Hinata froze for a moment, then blinked in confusion. "Really?"
Miya Atsumu glanced at the formation the opposing team was preparing and said decisively, "Follow my lead."
Hinata stopped thinking and raised his hand to make an OK sign: "Understood."
Miya Atsumu stood with his hands on his hips and gave a very friendly smile to Matou on the other side of the net.
The three players on the opposite side were positioned relatively far apart, with Matou positioned closer to the Higashiyama position.
If his guess was correct, they were likely planning to give up the standard two-plus-one block and were preparing to use a play focused on a center block.
The blockers on both sides kept a close eye on Hinata's movements, ensuring they could shift to either side at any moment.
A very clever decision.
But.. he and Hinata aren't limited to just playing Quick Attacks.
"I've got it!" Akagi once again steadily received the ball, sending it right up to Miya Atsumu's head.
Miya Atsumu didn't move from his spot; he simply lowered his center of gravity and leaped in place, raising his hand to touch the ball.
Tosaka, in the waiting area, widened her eyes: "So high."
Matou's expression remained unchanged, he immediately took his position in the center, while Kanzaki and Higashiyama, who were on both sides, moved in to support him.
"Jump!" The moment Matou shouted, the three of them jumped simultaneously.
The blockers, who jumped a step later than Hinata, were able to ensure they reached their peak height at the same time as Hinata.
But Hinata himself jumps high enough that even so, they had no way to block him.
However, Matou had anticipated this; he leaned back slightly, extending his palms to make precise contact with the ball.
One touch!
Coach Kuchibira, sitting on the Coach's bench, slapped Tosaka several times in succession. "Look, look! Now that is textbook contact!"
Tosaka winced from the pats, nodding repeatedly. "I saw it, I saw it."
"Nice hit!" Hanae Akari breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the tension that had been taut in his mind finally loosen a little.
Watching Matou and Kanzaki quickly complete a cross in front of the Setter on the other side of the net, Hinata decisively followed Aran's movement the moment he saw the volleyball fly up, charging toward Matou's side.
Staring intently at the gap beside the two blockers, Matou, who had already pulled wide toward the edge of Position 2, used a backhand to impart spin, gently pushing the ball over the net.
It had the exact same topspin as Kanzaki's previous shot, but even with greater precision in control, the ball dropped extremely fast.
Matou's quick attack was so fast that he not only easily cleared the block but also precisely targeted the open space in Inarizaki's front court.
Kumagai's voice rang out from the sidelines immediately after, "Watch out for the ball!"
Aran, who had landed a step earlier, grabbed Hinata and pulled him back, forcefully dragging him out of the way of the ball rolling across the floor.
Hinata was so scared that his face turned pale.
He knew that ominous feeling wouldn't come from nowhere; he hadn't been hit by Kumagai's serve just now, but as a result, he almost tripped over the ball now.
Aran set down Hinata, whom he had been holding by the collar like a little chick. "It's a good thing you can jump so high."
Equally startled, Matou pushed up the glasses on his face, trying to make himself appear as calm as possible.
He didn't do it on purpose; it was an accident.
After shaking off the fear of nearly being assassinated by the volleyball, Hinata turned his head to look at Miya Atsumu. "You're really amazing, you can even pull off a quick attack like that."
Setting aside unexpected factors, their block was a full beat too slow just now, that level of ball control was terrifying as well.
Wiping the sweat from the side of his face with his hand, Atsumu said softly, "The Back Quick that Wakamura-senpai and Matou-senpai coordinate is incredible. Of course, it's impossible for someone like Heipingu to play poorly."
Matou's consecutive scoring provided a good start for Municipal Kobe; even though they didn't pull ahead, they didn't suffer such a massive gap from Inarizaki from start to finish like they did in the previous set.
That Quick Attack was quite decisive," Iizuna nodded, "The strategies between the Opposite and the Middle Blocker are starting to split fifty-fifty.
Amatori clicked his tongue lightly. "Municipal Kobe's playstyle isn't necessarily that predictable; it's just that Inarizaki's tempo is so fast that they can't show it."
Since they had played against each other during the Interhigh, he still had some impression of Municipal Kobe.
Iizuna also nodded: "Their specialty back then was middle blocker tactics."
The rise of the Spikers has broadened Municipal Kobe's tactical range, but it does not mean that what they were previously skilled at will disappear.
Kumagai substituted Oori Ren into the game to serve.
Wakamura frowned: "At a time like this.."
Inarizaki's substitution was timely and ruthless.
It was clear that they intended to crush them from beginning to end, without giving them even a single chance to make a comeback.
To be fair, when he said it was a waste to have players like Kumagai and Nagumo playing as substitutes for Inarizaki, he was actually mostly expressing his resistance to the bench itself.
