Before Miya Atsumu could even react, Aran had already forced a hug.
Disdain was ineffective!
When Miya Osamu passed by, he also reached out and put an arm around Miya Atsumu's back, even Akagi came up to give him a hug.
Suna whispered to Ginjima in the waiting area, "He looks like some innocent young man who's been through hell."
After looking Miya Atsumu over several times, Ginjima felt that Suna's description was very vivid. "You're not planning on going up there to stir the pot too, are you?"
Suna crossed his arms over his chest. "No, I find him annoying."
Seeing how the seniors had all inexplicably gone to hug Atsumu-senpai, Hinata, who had also turned back, rushed forward and gave Miya Atsumu a hug.
Miya Atsumu's expression instantly brightened, as if the whole world had suddenly become radiant.
Hoshiumi, sitting in the stands, felt like he was going to vomit. "Just look at that disgusting face of his."
Doesn't this guy realize how hypocritical he's being?
A five-point gap was too much for Seijo to overcome, the score for the First Set ended at 25:20, giving Inarizaki the victory in the first set.
Returning to the Coach's bench, Oikawa Tooru was in no hurry; instead, he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It seems, it's already starting to show some results."
Glancing at Miya Atsumu, who was puffing out his chest and acting boastful, Oikawa Tooru gave a light click of his tongue. "Let's keep working hard in the next set."
As long as we can do that, our chances of winning a set back are still very high.
Kenma, huddled in a corner of the stands, tightened the blanket wrapped around himself and squinted his eyes as he watched the two sides on the court. "This Oikawa-senpai is unexpectedly patient."
Yamamoto didn't react in time: "What?"
Kenma shook his head. "It's nothing."
Is Seijo going to try to do what even Nekoma couldn't achieve?
But it was true that, with the foundation laid by the morning matches, some people would find it much easier to fall into a trap when the gap between them was so small.
Kenma curled the corners of his lips. "That's quite interesting."
Chapter 191: The One Hundred and Ninety-First Fox
During the break after the change of sides, Coach Kurosu checked on every player's condition: "Aran, how is your stamina feeling?"
Aran gave an OK gesture: "No problem at all."
He didn't perform many power spikes, so this amount of physical exertion wasn't a problem at all; he felt like he could play ten more matches.
When asked about Hinata, Coach Kurosu decisively skipped the topic and went straight to removing Hinata's knee pads to check the condition of his knee.
Beside him, Kita Shinsuke froze for a moment when he saw Hinata's left knee.
He frowned as he looked at Hinata, then quickly handed over the medicated oil: "It's bruised. When did you hit it?"
Hinata, realizing it a bit late, blinked and looked up while recalling as the coach quickly applied the medicine, "It was probably when I went straight down on my knees while saving a ball.."
Hinata's voice grew quieter and quieter, he shut his mouth under the gaze of Coach Irihatsu and Kita Shinsuke.
He was doomed; he had gotten too caught up in the game and had completely forgotten the instructions the coach had repeatedly emphasized.
The knee pads he was using now were different from the ones before; they weren't as thick on the front, so he absolutely couldn't just kneel down directly—
Hinata forced himself to suppress the urge to perform a dogeza, submissively bowing his head to wait for the coach to apply medicine to him.
He looked exactly like an elementary schooler who had done something wrong.
Coach Kurosu stood up and didn't say much more: "Alright, it's no big deal, just superficial injuries."
Be more careful next time. Don't go down so hard all at once.
"Understood!" Hinata felt as if he had been granted a reprieve, hurriedly bowing his head to wrap his own knee pads, avoiding eye contact with Kita Shinsuke.
On the other side, Kumagai was helping Miya Atsumu wrap bandages around his fingers.
The frequency of spikes from Seijo's side requires a high number of touches, with Kyokutsu's frequent toolings, Miya Atsumu felt he needed to take some preventative measures to avoid getting injured like he did during the Interhigh.
Kumagai's individual strength was certainly at a national level, but only when placed among teams below the Semifinals.
In the matches following this, Kumagai might struggle to hold his own, so he must be the one to take control of the situation.
Iizuna-senpai had already caused Itachiyama to stop at the quarterfinals due to injury, Inarizaki could not afford to repeat that mistake.
Using his teeth to adjust the tension to a more comfortable level, Miya Atsumu skillfully took the medical tape from Kumagai and applied it.
When he looked up, he suddenly realized that someone beside him had been staring at him.
Atsumu turned his head and met Hinata's gaze.
Although he didn't know what Hinata was looking at, Miya Atsumu still replied with a smile.
Hinata cleared his throat, turned his head away from Miya Atsumu, instead cast his gaze toward Oikawa Tooru on the other side of the net.
So Oikawa-senpai was sowing discord to deceive him!
Where was Atsumu-senpai being dangerous? Atsumu-senpai is so cool when he's in serious mode!
Miya Atsumu blinked in confusion.
