But.. judging by his performance in the last set, Hinata's performance in the first receive was unexpectedly good, even significantly stronger than during the National Sports Festival.
Then we'll have to increase the intensity.
Having made up his mind, Wakamura decisively tossed the ball into the air the moment he heard the referee's whistle.
With a loud thud, a heavy, powerful volleyball carrying a spin suddenly flew over the net and slammed down in front of Hinata.
Hinata held his breath and then decisively dove to the side.
At this distance, it was beyond the range of normal movement, so a diving save was the safer option.
Miya Atsumu quickly caught up: "What a great receive!"
Hinata released his momentum in a very standard manner, sliding on the floor for a moment before immediately getting back up, preparing to participate in the subsequent counterattack.
It was definitely too late to attack, but he still had to participate in the defense.
Goshiki Tsutomu's expression grew even more solemn: "He's not even a little bit stronger than when he came last time."
When Hinata came last time, his diving was a problem that even Coach Washijo found headache-inducing, but now he is already able to complete the process of a diving receive so beautifully.
Tendo peeled the orange in his hands and leaned against the table, peering at the computer screen. "Oh my, that block.. he's being played completely."
After performing a feint on the screen, Miya Atsumu ignored the other spikers, pretending to give a back set to Ginjima Yui, but in reality, he sent a second attack over.
Ushijima gave a candid evaluation: "Inarizaki doesn't have any clearly weak rotations; whether it's the side 1 and 2 or the back row insertions, Miya Atsumu plays exceptionally well."
Gently glancing around, Goshiki Tsutomu whispered, "That's the advantage of Miya-senpai as a Setter, isn't it?"
Not necessarily," Ushijima denied. "Essentially, it depends on how the core moves. If one is an Ace.. one must be able to spike any ball, whether it's in the front row or the back row.
Goshiki Tsutomu nodded. "Understood."
If there's a chance later.. I'll go watch Shirabu's footage. He remembers Hinata saying that Shirabu's ace, Kiryu-senpai, is quite strong in this regard.
In the live broadcast, Municipal Kobe had already saved the ball and was preparing for a counterattack.
Even though the front row's block was completely fooled by Miya Atsumu, the Libero's quick reaction still served as a reliable support for their counterattack.
Wakamura decisively sent the ball to Kanzaki on the side, Kanzaki, carrying the weight of everyone's anticipation, exerted all his strength to time his spike near the sideline, hitting an extreme line shot that clipped the line.
Having anticipated it long ago, Akagi pushed off the ground and lunged forward, making a beautiful diving save to keep the ball in play.
Nice receive!
"Tsk." Kanzaki couldn't help but feel irritated.
As for Inarizaki's defense, it wouldn't be described as exceptionally strong, but to call it weak.. it feels like there's nowhere to even make a move.
As Miya Atsumu leaped forward, his fingers exerted force, using his wrist to create a beautiful arc, sending the ball almost instantaneously right in front of Hinata in the back-right position.
Tosaka felt like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
It was that damn Quick Attack again—impossible to chase down, impossible to defend.
Moreover, after Inarizaki had proactively reduced the frequency of their Quick Attack, a sudden strike was even more impossible to defend against.
Fortunately, their Libero was extremely reliable, diving forward to make a desperate, successful receive.
Moving around behind Hanae, Tosaka prepared to carry out the follow-up attack.
Hang in there, Hanae!
Scrambling up from the ground, Hanae felt like he couldn't hold on much longer.
He felt like a wild boar being led around by the opposing team, running from the back row to the front row, having to rush out of bounds to chase the ball immediately after making a save.
Aran received another quick attack spiked by Municipal Kobe: "I've got it!"
After being tormented by Hinata Shoyo and Miya Atsumu at home, this level of Back Quick was hardly worth mentioning!
"Nice receive!" Miya Atsumu glanced at the opponents and once again set the ball to Hinata, who was preparing for a Back Quick Attack.
It wasn't a quick attack, but Hinata had already understood the intent and spiked the ball, aiming for the fingers appearing in his field of vision.
The volleyball was tooled off the block and flew far out of bounds.
Hinata clenched his fist secretly as he landed.
Yes, it worked!
Hoshiumi-senpai had previously said that he should try to hit the ball as high as possible, but unfortunately, his strength was limited. However, he controlled the angle as much as he could on this one; even if it didn't hit the stands, it was still..
Before Hinata could even finish his mental review, Hanae, who had just scrambled up from the ground, had already rushed out.
That sprinting speed wasn't much slower than his, if he had used that tooling the block technique from before, he definitely would have been caught.
But this time was different; this ball was high enough.
Hanae, who had tried to jump up in front of the railing to reach the ball, ultimately tripped over the railing because he didn't jump high enough.
And the moment he touched the railing meant that his save had failed.
Hanae fell headlong, in an attempt to avoid the person beside him, his elbow accidentally scraped against the tripod stand.
A stinging pain flared in his elbow. Lying on the ground, Hanae's mind went blank.
