Just like the point he had been wondering about before.
Inarizaki has many powerful offensive options; even if you can suppress two of their strongest points, it's impossible to completely limit the others.
So, how should one limit Inarizaki's overall offense..
There has only ever been one best answer to this question.
—Suppress Inarizaki's absolute core.
That is, suppressing the setter.
But under normal circumstances, that kind of playstyle isn't possible.
Having finished his stretching and all other routines, Shiratori sat in the stands, watching Kenma, who was preparing to serve, spoke softly.
“Miya Atsumu is the core of Inarizaki's core; normally, he is protected by everyone, so unless he takes the initiative, he simply won't have any chance to touch the ball when he's not acting as the setter.”
Kuroo was puzzled: "Whether it was the counterattack at the beginning or the second attack later on, Nekoma forced Miya Atsumu to receive the ball."
How was that achieved?
Shiratori's answer was quite decisive: "Because Miya Atsumu stepped out of the protection zone himself."
“He adjusted his own positioning to provide better tosses for Hinata, Aran, the others.”
In other words..
Actually, Nekoma suppressing Hinata is itself a decoy to lure Miya Atsumu into being too aggressive.
After hearing Oikawa Tooru's brief explanation, Iwaizumi Hajime also realized what had happened.
Oikawa Tooru nodded. "Nekoma is very good at extending rallies to find opportunities, so it's very possible that with those last few balls, even the players involved might not have realized something was wrong."
This kind of targeted playstyle is no longer limited to just serves and spikes for Nekoma; they even have a precise grasp of the direction of the block.
They strive to maximize the value of both offense and defense in any situation.
—That's terrifying.
The serve passed to Kenma.
Amatori, by the sidelines, was breaking into a cold sweat for Inarizaki: "Even though this setter's serve doesn't have any particularly powerful techniques, still.. I feel like in this kind of situation, it's going to be even harder to deal with than a powerful jump float serve."
The whistle blew.
Watching Kenma toss the ball up almost immediately, Iizuna nodded. "I think you're right."
The next second, with a loud thud, the volleyball landed precisely on the top edge of the net before dropping toward Miya Atsumu's position.
This time, even Miya Atsumu, who was still caught up in the heat of the moment, sensed that something was wrong.
—That intention is a bit too obvious!
Trying to suppress him directly through the first receive, thereby interfering with Inarizaki's overall offense..
He would never let the people from Nekoma succeed.
Miya Atsumu decisively took a step back, leaving space for Hinata, who had already reached out from the other side.
With a loud thud, the volleyball flew up, but because its initial velocity wasn't high enough, it didn't fly very high.
"What a great First Receive!" Miya Atsumu praised, this level was enough for him.
The reaction speed was incredibly fast, instantly pulling him out of the predicament.
So reliable! Shoyo!
Aran was freed, Miya Atsumu immediately tossed the ball to him.
In terms of speed and height, this ball was actually quite mediocre, but in such an emergency, it was already the best ball that could be provided.
Moreover, for an Ace, any ball that provides enough time to spike is a good ball.
Aran took a deep breath and swung his arm with all his might, spiking the ball down in front of him.
Brutally breaking through a block or something.. he can still do that!
Bang!!
A loud bang.
The volleyball hit the block and then bounced high toward the stands.
But the moment Aran landed, both he and the setter, Miya Atsumu, fell silent.
The head referee raised his hand to signal an offensive foul by Inarizaki, Nekoma scores.
"What happened?" Kumagai was a bit dazed.
"Net touch," Suna said expressionlessly.
Just now, when Nekoma was moving into position, a jersey brushed against the net, the resulting vibration of the net caused Aran to touch the net..
This was a matter of pure probability; Nekoma got lucky.
Chapter 178: The One Hundred and Seventy-Eighth Fox
Glancing sideways at the scoreboard showing a large point difference, Kenma couldn't help but frown.
Although it would be difficult for Nekoma to get into their rhythm and secure a victory in the first set, under normal circumstances, they wouldn't be beaten by such a large point gap.
After all, their own defensive capabilities ensured that their scoring rate would remain low.
But.. the offensive intensity on Inarizaki's side was simply too ridiculous, even if they weren't particularly skilled at defense, it was more than enough to deal with Nekoma's offense.
