Wait, when did that guy start defending over there? It's like he didn't see him just now?
“Atsumu-senpai!” Hinata called out to Miya Atsumu, while unable to help but snort through his nose.
It was normal that he didn't see it, because at first he thought it was Kawarai-senpai's own self-spike, only later did he suddenly remember that Atsumu-senpai had said that Kawarai-senpai's playstyle in Seijo's current lineup was the same as Ohira-senpai's from Shiratorizawa.
That Opposite and Iwaizumi-senpai generally don't participate in attacks frequently when they have free time.
So.. he chased him down with sheer effort after realizing what was happening.
Luckily, he was fast!
He didn't have time to feel triumphant for even half a second before Hinata quickly retreated to create distance for his approach run.
After receiving the ball, his only consideration was how to win the point, so his footsteps could not hesitate for even a moment.
After a quick glance at Kyokutsu, who was preparing to focus on Miya Osamu, Miya Atsumu raised his hand and delivered a high ball very close to him.
Hinata jumped on one foot half a step behind Miya Atsumu, shifting his center of gravity slightly to align his right hand and left leg on the same central axis, raising his hitting point to an almost extreme height.
And Miya Atsumu's toss was timed perfectly, arriving at the absolute peak of Hinata's single-footed jump.
This height was almost a complete over-the-top ball for Matsukawa, but he didn't dare step back to touch the ball, because Hinata's tooling the block and diving were both executed perfectly.
From the back row, Kawarai and Watari stared at Hinata's movements simultaneously, sealing off the directions of Hinata's line spike and his natural cross-court spike from both sides.
In his crystal-clear vision of the spike, Hinata quickly chose the path that he judged would have the highest scoring rate.
He raised his hand for a light tap, using his palm to roll the ball away.
The volleyball plummeted toward the ground at an extremely high speed.
Kawarai, who was playing defense for Seijo, dropped to one knee with his legs spread wide, stretching his arms out in an attempt to receive the ball.
But the ball with backspin fell far too fast, he ultimately couldn't reach it.
With a loud thud, the volleyball slammed into the ground.
Hinata, who landed a step slower than the ball, raised his hands and cheered, "Yes! First point!"
Nice spike, Shoyo.
Miya Atsumu reached out his hand toward Hinata, the two of them shared a heavy high-five.
Oikawa Tooru clicked his tongue lightly. "Tsk, no blind spots at all."
In the realm of technical shots, Hinata plays all kinds of attacks quite well, now he has also mastered the backspin spike, which is even harder to defend than a dump.
Given Aobajohsai's blocking level, it would be difficult to impose any real restrictions at the net.
By comparison, it would require Kindaichi, who has a greater blocking height.
The opening rotation of this set wasn't particularly good; we have to wait for one rotation to pass before Hinata can face off against Kindaichi.
Kawarai waved it off. "It's fine. Knowing he'll spike it back up makes it simple."
“It's about applying what you've learned.” In the stands, Shiratori rested his chin on his hand.
As far as his memory went, that kind of backspin was something the first-year Ace from Municipal Kobe was very good at.
It has only been a little over two months since Hinata first encountered it, he can already use it with such flexibility.
Kuroo, standing beside him, said, "His learning ability is incredible."
Whenever he feels like he's encountered something new, Hinata learns it at an incredible speed as long as he thinks it's useful.
"His reactions are fast, his receives are steady, his follow-up attacks are very decisive." Coach Himegomiya, who was already watching from the spectator stands, nodded.
Coach Himegomiya had originally intended to take Iizuna to the hospital, but the doctor at the gymnasium said the injury wasn't serious and had already treated it.
Coupled with Iizuna's own strong desire to stay and watch the match, it was finally decided that he would go to the hospital for an X-ray after today's match was over.
And Coach Himegomiya, who was in a truly terrible mood, came to find Xiaoxia almost the moment Itachiyama announced their disbandment.
"Atsumu-senpai is amazing!" Xiaoxia cheered, following Coach Himegomiya.
At the same time, excited voices of children rose from the stands not far away: "Hinata-senpai is so amazing!"
Sensing a hint of danger, Hinata Natsu looked back and saw a boy about her own age cheering from two rows away.
Coach Himegomiya followed her gaze and saw an old acquaintance. "Suzuki? Haven't you all left yet?"
One of the coaches from Sannomiya Industrial, Suzuki, gave a wry smile. "They left a long time ago. My kid was making a fuss about wanting to watch the Inarizaki match in person, so I stayed behind."
Anyway, they were eliminated by the seeds yesterday, so now is her vacation.
Feeling the kid beside them go quiet, the two coaches both froze for a moment.
The moment they looked down, they found the two of them had already begun glaring at each other for no apparent reason.
Coach Himegomiya was confused. "What's wrong? Do you know them?"
Xiaoxia turned her head and stopped looking at Suzuki Nanao, who was standing beside Coach Suzuki. "I don't know him, but I have a feeling he's very annoying and dangerous. I can't lose to him."
Coach Himegomiya was speechless.
Both of these children have top-tier talent, though Nanao has been in contact with volleyball for a bit longer.
Once Hinata Natsu starts training, she won't be any worse than Nanao; she'll likely become a mainstay of the national team in the future.
