At the moment of impact, he suddenly pulled back his strength, tapping the ball out gently.
Just as Kozume Kenma expected, the volleyball hit the top of the net precisely before dropping toward Hinata's position.
Hinata reacted quickly, raising his hands directly to set the ball.
His setting skills over the past two months haven't been in vain; he can now use them with great certainty and very few mistakes.
Miya Atsumu was not stingy with his praise either: "What a great receive!"
After receiving the ball, Hinata stepped back toward the edge of the court and then took a running start toward the net.
He jumped with one foot in front of the net, preparing to perform a quick spike.
At the same time, Miya Atsumu also executed a hidden back-set, causing Tosaka and the others to rush toward Hinata-senpai as if by reflex.
But in the next second, the ball had already been set to Aran for a back-row attack.
Aran, who had completely missed the previous spike, displayed even greater dominance; under his violent spike, Hanae, who dove for it, was unable to successfully control the ball's trajectory.
The volleyball flew toward the back of the court, crashing through the railings and out of bounds.
Higashiyama tried to save the ball, but he wasn't as fast as the volleyball; he only chased it halfway before it hit the ground.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki 3:1 Municipal Kobe.
Aran slowly stood up straight, turned his head to look at Miya Atsumu, signaled to him with his eyes.
This time, even Miya Atsumu couldn't say anything sarcastic, because Aran had truly killed that ball with a spike.
Miya Atsumu raised his hand and high-fived Aran. "Nice play, Aran."
Hinata, who was responsible for covering, also cheered, "Aran-senpai, you were so cool!"
Aran held his head high and chest out, feeling as if he finally had a voice within the team.
And after Inarizaki scores, the service also passes to Hinata.
Suna and Aran, who were responsible for serving cover, raised their hands at the same time to protect the back of their heads.
Hinata's serve this time started from the center, the two of them could almost block him completely.
But this effect was caused specifically by the difference in height and body type, so the referee had no way to call a foul.
During Karasuno's match yesterday, the effect was actually even more ridiculous than this," Oikawa Tooru said. "Two meters and one point nine meters.. it was absurd.
—He also needs this kind of serve reception cover.
The whistle blew, after spinning the ball in his hands, Hinata tossed it up in a flat arc.
After taking a running start, he leaped before the baseline, after making as much contact as possible with the volleyball with his palms, he controlled the ball to drop precisely onto the path the back-row setter would take when moving forward.
Overhand setting essentially relies on the power generated from the fingers; practicing this technique is, in fact, simultaneously training one's ball control ability itself.
Over these two months, even Hinata's serve accuracy has improved significantly.
Coach Inubata also took this opportunity to have Hinata completely commit to the Flat Quick Attack.
"I've got it!" Murata stepped back to receive the ball.
".." Watching Wakamura-senpai prepare to set the ball directly from the baseline, Oikawa Tooru fell silent for half a second.
I feel like I'm seeing something terrifying. Why has the shadow of Miya Atsumu become so much more prominent in the little guy's serve than before!
Before, it was just a sense of déjà vu regarding the service preparation and overall form, but now, even the tossing and spiking motions are starting to look the same.
It feels.. as if they were trained by the same master.
In the stands, Coach Inubata was working hard, waving his cheering sticks and shouting slogans until his voice was nearly hoarse.
Actually, Aran and Miya Osamu's serves were also taught by him, but these two have completely switched to high tosses, so you basically can't see them using flat serves, which naturally means they don't give others the same feeling.
Only Miya Atsumu, who mixes various types of serves depending on the situation, would have a serve that highly resembles Hinata's on those occasional occasions.
Seeing Coach Inubata's smug expression, the assistant coach beside him twitched at the corner of his mouth. "I'm serious, why don't you go try to get a commentary position? Then you could watch from up close."
Coach Inubata refused indignantly, "No, they won't agree to that."
If he is assigned, the final result will inevitably be "biased."
So the most likely outcome is that he will be assigned to commentate on matches not involving Inarizaki, which will result in him being unable to see his own team's matches at all.
In conclusion, cheering from the stands is the best option.
Seeing Inubata looking so smug, the assistant decisively chose to change the subject: "By the way, where is Xiaoxia?"
She was still by Coach Inubata's side yesterday, so how could she be missing today?
At the mention of this, Coach Inubata's entire mood plummeted: "She was taken away by Himegomiya from Itachiyama."
The assistant, who already knew the whole story, tried to comfort Coach Inubata: "Don't worry, it's still a long way before Xiaoxia starts junior high; she won't leave that soon."
Coach Inubata felt even more dejected: "Looking at Himegomiya's attitude, I feel like once Shoyo gets to university, she'll try to persuade the Hinata parents to move to Tokyo to be with him.."
However, he knew that was impossible, since his work was in Amagasaki.
But it was estimated that once Xiaoxia entered junior high school, it would be difficult for him to see her again.
After all, the dormitory conditions at Itachiyama are excellent, with training even during vacations.. he might not be able to come back even once a year.
But it doesn't matter!
He can go see Xiaoxia's match by himself! He is an adult! He is free!
The assistant was shocked: "Shoyo is only a first year high schooler, Coach Himegomiya and the others are already eyeing what he'll do after he graduates?"
