Under favorable setting conditions, Miya Atsumu himself tends to favor the Quick Attack, especially when coordinating off-beat Quick Attacks with wing spikers positioned further away.
Hinata's expression remained unchanged; he simply locked eyes with Kawarai, who had moved into position behind him, before lightly tapping the ball away.
The volleyball fell almost vertically behind the block, even though it was still some distance from the three-meter line.
This time, it was Oikawa Tooru's turn to be stunned.
The person behind him was still far away, so he was the closest one.
In the heat of the moment, he could only dive to save the ball, shouting, "Makoto!"
Fortunately, Kawarai's skills as a setter were quite good; even when forced into a defensive touch, he was able to cover the ball in time.
Iwaizumi Hajime from the back row ran halfway up the court, preparing for a strong attack from the back four.
Kawarai touched the ball as Kosaku began to approach, sending it toward the area near Position 2 and 5.
Watching Matsukawa prepare to spike, Miya Osamu quickly signaled Kosaku to return to block.
But just as the two of them were preparing to time Matsukawa's jump, a hand suddenly reached out from the side.
Accompanied by the heavy sound of the hit, the volleyball was struck away, arcing through the air and landing in Inarizaki's back court.
Miya Osamu and Kosaku, who were in the front row preparing to block, were both stunned at the same time.
By the time everyone regained their senses, Akagi in the back row had already failed to save the ball.
Kyokutsu landed on the ground and shook his left hand.
He had a relaxed expression, as if it were only natural, appearing very satisfied with his performance just now.
A deathly silence fell on both sides of the net. Miya Atsumu raised a finger toward Kyokutsu, trembling, but he couldn't utter a single word.
In the end, it was Aran who finally snapped and spoke up: "What the hell! Is this even proper volleyball! Is this even normal!"
Oikawa Tooru gave Kyokutsu a thumbs up. "Nice spike, you little mad dog."
Iwaizumi Hajime also reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "Well played."
Kawarai's set was indeed somewhat suspicious, as if he were intentionally baiting Kyokutsu to steal it, but Oikawa Tooru had already anticipated it.
In short, everything was still within their control, not to mention that this had interrupted Miya Atsumu's powerful service turn.
Hinata stood frozen on the spot, unable to take his eyes off Kyokutsu for a long time.
Wait, there's another way to solve this?!
Sensing something was wrong, Miya Atsumu immediately reached out, grabbed Hinata's shoulders, shook him. "You can't learn this, you absolutely cannot learn this!"
Damn Oikawa-senpai, he's going to lead his junior astray! What kind of volleyball is this!
After successfully taking the service turn back from Inarizaki, Oikawa Tooru's mood brightened instantly.
Watching Kyokutsu prepare to serve, he glanced over at Hinata, who was being lectured by a circle of seniors: "That Little One, though, has no passion at all."
“Just spike the ball for me honestly, don't go researching things like backspin or dumps for no reason, just spike it to death!"
This isn't some casual street game," Iwaizumi Hajime rolled his eyes. "In a match, the main goal is still to score. They really did pull off two beautiful attacks.
The first time, they scored directly, the second time, they focused on suppressing Oikawa Tooru's position.
If it weren't for the fact that Kawarai's setting was also something he had specifically practiced beforehand, his rhythm would have been completely disrupted just now.
Kyokutsu patted the ball in his hands, spinning it around his finger after the whistle blew.
Inarizaki's cheering also unceremoniously picked up the rhythm, intending to interfere with Kyokutsu's serve.
Hearing the entire stadium being incited to start clapping in unison, Oikawa Tooru felt a sense of foreboding.
He certainly knew that Inarizaki's cheering would involve doing things like this; although the frequency was not as high as their jeering, it was indeed one of the effective methods of distraction.
Because Kyokutsu had never encountered the same situation before, Oikawa Tooru wasn't sure if he would be distracted.
As it turned out, Kyokutsu could.
Kyokutsu, whose rhythm had been thrown off during the toss, sent the ball flying, causing the subsequent hit to be too low. It struck the top edge of the net above Oikawa Tooru, making the entire net shake.
Oikawa Tooru felt a sudden chill at the back of his head, the hair on his body stood on end in an instant.
He felt as if he were about to be assassinated right then and there.
The volleyball wobbled over, failing to fall back onto Seijo's side.
Hinata's reaction speed was very fast; as he rushed forward, he used his hands to set the ball, undeterred by the sudden net touch.
Oikawa vaguely heard Kyokutsu click his tongue behind him, though he couldn't tell if it was because of the service error or because he was disappointed that the ball hadn't hit him.
Oikawa Tooru, filled with grief and indignation, glared at Miya Atsumu, who had already stepped forward and was preparing to receive the ball.
Having a single Miya Atsumu was enough to deal with being hit in the back of the head by a serve; he'd rather avoid that.
After all.. he's almost graduating, so he shouldn't let his memes fly everywhere.
Yeah, once he gets back, he's going to like every single video on Suna's You Tube channel!
With Oikawa Tooru and Matsukawa staring them down, Hinata's attacking conditions weren't very good, so Miya Atsumu passed the ball to Aran for a back-row attack.
