Amatori frowned.
Wait, three or four steps?
This distance..
The moment a certain possibility flashed through his mind, Miya Atsumu on the other side of the net was already in motion, while at the same time, Miya Osamu started his approach, shifting from Position 4 toward Position 2 for a Flat Quick Attack.
Miya Atsumu began his approach and jumped the moment he rushed under the volleyball, raising his hand to make contact with the ball.
Agatsuma Soushi, who had been following Hinata the whole time, jumped a second after Hinata, preparing to block Hinata at his highest point.
But just as he was about to reach his peak, the sound of the hit already rang in his ears.
The volleyball flew past him, soaring over the block and smashing down behind Iizuna.
An absurd feeling surfaced in Agatsuma Soushi's mind.
Did Hinata speed up again?
But that was impossible; he hadn't lost sight of him.
A glance toward Miya Atsumu, who retreated once again, seemed to provide the answer to everything.
—The pass has sped up.
It wasn't just that Miya Atsumu had increased the height of his pass; even the force he applied to his float serves was greater than before.
Komori lunged forward, barely managing to save the ball: "Captain!"
Iizuna sent the ball flying toward Position 2, Amatori Toru chased the ball, jumping with a heavy thud from below.
Suna and Miya Osamu, who had swapped positions after crossing with Hinata, stood before Amatori, attempting to block him.
But Amatori's brute strength was top-tier even looking at the entire National Sports Festival, his powerful spike smashed right through the two players' block.
Aran took a step forward, accurately predicting the ball's landing spot, once again passed it near the attack line.
After completing the entire spike, Aran stepped back with the momentum, preparing to move forward for a back-row attack.
Hinata had already rushed near Position 2, at the moment he was about to reach the marker, he turned 180 degrees once again, stepping his left foot toward the center.
Realizing that Hinata might rush to the other side again, Agatsuma also turned, adjusting his position toward the center.
But right at that moment, Hinata pushed off with his left leg toward the right, after taking another step toward the Position 2 marker with his right leg, he leaped into the air.
The entire movement was so fast it even startled Agatsuma.
Seeing that Hinata had completely shaken off the block, Inamura immediately rushed to follow, sensing that something bad was about to happen.
But Miya Atsumu didn't give this side a single glance, instead sending the ball to Aran in front of him.
The Ace's back-row attack smashed right through the block that only Amatori had rushed to meet, immediately crashing toward Iizuna Sho behind him.
To avoid being hit directly in the face by such a powerful spike, Iizuna subconsciously raised his hands to block in front of his face.
Before he could even react, the back of his hand slammed heavily against his own nose following the impact of the volleyball.
The world spun around as Iizuna fell to the ground, landing on his back.
On the other side, Inamura immediately stepped in to cover, raising his hands to set the ball to Sakusa, who was positioned at back three.
Miya Osamu, who had been drawn away by Amatori on the other side, failed to follow up, but Hinata decisively moved to Suna's side, the two of them restricting the path of Sakusa's spike.
With enough distance from the net, Sakusa flicked his wrist against the side of the volleyball, imparting a beautiful spin.
The volleyball traced an arc, curving past Hinata and crashing down near Aran.
"I've got it!" Akagi, who was beside him, reached out a hand to block the ball in front of Aran and send it back.
The moment it hit the ground, Hinata quickly made a hand signal behind him.
Miya Atsumu shouted, "Beautiful!"
Suna stepped back, then immediately stepped forward and leaped high into the air at Position 3.
Miya Osamu also completed a cross-over in front of the setter with Hinata, then, following Suna's cover, Hinata rushed forward once again to a position beyond the Position 4 marker.
Agatsuma kept his peripheral vision on Hinata while simultaneously observing Aran, who was in the back row preparing for a back-four attack.
—Is Hinata not going to jump?
Stopping his steps outside the court, Hinata bent his waist slightly, staring at the position in front of the net like a leopard preparing to hunt.
Meanwhile, Miya Atsumu had already made the pass, Suna's hitting point was right in the path of the ball.
Just as Agatsuma confirmed the spiker had bypassed Hinata, Suna, who was closest to Miya Atsumu, pulled back, letting the volleyball fly past his hitting point toward a further location.
The entire approach and acceleration process was almost as fast as a hundred-meter sprinter's; before anyone could react, Hinata had already leaped up with a thud.
The quick-reacting Agatsuma tried to lead Amatori and block again, but they were already too late.
The sound of the impact rang out as Hinata spiked the volleyball, pinning it precisely onto the three-meter line at Itachiyama.
"Shoyo, Shoyo, great hit!" The voices of the Inarizaki supporters behind him erupted in excitement.
One more!
Miya Atsumu opened his arms toward Hinata: "Beautiful, Shoyo!"
Hinata rushed over in two steps, jumping up to give Miya Atsumu a quick hug. "Atsumu-senpai, that pass was amazing!"
Suna, having just landed, narrowed his eyes, after a quick glance at Miya Atsumu, a faint look of inexplicable disgust crossed his face.