Coach Inubata rolled his eyes again: "Utsunomiya, the head coach of Itachiyama, is also an honorary professor at the university, he's always looking to recruit people there. That's why he's got his eyes on Shoyo."
He even felt that those two guys weren't just craving good prospects anymore; now, they had a sense of insatiable desire, as if they would do anything to recruit him.
In addition, Waseda University and Chuo University have been competing fiercely against each other in the university leagues over the past few years, so it is only natural that they are feeling anxious.
“Anyway, I don't care. Since they want it so badly, let them negotiate the terms with Inarizaki themselves.” Coach Inubata clicked his tongue.
Among his students, Miya Atsumu definitely won't have any trouble finding a place to go, while according to Hinata, Miya Osamu has no intention of continuing to play volleyball.
As for Aran.. Kurosu told him that the head coach of the Red Falcons, Blanco, has his eye on him.
Whether Hinata will receive an invitation from a professional team on the day he graduates is uncertain; if it is only the V2 League, it wouldn't be very interesting, he might be better off continuing his studies.
If someone were willing to provide him with protection and support, even if he planned to go abroad for exchange studies in the future, it would still be possible for him to be affiliated with a school through an exchange student program or something similar.
Rather than keeping the child by their side, what they would rather see is for him to go higher and further.
On the other side, Hinata Natsu had already headed to the Itachiyama Girls' Volleyball cheering section under the guidance of Coach Himegomiya.
After successfully bluffing her way past Coach Kurosawa, Coach Himegomiya was now full of confidence, even directly introducing Xiaoxia to the current head coach of the Itachiyama Girls' Volleyball Team.
Looking at the Inarizaki court, which was quite a distance away, Hinata Natsu pursed her lips.
Having keenly sensed Xiaoxia's change in mood, Coach Himegomiya led her over to say goodbye to the people on the women's volleyball side.
“Come on, Xiaoxia, I'll take you to the sidelines to watch the match.”
Hinata Natsu's eyes widened: "Is it really okay!"
She really wanted to watch, but Coach Inubata told her that unauthorized personnel were not allowed to enter the court.
Coach Himegomiya patted his chest. "Don't worry, as long as Xiaoxia is good and doesn't make a scene."
Restricting unauthorized personnel from entering the court itself is to prevent people from interrupting the match; with her there, it wouldn't be difficult to take Xiaoxia inside.
Because..
Coach Himegomiya pulled out an extra staff ID from the Itachiyama application and hung it around Xiaoxia's neck: "Alright, let's go."
Looking at the ID, Xiaoxia quickly got into character, her entire demeanor becoming serious, looking just like a little adult: "Let's go!"
In the Inarizaki court, the rotation turned to Municipal Kobe's Tosaka serving.
At the same time, Municipal Kobe's strongest blocker, Matou Yukimaru, returned to the court.
Unlike the previous Inarizaki Regional Qualifiers, Hinata is playing as a Right Wing Spiker this time.
Even if Municipal Kobe didn't specifically adjust their rotation, Matou would still be able to keep an eye on Hinata for most of the time.
"But there's no point in that either," Iwaizumi Hajime said.
After all, Inarizaki is currently using a Double Quick, so focusing on just one of them is meaningless.
Oikawa Tooru shrugged his shoulders. "That's not necessarily true."
Matou's role isn't just blocking; his quick attack is Wakamura's strongest and most frequently used weapon.
It is an important weapon that even in a situation like the Regional Qualifiers, Municipal Kobe would have no way to easily give up.
Besides, Hinata's height itself means he lacks versatility at the net; he only performs very well when blocking certain specific types.
As his receiving skills improved, it became obvious that Inarizaki as a whole leaned more toward having him receive rather than having him assist with blocking.
But quick attacks are different; an opponent's quick attack can bypass others, forcing players who weren't originally participating in the block to step up and block.
Not to mention Hinata himself is very good at touching the ball; he would never pass up an opportunity like this.
But this.. was actually exactly what he wanted.
Hinata jumped to attempt a touch, but Matou didn't spike at all; instead, he tipped the ball over behind Hinata.
The area that Hinata was originally responsible for defending was now empty; he had been forced to jump for a block following the quick attack that rushed toward this side from Municipal Kobe.
—It was a trap.
The moment he realized it, Hinata pulled back his strength. Fortunately, because he had tried to keep as much distance from the net as possible to reach the ball, he hadn't jumped that high.
The moment he landed, he turned around immediately and raised his hands to set the ball.
"Nice play!" Miya Atsumu followed up immediately, taking two quick steps to find his position before lowering his body to set the ball.
Receiving after a block does not count as a consecutive hit, so Hinata's movement was the optimal solution at this stage.
Matou's goal was very clear: he wanted to force Miya Osamu or Aran to perform a diving save, thereby disrupting their overall offense.
However.. it was obvious that Inarizaki was superior.
In excellent condition, Aran scored again with a spike, bringing Inarizaki to eight points in this set.
The buzzer sounded at the side of the court, announcing that the match had entered a time-out.
As they stepped off the court, Akagi reached out and patted Hinata's back: "That reaction just now was good, but the set was a bit low. It would be better if you put a bit more power into it."