Huh?
Hanae, who had originally been preparing to defend a tip, stared with wide eyes, having never expected the volleyball to smash down in that position.
Wait, wait, wait, how was that last spike executed?
The number 3 setter's toss wasn't in position at all; how could he have adjusted into a backhand short diagonal in such a short amount of time?!
The moment it hit the ground, the sound of the volleyball slamming against the floor seemed to still be echoing in Hinata Shoyo's ears.
He looked at his slightly reddened palms, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
Ah.. it really, truly worked.
Hinata clenched his fists tightly: "Yes!!"
Coach Kurosu stood up by the sidelines, the shock on his face impossible to hide.
Did Inubata not only adjust Hinata's receiving, but even changed some of his spiking habits?
But Hinata's spikes had already been the result of his painstaking training, so he only realized it just now, when he spiked that ball.
God knows whose shadow he just saw in Hinata Shoyo.
That was.. Kiryu, who had just messed up a spike.
Akuma!!" Hinata raised both hands high and rushed toward Kumagai behind him, "That was amazing!!
Kumagai was even more excited than Hinata at this moment: "You actually scored with that! That was incredible, Shoyo!"
Having just scrambled up, Miya Atsumu watched the two people who were already hugging each other; while he was excited by Hinata Shoyo's previous play, he also felt an uncontrollable sense of strangeness in his heart.
Aran asked Suna beside him, "What's wrong with him?"
Suna's expression remained unchanged: "Probably just remembering something he's lost forever."
Aran, who had no idea what had happened in the past, blinked: "What?"
Suna left silently: "It's nothing."
So..
“What is the answer to that question?”
The assistant teacher of the volleyball clinic looked up, gazing at Coach Inubata, who was already fully equipped to provide Inarizaki supporters, his eyes filled with intense curiosity.
Inubata looked extremely proud. "It's just a habit when spiking."
Facing the assistant's disdainful look, Coach Inubata added, "After I retired, I spent some time visiting professional clubs one by one, during that time, I noticed that many of their foreign players had quite large palms when they were spiking."
“Of course, it could also be that they simply have large hands; for that reason, I even went out of my way to confirm with coaches from professional teams in Osaka.”
"Usually, when kids spike, their movement is like this," Inubata imitated the motion of spiking with his palm.
But actually.. it should be like this," Inubata spread his fingers, keeping his entire hand in a curved shape, "It's the same principle as when serving; you have to control the ball with both your fingers and your palm simultaneously.
Listening to the cheers that wouldn't subside in the gymnasium, Coach Inubata grew even more proud: "Many kids nowadays don't have good habits; I'm just helping Shoyo engrave this point into his very bones."
The subtle differences actually lead to a qualitative change; even with a short spiking time, you can control the ball's trajectory after locking onto a point.
The assistant gave a thumbs up: "Impressive."
Coach Inubata stood tall with his chest out.
On the court, Wakamura looked at Matou, his face full of confusion: "So, he has Dual Wield, that back set just now was decisive enough, yet he's stuck as a substitute, looking so pitiful?"
What, does the substitute position at Inarizaki have some kind of magic to it? Are they just coming one after another?
Matou, sitting on the coach's bench by the court, replied, "The substitute for the national champion and the high school's best setter; once Miya Atsumu graduates, he will be the starter."
This is different from Nagumo's situation; Nagumo used his status as an athlete to coast through his studies.
Wakamura glared at Matou: "Where exactly are you from?"
Matou shrugged his hands. "I'm just being more rational."
"Tsk." Wakamura narrowed his eyes, but said nothing more.
Kumagai's timing on his third serve was even more precise, landing just the next second after the referee's whistle.
Hanae also shouted at the exact moment Kumagai prepared to spike, "Power Serve!"
"I've got it!" Murata shouted.
But his receiving skills were not even remotely close to those of a Libero, Kumagai's own formidable strength caused the ball to deflect diagonally out of bounds after hitting Murata's arm.
Having anticipated it, Hanae rushed out, circled around the side of the Coach's bench, managed to back-set the ball before it could fly over the railing.
Without even needing Miya Atsumu to say a word, Hinata Shoyo had already leaped up with a thud.
Before Tosaka on the opposite side could prepare to jump, he slammed the ball down, which had already peeked over the net, scoring a point.
Wakamura reacted extremely quickly, diving forward in a desperate attempt to save the ball.
The Libero hadn't run back yet, so he could only receive this ball himself.
"Tosaka!" Wakamura shouted to the only person in the front row who could currently reach the setter.
Wakamura-senpai had already pulled himself away from the net, moved in, raised his hands, preparing to set the ball.
Setting is one of the fundamental skills, but even a non-professional setter cannot handle such a spectacular ball; all Tosaka could do was try her best to get the ball high enough.
