With a loud thud, the volleyball slammed onto the three-meter line of Municipal Kobe, before bouncing high and landing out of bounds.
Aran's expression twisted in a moment of pure betrayal as he landed, but he soon burst into cheers: "Great ball, Atsumu!"
Suna, who was also used as a decoy, maintained a calm expression: "Nice spike."
Such days.. he had already grown used to them, he could even guess what Miya Atsumu was going to do the moment he saw Hinata deliver such a great first receive.
Passing by the two of them, Miya Atsumu immediately raised both hands toward Hinata.
Hinata tipped the ball over the net: "Atsumu-senpai, great spike!"
Atsumu gave a smug glance at Matou Yukimaru, who hadn't kept up at all: "Compared to Fukuda General, Itachiyama, or Karasuno.. you're still far from where I am, senpai."
Matou said expressionlessly, "Of course."
He was just an ordinary Middle Blocker, but because he had spent so much time with the Setter, their chemistry was incredibly high, allowing him to pull off those brilliant Quick Attacks.
In essence, it was actually Wakamura's credit; he didn't even have to think much.
If Miya Atsumu could be compared to him and those top-tier national Middle Blockers.. he would have already won.
With Kanzaki scoring a point during Inarizaki's service turn, Municipal Kobe once again stabilized the score at 3 points.
Watching the score gap fail to widen any further, Coach Omimi glanced again at Kanzaki, who was high-fiving Wakamura by the sidelines.
“Municipal Kobe is gradually getting into the groove,” Coach Kurosu said softly beside him, his tone carrying a hint of regret.
Their Ace's hot streak came a little sooner than expected; perhaps their fighting spirit had been ignited.
Aside from the lead they built early on through a strong service turn, Municipal Kobe did not give Inarizaki any more opportunities for frequent consecutive scoring.
After interrupting Ginjima's serve, the service turn passed to Murata of Municipal Kobe for the second time.
Murata was one of the few players from Municipal Kobe who couldn't perform a jump serve, making him not very threatening; for Inarizaki's first receive, it was a chance to rest.
He had been interrupted by Inarizaki's serve in the previous round, leaving him with no room to resist.
Standing at the service position, Murata took a deep breath.
At the same time, the Inarizaki side also adopted a formation of two spikers and one receiver, with Ginjima and Akagi handling everything.
The whistle blew.
Standing before the baseline, Murata tapped the ball against the ground, only retrieving it in his hands after five seconds.
A doubt arose in Akagi's mind.
It's just a standard serve, is there really a need to take so much time to get into position?
At the exact moment the seven-second limit for the serve was reached, Murata suddenly took a step backward.
The ball in his left hand bounced upward, he pulled his right hand back into a fist behind him.
A buzzing sound echoed in his head, almost simultaneously with the sound of the heavy impact on the volleyball, Akagi's near-cracking shout rang throughout the entire gym.
Ceiling Serve!!
Ginjima also reacted immediately, pulling back his hand from its intended receiving position and looking up to track the ball's trajectory while preparing to raise his hands to receive it.
The ceiling of the Municipal Kobe Gymnasium in Amagasaki was nowhere near as high as the ceilings of the stadiums used to host the National Tournament, it was even less comparable to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium he had visited last year.
Without a high enough ceiling to provide assistance, the power of this serve would also decrease accordingly.
Hinata took only a single glance at the volleyball, which was already becoming a blur, before quickly pulling his gaze back and stepping back to prepare for his approach for the attack.
No problem.
This was nothing like the sharpest high toss serve from the pink-haired senior from Fukuda General he remembered; the seniors would definitely have no problem.
I've got it!
A solid, powerful voice came from behind him, Hinata had already retreated to the area behind Position 4.
Miya Atsumu also spoke up immediately: "What a great receive!"
Tosaka, who had already moved to the center, quietly watched the movements on Inarizaki's side, while Aran and Hinata-senpai had already completed their position swap behind Position 3.
From the Ace to a high ball in the center, the Opposite going to Position 4 for a strong attack?
Indeed, Inarizaki had already used this kind of unconventional tactic once before.
The volleyball flew from Miya Atsumu's hands, passing in front of Aran, dropped toward a high point at Position 4.
Miya Atsumu's set was incredibly stable, the ball hovering perfectly at the exact point where Hinata would make contact.
But since it wasn't a Quick Attack, Tosaka and the nearby Kanzaki were still able to catch up to it.
Moreover, this ball wasn't sent as high as the previous ones; it was a ball within the blocking range.
Jumping from a position slightly closer to Aran, Hinata's gaze remained fixed on the ball that had already flown in front of him.
From this position, it seems that hitting a topspin shot would be a better choice.
