In this long tug-of-war.. the first to leave might not be Hinata and Agatsuma, but rather Miya Osamu.
Sitting by the chair, Komori glanced at the seniors who were talking to each other, then turned to look at Sakusa, who was stretching his wrists.
He asked Sakusa softly, "Your ankle isn't injured, is it?"
That fall just now was almost enough to scare him to death. If one of Sakusa's teammates had sprained an ankle, it wouldn't just be bad for the National Sports Festival; it would also affect the upcoming Haruko preliminaries.
Sakusa replied, "I'm fine."
Komori breathed a sigh of relief; unlike a certain High School's Strongest Setter, it was impossible for Sakusa to lie about such things.
Before he could say anything more, Sakusa's voice drifted out quietly, "Is your physical fitness alright?"
The High School's Best Libero raised a hand and made an OK sign: "Of course, I'll stay on the court longer than Shinsuke."
The High School's Strongest Setter slumped in his chair: "I'm exhausted."
Aran's face was written with shock: "What are you so exhausted for! It's clearly Shoyo who's going to run his legs off!"
Miya Atsumu looked at Aran, then at Miya Osamu, his eyes filled with indignation: "Give me some good sets! Brain cell death is still death! These are the precious brain cells of a Setter!"
He originally thought he could endure it, but after enjoying the protection of the Kita Team and Akagi-senpai.. he felt that Aran and Miya Osamu were not good enough.
Miya Osamu, who was crouching behind the coach's bench drinking water, suddenly stood up, leaned over, grabbed a handful of Miya Atsumu's hair, completely messing up Miya Atsumu's hairstyle.
Before Miya Atsumu could even react, Miya Osamu had already moved a considerable distance away from him.
Looking at the clump of hair in his hands, which had already turned somewhat dark, Miya Osamu nodded. "Yeah, I definitely lost quite a few brain cells."
Miya Atsumu raised his hand to touch the top of his head, feeling as if something important had left him: "Damn you, Osamu! My hairstyle!"
Miya Osamu added a final blow with a rather good mood: "At this rate, you'll end up with a bald spot like a Mediterranean."
Well, there aren't that many genetic factors for hair loss caused by staying up late to watch game footage and overworking one's brain every day.
In short, even if Miya Atsumu went completely bald, he probably wouldn't end up with a bald spot on the crown of his head.
Miya Atsumu was being held down by Aran, unable to get up to punch him, he could only yell at Osamu, "You bastard! Scum! Trash! Pig!"
After trying to imagine Miya Atsumu's bald look, Hinata burst out laughing.
Atsumu-senpai glared at him fiercely: "What are you laughing at!"
Hinata sat properly and said quite sincerely, "It's okay, Atsumu-senpai."
Just when Atsumu-senpai thought Hinata was going to help him scold Miya Osamu, Hinata delivered the final blow to Miya Osamu instead: "Even if Atsumu-senpai goes bald, I'll help buy you wigs! You could have a different color every day! You'd look even cooler!"
In the end, Miya Atsumu was defeated by the overly blunt Hinata Shoyo.
This guy is serious.
No, rather.. he felt this was what Hinata wanted for himself.
“Aran.” Before Aran could voice his complaint, Kita Shinsuke, who had already confirmed the details for the next set with the coach, spoke up to stop him.
In the next set, you'll coordinate the receive and the cover for the spike. When Atsumu is in Position 2 and Position 3, try to stay back to receive the ball, let Osamu run to Position 1..
Hinata Shoyo opened his mouth to say something while silently listening to the conversation between Kita Shinsuke and Aran, but in the end, he said nothing.
Miya Atsumu tilted his head and looked at him, trying his best to fix his hair. "What's wrong?"
Hinata spoke tentatively, "Is my receiving really that bad.."
Miya Atsumu remained silent: "So you do know."
Seeing Hinata's expression turn pitiful, even shrinking back as if afraid of being scolded, Miya Atsumu gave a light click of his tongue. "It's fine, just focus on what you need to do, I know what I'm doing."
It's only natural to scold oneself for failing to do one's duty, like Aran and Miya Osamu.
Hinata's expression was serious: "I'll work hard to score."
As long as you have that mindset, just keep practicing when you get back," Miya Atsumu said, waving his hand. "Also, when you can't spike, try more tips or wipes; as long as you can score, any method works.
You can also try a disguised tip to trick the opponent's blockers into jumping too early.. like this.
Watching Miya Atsumu give a simple demonstration, Hinata nodded: "I think I roughly understand."
Very good, now.." Miya Atsumu raised his hand and pointed toward Itachiyama, "Tear their block to shreds for me!
Hinata raised his hand in response: "Got it! No problem!"
A notification sounded in everyone's ears, announcing the start of the final set.
Go for it!
Victory!
Itachiyama still chose to start with the Shiratorizawa S1, with Iizuna Sho serving first; the rotations of both sides were no different from the first set.
Give me a good serve!
Iizuna-senpai stared at the referee who was preparing to blow the whistle, immediately tossed the ball into the air after the whistle blew.
The best option would actually have been a net ball, but it is quite difficult to execute, especially since his energy is a bit lacking right now, so..
After a running start, Iizuna-senpai sent the ball precisely toward the corner to Miya Osamu's left.
With no one else around, Miya Osamu didn't call out; he simply remained silent as he lowered a leg to receive the ball.