If he's a substitute, he should just stay honestly below the passing line! What is the point of having so many headache-inducing substitutes!
Kumagai's face was written with innocence.
The coach had sent him in, but they hadn't expected Municipal Kobe to show any signs of making a comeback before he entered the court.
Coach Kurosu's original plan was to have him come on to widen the score gap even further, ideally to crush this set directly.
—It doesn't seem to make much of a difference.
Akuma, what a great hit!
Hanae's heart, which had just settled, leaped into his throat again.
Just as he expected, Kumagai's serve was still aimed at him, essentially trying to force him into a diving save.
Amatori clicked his tongue. "Komori really should see this."
After finishing the viewing, his mindset became peaceful; every libero he played against was exactly the same as him, some were even more miserable than he was.
At least Komori and Sakusa were there to be toyed with alongside him.
Komori said he was watching.
He expressed shock: "That move was too brutal; isn't that just taking advantage of the fact that the libero isn't tall enough?"
He could guarantee that he could keep up with that kind of ball to spike or receive it, but that was only because he had long legs and long arms.
This Municipal Kobe Libero is only 1.65 meters tall, making it even more painful to be outplayed.
Moreover, unlike beach volleyball, the indoor volleyball floor is quite hard, so every time a player dives, there is actually a certain amount of uncontrollable psychological pressure.
After all, if you don't control it well, it's actually quite painful.
One could even say that Inarizaki was no longer playing standard tactics; they were playing mind games.
Miya Atsumu gave another high ball: "Shoyo!"
Upholding the good mindset of the Inarizaki members, Hinata also decisively began to focus his attention on the area around Hanae.
While maintaining pressure on the Libero was one thing, that area was indeed a relatively weak point in the opponent's defense.
Before Hanae could move, Wakamura suddenly spoke up, "I've got it."
As Hanae stepped back, Wakamura had already jumped to reach for the ball.
In the next second, accompanied by a heavy thud, the volleyball flew toward the front of the net.
Matou had also jumped up, slamming the ball heavily toward the Inarizaki three-meter line.
The ball slammed against the floor and then bounced high into the air.
The entire court went silent for a moment, then the Inarizaki members all looked at Miya Atsumu at the same time.
Miya Atsumu froze for a moment. "No, why are you looking at me! That ball was dropped by Yui, wasn't it!"
Aran waved his hand dismissively. "No, no, no, I just suddenly felt like someone as disgusting as you appeared on the other side of the net."
Miya Atsumu froze for a moment, then cried out in protest, "Aran!!"
Hinata stared at Matou Yukimaru, who had just walked past him. "Matou-senpai is really amazing, after all."
It's not just their ability to spike and block, or their ability to help the Ace handle bad balls; the chemistry between the setters is also extremely high.
Even that kind of ball, which was sent directly from the baseline upon the first touch, could actually be coordinated with.
It was exactly as Aran-senpai said; he and Atsumu-senpai did indeed play this kind of ball often, Osamu-senpai would even take the initiative to coordinate with them.
It's certainly exhilarating when they play like that themselves, but if an opponent plays like that against them..
It's probably better if he doesn't show up.
Matou tilted his head slightly to look at him and said with an expressionless face, "Thank you for the compliment."
But saying that was meaningless; even if they changed their playstyle, Inarizaki still handled it with ease.
Additionally, due to the significant loss of stamina among their Libero, the first receive error rate also increased towards the end of this set.
The whistle blew, the score ended at 25:21.
Inarizaki 2, Municipal Kobe 0.
"Just as expected," Iizuna said calmly.
Municipal Kobe, Itachiyama, Inarizaki are essentially all of the same caliber.
When playing against other teams, they hold an advantage due to their well-rounded abilities, but once they encounter an opponent that possesses all-around overwhelming superiority, they clearly fall into a disadvantage.
But unfortunately.. this is difficult to change in a short amount of time, especially since Municipal Kobe's starters don't even seem like second years like Itachiyama, but rather more immature first years.
Amatori nodded. "If we could recruit another qualified setter like Wakamura-senpai, we would be terrifyingly strong next year."
After saying that, he and Agatsuma both looked toward Iizuna at the same time.
—What should we do?
Iizuna's forehead veins bulged: "Let Coach Utsunomiya deal with the headache himself."
Brushing past Miya Atsumu at the net, Wakamura let out a soft breath and finally walked toward the Municipal Kobe coach's bench without looking back.
Actually, geniuses are not that scary.
What is truly terrifying are the geniuses who know they have talent and will do everything in their power, risking everything to utilize it.
—Just like Miya Atsumu.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't close the distance between them; instead, he was being left even further behind.