But.. since one is in Men's Volleyball and the other is in Women's Volleyball, they won't become competitors, right?
Xiaoxia's cheering became even more enthusiastic: "Atsumu-senpai, hit a good one!!"
On the court, Miya Atsumu was already prepared to serve the third ball.
Even though they lost consecutive points during the Opening, there was no excessive panic on the Aobajohsai side.
Facing an opponent's powerful Service Turn can certainly cause problems like this, but once they enter their own strong period, the opponents will experience the same headache.
It's just a matter of playing to the backhand; they are very familiar with it.
After being stared at intensely by Coach Kurosu for a few seconds, Miya Atsumu once again obediently continued to suppress the Libero.
Relatively speaking, Watari, coming from a setter background, is quite skilled at setting, so he is not as adept at handling power serves as he is with jump floats.
Watari's expression grew even more solemn after just being hit; he moved his position even further back than before.
With his positioning further back, both a diving save or adjusting his position would have been feasible.
He was simply positioned too far forward, combined with the terrifying speed of Miya Atsumu's power serve, he simply didn't have enough time to adjust his position.
Watari took a deep breath: "Bring it on!"
To overcome Shiratorizawa, he had received many of Oikawa Tooru's power serves during his regular training sessions.
In terms of ball speed alone, Oikawa Tooru's serves, which occasionally approach 120 km/h, are among the absolute best in the entire high school volleyball world.
Although his success rate for receives isn't particularly high normally, but.. as long as he can guarantee the toss, it's fine.
Feeling that he was being targeted by Miya Atsumu, Watari Chikaharu stared back at Miya Atsumu without yielding an inch.
The volleyball in his field of vision was tossed high by Miya Atsumu, the serve motion he had seen countless times in video footage appeared in his sight once again.
After the heavy sound, the volleyball expanded in his field of vision almost instantaneously.
But the moment after the ball crossed the Three-meter Line, it suddenly spun downward, smashing straight into the floor.
Watari Chikaharu's nerves tightened instantly, he lunged forward in a diving save purely by instinct.
The moment his arm made contact with the volleyball, it suffered an uncontrollable deflection, but fortunately, he still managed to prevent the ball from touching the ground.
The volleyball flew diagonally out of bounds, Watari Chikaharu quickly called out to Oikawa Tooru, "Oikawa-senpai!"
"What a First Receive!" Oikawa Tooru sprinted forward two large steps, jumping from the edge of the court to chase down the ball.
Building on the perfect first receive, Oikawa used a finger touch to instantly absorb the momentum and adjust the spin.
He transferred the volleyball to a high point behind Position 3, where the Ace had already jumped and was prepared to spike.
Kosaku and Miya Osamu quickly followed up, both jumping simultaneously in the center to decisively attempt a touch.
Kosaku and Iwaizumi Hajime didn't make direct contact, but one could see Iwaizumi Hajime's terrifying power just by watching Seijo's match this morning.
If you tried to recklessly attempt a block without being prepared.. you would definitely get injured.
Iwaizumi Hajime also stared at Inarizaki's block.
Of course, he could sense the opponent's intention to touch the ball; at a time like this, he really should have attempted a dump or a tooling the block.
But first, his proficiency at tooling the block was only average, making it difficult to successfully use that technique against a block with no obvious flaws; second, Hinata was positioned in front to defend against a dump, leaving him no room to maneuver.
Without even a moment's hesitation, Iwaizumi Hajime decisively chose to go for a full-power spike.
If he can't spike the ball that the Libero worked so hard to receive.. he would be doing a real disservice to the First Receive and the Setter.
Moreover, one can only be called an Ace if he can kill every single spike.
Touch!
The moment he touched the ball, Kosaku's expression contorted for an instant.
The force of this spike was unexpectedly powerful; he didn't have enough time to brace his body and was almost sent flying by the ball.
“Nice touch!”
Akagi took a step back, lightly jumping on one foot before reaching up to set the ball again.
The toss was incredibly precise, requiring almost no adjustment to Miya Atsumu's positioning.
Oikawa Tooru, standing near the net on the opposite side, quickly made several hand signals behind him the moment he caught sight of Miya Atsumu jumping.
Kawarai and Watari Chikaharu understood the unspoken signal and immediately adjusted their positions toward both sides.
Staring at Kosaku, who was preparing to execute a power spike in the center, Miya Osamu and Aran, who were preparing to coordinate in a staggered formation at Inarizaki's Position 4, Matsukawa imperceptibly shifted slightly closer to the center.
After feinting a setting motion, Miya Atsumu arched his back in the next second, delivering a massive back set toward the extreme edge of the net.
Having already approached that area silently, Hinata leaped up with a thud, preparing for a spike.
Matsukawa stepped up with two quick strides, extending his arms to press down and restrict Hinata's spike path as much as possible.
As long as he times the back set correctly, Hinata will have no way to get his ball over his hands.
As long as he can crush the cross-court spike, Hinata will have no choice but to spike a line.
And as for the direction of his line spike, Kawarai, who had retreated to receive the ball, had been waiting there like a predator waiting for its prey.
Watching Hinata's movements, Kawarai's mind quickly ran through the instructions Oikawa Tooru had given him before the match began.