He clicked it and found it was a new message from Hoshiumi.
——Miya Atsumu lying on the court with an expression of near-terror from being almost hit by the ball; clearly, the photographer was Hirugami.
Komori gave a thumbs up.
On the penultimate day of the National Sports Festival, Fukuda General defeated Shirabu 2:1 in the men's volleyball semifinals that morning, earning their ticket to the finals.
In the afternoon would be the highly anticipated match between Inarizaki and Itachiyama.
The floor on the court has been cleared, the scoreboard by the side shows Inarizaki 00:00 Itachiyama.
The championship banners hung behind the Itachiyama members who had already lined up by the court, echoing the Inarizaki banners from afar.
Watching Miya Osamu and Hinata walk up together after high-fiving the coach, Amatori Toru, who was still waiting in the waiting area to be called, felt his smile freeze on his face.
The five words "Absolutely Impossible" flashed across his mind.
He currently had a strong impulse to throw away the materials he had researched last night.
"I thought Miya Osamu had already left?" Amatori's soul asked.
"Who told you that?" Iizuna looked at him.
After three seconds of silence, Amatori gave an answer.
A kid from Sannomiya Industrial.
Chapter 99: The Ninety-Ninth Fox
After looking several times at who was in the starting lineup, Amatori gave up on thinking.
The Miya Twins, Suna, Aran, Hinata—just the five of them standing there would put enough pressure on the defenders.
Koldorf scratched his head, running through the things discussed during the meetings last night and this morning in his mind.
First is Hinata's quick attack, followed by Aran's back row attack and the heavy attack from Position 4 in coordination with Hinata. Suna's playstyle is very fragmented; he can basically perform both the flat quick attacks on both sides and the quick sets in the center.
But the focus right now is Miya Osamu; he is the true all-rounder of Inarizaki, capable of everything from blocking and receiving to spiking.
Whether he is focusing on defense or participating in the attack, he basically never makes any major mistakes..
Koldorf looked toward Agatsuma Soushi on the other side, sending a strong signal for help with his eyes.
Receiving the signal, Agatsuma Soushi silently raised his hand and held up two fingers.
Amatori, noticing the exchange between the two, froze for a moment. "Huh?"
Agatsuma Soushi remained silent for two seconds before explaining simply, "It's a Double Quick, the kind with negative tempo."
Iizuna raised his hand to cover his face, not wanting to face all of this.
In the final moments before the match, Utsunomiya hurriedly pulled Komori and Agatsuma aside to instruct us, "Don't panic. A Double Quick is just one type of Quick Attack; at most, it will affect the overall rhythm of the block. The initiative essentially remains with the Spikers; if you can't chase down the ball, try to anticipate the opponent's movement instead."
Also, remember to cover the back row in time. Hinata's spikes are fast, but his power is limited, he isn't very good at hitting topspin, so theoretically, it should be easier for the back row to handle..
Coach Kurosu looked at the Inarizaki members: "Be bold and try new things; disperse Itachiyama's block as much as possible."
When Akagi and Aran are in the back row, make sure to execute counterattacks. Hinata, try not to block; focus on dropping back to cover the defense.
Itachiyama's block is incredibly fierce; it's a completely different style from the more stable Karasuno or Nekoma, as they pursue absolute shutdowns.
Moreover, Sakusa's spin serve is equally difficult to judge in terms of spike direction and landing point; if it isn't handled properly at the net, it's easy to get injured just like Miya Atsumu was before. Not to mention that Hinata is still not skilled enough, so Sakusa will definitely keep his eyes on him.
“We had great luck in this set,” Coach Kurosu said, raising his hands to wrap them around Hinata and Miya Osamu's shoulders, “don't let this opportunity slip away.”
"Yes!" Hinata and Miya Osamu nodded at the same time.
Seeing that Coach was no longer giving instructions, Kita Shinsuke clapped his hands, all the Inarizaki members gathered around him in a circle.
He reached out his hand: "Just play like we always do. We have prepared for this match for a very, very long time, now.. it is time to leap forward."
Aran reached out and placed his hand on top of Kita's: "Don't worry, I'll definitely spike through them!"
Oori followed up, "I'll make sure to get a touch on the block, I'll leave the back row to you."
Akagi slapped his hand down with a loud smack: "Leave everyone's back row to me! Even if I have to risk everything, I'll save the ball!"
Miya Osamu raised his hand: "I'll work hard to cover the whole court."
Miya Atsumu glanced at him and pressed his hand down: "I'll definitely be fine, I'm in top form."
Suna tried to avoid this cringey moment, but ultimately said, "Good luck."
Hinata jumped up and pressed both hands against them: "I can spike any ball! I'll definitely score!"
Kita silently lowered his hands, leaving the space for today's starters.
Inarizaki!
Victory!!
Itachiyama Iizuna Sho starts the serve.
