Kita Shinsuke and Miya Atsumu were the only two who could perfectly time their actions to the second.
Specialized training and a state of absolute calmness during serves are both indispensable; with this ability, it can be practically confirmed that a serve will never exceed the time limit due to trying to time the second hand.
With a loud thud, the volleyball flew steadily over the net, traveling with almost no spin toward the space behind Shiratori, positioned right between Kazama and Matsuda.
Matsuda stared at the descending volleyball, judging the moment it cleared the net that it was a special float serve that would drop sharply behind the three-meter line.
He quickly called out to Shiratori in front of him, telling him to move away from where the ball would land: "Shiratori-senpai! I'll take it!"
Shiratori rushed to the net, leaving enough space for Matsuda.
Matsuda raised his hand, but he had a momentary lapse in judging the ball's trajectory.
A difference of a few centimeters caused the ball to hit the base of his palm instead of being received properly, sending the volleyball wobbling out of bounds.
With a sudden thud in his heart, Kazama had already dove into a diving save to keep the ball alive.
Although his hand successfully made contact with the ball, he couldn't lift the height of the volleyball at all.
Unlike Kuroo's previous attempt to use his hands to bump the ball over the net, unfortunately, the volleyball slammed directly into the net and failed to go over at all.
Coach Tsurumaru shouted from the sidelines, "Five Hundred Circles—"
Looking at the volleyball rolling to his feet, Kazama turned his head stiffly to look at Matsuda: "Just go buy some band-aids.."
Matsuda said with a deadpan expression, "Yeah.. maybe a bulletproof vest instead."
In short, the two of them were finished.
Shiratori clapped his hands: "Don't worry about it, next ball."
Under the pressure of Five Hundred Circles, the fully focused Matsuda once again predicted the trajectory of Kita Shinsuke's serve and successfully controlled the volleyball to prevent it from flying out.
"Give me the ball!" Kuroo shouted, calling for the ball.
Touch!
I'll take it!
Aran!
The pace of the match on the court suddenly slowed down. Watching from the stands, Hoshiumi frowned after observing a few plays. "Is Fukuda General crazy? Why are they dragging out the rhythm of the game?"
He confirmed it several times; the tempo of the match hadn't slowed down because Hinata had left the court, but because Fukuda General was intentionally dragging it out.
In a final match like this, stalling for time is nothing short of insane.
Hakuma tried hard to think.
Hakuma gave up thinking: "Really? I didn't notice."
Hirugami Yukio gave a chuckle. "Otherwise, the later stages would be difficult to play, wouldn't they?"
Fukuda General is a typical empiricist team, but Inarizaki plays differently in every match; they need to create their own reference books.
Goshiki rubbed his chin in front of the screen: "You mean the margin for error in standard play is very low.."
Having just finished explaining it to him, Shirabu turned to look at him. "Yeah, that's the downside of standardization. That's why when we played Aobajohsai in the past, we would specifically disrupt their usual strong attack habits."
Looking at Goshiki, who was thinking hard, Shirabu remained expressionless, a hint of disdain flickering in his eyes. "There's no shame in asking questions; just don't wait until you're on the court and mess up to start regretting it."
Look at Hinata; when the people from Itachiyama came before, he learned so much from Komori and the others.
Glancing tentatively at Shirabu's expression, Goshiki continued, "Then Hinata's way of hitting the topspin.."
Ushijima's left-handed spin isn't actually very useful as a reference, which is why he was so curious about how Hinata played it.
Shirabu's expression became even more disdainful, which was why he told Goshiki to follow Sakusa and ask more questions and practice more.
Hinata didn't have Sakusa's flexible wrists, but he would observe the hitting point, his top priority was to learn everything useful he could.
Goshiki Tsutomu, thinking for a moment that he was about to be scolded, shrugged his shoulders, but in the next second, Shirabu Kenjiro's voice rang out: "It's the hitting point. Next time, try hitting different parts of the volleyball to see how the impact changes."
Just like just now..
Coach Washijo, sitting on a chair on the other side with his arms crossed, glanced at Shirabu Kenjiro, who was demonstrating something to Goshiki Tsutomu, then let out a soft huff and closed his eyes again.
The score for the first set ended at 21:25, with Inarizaki winning over Fukuda General.
Inarizaki successfully defended their title and was not overtaken by Fukuda General, despite the latter's attempts to increase their firepower in the later stages.
Hinata Shinphei sat with his legs stretched out in a chair, watching everyone return.
Miya Atsumu sat down beside him. "How are you feeling?"
Glancing at the Fukuda General members who were having an intense discussion on the other side of the net, Hinata replied, "Everyone is so amazing. It seemed like Shiratori-senpai performed several fake second attacks just now."
With a slightly helpless laugh, Miya Atsumu reached out and turned Hinata's face back. "I'm not asking about that.."
