It was a fake spike, wasn't it?
Hearing Hinata's voice, Miya Atsumu praised softly, "Smart."
In the next second, Oikawa Tooru spiked the ball, but not toward the opposing side; instead, he sent it directly toward Iwaizumi Hajime with a trajectory nearly as flat as a drive.
The Ace's spike from Position 4 was so fast it was nearly a blur, an empty swing that the naked eye could barely follow. Nishinoya Yu dove for it, but in the end, he still couldn't reach it.
The whistle blew.
Aobajohsai 25:23 Karasuno, tied 1:1.
Returning to the area near the coach's bench, Sugawara Koushi exchanged a look with Sawamura Daichi beside him. "I was just thinking, why does Aobajohsai's play look so familiar?"
"I think so too." Oikawa Tooru looked at Iwaizumi Hajime.
Karasuno's fox scent is just too strong..
Chapter 142: The One Hundred and Forty-Second Fox
Miya Atsumu leaned back in his chair, sipping a vanilla milkshake while watching the two teams switching sides on the screen: "Who do you think will win?"
Hinata thought about it seriously for a moment, but ultimately shook his head. "I don't know."
“But.. I hope Karasuno wins.”
Miya Atsumu looked up at the back of Hinata's head, his eyes drooping slightly. "Why?"
Hinata turned his head slightly to meet Miya Atsumu's gaze: "I want to play a match against the King on an official court, to prove to him once again that we are stronger."
He had once lost to Kageyama Tobio on the official court, of course, he wanted to declare his victory on the most solemn stage.
Miya Atsumu's lips curled up: "Of course, I'm the strongest Setter, much better than him."
And Shoyo, you definitely have a chance to beat Tobio in a one-on-one, I'm telling you.
"One-on-one??" Hinata froze for a moment.
Imagining a scene where he and the over 1.8m Kageyama were boxing, Hinata shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, I wouldn't win!"
“What are you thinking about,” Miya Atsumu said, bumping Hinata's forehead with a vanilla milkshake, “I was obviously talking about volleyball.”
"Really!" Hinata's face was full of pleasant surprise.
"Really." Miya Atsumu was also very serious.
In theory, there might still be a gap, but in actual combat, Hinata's performance would definitely be stronger than that King's.
Being able to do something is different from knowing what you need to do; on the court, Hinata's clear-eyed focus on his goal will help him become the stronger one.
Aobaajohsai served first in the third set.
Watching number 16 stand at the service position, Miya Atsumu was momentarily stunned. "Huh? Isn't Oikawa-senpai starting?"
Just as Inarizaki would never easily give up their own powerful service turns, Aobajohsai could not afford to give up the chance to start with Oikawa Tooru's serve either.
Unless.. this number 16's serve is just as sharp.
Watching number 16 arch his back like a hyena, poised to spring forward from his approach, Hinata couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.
As the whistle blew, Kyokutsu did not hesitate for long, decisively tossing the ball into the air while beginning his approach.
A very standard projectile motion..
No, standard my ass!
Miya Atsumu gasped. That guy's projectile motion is so high; can anyone catch him in that low-center-of-gravity state!
But the sense of déjà vu Hinata felt was more than just anticipation; Kyokutsu leaped violently before reaching the baseline, his sudden display of jumping ability even rivaling Hinata's.
Accompanied by a thunderous impact that made one's teeth rattle, the volleyball had already cleared the net in an instant, striking precisely beside the back-row setter, Sugawara Koushi.
It wasn't a heavy power serve like Oikawa Tooru's, nor was it a magician-like deception like Miya Atsumu's; rather, it was pure, absolute sharpness.
Like a rapier, yet like a flurry of blades.
It pierced through the gaps with precision, carving a chunk out of the opponent's defense before bouncing out of bounds.
Miya Atsumu bared his teeth. "Whoa, it's heavy, it spins, it's so precise."
They definitely didn't have this person when they went to Aobajohsai! Where on earth did he pop up from!
Hinata felt his lips were a bit dry. "He scored directly from the serve, that's amazing."
Before Nishinoya could apologize, Sugawara Koushi clapped his hands. "Don't worry about it, don't worry about it."
And even if he received it, there wouldn't be any problem; Kageyama's side-quick attack was just as formidable.
However, just as Miya Atsumu expected, this type of serve was extremely risky; on the second serve, Kyokutsu sent the ball straight into the net because his form was off.
Oikawa Tooru, who was nearly hit, shrank his neck: "You little mad dog! Aim before you hit!"
Iwaizumi Hajime raised a hand and patted him. "I think he aimed quite accurately."
Kyokutsu gave Iwaizumi Hajime a slight nod in apology, then returned to his position.
Oikawa Tooru became even more agitated: "Hey! The person you almost hit was me! Why are you apologizing to Iwaizumi!"
It sounds like he's saying something..
—I'm sorry I couldn't land that spike.
What a great serve from Kageyama!
Kageyama's serve was even superior to Kyokutsu's in terms of power and stability, combined with Aobajohsai's own issues with receiving, Hanabusa's positioning in the front row wasn't quite right, resulting in Aobajohsai also dropping a ball.
