That kind of hang time and body control alone was enough to support Hinata in performing many movements others couldn't, now that a new approach had been provided, it was highly likely he would attempt it quickly.
Tossing the ball in his hands, Iizuna thought about how he should serve.
A normal power serve wouldn't be threatening, if the goal was to maximize disruption to Inarizaki's formation..
Iizuna observed the head referee out of the corner of his eye.
The moment he blew the whistle, Iizuna stood in place and raised his hand to toss the ball into the air.
Akagi's pupils contracted.
—Aren't you going to run?!
It wasn't the usual flat serve used by Iizuna; instead, he abandoned the jump serve itself, staying in place to spike the ball.
The ball, which wasn't hit with great force, struck the top edge of the net precisely before dropping down toward Hinata's left, landing two steps away near the sideline.
His body moved on instinct; Hinata threw himself to the side, diving and rolling as he successfully received the ball.
"What a receive!" Miya Atsumu chased down the ball, while simultaneously glancing out of the corner of his eye at Hinata, who was scrambling to get back up after the reception.
Yeah, it failed.
He raised his hand to set the ball to Miya Osamu, but Unabara Uta's perfectly prepared block firmly stood in his way.
Miya Osamu narrowed his eyes, positioning himself near the sideline, preparing to execute a cross-court tip.
But Agatsuma's reaction speed was incredibly fast; he adjusted the direction of his block almost the moment the ball was struck.
Bang!
The volleyball was blocked back, smashing rapidly into the floor.
Hinata, who had just scrambled up, Akagi from the other side both lunged at the same time, but unfortunately, neither could save it.
"YES!!" A low roar came from overhead.
Hinata looked up, meeting Agatsuma Soushi's sidelong glance.
He stood up, pulled up his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, looked back without flinching.
Miya Atsumu let out a low laugh, his gaze toward Itachiyama filled with heavy dread: "How terrifying."
He didn't blame Miya Osamu for it, since Osamu had already tried to adjust, Agatsuma was able to block it..
Aran clapped his hands: "Steady, steady. Not everyone can hit a net ball like that."
Wing Spikers don't need to, Middle Blockers can't do it, within Itachiyama, only Iizuna can perform such delicate operations.
It is also impossible for them to have Miya Atsumu receive for Hinata; Hinata should take responsibility for this himself.
Moreover, whether to sacrifice the opportunity to score from a serve to instead suppress Hinata and release the blockers.. was something Itachiyama needed to weigh for itself.
Lowering his eyes in thought for a moment, Hinata recalled how his seniors used to handle this kind of ball.
As expected, it would be better to focus his concentration to the highest degree and react in advance, attempting to receive the ball while avoiding disrupting his own center of gravity as much as possible.
The whistle blew, Iizuna prepared to serve the second ball.
The strategy of using the first receive to suppress the opponent is indeed very effective, so for his second serve..
The moment the ball was tossed, Iizuna did not move.
Akagi shifted his center of gravity forward, ready to dive at any moment to cover Hinata and handle the receive.
But right at that moment, Iizuna suddenly moved.
It wasn't his usual flat serve, nor was he preparing to spike from a standstill, but rather..
—A high toss.
Akagi lost his balance and almost fell to the ground.
On the other side, Miya Osamu let out a shout and quickly rushed over, reaching out to prepare to receive the ball: "I've got it!"
The serve, which pursued ball speed even more than before, caught Miya Osamu a bit off guard. After a loud impact, the volleyball, having not had its momentum neutralized, flew at an extremely high speed over Miya Atsumu's head.
Miya Atsumu cursed inwardly, rushed forward in two steps, struck the volleyball from the opposite direction.
The entire process happened so fast that Hinata didn't even have time to move laterally to create space.
Having only half-sprinted out from Position 4, Hinata decisively abandoned his run and, after taking a step, jumped directly into a diagonal leap.
—A direct jump?!
Amatori and Agatsuma were both startled, chased after by that powerful presence.
Watching Hinata's movements from the sidelines, Kumoita's face turned dark.
What is he trying to do?
A jump spike!
But in the next second, seeing that the volleyball had passed through without any pause, Hinata immediately pulled back.
The ball flew over his head, just as he pulled back his momentum and began to fall from his jump, Aran, who had run in a semi-circular arc across half the court, leaped up and slammed the ball down with a heavy spike.
The volleyball, struck with the true power of a top-tier national ace, traced a massive diagonal line, narrowly missing the corner of the Itachiyama Court where Komori Motoya had spiked it.