What was that? He thought Hinata was going to say something to him.
A sneer sounded from behind him. Atsumu turned around and met the gaze of his twin brother.
Atsumu raised an eyebrow. "What are you laughing at?"
Osamu picked up his water cup and took another sip of his drink: "It's nothing, I just feel a bit full."
—So full he felt like vomiting.
After a brief rest, the players from both sides returned to the court to confirm their rotations for the Second Set.
Inarizaki, who went second, started with their usual rotation of the setter in Position 2, while Aobajohsai, for the first time in a while, utilized the same starting formation as Oikawa Tooru from the first set.
Compared to the long-term back row insertion playstyle used during the S1 rotation, Oikawa Tooru is actually more skilled at front row setter tactics like Position 1 and 2.
This is also one of the reasons why Aobajohsai's Ace is always positioned in the Left Wing.
If the Ace starts at Position 4 or 5 according to standard play, it can ensure that the Setter has three opportunities for coordination with the Left Wing Spiker during the initial stage, allowing them to build an advantage more quickly.
Therefore, even though Seijo has begun learning Opposite tactics, they have not moved the Ace to the Opposite position.
However, with Kyokutsu here, Seijo can now boldly choose S1, without having to worry that the Ace not starting in Position 4 would cause a drop in offensive power during the opening.
Hinata pursed his lips at the net, exchanged a glance with Kindaichi on the opposite side, then shifted his gaze toward Oikawa Tooru, but in the end, he couldn't help but look at Kindaichi again.
Great, this rotation means he doesn't have to receive Oikawa-senpai's serve!
Even though he is going up against Aobajohsai's tallest player, Kindaichi, this time.. he's only 1.9m, so he won't be afraid!
He has faced more than one two-meter giant, he has also faced someone nearly two meters tall.
Moreover, he had already completely overwhelmed Kindaichi during their last match against Seijo, after the training camp at Shiratorizawa, he now knew Kindaichi's behavioral logic like the back of his hand!
Kindaichi, who had been under constant observation, finally couldn't hold it in and lowered his head.
The moment he met that intense gaze, he felt as if his body were being pierced by it.
Resisting the urge to step back, Kindaichi swallowed hard and looked back at Hinata with equal seriousness.
The whistle blew, the head referee signaled that Seijo would take the service turn.
Watching Miya Atsumu change his service starting position to behind Position 5, Akagi felt a sense of dread, but he could only shout to encourage himself, "Bring it on!"
Oikawa Tooru completely wiped the smile from his face, tossed the ball into the air after a high toss, prepared for his serve.
Hinata, who had been observing throughout, felt his pupils contract.
—Oikawa-senpai's setting form was different from before.
He remembered Atsumu-senpai saying that Oikawa-senpai's previous tossing style was to balance his own ball speed and precision.
So now, the purpose of a high toss is..
Increase the ball's speed to the maximum.
Accompanied by a heavy thud and the roaring, sea-like cheers from Seijo, the volleyball slammed into the space between Akagi and Aran almost in the blink of an eye.
The entire process was visibly faster than before, the increase in ball speed was nothing short of significant.
Akagi didn't dodge or evade, instead stepping forward to position himself under the ball for a receive: "I've got it!"
In the next instant, the volleyball hit Akagi's arm and then immediately flew out of bounds.
The ball slammed down right under the banner hanging for Seijo, followed immediately by the whistle blowing, signaling a point for Aobajohsai.
“Nice one, Oikawa!”
With a strong opening to take the first point, cheers immediately erupted from the Aobajohsai side.
Aran tossed the volleyball back under the net, Oikawa Tooru caught it in one hand.
With a slight smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth, Oikawa caught the ball in one hand and held it up.
He pointed his index finger at Miya Atsumu from Inarizaki: "I told you to wait."
It's not just Inarizaki that has strong service turns; Aobajohsai has him too.
Isn't it just about suppressing the Libero?
He could certainly do it too, he would do it even better than Miya Atsumu.
Komori couldn't help but say, "Oikawa-senpai is truly amazing.."
Although Akagi-senpai's first receive isn't outstanding, being able to start for Inarizaki means it's considered upper-middle tier even on a national level.
And to actually be able to use a power serve to suppress them directly—that ball speed itself was somewhat terrifying.
The whistle blew in the court again, Oikawa Tooru prepared to serve the second ball.
Coach Irihatsu looked at Coach Mizoguchi beside him: "In a duel between such powerful offensive teams, the advantage at the opening is of utmost importance."
The more you try to catch up, the more impatient you become, the more openings you'll leave. Therefore, whichever side can secure the initial advantage will find it much easier to create a snowball effect.
"Second point!" Oikawa Tooru raised his hand to toss the ball, then raised his hand again to spike it into the space between Aran and Akagi.
Having already realized the speed of Oikawa Tooru's current serve, Akagi decisively gave up on facing it head-on and dove to perform a back receive.