The current situation is that Inarizaki has gained the advantage in the clashes where they excel, but in their weaknesses, Nekoma faces even greater problems.
All in all, it was actually a complete victory for Inarizaki.
Aran's spike just now was also incredibly powerful; if it hadn't hit the net, it would have been very troublesome for them.
Yaku clapped his hands: "Scoring is a good omen, don't panic, don't panic."
Go for it boldly. I've got your backs, so just focus on attacking to your heart's content.
Hinata raised his hand to clutch his chest: "That was so cool—"
Miya Atsumu agreed with this: "It was incredibly cool."
However, no matter how cool that was, it was the opponent's; what was a headache was Inarizaki themselves.
Nekoma's serve was still being aimed as close as possible to Miya Atsumu's position.
This time, the opponent's positioning was slightly further away, under normal circumstances, Hinata wouldn't have been able to reach it.
But Hinata was not afraid at all, lunging forward in a diving save toward Miya Atsumu: "Atsumu-senpai!"
"Nice receive!" Miya Atsumu shouted.
However, after landing from his diving, Hinata had essentially lost any opportunity to follow up with an attack; in the end, Nekoma had still achieved their goal.
Miya Atsumu let out a soft click of his tongue.
But there was no other way; the ball had to be saved, they would just have to organize an attack to score on the next play.
"Aran!" The Ace shouted, Miya Atsumu quickly transferred the ball into Miya Osamu's hands.
They have more than just Hinata as a Quick Attack option; giving the ball to Miya Osamu is just as effective.
Aran, feeling completely played, landed on the ground and locked eyes with Lev, who looked just as deceived as he was.
To think he was planning to make a comeback after that innocent foul just now, but that guy Atsumu had no intention of giving him the ball at all.
So mean! Miya Atsumu!
Yamamoto, who didn't hold much hope for Lev's intelligence, had already caught up to Miya Osamu and reached out, attempting to touch the ball.
But the Twins' play was simply too fast, he couldn't touch the ball at all.
The volleyball flew across the entire court, eventually landing near the corner of Nekoma's side.
Inarizaki scores.
Hinata scrambled up from the ground, patting his chest with his hand. "Leave it to me! Atsumu-senpai!"
Seeing him looking so smug, Miya Atsumu didn't say anything to dampen his confidence.
Indeed, Hinata's receives over these last few plays have been quite beautiful, already showing a faint hint of Hoshiumi's style of coordinating the entire court.
However.. his purpose in moving himself into a dangerous position was to better set for Hinata and the others, but now Hinata is finding it difficult to attack because he is busy receiving the ball for him.
This is completely backwards!
No, this won't do; he must think of another way.
He was greedy; he had to master both offense and defense, he had to win every single point beautifully.
Hinata jumped to attack once again, while simultaneously observing the opposing side.
First, he must avoid the block, second, he must avoid Yaku-senpai, so the best direction for a spike at this moment should be..
With a loud bang, Hinata spiked the ball straight down, hitting it precisely into the blind spot of Nekoma's back row defense.
But Yaku seemed to have anticipated it, stepping forward with a lunge and a side-step to receive the ball: "Kenma!"
Hinata landed, feeling a bit frustrated.
This feeling of having my spike controlled.. it's no different from when I spike against Suna-senpai's block..
Kenma raised his hands to send the ball to Kuroo, who had already rotated to the front row, Kuroo stared intently at the fingers of Inarizaki's block, attempting to use the block as a tool.
But Akagi's reaction was even faster; before the ball could fly out of bounds, he had already jumped to his maximum height to touch the ball.
Watching the ball fly high into the air, he called out to Miya Atsumu, "Atsumu!"
Miya Atsumu quickly kept up and raised his hands to set the ball.
Hinata jumped as a decoy, in the end, Miya Atsumu set the ball to Miya Osamu.
Watching the defense on the opposite side, Miya Osamu glanced at Yaku's position before raising his hand and making a motion as if preparing for a cross-court spike.
As Yaku took a step forward, his hands missed the ball, but he then used his wrist to pop the ball out at a lower point.
The volleyball lightly cleared the net and fell toward the ground.