Seeing that he couldn't spike directly, Matou decisively locked his gaze onto Hinata's fingers.
Although he realized he might be too, Matou decisively locked his gaze onto Hinata's fingers. While trying to pull back to avoid injury from a direct poke, Hinata's hand made contact with the volleyball itself.
While trying to pull back his hand to avoid injury from a direct strike, Hinata's hand made contact with the volleyball itself.
Landing softly on the ground, Hinata quickly turned and began to play the ball with one hand.
"Beautiful!" Miya Atsumu exclaimed in praise.
Some kind of super Ace who can take on a hundred people at once..
That wasn't something Hinata Shoyo needed to consider at this stage.
It would be even simpler for him to do; he just needs to be in the right place at the right time.
A player who can both attack and defend is what Inarizaki truly needs.
Block, retreat for the dig, retreat again to prepare for the approach.
Everything was completed by Hinata almost as if it were flowing like water, while on the other side, Miya Atsumu had already followed up.
As his body leaned back, he back-set the volleyball toward the side of Position 2, Aran, who had already taken his position there ready to attack, leaped up with a heavy thud.
Matou and the others followed up just as quickly, timing it perfectly to exploit the fact that Aran's back-row attack couldn't reach a great height, they pressed down from above him.
With a loud thud, the volleyball fell back onto Inarizaki's side.
Miya Osamu and Akagi both lunged at the same time, but unfortunately, they couldn't save the ball.
"Tsk." Aran felt somewhat irritated.
Two people on the other side were staring at him, while only one was watching Hinata, Matou's timing for blocking back-row attacks was always excellent; it was truly a headache.
Across the net, Matou pushed up his glasses and lowered his head without saying anything.
He and Aran had played against each other for more than three years, so he was incredibly familiar with his opponent's spiking habits..
Moreover, Aran's strength itself wasn't as exaggerated as Ushijima's, so as long as the timing was right, it could be blocked.
But this itself is built upon a wealth of experience, something their current substitute middle blocker is completely unable to do.
Speaking of which.. once they graduate after this Haruko is over, Municipal Kobe will have just as large a gap in their setter and middle blocker positions.
Forget it, let the coach deal with the headache himself.
Municipal Kobe's Kanzaki serves.
Oikawa Tooru clicked his tongue lightly. "The Ace has rotated to the back row, but it makes no difference."
The advantage of having an Ace as an Opposite is that they can exert almost the same powerful offensive impact from both the front row and the back row.
Kanzaki's serve didn't have any particularly specific target, especially since Akagi, Miya Osamu, Aran in the back row were all excellent at receiving.
After weighing his options, Kanzaki chose to serve the ball toward Aran.
"I've got it!" Aran steadily received the ball and sent it up toward Miya Atsumu's head.
After a quick glance at the poised Matou, Miya Atsumu gave a light chuckle and then sent the ball toward Position 4.
The moment the ball left his hands, Matou, on the other side of the net, was momentarily stunned.
Wait, the height of this ball..
It was so high that it could be determined without even careful judgment that it was above their block, Hinata, who had been staring at the ball, had already stepped forward, taking one last step at the net.
Thump.
At this moment, all eyes were focused on Hinata.
The volleyball flew right in front of him.
In his incredibly wide field of vision, Hinata accurately locked his gaze onto the open space near the three-meter line in front of Hanae.
Matou's eyes were filled with shock as he still attempted to jump and touch the ball.
No matter how many times he saw it, he was always shocked by Hinata's jumping ability, which made it look as if he were flying.
A jump height that reaches almost halfway above the net.. is the dream of every spiker.
The next second, the volleyball flew over his head, accurately slamming down toward the three-meter line.
Hanae, with quick reflexes, stepped forward, attempting to receive the ball.
But after the ball hit his arm, it clearly lost control for a moment, then bounced toward his head.
The volleyball grazed his face as it flew out, finally landing out of bounds near the sideline.
Miya Atsumu opened his arms toward Hinata: "Shoyo, what a great play!!"
Yaku, watching from the stands, turned his head toward Lev and said, "See? He can play quite brilliantly."
Lev blinked. "I can too."
He is so much taller than that little brat; when he jumps, he'll definitely be higher than his opponent!
Kuroo said expressionlessly, "You're truly an idiot."
