Without a doubt, Inarizaki's three attacking points in the front row are the most difficult to deal with, not to mention their back row, which features a Libero and a Captain, making it a veritable iron fortress.
The tactic was almost identical to the previous one; the only difference was that Miya Atsumu's setting motion changed into a Back Set.
From this angle, there was no doubt that it was meant for Hinata.
Having made their decision, Hirugami and Hoshiumi rushed toward Hinata, preparing to block the Quick Attack.
After all, Hinata's positioning was extremely tight; if he didn't start running early, he might not be able to keep up.
But right at that moment, Miya Atsumu, who had been maintaining a back set motion, held that posture to deliver a forward set, sending it via the shortest distance to Owari Aran's hitting point.
This ball was filled with the dominance characteristic of a Setter.
—Score for me!
Having already adjusted his condition, Aran held his breath and poured all his strength into a spike toward the empty net in front of him.
Karassuno's defense was indeed very fast over there, so.. it will be fine as long as his spike is too strong for the opposition to receive.
BANG!!
The volleyball slammed heavily onto the three-meter line before bouncing out of bounds.
"Nice!" Aran pumped his fist.
He originally wanted to high-five Miya Atsumu to celebrate, but he didn't expect that Miya Atsumu had already walked toward Hinata Shoyo.
“Nice cover, Shoyo.”
Aran gave up.
Fine, he admitted, the true heroes of that last play were Suna Rintaro and Miya Atsumu.
But.. he was the one feeling great.