Although Hinata didn't move, Miya Osamu and Kosaku in the front row still provided plenty of cover.
Even though Seijo had been staying vigilant against Aran, his jumping speed was still a bit slow in the end.
The top super Ace in the nation received a perfect set from the nation's number one setter.
Under the force of the spike, Seijo's already ill-prepared block was gradually blown away.
The volleyball slammed into the ground behind the three-meter line, then bounced high into the air.
Kawarai, who had nearly fallen, had a look of pure shock on his face.
One must realize that the moment he sensed it would be Aran's spike, even while he was originally prepared to stay in the back row to receive the front-row ball, he immediately moved to add a block.
Kawarai, Matsukawa, Oikawa represent the relatively strong blocking Aoba currently has to offer at this stage, but they were still broken through by Inarizaki's early coverage and Aran's spike.
And the intensity of that spike.. it was not inferior to Ushijima at all.
No, was it because the setter and the other teammates interfered with the block itself that they felt Aran was stronger?
Kawarai frowned slightly as he glanced at Miya Atsumu, who was high-fiving Aran on the opposite side.
Is this the.. "set that makes a spiker feel like they've become stronger" that he had heard about before?
With this level of cover, it truly lives up to its reputation.
The service turn passed to Hinata.
This time, Coach Kurosu did not substitute Kumagai or Rishia in at the opening; instead, he let Hinata perform the serve himself.
Standing at the starting position for his approach, Hinata gazed from a distance at the familiar faces of the Seijo team, as well as.. the back of Miya Atsumu's head, which appeared exceptionally clear in his field of vision due to his advanced positioning.
The whistle sounded in his ears, Hinata unconsciously pursed his lips, focusing all of his attention on Kyokutsu and Watari Chikaharu in the back row on the opposite side.
Spinning the volleyball in his hands, Hinata raised his hand and tossed the ball up at the very last second of the service time limit.
Compared to himself more than half a year ago, he was like a completely different person now!
This time!
He absolutely won't!
It hit the back of Atsumu-senpai's head!!
With a heavy thud, the volleyball flew over Miya Atsumu's head, crashing down in the area next to Watari, closer to Kyokutsu and Kawarai.
Right now, the greatest threat in Seijo's back row is Kyokutsu, so his serve must be suppressed as much as possible.
Watching the trajectory of the ball, Watari Chikaharu decisively stepped aside, watching the ball fall as he shouted, "Out!"
The volleyball slammed down behind the baseline. After bending over to examine it closely, the referee ultimately ruled it out.
Hinata's serve went out, Aobajohsai scored.
Watching the score on Seijo's side go up by one, Hinata remained on his knees, unable to get up, lying motionless on the floor.
"Get up, get up, it was just a service error." Akagi reached out and pulled Hinata up.
It's just one point, you can get it back later.
Aran also crowded closer, giving Hinata a thumbs-up: "At least you didn't hit the back of Atsumu-senpai's head this time; that's huge progress!"
Hinata felt comforted.
He quickly regained his confidence: "I will definitely score on my next serve!"
Miya Atsumu remained silent, but ultimately gave a thumbs up, "That was a very accurate serve. Just control the power a little bit next time."
Hinata also quickly fulfilled his promise, scoring a point for Inarizaki with a beautiful back-row attack over-the-top spike during Kawarai's service turn, instantly erasing the point he had lost due to his own service error.
"YES!!" Hinata cheered.
Kawarai wiped the sweat dripping from his chin. "That's ridiculous, that ball speed.. just how did he hit that?"
Oikawa Tooru stood with his hands on his hips. "His arm swing is beautiful; he must practice a lot in his spare time."
However, to be able to spike with that kind of quality even when being blocked by three people during a back-row attack.. it was truly outrageous.
Watching Kosaku walk toward the service area, Watari Chikaharu broke into a cold sweat.
This gave him no room to breathe; every service turn from Inarizaki was powerful enough.
Especially since Kosaku had been a key player during service turns, his previous appearances had featured several beautiful aces, he was particularly skilled at sudden changes in ball trajectory.
Fortunately, Watari Chikaharu's reaction speed had been sharpened by being hit by Miya Atsumu's spike, he did not let the ball drop.
Seijo quickly launched a counterattack, scoring a point.
Watching the match's tempo, which was incredibly fast, Amatori stared with wide eyes in the stands: "Unexpected."
Especially after experiencing matches against Inarizaki and Nekoma where every rally was dragged out time and time again, this kind of play, where every point is won cleanly and decisively, made him feel a bit unaccustomed.
Iizuna lowered his head and thought deeply: "Both sides are essentially teams that rely on strong offense, Seijo leans more towards overall tactics, while Inarizaki uses multi-directional attacks very frequently."
Many times, the only person Inarizaki leaves behind to defend is a single Libero," Komori from the other side also affirmed, "while their offense is strong enough, their defense is also very weak.
Easy to score, but equally easy to lose points.
Shiratori narrowed his eyes: "The same applies to Seijo; as long as either side makes even a tiny mistake during the attacking process, it will lead to a change in possession."
However, at the very least, Seijo ensures their Right Wing maintains defense throughout the entire process, while the Right Wing over at Inarizaki also attacks frequently.