If it were the latter, then he would no longer be the Ace Opposite, but a Wing Spiker on the right side who would have to shoulder the heavy burden of defense and support.
Kuroo reached out toward Shiratori, who was about to turn her head, his expression of relief masking an undeniable excitement.
He is a warrior.
And the "King" he had supported from beginning to end.. after years of silence, has finally returned to them.
Green eyes appeared in his field of vision, in the next second, an anxious voice followed.
“Shoyo, are you okay!”
Their king ignored the referee's attempts to stop him and crawled under the net, approaching Hinata with a sense of helplessness, who was already surrounded by the Inarizaki members in a circle.
He wanted to squeeze in but didn't know where to start, he even got glared at by everyone from Inarizaki.
Hinata lay flat on the ground, after struggling to catch his breath for a long time, he hurriedly said, "It's fine, it's fine, I'm still alive."
So scary, he really felt like he was about to die just now..
Shiratori, peering down from above with an overwhelming height advantage, immediately made Hinata's breath hitch.
Ahhh, being knocked down by a ball and not even being able to get up.. This is so embarrassing!
Hinata hurriedly grabbed Miya Atsumu's arm to pull himself up: "I'm really fine! It's just that lying down felt a bit comfortable."
Shiratori frowned: "Sorry.."
"No need to apologize! This is a match, it's not right for Natsume-senpai to hold back!" Hinata's head shook like a rattle.
Miya Atsumu had already raised his hand to report the incident to the referee.
Under the watchful eyes of the Fukuda General members, Shiratori Natsume returned to their side with a yellow card.
Kuroo hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping himself, while Ginjima covered his face with his hand, Midorikawa let out a deep sigh.
Kiyoko raised her hand and patted Shiratori's shoulder: "Don't worry about it, it only counts as a penalty if there are three."
Fukai broke down, crying out, "That's not the point!"
Natsume, what are you doing, Natsume!
The opponents are on the other side of the net! Go out there and curse them, scare them, yell at them until they break down!
Shiratori raised his hand in front of him, stopping the suddenly agitated person: "Don't be so ruthless; one should value harmony above all else.."
Kuroo hesitated again.
Coach Unabara, standing by the sidelines, also hesitated to speak, letting out a deep sigh under Coach Hiya's gaze: "What on earth is going on.."
If Inarizaki has been playing chaotically throughout, then Fukuda General should be a refreshing stream of academic style.
But now.. how did Fukuda General start acting so recklessly too!
But I have to say, Shiratori's spike just now was truly beautiful.
Yeah, Hinata's reception was also truly terrible.
The voices of the Fukuda General members rang out across the court: "Nice serve, Kanata!"
Leaving space for a run-up, Shimizu turned her head to look at the referee who was preparing to blow the whistle.
The moment the referee blew the whistle, he took a step back.
Hinata's eyes widened once again.
Wait, he retreated?
The ball that Shimizu was originally holding in his left hand was tossed straight up by him, then his right hand followed, striking the ball directly at the web of his hand as his entire center of gravity shifted forward.
Like the blast of a cannon firing, the volleyball flew into the air the next second, nearly smashing into the ceiling.
A high serve.
As Akagi stepped back, he mentally estimated where the ball would land.
That ball was hit incredibly high, even more terrifying than the one Itachiyama's server hit yesterday.
No, it should be the difference in proficiency.
The overhead lights in the volleyball gym were quite dazzling, the high trajectory of this ball extended the time he spent looking upward, causing physiological tears to well up and blur his vision.
It looked like it went out of bounds? But I'm not quite sure..
In that moment of hesitation, the volleyball, traveling at extremely high speed under the force of gravity, slammed down toward his head, ultimately grazed past Akagi.
The volleyball slammed onto the sideline, staying in bounds.
Fukuda General 2:0 Inarizaki.
"YES!!" The Fukuda General members cheered.
Kiyoko smiled and gave Kuroo a high five.
As expected, the results from the repeated probing in the previous two sets were flawless. Inarizaki's Libero's sense of vertical space would gradually diminish as the height increased, especially with shots landing on the line.
At this moment, the high serves he had practiced with his family while playing beach volleyball became incredibly useful.
But unfortunately, no matter how bright the gymnasium lights are, they are not as dazzling as the sun.
But.. it was enough.
Kiyoko Shimizu prepared to serve the second ball.
Unfortunately, he failed to score this time, instead being caught by Akagi and having the ball spiked back into his court.
Under Hinata's cover, Aran, playing in position 4, lived up to expectations and scored a point with a spike.
Unabara couldn't help but nod. "Aran's form is truly excellent today."
In this chaotic match, the usually inconsistent Aran unexpectedly became a player who could make him feel gratified..
