For Akagi, who had already experienced top-tier side-spin, this kind of ball was not particularly difficult to receive.
“Atsumu!”
What a serve!
Hinata and Agatsuma accelerated at the same time, the speed they both suddenly burst out with left even Sakusa, who was still in the back row preparing to defend the spike, momentarily stunned.
Wait, this isn't even a matter of their positioning anymore.
This is a matter of not even being able to keep up with the setter's toss, isn't it?
But reality proved that he had still underestimated Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu didn't give the ball to Hinata at all; instead, he set it to Owari Aran, who was playing in Position 3.
With Oori Ren providing cover at Position 3 in the front row, Hinata drawing away the most difficult blocker, Aran's spike—which almost went straight through the net—did not fail the trust of the rest of the Inarizaki team.
The powerful spike slammed into Komori's arm; the ball was even heavier than he had imagined, because Komori was already on high alert for Hinata Shoyo's flat quick attack from Position 2, he couldn't manage to control it properly.
Inarizaki successfully scored, the serve passed to Oori Ren.
Itachiyama watched for the opening where Inarizaki's Libero was out of position, Sakusa's topspin side-spin spike precisely avoided the more capable defender Miya Osamu, scoring a point off Oori Ren on the other side.
Iizuna serves a great ball!
I've got it!
The volleyball flew high into the air, landing in Miya Atsumu's hands.
Hinata quickly rushed from Position 4 to Position 2 to perform a Flat Quick Attack, while Suna on the other side moved to the Middle Blocker position, preparing for a High Ball.
Aran rushed up from behind Position 4, intending to perform a back-row spike.
While moving with Hinata, Agatsuma also observed Miya Atsumu's setting motion.
Unlike the previous set, which had extremely high concealment, perhaps because he was focusing too much on the speed of the toss, Miya Atsumu's back arch was already slightly visible.
—It's a back-set to Position 2.
The corners of Miya Atsumu's mouth curled slightly.
So what if it's a Back Quick?
If they can tell it's a back quick, can they catch up to it?
Just like the short diagonal sent from Position 4, Miya Atsumu's back quick attack was delivered extremely fast.
The moment he made his judgment, he had already chased up, Agatsuma and Amatori jumped simultaneously directly in front of Hinata.
But the moment they jumped, Agatsuma, who had been struggling against Hinata for half a rally, keenly sensed that something was wrong.
Hinata's initial body orientation.. is he going for a diagonal?
Giving up the speed of a line shot to go for a deep diagonal that the back row could catch up to?
While Amatori was still hesitating, Agatsuma Soushi made a decisive move.
Whether it's an error or what, since he could judge it, he should go and try to block it dead.
At worst, he would just shift the pressure onto Komori and Sakusa, letting the two of them go for the save.
Hinata did not keep his body oriented toward a large diagonal spike; instead, in the instant before the spike, he rotated slightly toward the left.
Combined with the adjustment of the angle as his arm swung down, the landing point of the originally intended short diagonal suddenly shifted forward.
With a loud thud, the volleyball flew past Agatsuma Soushi under the stunned gazes of the Itachiyama players.
It smashed into the front row of Itachiyama at an angle of less than fifteen degrees from the net.
Komori Motoya, who had just taken a step backward, widened his eyes; even though his body had lunged forward by instinct, he was nowhere near close enough to the ball.
The entire arena went silent for a moment, before erupting into gasps so loud they nearly blew the roof off.
Nice play—
That little radish is incredible!
Standing by the sidelines, Shiratori Natsume felt her palms were covered in sweat, her legs felt a bit weak.
Just when he thought Hinata was the synonym for ultimate speed, Hinata's high ball told him that he would become even stronger.
And just when he thought that playstyle—high, fast, capable of both spiking and tipping—was the limit of Hinata's abilities, Hinata actually combined it with an extremely difficult super short diagonal.
A short diagonal on top of a negative-tempo quick attack?
No matter who tries to block or receive that, it would basically be a first-time kill.
Watching the two people hugging on the other side of the net, Iizuna-senpai's face was filled with confusion.
That short diagonal.. is just too ridiculous!
No, wait, wait, wait—
Iizuna and Amatori both looked at Sakusa Kiyoomi, who had barely said anything since the opening.
Iizuna recalled a key point: "You taught him this, didn't you!"
Sakusa averted his gaze, avoiding eye contact with Iizuna-senpai.
As if on cue, Hinata spoke up with a face full of excitement: "Kami-senpai! I've already learned it! The Short Diagonal!"