This pass was very stable, providing the Setter with the best conditions for a set.
"What a great receive!" the soon-to-be bald Miya Atsumu said, clearly moved; such high-quality service was enough to make one cry.
Hinata quickly retreated behind the three-meter line, maintaining a stance ready to hit a high ball at Position 3.
Miya Osamu, who had just received the ball, also started moving at the same time, rushing from his original Position 5 toward the area behind Position 1 with considerable speed.
Agatsuma stared at Hinata's movement and took a half-step toward his own right.
Hinata wouldn't play a standard high ball at Position 3 in this situation, so his defensive position should be..
Taking that final step, Agatsuma leaped high next to the marker.
The Hinata on the opposing side had also leaped, almost face-to-face with him.
Right, what he should be wary of was the Flat Quick Attack from Position 4 after Hinata and Suna completed their rotation.
But.. this was just a ruse.
On the other side, Inamura reacted extremely quickly, shouting for Amatori to move to the other side.
The point that truly needed a block.. was Miya Osamu's powerful attack from Position 1 in the back row.
After the loud impact, Amatori's voice rang out: "Touch!"
"Great touch!" Komori rushed forward, sending the ball back from outside the court.
Komori's serve went straight to Iizuna, who was already positioned on the attack line, Iizuna did not hesitate for long, raising his hands to set the ball toward Amatori.
Having taken his position behind Position 4, Amatori took a large step forward, eyeing the ball and preparing to spike.
He didn't pay much attention to Inarizaki's blocking rotation; instead, he aimed for Miya Osamu, who was coordinating receiving positions with Aran in the back.
Iizuna-senpai was right; what he had to do was throw away his brain and win through sheer strength.
Watching Amatori Toru's state, Suna Osamu's pupils contracted, he instantly tensed his body to prevent himself from being blown away.
If Itachiyama's ace, Sakusa, is the pinnacle of various changing serves, then Amatori is a heavy artillery that compensates for the element of power.
Perhaps in terms of raw strength, Amatori Toru isn't as strong as Ushijima, but in terms of the conversion of spike velocity, Amatori's efficiency is definitely greater than Ushijima's.
There was no strong spin from a left-hander; there was only pure, extreme power.
Even though they had prepared themselves for a direct impact, Suna and Miya Atsumu were both thrown off balance by this spike.
The bone-chilling thud was loud enough to nearly tear eardrums. After piercing through the block, the volleyball's speed remained undiminished as it headed straight for Miya Osamu.
The ball was moving so fast that Miya Osamu's reaction time was extremely short; unable to adjust his movement in time, he could only raise his hands and use his arms to shield his face.
At the same time, the surface of his forearm was tilted slightly upward, ensuring that while the volleyball wouldn't hit him directly in the face, it also wouldn't bounce straight to the floor.
"Save it!" Miya Osamu shouted to Akagi.
Akagi's footsteps sounded even faster than Miya Osamu's shout.
Before the others on the court could even react, Akagi had already leaped under the ball, sending it up with a single hand.
The volleyball flew toward the net, at this height, it was clearly going to go straight over.
But this time, no one from Itachiyama called out "free ball"; instead, Agatsuma and Amatori had already rushed toward the ball.
This ball didn't exceed Hinata's maximum hitting point, which meant.. he would definitely spike it.
Aiming for the height of this ball, Hinata leaped up in front of the net with a thud.
This ball wasn't a set from the Setter, so it didn't hang in the air at its peak; therefore, Hinata didn't need much Arm Extension, he only needed to seize the opportunity to Spike.
The three-person block from Itachiyama stood before him, knowing he had almost no chance to spike, Hinata decisively slapped his hand under the ball.
The volleyball was sent high into the air once again, sailing over the block and dropping softly toward the three-meter line of Itachiyama.
Komori stepped forward and steadily received the tip sent by Hinata.
Iizuna-senpai took his position once again to set the ball.
Under Amatori's cover, Sakusa circled behind Position 3 to perform a quick attack, driving a spin serve past the block that slammed into the center of Inarizaki's court.
Akagi tried his best to control the ball, but it still flew out of bounds; fortunately, it didn't go very far and remained within Miya Atsumu's reach.
"Shoyo!" Miya Atsumu had no other choice. After calling out Hinata's name, Hinata, who had already rushed to Position 2 to cover, provided the cover and sent the ball to Suna.
Suna spiked a line shot to avoid the block, but it was met directly by Komori, who had been waiting there like a predator: "Captain!"
Kuroo frowned by the sidelines. "Why does it feel like the tables have turned?"
For the first two sets, Itachiyama had been on the defensive, but at the start of this set, Itachiyama had already taken the upper hand, turning the tables and suppressing Inarizaki.
Up until now, Inarizaki hasn't been able to organize a single decent attack.
Shiratori remained noncommittal about this: "Offense is the best defense."
By using overwhelming firepower to prevent the opponent from launching subsequent attacks, the fundamental goal of supplementing the defense is achieved.
Sakusa's spin serve might be manageable through adaptation or anticipation, but in this set, Iizuna began frequently moving Amatori around.
Under these circumstances, where everyone's physical strength and mental concentration were gradually failing to keep up, absolute physical dominance was practically impossible to counter.
However.. similarly, this frequent spiking was also a desperate, all-or-nothing play for Amatori.