Matsuda stared intently at Hinata's movements.
—A line shot.
At the last moment, Hinata's wrist flicked slightly.
—Wrong, it's a short diagonal.
Bam!
Matsuda's positioning was off, but he managed to time the block perfectly: "Touch!"
Shiratori landed lightly after touching the ball, while simultaneously retreating to prepare for repositioning.
The ball hit by the block had a very high trajectory, its speed had decreased significantly. Even if Matsuda had misjudged it before, he would have had plenty of time to chase it down.
After letting out a light click of his tongue, Miya Atsumu stepped back, leaving space for the front row to perform a block.
Suna's head was also aching at this moment.
The standard blocking judgment process mostly depends on the setter, followed by observing the movements of the spikers during a quick attack.
But Fukuda General's overall positioning right now is quite ambiguous. You could call it a setter playing in Position 1 and 2, or you could call it a back-row setter stepping up.. It leaves you completely in the dark.
As Suna led the chase toward Kuroo, Midorikawa, who had picked up the ball on the other side, turned in mid-air and pushed the ball directly over the net with both hands.
The volleyball hit the ground, Fukuda General scored.
Hoshiumi, in the stands, frowned. "That's too cautious; they aren't making a single mistake."
That number 9 player just jumped from behind the three-meter line; even if he performed a second attack, it wouldn't be a foul.
Hirugami nodded: "This is the absolute advantage of Fukuda General. Within their range of ability, they will minimize the probability of any mistakes."
This is the muscle memory brought about by massive amounts of training; under any circumstances, it can ensure that the situation remains within a controllable range.
It looks chaotic, but in reality, there is order within the chaos.
"But reaching this level of training is still quite terrifying," Hanabusa Takahiro frowned.
Matsukawa, who had just returned, saw Oikawa Tooru scribbling furiously on a tactical board and felt a bit bewildered: "What are you doing?"
Iwaizumi didn't even look up; as he pointed out Oikawa Tooru's mistakes, he replied, "Copying homework."
Matsukawa was shocked: "We actually have homework we can copy?!"
Holding the ball and standing at the edge, Kindaichi whispered to Kunimi Akira, "Shouldn't the focus be on copying the person themselves? Why is it 'homework'?"
Kunimi Akira didn't want to talk: "Who knows.."
Fukuda General 12:9 Inarizaki.
Under Aran's cover, a very extreme spike went out of bounds, scoring a point. Hinata landed on the floor, nearly losing his balance as his center of gravity shifted.
Hinata let out a long breath, his hands clenched against his knees, unable to suppress a slight tremor.
Finally, he reached out and grabbed Miya Atsumu's pants, then he crouched down.
Miya Atsumu looked down at Hinata, alarm bells ringing in his heart: "Shoyo? What's wrong?"
After a few seconds of silence, Hinata raised his hand and said with a hint of frustration, "I feel a bit unwell, like I can't keep playing."
His bad feeling was confirmed as Miya Atsumu bombarded him with a rapid-fire succession of questions: "Where does it hurt? A headache? Tightness in your chest making it hard to breathe? Knees? Did you stub your hand?"
Hinata replied, "None of those. My legs just feel really heavy, like I can't put any strength into them, but I feel like I'm floating."
Miya Atsumu also crouched down, reached out to brush the hair away from Hinata's forehead, pressed his own forehead against it.
His own temperature was a bit higher, but he didn't have a fever.
But Miya Atsumu still raised his hand and shouted to the coach, "Coach! Substitution!"
Coach Kurosu, who had been closely watching Hinata, was the first to submit a substitution request to the head referee, while Rishia Heisuke, who had already finished warming up, took his position by the sidelines.
Miya Atsumu grabbed Hinata and pulled him to his feet, asking in a low voice, "Can you still walk?"
Hinata replied, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Actually, his current condition wasn't as bad as how he felt after finishing the tests at Itachiyama, but his gradually declining reaction speed and his protesting legs were repeatedly telling him—he should leave.
Staying on the court in such poor condition would only cause trouble, even if he left, there wouldn't be any problems; everyone else on the court was stronger than him, so he could take a rest.
So what he said was that he couldn't play anymore, not that he was unable to play.
After replacing Rishia, Coach Kurosu had Hinata sit down and gave him a quick examination.
After confirming that Hinata's condition was normal, Coach Kurosu stood up and spread a large towel on the bench nearby. "Don't worry about the match for now. Lie down and rest; you can take a nap to recover your condition properly."
Hearing this, it was Hinata's turn to be stunned: "Coach?"
Wait, can we sleep here?
Coach Kurosu proposed again, "You can sleep on the floor if you want, but it's a bit dangerous."
Hinata, who had been ordered to sleep on the court for the first time, was a bit excited: "Okay! I'll make sure to get some good rest!"
