Glancing at them, Coach Washijo mercilessly interrupted their desire to spectate: "Rishia Kunimi, go over there. Kindaichi, Koganezawa, the other side."
On the same side of the net as Kageyama, Hinata looked toward the two great aces of Shiratorizawa on the opposite side.
He rubbed his hands together, "Bring it on!"
"Kageyama, give me a good serve!" Hinata raised his hand to protect the back of his head, continuing his useless serve reception.
Ushijima didn't defend by himself this time; instead, he and Goshiki Tsutomu covered the entire area of the court, one on the left and one on the right.
Kageyama did not hesitate either, sending a powerful jump serve directly toward Goshiki Tsutomu.
It wasn't just that Goshiki's receiving skills might be a bit lacking; it was more about the fact that this could force Ushijima into a second attack, thereby limiting his offense.
"What a great receive!" Ushijima Wakatoshi praised aloud, watching the volleyball fly high into the air.
Being able to receive a power jump serve with that kind of intensity from Kageyama was already an incredible feat in itself.
Raising his hand to send the ball toward the net, Goshiki Tsutomu was already moving up, ready to spike.
Kageyama moved in to block, but Goshiki successfully executed a line shot, bypassing the block and sending the ball over.
Hinata, who had been watching Goshiki Tsutomu's movements all along, stepped forward and dropped to one knee, precisely reading the trajectory of the ball.
With a loud bang, the volleyball soared high into the air.
"Nice receive!" Kageyama's voice rang out at the same time.
The next second, the soles of the volleyball shoes scraped against the floor with a sharp sound.
After receiving the ball, Hinata had already used his terrifying explosive power to rush to the front of the net.
With a thud, Hinata leaped high into the air, chasing after the high ball that had been sent right in front of him.
The volleyball flew over Goshiki Tsutomu's block and was received by a retreating Ushijima Wakatoshi.
The moment he made contact with the ball, Ushijima frowned.
The speed of this ball.. it's so fast.
But for the experienced Ushijima, it was still not difficult.
Goshiki Tsutomu stepped up into position, raising his hands to send the ball up: "Ushijima-senpai!"
The super ace's spike crashed down toward his head once again, but Kageyama, having already played a set against Ushijima Wakatoshi, still did his best to restrict the direction of Ushijima's most comfortable and powerful spike.
Hinata stared intently at Ushijima Wakatoshi's movements, the moment his left hand touched the ball, he took a cross-step toward his own back right.
There's no mistake; if I mirror the spike motion he's so familiar with.. it's right here.
The next second, a massive impact rang in Kageyama's ears.
He tilted his head slightly and saw Hinata leaning back slightly and the volleyball flying into the air.
Received.
The volleyball soared high almost vertically, shrinking infinitely in everyone's field of vision, before finally.. crashing into the iron frame of the ceiling.
—It got stuck.
The entire gymnasium seemed to fall silent for a few seconds.
Tsukishima Kei, from the adjacent court, was the first to lose it: "Pfft."
With him starting it off, laughter instantly erupted from all directions.
No way, it got stuck?!
That's incredible, how did you do that?
Hinata, who was already sitting on the ground, raised his hand to cover his face.
He had completely underestimated the power of that spike, having entirely forgotten that his last match against Ushijima-senpai had been over half a year ago.
After all, if he makes progress, Ushijima-senpai will as well.
He tried his best to stabilize himself to prevent being blown away, but he failed to absorb the impact, instead gave the Setter a "ceiling set"..
Aaaah, how embarrassing!
Kageyama didn't feel that way; Hinata's move just now was clean and beautiful, looking like a completely different person even when compared to the footage from the National Sports Festival.
In this short period of less than two months, this guy has taken another huge step forward.
Never-ending.
Never satisfied.
If you let your guard down for even a moment, he would already be far, far away.
At this rate.. this guy is definitely going to become someone truly terrifying.
Ah..
So happy, so excited.
Just the thought of potentially facing such opponents in the future made him unable to stop smiling.
Without a doubt, he had been left far behind.
He had already stayed in place for even longer.
It had been so long that.. Hinata, who had originally been chasing him, had already rushed past him without any hesitation, leaping toward the next mountain peak.
Now.. it is his turn to chase!
The final result of this set was still a victory for Ushijima and Goshiki. Even though Hinata's first receive had improved, his own insufficient core strength meant he still couldn't hold his ground.