Jumping ability and height are not directly proportional; with a physique as large as Lev's, he can't jump at all.
However, even if his jumping ability is average, Lev's long arms ensure that he can reach his contact point under normal circumstances.
But.. that is only if Lev can actually spike the ball.
Iwaizumi, standing by the sidelines, felt his scalp go numb for a moment: "This is ridiculous.."
How can you block that?
There's absolutely no way to block it.
Going over the net halfway.. besides Hoshiumi Shoyo, you can't find a third person in the entire high school circuit.
Moreover, attempting to reach over the net to touch the ball is a high-risk maneuver in itself.
A direct overhand spike might at least be reachable, but if they catch it and get a chance to play a Woguo, even the back row won't be able to save it.
On the court, Hanae was still reeling from the shock of what had just happened.
The place on his cheek where the volleyball had grazed him naturally stung with a burning pain, but what he was concerned about at this moment was not the shock of Hinata's incredible spike, but..
Has this guy's strength increased?
He thought he could receive it, but the ball went completely out of control, it was completely different from the Hinata in his memory.
—He isn't the only one who has grown significantly.
Oikawa Tooru rubbed his chin. "Can even a little mad dog be trained to this level?"
As far as he knew, Hinata's subsequent approach and jump were all trained by Coach Kosano, so..
Iwaizumi Hajime rolled his eyes: "Are you serious?"
Oikawa Tooru wiped the smile off his face. "Of course I was talking nonsense."
It was true that Coach Kosano's training could increase jump height to a certain extent, but the level that Inarizaki's little brat possessed was purely the result of natural talent.
"Give me the ball!" Hinata, on the court, once again called for the setter to toss the ball.
Cold sweat rolled down Hanae's forehead.
The Hinata in the back row and the Hinata in the front row are completely different people; this offensive intensity is just too ridiculous..
The ball hit his shoulder and then bounced out of bounds.
Kanzaki tried to chase it down, but unfortunately, he failed, allowing Inarizaki to score once again.
Hinata's contact point was indeed high and his speed was indeed fast, but his strength itself had always been an issue, so even if the block didn't keep up, he could still manage a desperate save.
But now that Hinata's strength had improved significantly compared to before, the effect of the topspin he could originally perform had become even more pronounced.
To be honest, several times he had the feeling that he was playing some kind of mini-Sakusa.
Summer's nightmare struck again, intertwining with the nightmares he had been facing since the beginning of the year, potentially haunting his entire high school career, even his entire volleyball life.
Hanae fell to the ground, unable to get up.
Kanzaki, who had failed to chase down the ball, returned and tried to pull Hanae up from the floor: "Cheer up! Akari!"
It's time for us to blow the horn for a counterattack! Let's defeat the Demon King!
Hanae's mind went blank: "We shouldn't.. have left the novice village yet."
—But the boss is the strongest in the main city.
Looking at the sweat dripping from Kanzaki onto the floor, Hanae suddenly looked up at him.
He suddenly realized that something was wrong.
It was obvious that he wasn't being toyed with by Inarizaki anymore in this set, because..
Is Inarizaki playing with their Ace?
Looking at Kanzaki's face as he was still cheering him on, Hanae inexplicably felt a sense of silliness radiating from him.
A sense of helplessness welled up in his heart, Hanae raised his hand tremblingly. "Captain, time-out, time-out—"
Pulling Kanzaki back to the coach's bench, Hanae, who had regained his composure, spoke with a serious expression about the plan Inarizaki seemed to have to target their Ace.
Inarizaki didn't care that their objective had been discovered, because the opponents actually had no way to counter it.
Miya Atsumu serves.
Spinning the ball in his hands, Miya Atsumu waited until the very last second before casually tossing it into the air.
Taking a quick approach and jumping high, he delivered a heavy spike.
It wasn't a standard power serve, nor was it a jump float; instead, it was a.. banana ball with intense rotation.
Hanae raised his arm, lunging to receive the ball.
Oikawa Tooru hits many balls with this kind of heavy spin, so he had plenty of experience receiving them when he was in the Junior National Team.
How to handle this kind of spin.. he was incredibly familiar with it.
With a loud thud, the volleyball flew toward Wakamura's head.
Wakamura's eyes widened, he raised his hands to send the ball to Kanzaki on the other side.
Kanzaki leaped up on one foot, putting all his strength into spiking the ball.