Oikawa moved to the side with a wronged expression, making room for Iwaizumi to take his seat.
The two fell silent for a few seconds. Once Oikawa confirmed that Iwaizumi was indeed not angry, he asked, "So, who is playing in the finals?"
The livestream kept filming the spectator stands. Although one could see the representative colors of both sides were red and blue, these two colors were indeed not as eye-catching as Itachiyama and Shirabu, for a moment, he couldn't remember which teams they were.
But that row of large drums and snare drums.. it's too exaggerated.
Iwaizumi had already pulled up the player profiles: "Fukuda General from Hyogo Prefecture, Inarizaki."
In the third-place match, Itachiyama lost to Shirabu. Shirabu took third place.
Oikawa Tooru was full of questions: "Huh? What? Who lost to whom? Has the King fallen from his throne?"
In his memory, Itachiyama was almost overwhelmingly powerful; at least in these recent years, their dominance was beyond doubt.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Oikawa became incredibly excited: "Who did they lose to in the Semifinals? That's just too amazing!"
He absolutely had to watch the recording of that match. A team built on such overwhelming talent and resources, with almost no weaknesses, actually lost.. there must be plenty of things worth learning from.
Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone filled with emotion: "They lost to Inarizaki. Hinata single-handedly tore through their main blockers, leaving their Libero with very little stamina left, so Shirabu managed to take advantage of the situation today."
Oikawa Tooru fell silent.
After a long silence, he spoke with a trembling voice, "Inarizaki? Miya Atsumu?"
Iwaizumi Hajime spread his hands: "Yeah, that same Miya Atsumu."
Oikawa Tooru spoke without hesitation, "Fine, I bet Fukuda General wins."
Fukuda General has already taken down Shiratorizawa, so defeating Inarizaki wouldn't be difficult either.
However.. the footage of Itachiyama and Inarizaki still needs to be watched. When it comes to tactics, Miya Atsumu can be described as a master among masters.
Moreover, judging solely by his tactical mindset, Miya Atsumu—who was trained by a former national team setter and benefited from the most advanced training resources—is undoubtedly superior.
There is so much to learn..
The camera swept past the Inarizaki banner with yellow characters on a black background, then swept past the Inarizaki team flag with black characters on a red background.
It swept past the various people in the spectator stands, finally coming to a rest on the black banner with white lettering belonging to Fukuda General High School.
Iwaizumi Hajime's eyes widened slightly; he suddenly felt his lips were a bit dry.
In the quiet gymnasium, Iwaizumi heard the sound of Oikawa Tooru opening a soda beside him.
Oikawa Tooru raised his hand, seemingly toasting the Fukuda General captain who flashed across the screen: "Yeah, all in."
In the player tunnel, Hinata stood with his arms spread wide in front of Miya Atsumu: "Does it look good?"
Fukuda General's uniforms were highly similar to Itachiyama's school uniforms, because after communication between the two sides during the first half, Fukuda General switched to their substitute uniforms.
As for Inarizaki's spare uniforms.. they were actually just the same set the Libero wore before, with the colors swapped.
Miya Atsumu, who had just taken off his jacket, also revealed the second set of uniform he was wearing underneath, raised a thumb toward Hinata: "It suits you perfectly."
Aran rolled his eyes. "Changing the color just makes this guy seem even more frivolous."
At least black can look deep and serious, but this white color looks lively on Hoshiumi Hinata, yet on Miya Atsumu, it just looks purely improper.
Miya Atsumu turned his head to look at his childhood friend: "Aran-senpai, you seem even darker."
—His hair and face were becoming almost indistinguishable.
Aran's face darkened even more: "Hey! Don't treat me differently!"
Miya Atsumu, in an excellent mood, reached out and patted Aran's back: "Black-faced but very amazing, senpai, good luck."
Hinata shrugged his shoulders, put on his strapped knee pads, jogged out of the player's tunnel behind him.
Kumagai pushed the ball cart used for warming up and also left.
Aran collapsed to the ground.
Oori Ren, passing by, gave Aran a thumbs-up: "That was very cool."
Aran's eyes welled up: "Are you serious?"
Oori didn't hesitate: "Of course."
Inarizaki's super Ace rose from his seat, directing all his fury at Miya Atsumu: "Fine! Today, I'm going to score a hundred points! I'll make Atsumu kneel and worship me!"
Rishia Heisuke, trailing a step behind, couldn't help but complain in his heart.
No, even if they played to a fifth set, the final score would only be 15 points; there's no way it could reach a hundred.
Kita Shinsuke clapped his hands, causing everyone to calm down: "Alright, get out there and warm up."
The moment he stepped out of the tunnel, the cheers from the Inarizaki supporters poured down on him like a deluge. That roar made Hinata feel as if he were being surrounded, as if he were being carried up to the heavens.
Excitement, agitation, joy, but more than anything, it was.. trepidation.