That disgusting pass..
By the time he snapped back to his senses, Hinata had already raised his hand and rushed toward him: "Suna-senpai, that was a great cover!"
Opposite the net, the Iizuna player sat on the ground clutching his nose, blood clearly flowing from his hands.
Under the anxious and terrified gazes of the rest of the Itachiyama team, Iizuna's focus was still on Inarizaki: "What kind of procedure is that.."
"Time-out, time-out!" Utsunomiya hurriedly called a time-out.
It was chaos over at Itachiyama as they attended to Iizuna's nose, but fortunately, the injury wasn't serious; it was just a slight tear in the nasal mucosa, the bleeding stopped quickly.
As Iizuna Sho was tilting his head back to let Coach Himegomiya wipe the blood stains off his clothes, my danger radar immediately picked up Agatsuma Soushi, who had already started pursing his lips nearby.
He raised his hand reflexively: "Stop, stop, stop! Cut it out! No crying!"
I'm the one who's injured, so why are you crying!
Help, the situation is already messy enough because of Inarizaki, let's not add more frustrating issues from our own side!
Agatsuma put his hands behind his back. "Sorry.. the block.."
Sakusa glanced at Iizuna and spoke mercilessly, "It was because you were thinking about Inarizaki's pass, Iizuna-senpai, that you couldn't dodge in time and got hit."
And at that time, it clearly would have been better to use your arms to block; we would have been able to keep up.
Iizuna was even more upset: "At least say a few comforting words to me.."
Fine, he admitted, he was guilty.
But that pass Miya Atsumu gave Hinata Shoyo earlier would have shocked anyone!
Himegomiya raised her hand and punched Iizuna: "Stop moving!"
Coach Unabara, who had been watching from the sidelines for a while, rubbed his chin. "It's rare to see a Miya Atsumu like this."
It could even be called a whim..
“What?” a public relations manager beside him asked.
Unabara didn't intend to explain much further: "I'm saying Miya Atsumu's pass is incredibly hard to read."
Including Miya Atsumu, the vast majority of setters assist their spikers in shaking off the block by using feints in coordination with other spikers, thereby "fooling" the blockers.
But those few plays Inarizaki just made were basically relying purely on speed to shake off the block.
It wasn't just Hinata's own speed, but the speed of the Setter's pass.
When many setters deliver a flat ball from a long distance directly toward the antenna, the lack of wrist and finger strength often causes the ball to drop in height at the spiker's contact point, which can even affect the spiker's spiking form.
Miya Atsumu's overall handling is very delicate; he gives exactly what is needed.
But.. it still doesn't change the fact that this kind of ball is incredibly difficult to handle.
Especially when facing a block at Itachiyama that is both high and extremely fast, the speed of the ball itself must be pushed to its absolute limit to be effective.
This kind of pass feels as if it doesn't care whether the spiker lives or dies, yet Hinata actually manages to keep up with it.
If Suna were to frequently spike such balls, he would easily be driven crazy by the setter.
Standing by the sidelines, Fukuda General Setter Shiratori let out a soft sigh: "Incredible, Miya. That number 17 is incredible too, being able to spike a ball like that."
It even gave him the feeling that he could shake off any block and spike down any ball.
"So.. why do you have to come to the sidelines to watch? It would be the same from the stands, wouldn't it?" Captain Kuroo looked up at Shiratori beside him.
Shiratori shook his head. "It's different, Rei."
I want to watch Miya Atsumu's volleyball from as close as possible; maybe there will be something I can use as a reference.
No matter what Inarizaki's final result is, Miya Atsumu is already a setter who has reached the summit.
And as a fellow setter, it was impossible not to feel envy and look up to that figure.
Kazama Junichi, who had almost gotten into a conflict with Hinata that day, stood with his hands on his hips, his face written with disdain for Inarizaki: "I think Shiratori-senpai is even more impressive."
How could I," Shiratori smiled, "I can't do a pass like that.
But as expected, rather than envying Miya Atsumu's talent and skill, he actually envied that Miya Atsumu could have such a spiker.
Of course, affirming one's teammates and having the "desire" for a spiker like that are not inherently conflicting ideas.
No, it would be more accurate to say.. that no setter could look away.
The time-out ended, Iizuna, having successfully stopped his nosebleed, returned to the court.
Miya Atsumu was not being polite either, continuing to serve directly at Iizuna's approach position.
But with Amatori guarding the front, Atsumu had no way to seriously disrupt Iizuna's rhythm.
The reception skills of the entire Itachiyama team are extremely high, making it difficult to target any single individual, let alone cause the whole team to collapse through pressure in that area.
Before the serve, Iizuna sent the ball toward Inamura on the other side, Inamura also aimed for Suna's hands, preparing to use tooling the block.
Having already judged this from the opponent's expression and preparatory movements, Suna pressed his entire arm down the moment Inamura spiked, forcefully blocking the ball back.