That's not right. Looking at the time.. it should be almost over by now. He was already prepared to take a quick look before going to find the replay.
But this score.. it couldn't have only reached the Fourth Set.
An accident? Has the match time been delayed?
Hinata swallowed hard, his hand pointing at the screen trembling slightly: "Atsumu-senpai, it looks like it's the fifth set."
The moment the camera swept across the scoreboard, he saw it clearly; there were already four sets of small numbers on both sides, indicating that it was now the fifth set.
A massive question mark appeared over Miya Atsumu's head: "What? Which set?"
He wondered if he was hallucinating; after all, the fifth set should be played to 15 points, not 25.
Hinata's voice was incredibly certain: "The fifth set."
Huh?!" Miya Atsumu took a sudden step back, "The fifth set is already at 24 points?!
You've got to be kidding me, this is way too ridiculous.
How did he remember Shiratorizawa and Aobajohsai both being typical strong offensive teams? How did they score so many points?
Shiratorizawa 24:23 Aobajohsai.
Match point for Shiratorizawa, Ushijima Wakatoshi serves.
"Go Akari—Go Oikawa—" Hinata's expression was pained.
Damn it, what am I going to do if they lose!
Miya Atsumu said decisively, "It doesn't matter who loses, we're going to crush them anyway."
And when it's Ushijima Wakatoshi's turn to serve at a time like this, Seijo probably won't be able to turn the tide.
But the moment Ushijima Wakatoshi tossed the ball, Miya Atsumu keenly sensed that something was wrong.
Wait.. Seijo is..
With a heavy thud, Hanabusa dropped straight to his knees, his hands positioned underneath the ball.
Oikawa Tooru's slightly hoarse voice rang out again: "What a great receive!"
Miya Atsumu stood up abruptly. "Did Seijo drain Ushijima-senpai?!"
How did they do that?! That's incredible!
You have to realize that Ushijima basically doesn't receive any balls; it's incredibly difficult to wear down his stamina.
Either Ohira Shion's condition isn't good right now, or.. Seijo has made significant progress in targeted spiking techniques like this.
On the court, Ohira Shion's reaction to the ball was half a beat too slow; Kyokutsu's spike slammed into his wrist and then went out of bounds.
24:24, Aobajohsai leveled the score again.
Chapter 144: The One Hundred and Forty-Fourth Fox
Aobajohsai's Oikawa Tooru serves.
Miya Atsumu felt a slight tingling sensation on his scalp: "Both sides are having their strongest service turns."
Yesterday, he had already been wondering why Aobajohsai gave up Oikawa Tooru's strong serving period and instead switched to having the Opposite start.
Now.. the answer was indeed obvious.
Because Shiratorizawa starts with the Opposite in Position 4, while letting Oikawa Tooru start in Position 4, they can ensure rapid counter-pressure during the service turn.
The whistle blew.
Oikawa Tooru raised his hand and held the volleyball up to the tip of his nose, as if in prayer before battle.
He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.
Success or failure rests on this single move.
For this day, for this moment, for this fleeting opportunity.. they have worked hard until now.
After countless times being down 2-0 or even 3-0 in the past, today, they finally have the chance to make a comeback at the very last moment.
He might be the stubborn and unfortunate one in everyone's eyes, but he never thought of himself that way.
If heaven does not favor him, he will favor himself.
Since that door would not open for him, he would kick it open himself.
Eight seconds felt incredibly long.
Goshiki Tsutomu's forehead was covered in sweat, his hair, once damp, clung to him in wet strands, having long since lost its initial neat appearance.
At this very moment, all he could feel was infinite torture.
Eight seconds, why does it feel so long?
In the instant the countdown reached its very last second, the entire arena suddenly erupted.
The taut string snapped with a bang, a roaring sound like a tidal wave suddenly crashed down from the opposite side.
Ugh—Heh!
The volleyball flew unerringly toward the space between Goshiki Tsutomu and Yamagata Hayato.
The volleyball in his field of vision expanded infinitely before finally coming into focus right in front of him, the sound Goshiki had been choking back finally burst out: "I've got it!"
