Taking everything into consideration, the attacks from the previous players could all be mitigated through blocking or by touching the ball, some could even be left entirely to Yaku to handle.
But Aran's powerful spike is a very troublesome point; he can forcefully break through the block, even if there is no touch on the block, the back row will find it very difficult to receive.
During the interval while Rishia Heisuke was being substituted for Suna Osamu to prepare for the serve, Kenma turned his head quickly and made several rapid hand signals with his back to the Inarizaki side.
Kuroo nodded at Kenma, the other Nekoma members understood as well.
Miya Atsumu slightly lifted his chin, looking sideways at Kenma as he turned back.
Kenma also looked up at him, then lowered his head again.
Hair fell at the side of his face, shielding him from Miya Atsumu's sharp gaze.
Receiving Kashiinayuki's serve from across the net, Akagi steadily sent the ball straight above Miya Atsumu's head.
Nekoma's serves weren't that powerful to begin with, so they were naturally not that difficult for Akagi to handle.
Great receive!
Hinata, from the back row, began running toward Position 1, while Miya Osamu also sprinted across half the court toward the Position 3.5 area.
The moment the Nekoma block spread out to both sides of the net, Aran shouted, "Give me the ball!!"
In the situation where Miya Atsumu sent the ball to both sides with a flat quick attack, he delivered the fastest possible flat ball.
Therefore, it is entirely possible to use a temporary adjustment to provide Aran with a higher high ball.
Nekoma's three-man block was positioned quite spread out, looking entirely as if they were prepared to react and follow up on the fly.
The moment the volleyball slipped from Miya Atsumu-senpai's hands, Kuroo signaled the players on both sides to move in.
Nekoma wasn't actually good at this blocking pattern, but Karasuno's use of it against Inarizaki had been somewhat effective, so they had practiced it as well.
“Jump!”
With Kuroo's shout, Kashiinayuki and Fukunaga rushed from both sides of the net almost instantly, pressing their arms forward to block in front of Aran.
Aran attempted an impromptu adjustment to the ball's trajectory, but Kuroo touched it.
Yaku moved quickly to follow up, raising his hands to send the ball back.
As Kenma jumped, he sent a back set, Kuroo, who had already rushed to that position, jumped along with it, precisely targeting the blocking fingers of the Inarizaki side, whose reaction had been slightly delayed, leaving an opening.
With a loud thud, the volleyball hit the net and bounced out of bounds.
Nekoma scored successfully by tooling the block.
"Impressive, a very decisive choice." Iizuna almost wanted to applaud Nekoma.
They underwent a complete tactical shift without a moment's hesitation, the speed was incredibly fast; their execution of the setter's tactics was nothing short of perfect.
However, the Inarizaki side also quickly realized that Nekoma intended to focus their defense on Aran.
Miya Atsumu decisively gave up on Aran, setting the ball to Hinata in the back row, who executed a high-point Quick Attack.
The volleyball was spiked precisely onto the three-meter line.
Inarizaki 8:4 Nekoma, entering a time-out.
"Nice play, Shoyo." The Inarizaki members patted Hinata one after another.
Hinata scratched his head and chuckled.
He certainly knew this wasn't his own doing; in this play, Aran and Miya Osamu actually acted as decoys, allowing him to perform a powerful spike.
If they still couldn't score in this situation.. it would be somewhat inexcusable.
Looking sideways at Yaku, who was tilting his head back to drink water on the other side of the net, Hinata's eyes were full of admiration: "So cool.."
As the Libero for Nekoma, who is known for its defense, he accounts for nearly two-thirds of the successful defensive plays.
That kind of composure during a crisis when making a save.. it was just explosively cool.
Miya Atsumu agreed with this: "It really is incredibly cool."
Like an ace playing for an extremely offensive team, he was undoubtedly the most dazzling star.
Glancing sideways at Aran, who was staring toward the stands with a frown, Miya Atsumu remained silent.
Well, their star is exceptionally dark today.
The faint pressure from Nekoma was indeed annoying, Aran was the one most affected by it.
Thinking of this, Miya Atsumu reached out and pinched the hair right in the middle of Hinata's head.
Shoyo, you really are..
As Hinata looked back in confusion, Miya Atsumu curled his lips into a smirk. "Do you want to be a star?"
After a brief moment of daze, Hinata's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really?!"
Does this mean he can become the Ace!
Miya Atsumu smiled and said, "Of course."
The rotation of the core spikers is also an important part of the tactics.