I'm asking how you feel? Does your knee hurt? Do your muscles feel sore?
Hinata raised his hand: "Reporting! I feel great today!"
It should be said that.. he got into the zone very quickly today, his touch was quite good during his final few points before being subbed out.
Miya Atsumu frowned imperceptibly upon hearing this, but he quickly put on a smile: "That's good. Let's strive to take them down even earlier in the next set."
Yeah, by the way, Atsumu-senpai, I want to try that one from yesterday," Hinata suggested proactively. "I just tried a topspin serve, it seems like number 5 isn't very sensitive to lateral ball trajectories.
Miya Atsumu decided to go along with Hinata's suggestion: "Sure, so for the next set, are we still playing through the center?"
"Alright! And also.." Hinata was very excited.
Watching Hinata gesturing wildly as he described his thoughts, Miya Atsumu responded while simultaneously pondering another matter.
To be honest, Hinata feeling like he is in peak condition right now is actually a bad sign.
Under yesterday's high-intensity exercise, Hinata had spent almost an entire set warming up, but today, the process was a bit too fast.
Warming up too quickly also means reaching exhaustion faster, it could also mean that the duration of maintaining peak condition will become even shorter.
Now, what he needs to consider is how to utilize Hinata's limited sense of touch to achieve the best results in the shortest amount of time.
Leaving this kind of thing for Hinata to think through himself probably wouldn't work; after all, this guy tends to be incoherent when describing things, he lacks experience, the fast-paced nature of the match would only further interfere with his thinking process.
But..
None of that matters, because after all, he is here.
His purpose for standing on the court is to become the brain of the Spiker; of course, he will also become Hinata's brain.
All those wild ideas.. I'll leave it to him to put into practice.
"Shoyo." Miya Atsumu spoke up, stopping Hinata from rambling based on pure instinct.
Hinata turned back to look at him: "Atsumu-senpai? Is there something on my face?"
Why is he looking at him like that?
Atsumu leaned in slightly toward Hinata, his gaze sharp, as if he were looking at an object, a handy weapon.
Don't be afraid.
He spoke softly, his warm breath brushing against Hinata's cheek, causing Hinata to involuntarily squint his eyes.
The Setter's gaze was even more excited than the Spiker he was watching.
The single fang revealed by his grin was quite prominent, his breath seemed as if it would swallow the youth, who was several sizes smaller than him, whole.
If you can't move anymore, just rely on me.
——He will squeeze every last bit of value out of Hinata.
Hinata swallowed the saliva in his mouth, a drop of sweat rolling down his cheek, which Atsumu wiped away with his hand.
Without waiting for Hinata's response, Miya Atsumu spoke for himself, "If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your agreement, even though your objection is invalid."
Hinata reached out and grabbed Miya Atsumu's wrist, his tone quite firm: "I believe in Atsumu-senpai."
He might not believe in himself when it comes to volleyball, but he will always believe in Atsumu.
So.. please use him without any hesitation.
Atsumu's smile widened again, giving off a sense of complete indifference to the gazes of others, as if he were acting without restraint.
Feeling Hinata's slightly elevated body temperature, he narrowed his eyes. "Even if you cry, I won't let you off easy."
"Yeah, okay." Hinata nodded.
He wouldn't cry.. except when being tortured by a myofascial knife.
Aran raised his hand to cover his face, looking through the gaps between his fingers at the two people on the Coach's bench: "Help, this guy is so perverted, does he even know what he's saying?"
Suna wiped his face with a towel: "Shoyo is even more terrifying.."
If it were Miya Osamu, he would have already thrown a punch.
Draping a towel around his neck, Suna felt a slight sense of regret. "I really wanted to take a picture of him."
Aran had already seen through Suna's little scheme: "Osamu is already pitiful enough, don't go instigating Atsumu to steal his pudding anymore."
In a place where Hinata couldn't see, Miya Atsumu glanced at the whispering childhood friend and the photographer.
Completely indifferent to the two people's whispering, Atsumu grabbed Hinata's hand, turning it palm up as if he were holding something.
The empty trophies were already placed on the tournament committee's table, with the golden medals laid out neatly beside them.
Faces, some pensive and others excited, flashed before his eyes as they discussed who would take home the heavy individual awards.
In the end, Atsumu's gaze was fixed entirely on Hinata.
I want you to crown me yourself.
Chapter 119: The One Hundred and Nineteenth Fox
Before Miya Atsumu could get the answer he had been longing for, Aran reached out and patted his shoulder. "Give it up, Atsumu, you terrible adult."
Miya Atsumu whipped his head around and saw Aran seriously pulling the two of them apart before forcing his way into the middle.
Aran looked at Hinata: "If we're talking about being crowned, it should be me."
Exactly, there is no doubt that he is the MVP of the entire arena!
The Libero pointed to himself. "Why not me?"