No, he has to stay calm and composed.
These people are cheering for him now, but they will truly curse him out if he makes a mistake in a moment.
The more enthusiastically they praised him, the more harshly they would scold him.
Far away on the other side, Kuroo tucked his shirt into his pants and remarked with emotion, "That momentum is truly intense."
No wonder so many people hate the Inarizaki cheering squad; facing them head-on is truly terrifying.
Shiratori stood by his side with hands on hips: "Banners fluttering, truly a sight to behold."
I'm afraid that Inarizaki, having just defeated the King, is at its peak momentum; even with the physical exhaustion from yesterday, their touch will be excellent today with their current state of form.
To be honest.. it's a bit difficult to handle.
A pair of hands reached out from behind, messing up the hair of both people.
The leisurely voice caused the tension to slowly subside: "Don't be afraid, Natsume, Rei."
We have already defeated many strong enemies, today will be no exception.
And we.. we came all this way for exactly this, didn't we?
Day after day of practice, worn-out sneakers, sweat, blood, tears, past glory, current responsibilities, future hopes..
Everything, in the end, will become the steps on the road to coronation.
Neither a king, nor a challenger.
They were merely the most inconspicuous "warriors" on the long road of life.
Lowering his eyes with a slight smile, Shiratori took a step forward, leading the way.
Alright! Let's go and seize the ultimate fruit of victory!
Let's go!
Raising his hand to shrug off his jacket, Kita Shinsuke walked slowly toward Kuroo Rei.
Kuroo lowered his eyes slightly as he looked at the Inarizaki Captain, then slowly reached out his hand toward him: "I look forward to playing with you today."
Kita Shinsuke raised his hand to return the gesture, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth: "The pleasure is mine."
Ordinary people who have intruded upon this monster's feast.
The mediocre warriors who championed their "King" all the way here.
It doesn't matter who they were in the past; standing here at this very moment, they have only one thing to do.
Surpass everything and become the strongest.
Neither side went too overboard during the warm-up session. During this time, the remaining top eight players who had not yet left also began to take their seats in the stands one after another.
Their journey had already come to an end; they no longer had the qualification to step onto that court, all they could do was prepare for the future.
The captains of both sides drew lots, Inarizaki served first.
"Just as expected." Shiratori was not surprised by this at all.
From the Interhigh to the National Sports Festival, Inarizaki only drew a single late-start match, which was their previous game against Itachiyama.
Whether you say Inarizaki was lucky or that they were just incredibly unlucky, the truth is that they didn't win a single toss for service throughout this entire tournament.
For Fukuda General, who had issues with their first receive, letting Miya Atsumu take the service advantage first was actually quite bad news.
But fortunately, after being targeted so often, they have developed their own system to cope.
The current problem is.. based on the S1, what adjustments will Inarizaki make to their overall positioning.
Hoshiumi rubbed his chin: "It should still be an Opposite tactic, having Ginjima or Kita-senpai play right-wing reception or something."
Can't Hinata jump? Playing as an Opposite would be even more exhausting.
Far away in the stands on the other side, Amatori looked at Iizuna beside him in shock.
Aren't you underestimating him too much? He is someone who can literally run a monster from Itachiyama to death.
Hearing Usui's question, Coach Kusubashi Michiko slightly raised an eyebrow.
And.. I don't think it will be that simple.
Shiratori Natsume glanced sideways toward the Inarizaki side: "Miya Atsumu wouldn't use such an obvious tactic; that guy is even more devious than I am."
If we reason normally, there's a possibility they might swap the positions of the two Middle Blockers, using the front row Opposite as a decoy while the Ace and the other Middle Blocker execute the real strong attack.
After thinking for a few seconds, Shiratori added, "Let's see who they substitute in. As long as it's not their captain, just focus on targeting Miya Atsumu."
Kuroo expressed shock: "Aren't you a fan of Miya Atsumu? Why are you being so hard on him?"
Shiratori gave a smile: "After all, the deeper the love.."
Over at Inarizaki, Miya Atsumu had also completed his preparations, finally confirming the key points with Hinata and Aran: "That's it. The opposing Libero is very easy to target; just spike it so hard that he can't get back up."
Hinata nodded vigorously, his voice still a bit hoarse from shouting too much yesterday: "Understood completely! Basically, we just need to bring out, use it, right!"
Aran sighed, "Take it easy, be careful. You might want to head over to Itachiyama for a stroll when you get back tonight."
Thinking back to yesterday's miserable scene, Hinata fell silent.
He admitted it was very useful, but the pain was real, he truly didn't want to go back again.
On the other side, Kita Shinsuke, who was standing next to the coach with his arms crossed, said nothing.
Actually, Hinata can't escape it. Once the National Sports Festival is over, these starters will all be taken to the physiotherapist.
After all, the Haruko qualifiers are coming up soon. Although Inarizaki doesn't have as much pressure, they still need to take home the championship trophy.