In addition, because a single-man block has almost zero effectiveness against a super ace like Ushijima, Hinata got a real taste of what it's like to scramble all over the floor.
But then again, as long as they get the chance to attack, they'll be difficult for the opposition to handle.
After playing another set against Koganezawa and Wase, the afternoon training session came to an end, it was time for independent practice.
Hinata immediately rushed to Kageyama's side, who was lost in thought: "Hey, Kageyama, can I watch your Second Attack?"
"Huh?" Kageyama blinked, taken aback.
Hinata gestured with his hands: "It was that one, the one that completely fooled Akari before and scored in a flash—the super amazing one—"
Kunimi Akira remained silent: "I can't believe he can praise someone while looking at that face."
Kindaichi didn't know what to say either: "It feels like Kageyama is about to laugh himself into an idiot.."
Kunimi Akira felt that this day had been surreal.
As for Kageyama's matter, it's not worth mentioning; after all, he had long since prepared himself for it.
The most critical thing was that he had unexpectedly and forcibly gained several acquaintances, even Goshiki Tsutomu, who had been fighting for his life against them on the court not long ago, had become familiar with them.
—He hadn't even spoken to these people on his own!
Feeling a mysterious chill from their side, the two from Seijo turned their heads at the same time and saw Rishia Heisuke and Goshiki Tsutomu staring at Kageyama simultaneously.
And now.. what on earth are they doing!
Kageyama held the volleyball and explained to Hinata, "Like this, like this, then like this, it's sent over."
Rishia Heisuke finally couldn't take it anymore: "What do you mean, 'like this'!"
Hinata was just about to speak when Rishia grabbed him: "You're not allowed to understand!"
Seemingly realizing that his teaching method was flawed, Kageyama looked toward Kunimi Akira: "Kunimi can do this too."
As for why he didn't ask Koganezawa, who was also a setter on the other side.. it was because Kageyama felt that Koganezawa's setting wasn't as good as Hinata's.
Kunimi Akira had a sour expression: "I can't."
He wants to rest; he doesn't want to teach idiots!
Kageyama's eyes widened slightly, he looked a bit dazed. "I remember your Second Attack being very good; you used it against us before."
"Really!" Hinata's eyes lit up, he decisively abandoned Kageyama to rush toward Kunimi Akira.
Please, Kunimi-kun! Teach me!
He didn't have a chance to play with the Seijo students all this afternoon, he was truly curious.
However, Koganezawa and the others had already agreed to play a training match with him for a while, hoping there might be a chance to keep those two from Seijo around.
In the end, Kunimi gave in to Hinata, who had helped them at noon: "Just for a little while. If I can't learn it, I'm leaving."
Hinata cheered, "Long live Kunimi-kun!"
Seeing that Hinata had someone teaching him, Kageyama also walked toward the other side where Tsukishima and Hyakuwa-kun were practicing blocking.
He spoke, "Tsukishima, let's give it a try."
As it turned out, once his fundamentals caught up, Hinata's ability to understand was actually quite good.
After a brief explanation, Hinata was already able to combine a Second Attack with a tip on his own, though he wasn't very proficient yet because his method of touching the ball was different.
Kunimi Akira, who had long since prepared himself to teach a fool, breathed a sigh of relief.
Very good, he can go back and rest now.
Watching Kunimi prepare to sneak away, Kindaichi was stunned for a moment. "Are you going straight back to the dormitory?"
At noon, Hinata had already helped them look for Coach Washijo and completed the dormitory check-in procedures.
"Yeah." Kunimi Akira nodded.
Kindaichi thought for a moment, then said, "It looks like the cafeteria food won't be ready for another hour, so let's stay a little longer."
Hinata's voice rang out immediately after: "Kunimi-kun! Come play a match! We're one person short!"
Kunimi turned his head and met the gazes of one, two, three, four.. eleven people.
His expression contorted instantly, his plan to run away was completely ruined.
That little brat!
Where on earth did they get so many people! Even the Third Year seniors are joining in on his antics!
Kunimi Akira resigned himself to his fate and could only slowly shuffle into the court, forced to stand beside Kageyama Hinata and Kindaichi.
Hinata secretly winked at Kindaichi, Kindaichi nodded back at him.
Great, the plan worked!