BANG!!
A sudden thud rang out, after a brief moment of the world spinning, the volleyball flew out of bounds.
Goshiki Tsutomu, whose lower body no longer had enough strength to support him, was knocked down and fell to the ground.
Shiratorizawa 24:25 Aobajohsai, Aobajohsai scored consecutive points to take the lead and reach match point.
Coach Saito took a sharp breath. "To be able to pull off a near-full-power serve at the very last moment?"
The moment he landed, Oikawa Tooru almost lost his balance, but fortunately, Iwaizumi Hajime reached out from the other side and grabbed him.
He didn't need to worry about the future; if they lost this match, they would have no future.
So he staked his entire life, all just for the victory in this single match.
Things in the future..
I'll leave that for tomorrow's self to worry about.
"YES!!" Oikawa Tooru raised both hands high.
Hinata clutched his chest: "Damn, that was so cool!"
He was so cool that he wanted to rush into the screen to cheer for Seijo.
Miya Atsumu's mouth twitched, but he said nothing.
Well, he admitted that Oikawa-senpai was very handsome right now, but he was still a bit inferior to him.
Yamagata patted Goshiki Tsutomu and pulled him up: "Don't worry about it, next time just go for a diving receive."
Diving for a ball certainly requires physical strength, but it doesn't mean one would fail to control the ball due to exhaustion.
"Understood," Goshiki Tsutomu nodded.
However, Oikawa Tooru's second serve was not sent to him, but rather to Ohira Shion, who was on the other side, receiving the ball in front of Ushijima Wakatoshi.
Ohira's own lack of physical stamina caused a decline in his reaction speed and stability, so after receiving the first receive, he was unable to smoothly move out of the way to clear a run-up space for Ushijima Wakatoshi.
"Disrupted! Kindaichi!" Oikawa Tooru shouted to Kindaichi, the middle blocker in the front row.
A good jump requires a good approach, right now, it is absolutely impossible for Ushijima Wakatoshi to spike a ball as powerful as the one before.
Shirabu might not necessarily give the ball to Ushijima, but in either case, they can block it dead.
Watching the volleyball fall from above, Shirabu's expression remained incredibly calm.
The moment he reached up to touch the ball, he sent it toward the back diagonal.
There were no feints, no flashy techniques; there was only the simplest, most stable, most ordinary set.
From beginning to end, he practiced the sole conviction of "getting the ball into the Ace's hands."
Ushijima, having no space to take a running start, simply took a step back and then jumped with nearly his full limit, raising his hand to spike the ball.
A bottomless abyss lay right at his feet, but.. he would be the white bird that carries everyone across the canyon.
BANG!!
The volleyball smashed into Aobajohsai's block, the left-hander's spin and absolute power merging almost perfectly.
Like a drill, piercing through the wall of people, tearing open a gap.
The volleyball slammed hard into the floor, at the same time, Ushijima landed with a heavy thud as he bent his knees.
25:25, Shiratorizawa ties it up.
Ushijima looked up, gazing across the net at Oikawa Tooru, who had just struggled to crawl up from the ground.
Again.
Shiratorizawa's Ohira Shion serves.
Looking at the Aobajohsai members preparing to receive the ball, Hinata frowned slightly. "It feels.. inexplicably oppressive, but I can't say why."
He always has a feeling of being tied down, not being free.
Miya Atsumu leaned back on the sofa, quietly waiting for the referee's whistle.
It is normal for Hinata to have this feeling, because from the very beginning, Aobajohsai had confined themselves to a fixed range for their tactical formations.
All of Inarizaki's tactical adjustments were aimed at "victory," and from the moment they first encountered Aobajohsai, their sole tactical objective had been one thing—"to defeat Shiratorizawa."
Aobajohsai had no other enemies.
No matter how outstanding they are, they will always be trapped by the single national slot, causing them to remain unknown to this day.
Just like Municipal Kobe, if Hyogo only had one qualifying spot left, they would also be another Aobajohsai.
Losing the tactical diversity itself, all the spears pointed toward a single enemy.
But once they clear the dark clouds ahead, they will find..