However, under Oikawa Tooru's instruction, Kyokutsu pushed his position even further back, leaving enough space for Hanabusa to receive the ball.
Miya Atsumu rubbed his chin. "This is also an Opposite tactic."
The wing spiker on the right protects the opposite, which is essentially the same as Shiratorizawa's playstyle, but Seijo's left wing is sharper than Goshiki Tsutomu's.
"I feel like more and more teams are using the Opposite strategy." Hinata recalled everything he had seen and heard over the past few months.
Shiratorizawa, Inarizaki, Fukuda General, now Aobajohsai are all using it.
Miya Atsumu explained, "After all, it's the most popular playstyle in the world right now, there will only be more and more of it in the future."
After Nishinoya successfully received the ball on the court, Kageyama stepped forward to set it.
After executing a beautiful feint, Kageyama sent a back set to Tsukishima Kei, who had already moved to Position 2.
Watching Tsukishima Kei's contact point, Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue softly. "So tall."
But Matsukawa reacted quickly as well; after creating distance from the net, he blocked the ball in front of Tsukishima with one hand.
Tsukishima's expression remained unchanged as he gave the ball a light push, tipping it over the net.
Watari Chikaharu stepped forward and received the ball, while Oikawa Tooru had already moved in to follow up.
After performing a fake Second Attack, he turned and pushed the ball to Kyokutsu in Position 1.
Sugawara Koushi and Tsukishima quickly followed up.
Touch!
The volleyball hit Tsukishima's fingers and then landed out of bounds.
Nishinoya rushed after it, performing a diving save to keep the ball up: "Kageyama!"
Kageyama did not hesitate, sending the ball to Azumane Asahi on the wing: "Asahi-senpai!"
The Ace's heavy spike was also intercepted mid-air by Matsukawa: "Touch!"
Miya Atsumu rubbed his chin. "That block was terrifyingly sharp."
Hinata nodded in agreement. "Like Yunnan-senpai, but it feels.. even harder to deal with?"
Although Hinata's description wasn't quite accurate, Miya Atsumu could still understand what he meant. While playing before, he had realized that Matsukawa's blocking was actually similar to Suna's; they were both the type that could read a person's intentions very accurately.
Now, adding the overall blocking coordination that seems to have been learned from Coach Kusubashi, they've become even more difficult to handle.
By comparison, Karasuno was somewhat mediocre..
The next second, Miya Atsumu saw Sugawara Koushi and Kageyama exchange setting positions beautifully in the center, after feinting past the opponent's block, Tsukishima scored with a spike.
Miya Atsumu's eyes widened. "No way, what have these people been eating to grow this much in just a few months!"
With such obvious evolution in just one or two people, these few months felt like half a year to him.
Hinata also remembered where the sense of familiarity came from: "Atsumu-senpai and Akuma played this, didn't they?"
Miya Atsumu's expression contorted: "As expected of an omnivore."
Usually, it was Miya Atsumu who copied others, but he never expected that one day he would become the answer key himself..
The match between Aobajohsai and Karasuno was played in a very strange manner; there weren't many long rallies, both sides were scoring consecutively, yet for some inexplicable reason, the score gap never widened.
Although Aobajohsai did not have a formidable Libero like Nishinoya to anchor their receives, Hanabusa completely gave up his offense to manage the defense, so their overall performance wasn't too bad.
While Aobajohsai had Kyokutsu occasionally dropping the ball, Karasuno had the problem of insufficient overall offensive intensity. With Matsukawa and Kindaichi working together to keep a tight watch on Azumane Asahi, Kageyama was inexplicably forced to become the main scorer.
The volleyball fell within his field of vision, hitting the net without going over, the boy lunged forward in an attempt to dig it up, but the sweat on his hands became his greatest enemy.
The volleyball slipped from his hands and rolled weakly onto the floor.
The long whistle sounded at this moment, intense cheering erupted from the tablet.
The two sides on the court stared at each other across the net as if frozen in time.
Miya Atsumu clapped his hands. "Just as I thought."
Hinata released his grip on his pants: "As expected."
Aobajohsai 25:22 Karasuno, 2:1 in sets, Aobajohsai advances to the finals.
Miya Atsumu reached out and patted Hinata Shoyo's back. "Don't be too disappointed. The proficiency gap between the two sides isn't even a little bit; it's mostly because Aobajohsai's third years are sufficiently mature and they act in a supporting role for their functions."
With the more talented freshmen acting as the blade, even if that number 16 is a double-edged sword, he has number 3 behind him to clean up his messes and ensure he doesn't wound his own teammates.
In contrast, Karasuno's third years haven't been able to create much distance from the first and second years because they previously lacked a coach. They are still missing a sharp enough spiker, like.. Hinata Shoyo.
"But having said that, if Kageyama can better coordinate with his teammates, Karasuno will be terrifyingly strong next year," Miya Atsumu continued.
Hinata turned back: "In other words.. does that mean we might face you at Nationals again next year?"