No, actually, aiming for a line shot to pin them against the sideline would also work.
Kanzaki knew very well that Hinata's line shot was quite good, so he adjusted his blocking direction the moment Hinata's gaze shifted toward the sideline.
Tosaka made the same judgment as him and also moved to block there.
But in that very instant, Hinata, who had been prepared to spike, suddenly spun around and slammed the ball behind him with one hand.
The block, which had already shifted toward Hinata's left, left a significant gap in the middle. Hinata's ball zipped straight through between the two blockers, crashing heavily behind the three-meter line.
Tosaka was completely stunned, Hanae, who had already moved toward the blind spots on either side of the block, also felt his mind go blank.
—A back quick attack.
Holy crap—What a great play!!
That little sprout is incredible! He can even do that!
The moment he landed, Hinata, unable to stand steadily, sat right down on the ground.
On the coach's bench, Coach Kurosu clapped while saying regretfully, "That balance still needs work. I'll have a word with the old man Washijo later and ask him to find some people who do ice skating."
Coach Omimi didn't know what to say.
This person.. just a moment ago he was saying Coach Washijo had his eyes on Hinata, now he's already eyeing my resources.
Oh my, are you performing acrobatics?
Tendo tilted his head, expressing admiration for the difficult technique Hinata had just performed.
Setting aside the difficulty of the technique itself, just the awareness to use it in a situation like this, the ability to create the necessary conditions himself.. that alone is already incredibly impressive.
Looking at Tendo Makoto, who had already circled around to the back of the computer to view the screen upside down, Goshiki Tsutomu hesitated again.
Glancing at Ushijima Wakatoshi beside him, he spoke up, "Tendo-senpai, will you sit next to me?"
Tendo wagged a finger: "No, no, no, I'm leaving in a bit."
By the way, do you want to learn a bit? A ball that can make someone's expression crumble.
Goshiki Tsutomu was stunned: "What?"
Pointing a finger at the screen, Tendo narrowed one eye. "Such a flashy way of playing."
“Is it possible?!” Goshiki Tsutomu nearly stood up.
No, no, no, that's impossible. Whether he can pull it off is one thing, but Shirabu simply wouldn't cooperate with him!
As if having read Goshiki Tsutomu's thoughts, Ushijima said calmly, "The setter's duty is to assist the spikers in scoring; Shirabu will ensure the precision of every ball."
Even if he can't avoid the block, he will provide a ball that gives you absolute time to handle it; the rest is up to you as a spiker.
Goshiki froze for a moment, lowering his eyes to seriously contemplate Ushijima Wakatoshi's words.
Does he mean.. that the time after a set belongs solely to the spiker?
Ushijima added, "As long as it scores, any technique is a good technique."
It's not that only a playstyle like Kiryu's, which earns full marks in fundamentals and adaptability, is a good technique.
Just like his left-handed spike, the spin Sakusa creates using his wrist. As long as it can bring points to the team, it is valuable.
But.. playing blindly without any certainty is absolutely unacceptable.
I understand.
Facing Miya Atsumu's slightly warning gaze, Hinata stood straight and honest.
Oh no, it seems his little scheme to try out that ball-brushing playstyle was seen through by Atsumu-senpai.
Once the match actually began, he still couldn't quite control himself from trying out everything he wanted to learn.
It was a bad habit, but.. Atsumu-senpai was even worse than him!
The one who learned the opponent's attack on the court was Atsumu-senpai, not him, the one who used it immediately after learning the Quick Attack was also not him.
—It was Atsumu-senpai!
Reading the accusation in Hinata's eyes, Miya Atsumu raised his hand and pushed his head back. "This is different."
Even if I make a mistake with those things, there won't be any serious consequences, but if you actually get called for a double hit, that's a point lost.
Hinata could only suppress his restless heart.
He knew that Atsumu-senpai was right, as for spin, the parts he could currently do were actually enough for him.
Wakamura's expression across the net was distorted: "This is way too reckless!"
Just play honestly on the high school court using the techniques a high schooler should use! Is this really something that should be appearing at a time like this?! Just who did he learn that from?!
Miya Atsumu looked back at Wakamura, blinking innocently.
Wakamura felt even more irritated; for some reason, he could never remain calm whenever he played against Inarizaki.
Just then, the sound of Nagumo leading the Second String in a chant drifted from afar.
—It's over, he's even angrier now.
At the same time, for the crucial point, the server Kumagai replaced Oori Ren and stepped up to the service position.
Just as Kumagai took his position for the approach, he felt a deep gaze coming from across the net.
Blinking in confusion, he looked up and met Wakamura's gloomy gaze.
What's going on?