How absurd.
Ginjima's serve smashed into the Fukuda General court, Midorikawa, who had taken a half-step back, lowered his center of gravity and steadily received the ball.
The volleyball was sent toward the net, Shiratori, who had been positioned to the side, instantly moved in to follow it.
Hinata, preparing to block, wondered what Shiratori's intention was.
Is he planning to go straight into a spike after the receive?
The spiking motion didn't change, his body didn't have that deceptive angle of a fake spike turned into a set, so.. it was definitely a spike.
Having reached a conclusion, Hinata and Aran both rushed toward the center, positioning themselves firmly in front of Shiratori.
That initial spike was so shocking that no matter how you thought about it, there was no way to handle it against a double block.
Shiratori did indeed spike it, it was even a short diagonal.
However.. the angle between the ball and the net reached a staggering, nearly 360 degrees.
The volleyball flew toward Position 2 on the inside of the net, just as it was about to reach the antenna, Kazama, rushing in from behind, raised his hand and slammed the ball down in a powerful spike.
Bam!!
The volleyball slammed into the line within the Inarizaki court, the entire process happening at an absurd speed.
Even Miya Atsumu had a string of question marks popping up over his head.
What just happened? Using a spike as a set?
No, this style of play..
As Miya Atsumu looked toward Hinata, the first thing he saw were Hinata's eyes, which were already looking at him.
In his daze, Miya Atsumu could already hear Hinata's voice.
—That was so cool! Can we do that too?!
——Come and give it a try!
Chapter 122: The One Hundred and Twenty-Second Fox
Miya Atsumu wanted to agree immediately, but the rationality of someone who wanted the championship told him that he should keep his mouth shut at a time like this.
This style of play is built upon Shiratorizawa's dual-wielding setter style; even if one were to use it, they would first have to make the opponent believe, "This person can actually spike."
But for Inarizaki, Miya Atsumu's spiking intensity itself was limited; he prioritized organizing the offense over second attacks at all times, unless a very obvious opening was presented before his eyes.
In the past, they could play that way because they had Miya Osamu, but now they have no way to field a second player who can act as a setter, so this style of play is essentially unsustainable.
Watching Miya Atsumu's stunned expression, Hinata Shoyo took a step toward him and asked tentatively, "Is it not possible?"
Miya Atsumu suddenly recoiled, raising his hand to shield his face from that intense, demanding gaze. "I'll think about it, I'll think about it, don't be so impatient."
Damn it, that idiot Osamu always lets me down at the critical moment!
Miya Osamu, who was in the hospital getting an IV drip with a fever of 39 degrees, sneezed again.
Nagumo, who had been called upon in a moment of crisis, was startled and nearly dropped the tablet he was using to watch the live stream: "Hands! Hands! Don't move!"
He had originally come along with the team to watch the match in high spirits, but he hadn't expected to be precisely drafted by Coach Kurosu to keep Miya Osamu company.
But it didn't matter. After all, he was a junior whom he had "watched grow up." It was just a bit of a shame that he couldn't witness Inarizaki's ascent to the top in person..
That guy is definitely thinking something like he wants to try it himself," Miya Osamu's heavily nasal voice came through from behind his mask. "If he dares to try something stupid, I'm definitely going to beat him up when I get back.
In the past, he would always be the one to clean up the mess, so if he wants to try, let him try. If he plays recklessly in this situation.. he will definitely beat Miya Atsumu until he's on his knees begging for mercy!
Nagumo watched Miya Osamu's hands carefully. "Don't get excited. Once we get back, you can play however you want against him."
Glancing sideways at the senior who had already been moved to the Second String, Miya Osamu sniffled and said, "After we finish this bottle, we'll head back. The match shouldn't be over yet, so we'll make it in time."
"Eh?" Nagumo, who had been focusing on Miya Osamu and hadn't been watching the live stream, was actually taken aback.
Miya Osamu pointed at the 5:2 score on the screen, then pointed at the Fukuda General player preparing to serve: "This score gap will be hard to claw back; the opponents' playstyle has changed too much, they need time to adapt."
Moreover, Shoyo's performance has noticeably declined, Atsumu's frequency of making tactical decisions during his sets has increased. Relying solely on Rintaro and Aran, it would actually be very difficult to score consecutively under the pressure of the opponent's strong blocking.
It could even be said that.. once the opposing team's setter demonstrated a capacity for attacking from Position 4 that was stronger than many schools' aces, the opponent's ability to score consecutive points grew significantly.
Hinata raised his hand again, calling for the ball: "Give it to me!"
The heavy spike sent flying by Aran was eventually chased down out of bounds by Miya Atsumu; without thinking much, Atsumu raised his hand and sent the ball toward Hinata.