Even as Iizuna walked to the service line holding the ball, he still felt a profound sense of unreality.
It wasn't just that the incorrect pre-match information caused nearly half of their arrangements to go to waste, but it was also the fact that he had actually been selected for the starting lineup.
The weight of being named a starter at Inarizaki.. he felt like he could brag about it until graduation.
Agatsuma, who had his hands behind his head across the net, locked eyes with me for two seconds, Hinata pursed his lips.
He was also quite surprised to be sent onto the court, facing off against Itachiyama in an official match.. As expected, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.
Miya Atsumu glanced sideways at Hinata beside him, but he dazed for a moment when he saw his eyes.
How could that be nervousness?
It was clearly a bloodthirsty beast that had been starving for a long time.
The whistle blew, Iizuna threw the ball into the air at the very last second.
He is a rare type of Setter who isn't particularly good at serving, especially on this court facing an opponent with the best server in the nation; the gap would only be more obvious here.
But.. he could still manage to prioritize accuracy.
"I've got it!" Miya Osamu shouted, diving to pass the ball.
Today, his condition was quite good, ensuring that he could perform at his best.
Similarly, he wasn't sure how he would be tomorrow, so.. he would just treat this as the final match of the National Sports Festival.
"What a great receive!" Miya Atsumu chased after the ball.
When it came to serves, he was never stingy with his praise; any ball that could reach his vicinity was a good one.
In the front row, Suna swapped positions with Hinata on the other side at high speed. The volleyball flew from Miya Atsumu's hands, sent toward Suna, who was now in a better position.
Agatsuma, who had been staring at Hinata, stepped to his left the moment he caught Miya Atsumu's set, immediately turned and jumped together with Inamura.
In terms of this kind of explosive power immediately after turning, Itachiyama, which had undergone systematic physical training, performed exceptionally well, the height of both players surpassed Suna's hitting point, pressing down from above.
Suna twisted his waist, forcibly changing the direction of his spike, letting the ball fly past Inamura's side.
Komori stepped forward, setting the ball with one hand. "Captain!"
Iizuna rushed forward, jumping and extending his hand to set the ball near the sideline.
Amatori Toru, who had already moved to Position 2 and was preparing for a strong attack, called out for the ball, "Give me the ball!"
In the next second, Iizuna's hand gave a light flick, sending the ball to Sakusa, who had jumped in Position 5 behind him.
Hinata and Suna swapped positions, with Suna and Miya Atsumu's block moving to pursue Sakusa.
Sakusa snapped his wrist, precisely hitting the ball right at Miya Atsumu's fingers.
Miya Atsumu couldn't pull his hands back in time and was hit right in the face.
The volleyball soared high into the air, falling toward the second floor of the stands on Inarizaki's side.
The score on the scoreboard by the court jumped to Inarizaki 0:1 Itachiyama.
Cheers suddenly erupted: "Sakusa, Sakusa, great hit! One more!"
Shaking his left hand, Miya Atsumu grimaced. "As annoying as ever, this tooling the block.."
Iizuna, give us a good serve!
Iizuna spun the ball in his hands and tossed it into the air three seconds after the whistle blew.
This time, he aimed for the sideline position between Aran and Akagi, slightly towards the back.
"I've got it!" Akagi shouted, preparing to receive the ball, Owari Aran also hurriedly stepped aside.
What a great receive!
As Miya Atsumu prepared to step forward to set the ball, Hinata, who had been slowly retreating along the net toward the edge of Position 2, suddenly stomped his feet to accelerate near the bottom of the antenna and rushed toward Position 4 in the opposite direction.
Agatsuma, who had been moving in sync with his movements, was not surprised, but instead followed half a step behind.
He was nearly thirty centimeters taller than Hinata, possessing a natural advantage in leg length and stride.
But after only following him for half the distance, Agatsuma Soushi realized that something seemed wrong.
This little brat.. is always running ahead of him.
In that brief moment when Agatsuma Soushi was dazed, Miya Atsumu's fingers made contact with the volleyball, followed by a gentle flick toward the other side of the net.
The volleyball flew over the net and slammed toward the Itachiyama floor, but Sakusa, in the back row, dove forward and barely managed to save Miya Atsumu's sudden Second Attack.
“Nice save!”
On the other side, Amatori dove under the ball and used a skillful dig to send it forward.
Inarizaki's player on the Position 4 side leaped with a thud, putting all his strength into spiking the ball.
"Touch!" Suna shouted.
As he landed, Miya Atsumu simultaneously retreated to adjust his position, preparing to organize the next round of offense.
Hinata glanced sideways at Agatsuma Soushi and started running again, covering the distance across the net, brushing past Miya Atsumu and Miya Osamu in the back row.
Agatsuma's footsteps faltered for a moment, but he ultimately continued to chase after Hinata.
His mission was to keep a close eye on Hinata; the rest could be left to Amatori and Inamura.