Now that Nekoma is guarding Aran tightly, it is the perfect time for them to coordinate their Quick Attack.
The match resumed, Miya Osamu served.
Nekoma was still watching Aran very closely,
While the blockers in the front row were ready to coordinate a block at any moment, the receivers in the back row were also watching him.
After Yaku received Aran's serve, Kenma raised his hand to deliver a Second Attack.
His movement was so subtle that even Akagi couldn't react in time.
Nekoma's Kuroo Tetsuro serves.
Watching Yaku and Kuroo switch positions, Miya Atsumu curled his lips into a slight smile.
Nekoma, without their Libero on the court, is effectively at half its defensive capacity, which presents a great opportunity for them to score.
“I've got it!” Kuroo took the initiative to receive the ball.
Although it's rare for a Middle Blocker to excel at receiving, as the captain of Nekoma, Kuroo is no less capable in this regard than the other Spikers on his team.
After sending the ball over Kenma's head, he took a running start from the back row, preparing to attack.
Oori Ren was equally cautious and was not fooled by Kenma's feint at all.
Haikyuu's spike was very high, but since he didn't use techniques like Woguo, Oori also felt at ease as he moved away from the net to make contact with the ball.
"Nice touch!" Hinata followed up from the back row to receive the ball.
Miya Atsumu raised his hand, setting the ball Hinata sent over toward Aran.
Hinata, who immediately began his run after receiving the ball, drew the block away, Aran lived up to everyone's expectations by scoring a point with a spike near the Position 2 marker.
Beautiful!
Great hit, Aran!!
After Inarizaki scores, the serve successfully passes to Aran.
Aran's serve was as heavy and powerful as ever.
Ultimate power brings absolute ball speed and spin; under such a heavy spike, even Yaku couldn't control it directly.
"Opportunity Ball!" Akagi shouted, raising his hand at the same time to prepare for the receive.
The volleyball bounced loudly off Akagi's palm, flying high over Miya Atsumu's head.
After a quick glance at the opposing block, Miya Atsumu curled his lips into a satisfied smirk.
If one were to say that the essence of a spiker's attack is to compete with the opponent over vertical distance in front of the net.
Then the setter's role is the process of using speed to shake off the blockers horizontally.
And as it happened, one of the techniques Hinata excelled at.. was the most traditional Flat Quick Attack.
After performing a fake set, Miya Atsumu, who didn't actually touch the ball, let his body fall.
An orange shadow flashed past him, just before it touched the ground, Miya Atsumu leaned back slightly, using his fingers to control the volleyball into an incredibly long Back Set.
But.. it was an incredibly fast Back Set.
With Hinata's sudden burst of extreme speed, the nine-meter distance across the net was crossed in what felt like the blink of an eye.
The ball, which was already moving at an extreme speed, was caught by Hinata just as it was about to reach the Position 2 marker.
Even though Fukunaga and Kenma had used their maximum speed, they still couldn't even touch the hem of Hinata's shirt.
The next second, accompanied by the sound of a sharp smack, the volleyball smashed into Nekoma's backcourt at an extremely high speed.
Kuroo's reaction speed in the back row was incredibly fast; he had already reached out his hand almost the moment Hinata spiked the ball.
But a ball with its speed unreduced by a block is extremely difficult to catch even under normal circumstances, let alone a short diagonal that Hinata had driven toward the front court.
The volleyball flew past Kuroo and slammed down near the three-meter line.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scored another point.
Hinata, who had landed, cheered immediately, "Yes!!"
Miya Atsumu raised his hand to high-five him: "Nice play!"
Standing by the court, Komori felt his scalp tingle. "That's insane.."
Anyone would struggle to keep up with that kind of speed, Hinata's ability to read the ball's trajectory has improved significantly compared to before; avoiding the Libero is practically second nature to him now.
Amatori shifted his position imperceptibly, creating another gap between himself and the court?
For some reason, he felt a phantom pain in his calf.
Chasing after Inarizaki's rhythm and their quick attacks.. he never wants to experience that a second time in his life.
On the other side, Agatsuma's expression remained normal, he said nothing.
Meeting Amatori's gaze, Agatsuma, who didn't understand what he meant at all, simply gave a soft hum of acknowledgment.
Amatori remained silent.
I knew it! That Agatsuma guy doesn't understand people at all! He should be complaining and venting along with me at a time like this!
On the court, Kenma lowered his head, reviewing the situation of the last few plays in his mind.