Sakusa lunged forward, sliding on one knee to save the ball.
The Itachiyama side erupted: "Great save!!"
Sakusa, who hadn't fully landed, used his momentum to rise and moved around the marker, preparing for a back-four attack.
Hinata's eyes lit up; Kami-senpai's movement, transitioning from defense into an attack, was beautiful.
Miya Atsumu and Oori followed up with a block, standing in front of Sakusa.
Sakusa glanced at Hinata, who was already positioned to his right and behind him ready to receive the ball, decisively adjusted his movement, sending the ball toward Miya Atsumu's fingers.
Having had the previous experience of being injured, Miya Atsumu didn't dare pull back too much this time.
Although he made slight adjustments to try and touch the ball, unfortunately, it had no effect at all.
The volleyball slammed hard into Atsumu's fingers before flying high out of bounds.
Miya Atsumu landed with a grimace, calling out to the others, "Save the ball!!"
Itachiyama is currently leading, they absolutely cannot let them close the gap in the score.
Akagi pushed off the ground and dove to dig the ball, saving it with an incredible effort.
Watching the volleyball still heading out of bounds, Akagi called out to the person closest to it, "Osamu!"
Hinata aimed for the position of the volleyball, silently stepping back while everyone's attention was elsewhere.
That's right, the ball hasn't touched the ground yet; they can still counterattack.
Miya Osamu chased under the ball, as he jumped, he raised his hand to send a back set back into the court.
Komori's brain rapidly analyzed the trajectory of the ball; at this angle.. it would clear the net.
He kept his hands at his sides and instinctively shouted, "Free ball—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, a dark shadow cast itself down from above.
As the volleyball flew just past the three-meter line of Inarizaki, Hinata, who had already stepped back to create space for his approach, leaped up with a heavy thud.
The time left for him to react was not that long, so he didn't have many choices.
The blockers from Itachiyama had already reacted, appearing in front of him almost instantaneously.
But it doesn't matter, he.. is taller.
The sound of a hit suddenly rang out, the volleyball flew over the net, slamming heavily less than a step away from Iizuna Sho.
Hinata landed lightly, turning slightly before reaching the center line, came to a steady stop on this side of the net.
Iizuna Sho, who had originally prepared to call for a free ball, stood frozen in place; he didn't even realize what had happened until the volleyball smashed toward him.
Wait, Hinata spiked it?
Was that last ball even spikeable?
Isn't the normal procedure to dig it back up to start the next round of blocking and defense?
Akagi, who had just scrambled up, was also clearly stunned for a moment.
He was already prepared to carry out a follow-up spike toward Itachiyama, but Hinata scored with a spike instead?
The Shiratori players on the sidelines clapped vigorously, their eyes filled with admiration and praise.
Stunningly brilliant.
He felt that he was capable now as well; even if his toss wasn't perfect, Hinata's performance was quite dazzling.
Miya Osamu was not surprised by this; he simply gave a thumbs-up to Hinata, who had turned his head, from a distance. "Beautiful."
It was only because he knew someone could keep up that he would give such a ball—one that wasn't incredibly high—making it very easy for Hinata to play.
Miya Atsumu narrowed his eyes. "You're just going to let Shoyo spike a ball like that?"
This guy could have easily given a decent toss if he had just put in the effort, but what was he thinking, insisting on digging it out with a forearm pass.
Osamu shot back without mercy: "It's easier to spike than your tosses."
Although most of the time, Miya Atsumu's toss is so easy to spike that it makes you feel like you're improving.
But when this guy actually gets serious about setting flat balls.. that kind of rough feeling is something only Hinata can handle.
Even he wanted to punch Miya Atsumu after dealing with it for so long.
Miya Atsumu fell silent, ultimately only able to let out a light click of his tongue.
Across the net, Amatori pointed at Hinata with exaggerated gestures. "See? I told you! This guy is amazing at finding the ball!"
He actually dares to spike a ball like that!
Hinata tilted his head slightly, a look of confusion in his eyes. "No, this ball is very easy to spike."
The ball's speed wasn't fast, its height was limited; aside from the insufficient time to adjust, everything was within an acceptable range.
Amatori remained silent for two seconds: "I think you're insulting Miya Atsumu."
Hinata was startled and hurriedly denied it, "No way! Atsumu-senpai's toss is the best!"
Miya Atsumu secretly clenched his fist behind his back.