—It's all Inarizaki's fault.
Seeing that Hanae was taking too long to return, Coach Kuchibira immediately called a time-out.
However, after only spacing out for a moment, Hanae got up by himself before the sideline staff could approach.
Returning to the side of the coach's bench, he lowered his head. "Sorry, I couldn't save it."
Coach Kuchibira had a sour expression: "It's a miracle you even got a touch on that; you should have just let that last ball go."
He pulled Hanae's arm to take a look, after having him move it a bit, the coach breathed a sigh of relief: "It's nothing, just a scrape."
It was bleeding slightly, but it wasn't a big deal; it might just swell up in a little while.
Seeing that the coach intended to make a substitution to have him treated, Hanae hurriedly waved his hands. "It's fine, it's fine, I'm really fine."
The coach looked completely unpersuaded, but he still couldn't win the argument against him.
After giving Kanzaki a quick treatment, the coach turned his head and snapped at Tosaka: "Keep an eye on number 17 during your blocking. Hanae isn't Superman; at the very least, make sure he touches the ball."
Tosaka had a hard time expressing his frustration.
Does he not want to? Isn't it just that he couldn't even keep up with the ball?
Matou walked over from behind: "Coach, let me mark him in the next set."
In both of these rotations, he was not matched up against Hinata Shoyo. Although he knew he couldn't outrun Hinata Shoyo, he could at least manage to limit the ball's trajectory.
Moreover, he actually found it a bit difficult to handle Aran himself; Tosaka was better in terms of power adaptability.
On the other side, Kanzaki was still working hard to cheer for Hanae: "Imagine you're the protagonist of a hot-blooded anime; this is the moment your inner power should explode!"
Hanae sighed deeply. "Give me a break.."
Besides, the protagonist of a hot-blooded anime should be you, Mr. Ace.
Kanzaki blinked. "No, I think I should be Passerby A."
Murata, who had just put down his water cup, leaned over and asked, "Then am I Villager A?"
Hanae felt like his knees had stopped aching: "What on earth is going on.."
On the other side, Hinata was simulating spiking motions with Miya Atsumu: "If I want to hit the stands directly by tooling the block, is it impossible to achieve that just by adjusting the angle?"
He had just confirmed the angle several times, but the ball still dropped halfway through its flight.
Miya Atsumu remained silent for two seconds, then finally raised his arm and flexed his biceps for Hinata Shoyo.
Under Hinata Shoyo's blank stare, Miya Atsumu patted his own muscles. "To put it bluntly, it's just a lack of strength. Weren't you also unable to hold your ground when you were practicing as a setter before?"
Aran also showed off a bit: "Watch me."
His muscles didn't look as large as the others, but they were full of refined strength.
Hinata blinked, then finally raised his hands, trying his best to show everyone the muscles he could only see himself.
Compared to Miya Atsumu and Aran, he looked exceptionally pitiful.
Miya Atsumu couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Pfft."
Unabara's mouth twitched. "Shoyo, where is all the food you eat? You've been doing strength training for half a year, but the results don't seem very obvious."
This guy has a massive appetite, but I don't know if it's because his daily exercise volume is too high, but he has absolutely no fat reserves left to build muscle.
Rishia tried to make excuses for Hinata: "He's much stronger than before; before, he was just a total pushover."
—Not even a trace of muscle could be seen in that kind.
At the very least, Hinata's thigh and calf muscles are very beautiful right now; when it comes to explosive power, no one at Inarizaki can surpass him.
Miya Atsumu gave Hinata a thumbs-up. "You're not far from having abs; you've already got those lines."
Beside him, Suna Rintaro looked at him, a faint look of disdain in his eyes.
Hinata wanted to cry but had no tears: "How about I go eat five kilograms first?"
He was also curious about where all his food had gone!
Kita Shinsuke said nonchalantly, "About ten kilograms. It will drop even further during the subsequent fat-loss phase. Given your height, it's best to maintain a weight of over sixty kilograms."
When Osamu comes back, he can follow him and eat snacks," Coach Kurosu laughed, "It would be best if he eats his portion too.
Miya Osamu's body fat percentage was something he had been struggling with; if he wasn't careful, it could easily rise..
Miya Atsumu's mood improved even more: "I'll go help Shoyo steal it."
At the same time, in a corner of the stands, Miya Osamu suddenly let out a sneeze.
He had a look of confusion on his face.
That shouldn't be right. He should be almost recovered; his tests from the day before yesterday were already back to normal, so why is he still sneezing?
As his gaze swept over Miya Atsumu, who was laughing and chatting next to the coach's bench, Miya Osamu's expression darkened.
Heh, just you wait, you bastard Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine, whipped his head around to look at the spectator stands. Having a bad feeling about it, he hurriedly looked at Suna Rintaro. "Rintaro, can you give me your homework when we get back?"
Suna took a half-step back. "You're not just going to change it to your own name, are you?"
Miya Atsumu tried to make an excuse for himself: "How could that be! I'm just making a backup copy just in case!"