And he actually managed to score a point against Gen-senpai!
Sakusa was stared at by Hinata, but eventually, under the Captain's gaze, he said, "Well played."
Hinata jumped up excitedly.
He was praised!
At this moment, Miya Atsumu had already walked to the back to prepare for his serve.
Watching Komori, whose fighting spirit had inexplicably increased, Miya Atsumu decided to challenge himself.
——Let's try a net touch.
Thinking this, Miya Atsumu adjusted his spike mid-air, aiming for a spot just to the left of the top of the net.
But.. he missed.
The volleyball cleared the net and slowly fell.
Inamura shouted proactively, "I've got it!"
What incredible luck, that ball was too easy to receive.
Listening to the boos gradually rising from the Inarizaki cheering section, Miya Atsumu's expression contorted.
But it was true, that serve was indeed too ugly.
After receiving the ball, Iizuna-senpai immediately sent it toward Sakusa, who had jumped up behind Position 4: "Sakusa!"
Watching Suna rushing over from the other side, Sakusa adjusted the ball's trajectory once again, hitting it toward Suna's fingers.
The well-prepared Suna immediately pressed down, not allowing Sakusa to succeed with a tooling the block, but instead deflecting the ball back to the opponent.
Komori rushed over and saved the ball.
"Free ball!" Miya Atsumu clapped his hands to signal Akagi to receive it.
Scanning Itachiyama's current blocking formation, with Hinata drawing Agatsuma toward Position 4, Miya Atsumu decisively set the ball to Suna in the center.
But Amatori and Inamura's block was no pushover either; the moment they guessed Suna would change his spike direction, the two of them shifted together toward the right side.
With a loud thud, the volleyball fell back onto the Inarizaki court and flew toward Hinata.
Hinata, who had instinctively moved to receive the ball, stopped himself at the last moment.
He bent his knees and knelt directly on the ground, then decisively lay down.
The volleyball flew just above his face and landed out of bounds.
Everyone from Inarizaki raised their hands at the same time, signaling that it was out.
Itachiyama's block went out, Inarizaki scored.
Looking at Hinata lying flat on the ground, Aran laughed, "Great read!"
When the serve was handed over to Hinata Shoyo, the sound of a substitution announcement rang out from the sidelines.
Rishia Heisuke replaced Hinata Shoyo to serve.
Kurosu patted the seat next to him, gesturing for Hinata to come and sit down.
A Wing Spiker's rest time is not that abundant; during this brief interval when the key server is being replaced, Hinata must seize the opportunity to properly adjust his condition.
Sitting down beside Coach Kurosu, Hinata took a towel and wiped his face quickly.
His hair was soaked with sweat, sticking to his face in damp strands.
Coach Kurosu quickly glanced at Rishia Heisuke, who was preparing to serve, said to Hinata, "Stay in this state; don't give the opponent even the slightest opportunity."
When you don't have one hundred percent certainty of scoring with a spike, try to interfere with Sakusa. His receive skills aren't as high as Komori's at this stage; as long as you can force him to break his form, you can pull him out of Itachiyama's attacking lineup.
Hinata nodded. "Understood."
Coach Omimi handed Hinata a disposable paper cup, half-filled with water just poured from a thermos: "Drink it slowly. That's all you get."
Hinata's physical exertion now was incomparable to before, so it wasn't suitable for him to drink a large amount of water at this time.
Hinata took a small sip; it was warm saltwater.
The pounding in his chest was heavy and powerful, but it wasn't so fast that it felt like it would burst out of his body.
He knew that this meant he had already warmed up.
Next.. it would be a battle of endurance.
"Nice serve! Heisuke!" Kumagai shouted from the waiting area.
Rishia's power jump serve was overwhelming in terms of speed compared to Miya Atsumu's, combined with the greater momentum from a more thorough approach, it was enough to support a heavy, spinning serve from Rishia.
"I've got it!" Komori stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Iizuna to receive Rishia Heisuke's serve.
Iizuna circled around from behind, raising his hands from a less-than-ideal position to set the ball toward Inamura Gen, who was jumping in the center.
Miya Osamu and Suna chased after it immediately, but Inamura hit a short diagonal with a backhand, sweeping past the entire Inarizaki block and smashing into the edge of the area just in front of Position 4.
Miya Atsumu, who had swapped positions with Akagi Michinari to be protected, lunged forward directly, using one hand to send the ball back into play.