“Kanzaki!”
Kanzaki, who was already staring in the direction of the ball, jumped upward, raising his hand to palm the volleyball that had already flown in front of him.
The next second, the volleyball flew over the net and suddenly plummeted toward the ground.
Hinata's eyes widened, as his body moved, his brain had already judged that he likely wouldn't be able to catch it.
He had originally positioned himself further back to receive a spike, but this ball was landing in the front court, and.. it wasn't a tip.
The ball, spinning as it fell, hit the ground faster than a tip, leaving Hinata no chance to save it at all.
With a loud thud, the volleyball hit the floor.
"Interrupted." Matou breathed a sigh of relief, while simultaneously stepping forward to switch positions with Hanae.
Even with Hanae on the court, Inarizaki's powerful service turn is still difficult to handle.
The key is.. Inarizaki's decisive servers can truly guarantee the quality of every serve; they always have this sense of being prepared to burn their boats, as if it doesn't matter if the ball goes out.
Kumagai substituted out with a hint of unwillingness, switching places with Akagi.
And Hinata Shoyo suddenly looked up at Miya Atsumu: "Atsumu-senpai, that is—"
Miya Atsumu didn't even have to wait for Hinata's next sentence to guess what he was going to say.
After searching through his memories, Miya Atsumu replied, "Backspin. The Chinese women's volleyball team uses it quite often; it's basically brushed out."
Seeing that Hinata was about to say something more, Miya Atsumu raised his hand to stop him: "Hold it, I'll say it again, if you don't handle it properly, you'll get called for a double hit. Go practice it later."
Hinata nodded. "Understood!"
Anyway, Atsumu-senpai's intention was to allow him to practice further, that was enough.
When he told Coach Washijo before that he would arm himself to the teeth, he wasn't just talking; he intended to turn everything he saw into his own.
I get the feeling that.. after playing this set, he seems to like volleyball even more.
Kumagai's consecutive points during the service turn laid an indelible foundation for Inarizaki's victory in this set, the lead remained at the formidable figure of five points until the end of the set.
Inarizaki 25:20 Municipal Kobe, overall score 1:0.
Goshiki Tsutomu gasped, "The gap is quite large.."
It's not that Municipal Kobe played poorly, but it just feels like they were missing something.
No, should I say that Inarizaki has become even more impeccable?
The spike Hinata just landed was incredible too; he was like a completely different person compared to when he was practicing straight balls with Ushijima at Shiratorizawa.
Without realizing it.. had he actually been left behind?
Looking at Goshiki Tsutomu's increasingly solemn expression, Ushijima Wakatoshi's voice rang out: "Don't underestimate yourself."
Goshiki Tsutomu snapped back to his senses instantly, composing his unsettled emotions from just a moment ago: "I understand."
His specialty is different from Hinata's, but in his own area of expertise.. he will definitely be stronger than Hinata.
Tendo, holding a water bottle, leaned forward and peered over, "That's right, that little guy is coming over~"
Goshiki Tsutomu was stunned. "Hinata?"
Tendo straightened up and wagged his finger: "That's right, that's right, someone asked Wakatoshi-kun to help with some training."
Ushijima corrected the wording, "It's instruction."
Tendo walked around behind Ushijima and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about those details."
Goshiki Tsutomu also recalled what had been said before: "Is it.. a training camp for first-year reinforcement?"
“Yeah,” Ushijima nodded, “first-years from across the prefecture will be invited then, so there will be plenty of opportunities for real matches. Hinata will be there too.”
Swallowing hard, Goshiki Tsutomu subconsciously began to count who the first-year students in the prefecture were, but the only ones that came to his mind were the three members of Kitagawa Daiichi whom he had faced in the Interhigh Junior High finals.
Speaking of which.. he hasn't seems to have faced that bad-tempered setter yet; back then, he was also substituted out early.
He remembered that both Aobajohsai and Karasuno were in the Second District during the Haruko qualifiers, so they should face each other early on; he just didn't know who their opponents in the finals would be.
Karasuno.. they lost 2-0 to Aobajohsai in the Interhigh. Even if they have improved over these past few months, they shouldn't be able to make much of a splash.
On the computer screen, Wakamura Souya had already walked to the service position, the second set was about to begin.
It wasn't until this moment that Goshiki Tsutomu suddenly realized what exactly was on his mind.
Inarizaki..
To think they actually pushed a top eight national team to 25:20 in the first set?
Chapter 138: The One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth Fox
Spinning the volleyball in his hands, Wakamura looked at Hinata in the Inarizaki back row.
With Inarizaki's current receiving lineup, Hinata is his only breakthrough, since Aran and Akagi both have incredibly solid fundamentals.