Watching Hinata lie down, Kurosu continued, "The opponents are in quite good form this set, their opening caught us a bit off guard. Although I'm a bit reluctant, I expect we'll have to let this set go."
I'll sub in Kumagai Kuniharu for the next set to counter them. You get some good rest; you might need to go on later.
Hearing that there was still a chance to play, Hinata's eyes lit up: "Great! I'll definitely get some good rest!"
Coach Kurosu stood to the side with his arms crossed, only turning his gaze back to the court after noticing that Hinata's breathing had quickly stabilized. Whether it was because he was exhausted or because he felt completely at ease with the others, Hinata fell asleep incredibly fast.
Resting was one aspect, but it was also to allow Hinata to properly process the changes from this opponent.
The learning ability during the sleep stage is terrifying; Hinata needs this downtime to process the complex information.
Withdrawing his smile, his gaze swept over Coach Tsurumaru, who was saying something to Shimizu Kanata on the opposite side.
He knew that after changing coaches, Fukuda General would not play according to a predictable, textbook tactical pattern like before.
However, he thought that the occasional setter attacks from before were already quite bold; he never expected that they would actually dare to directly swap player positions..
As expected of a young coach, his way of thinking is completely different from that old man's.
Tsurumaru turned his head to meet Coach Kurosu's gaze, then turned back to offer a quite bright smile.
—Actually, he didn't.
He was truly just setting normally; after all, Shiratori himself was actually very resistant to playing on the Left Wing, he only started that way as an alternative.
Who knew these kids would give him such a massive surprise, so big that..
It almost scared him to death!
Kurosu beckoned toward the waiting area, calling Kumagai over. "Do you know how Harata plays?"
Kumagai nodded: "I know."
Then he raised his hand and pointed toward Fukuda General: "Yeah, keep an eye on number 9 over there; try to replicate his movements as much as possible in the next set."
Kumagai had no objections: "Understood."
It looks complicated, but actually.. for him, it's quite simple.
After all, judging solely by physical conditions, he was confident that he could perform better than Midorikawa as a Setter.
The score for the Third Set ended with Fukuda General 25, Inarizaki 21. After a deadlock until the very end, Inarizaki was unable to score consecutive points to close the gap.
When it came to drawing the blockers away, Rishia couldn't achieve the same effect as Hinata. Therefore, as the set drew to a close, Miya Atsumu and the others also began to play more conservatively, it was the first time Suna had slacked off without being warned.
After waking Hinata to switch sides, Coach Kurosu began making drastic changes to the entire lineup's formation.
In the fourth set, Fukuda General started, the rotation remained with Kuroo serving first from Position 1.
But the adjustments made by Inarizaki were massive, to the point where it felt like they were almost unrecognizable.
Amatori expressed shock: "What is Inarizaki trying to do? Are they crazy?"
By having Aran play on the right wing on the basis of the setter starting in Position 2, substituting in a player for the crucial Opposite position, the final result was that Suna started in Position 4.
Sakusa had guessed what Inarizaki was planning to do: "They're going for a 4-2, aren't they?"
Four-two, four-two, Inarizaki's standard four-two," Sugawara Koushi called out to Tsukishima Kei, who was just about to head out to get water, "Tsukishima, come back quickly and finish watching this match!
Kageyama silently pulled out a notebook, preparing to take notes.
Author's Note:
Hinata: Zzzzz……
Chapter 123: The One Hundred and Twenty-Third Fox
Taking his position, Kumagai exhaled a somewhat nervous breath.
It wasn't that he hadn't played a standard 4-2 before, but it was his first time starting alongside a high-level setter like Miya Atsumu.
However.. what he needs to do is quite simple.
In any case, just stay as steady as possible for now, listen to Atsumu-senpai's commands to actively coordinate the middle.
Fukai, who had swapped positions with the Libero and stepped off the court, looked at the coach beside him: "Are you planning to imitate us?"
Coach Tsurumaru said simply, "I wouldn't say they are imitating, but the Inarizaki twins' original playstyle is actually a type of 4-2, though they have a clear distinction between the starting setters."
This number 3 has played before, from a setter's perspective.. he's actually no worse than Midorikawa, but I'm not sure how his receives are or if he can support the defense.
With the intent to test them, Kuroo sent the serve directly toward Kumagai.
But the Inarizaki side didn't take the bait at all; Ginjima stepped up and steadily received the ball.
At the same time, Miya Atsumu and Suna pulled towards both sides of the net, while Aran prepared to jump for a high ball in the center.
Coach Tsurumaru slightly raised an eyebrow.
A back-row setter responsible for organizing the offense—this is the most standard 4-2 rotation.
So honest?
—No way.
The volleyball flew over Kumagai's head, heading toward a spot near the net at Position 2.
A hand reached out from below, sending the ball with one hand toward Suna's hitting point at Position 4.