Serving ten in a row would definitely be the death of you!
Hinata cheered for Miya Atsumu: "Atsumu-senpai will definitely be fine!"
Under Hinata's gaze, Miya Atsumu remained silent for two seconds before struggling to give a thumbs up. "Absolutely no problem, yeah."
The first server can't be called incapable!
As the serve passed to Suna, the sound of a substitution signal rang out from the sidelines.
Seijo's number 13, Kunimi Akira, replaced number 16, Kyokutsu.
Hinata raised his hand to greet Kunimi, who had finally entered the court: "Kunimi!"
He thought he wouldn't have the chance to face Kunimi in an official match, but he hadn't expected the opportunity to come so quickly.
Kunimi didn't want to pay him any attention, but ultimately, under that intense gaze, he gave a slight nod.
Under Seijo's high-pressure tactics targeting his playstyle, Hinata gradually grew accustomed to it.
He even began to find a balance between offense and defense within it, even found some enjoyment in it.
With Suna there, the pressure on his own offense wasn't as great as before, allowing him to focus more energy on studying the opponent's spikes.
He becomes visibly excited, especially after delivering a good set and successfully completing a spike under Miya Atsumu's orchestration.
This also caused Miya Atsumu's own mood to relax considerably, allowing him to focus more on encouraging Hinata.
As soon as he was substituted in, Kunimi immediately circled from the sidelines toward the center to prepare for a spike.
After weighing his options, Oikawa Tooru also passed the ball—which wasn't in the best condition due to Suna's tricky serve—to Kunimi.
When Kyokutsu was on the court before, these bad balls were handled by the middle blocker, ensuring that what was passed to Kyokutsu and Iwaizumi were relatively good balls.
But Kunimi wasn't that particular about it.
After all, he didn't perform spikes very frequently himself; he mostly chose a playstyle focused more on technical shots.
Moreover.. the purpose of bringing him in at this specific time was to better pin down the opponent.
—Especially Miya Osamu and Hinata.
Kunimi's gaze suddenly dropped, locking onto Hinata, who was defending against a line shot.
Hinata, whose vision was extremely sharp, reacted almost instantly, quickly shifting his attention to Kunimi's hands.
The opponent's destination was obvious; if you combined the intention to force him into a specific movement with the plan for a diving save..
This is a ball prepared with backspin.
In the moment he adjusted his position, Hinata's foot stepped on the sweat on the floor.
While losing his balance and falling headlong, he managed to land squarely beneath the ball.
By instinct, he managed to get under the ball for a bump, sending the volleyball flying directly toward the attack line in the back.
The crowd in the stands was dumbfounded: "He actually managed that?!"
"Great save!" Miya Atsumu said, both surprised and delighted.
But at this moment, there was no time to worry about the fallen Hinata; he could only devote his entire focus to organizing the subsequent attack.
Meanwhile, the fallen Hinata rolled with the momentum and scrambled back to his feet.
With a heavy thud, he leaped up in a single bound, positioning himself behind Position 4 to execute a back-row attack.
Coach Mizoguchi was not surprised by this at all: "There it is, a spike."
Speaking of which, one must take issue with a certain Coach Kosano of Aobajohsai.
Handing their enemies weapons on a silver platter..
Miya Atsumu's ball didn't go to Hinata, but instead went into the hands of Aran, who had already sprinted halfway across the court to Position 2 to prepare for a spread attack.
Because most players are right-handed, Position 4 offers much more room for maneuver and a wider field of vision than Position 2.
For this very reason, when it comes to wing attacks, Position 4 is far more threatening than Position 2.
But Aran's training was very well-balanced.
Aside from Kiryu and the left-handed Ushijima, Aran is the best player in the high school circuit at playing Position 2 and back-row attacks.
Kindaichi and Kunimi on the opposing side threw themselves forward in a full-on attempt to block, but Aran had already locked onto the gap between the two and spiked the ball straight down with all his might.
BANG!!
The volleyball smashed through Aobajohsai's block in an instant, crashing into the empty space in the back row.
Watari Chikaharu, who had completely failed to expect Aran would dare to spike directly against the block at a time like this, was originally defending a line shot on the other side and had no time to react.
Inarizaki took back a point.
Aran cheered, "Nice!!"
Under normal circumstances, he really wouldn't have had enough energy left to smash through blocks, but as it happened, during today's match, he spent more time acting as a decoy and being tied up by blocks.
As a result, his stamina remained very high, to the point where he felt he could even go toe-to-toe with Ushijima.
—Well, that's not going to happen later.
Oikawa Tooru clapped his hands. "Don't worry, it was just luck. Under normal circumstances, that kind of ball would be impossible to save, there's no way a strong attack could follow."
Iwaizumi Hajime stood with his hands on his hips, also looking puzzled: "That's just too much.."
There's no way a ball like that could be saved.
Why?
There will be, that last ball could have been saved.
A voice came from across the net, making everyone from Seijo turn their heads to look.
It was Hinata, looking at them with a face full of confusion.
Oikawa Tooru didn't even know what to say anymore: "You said something terrifying with such a pure, kind expression on your face."
Hinata felt a bit angry, feeling as though he had been underestimated.
He had already predicted the trajectory of this ball and guessed that Kunimi Akira was preparing a backspin; with his speed, he would definitely be able to receive it.
Seeing Hinata shrug his shoulders, looking all puffed up with anger, Miya Atsumu reached out and pulled him back.
Don't be upset, don't be upset. You'll hit it back even harder in a bit, show them just how amazing you really are.
Did you hit yourself anywhere when you fell just now? If you're feeling unwell..
Watching Miya Atsumu's muscular frame completely block Hinata's figure from view, Oikawa Tooru's expression instantly became more unsightly than if he had just swallowed a fly.
"My bad," Oikawa Tooru said, lowering his head to look at the ground.
Hearing this, Iwaizumi Hajime was stunned for a moment. "Huh? Do you have a fever?"
Has the sun risen in the west? That bastard Oikawa Tooru is actually starting to engage in self-reflection?
"What's the use of me burying the Little One!" Oikawa arched his back, his fingers repeatedly clenching and unclenching, looking completely frantic.
I should just tear that bastard Miya Atsumu into pieces!
After his roar, Oikawa Tooru looked up at his teammates, hoping to find their agreement, but instead, he met the contemptuous, trash-like stares of Iwaizumi, Matsukawa, Kawarai.
Oikawa blinked. "Was I wrong?"
Kawarai clapped with an expressionless face: "Yes, you're absolutely right, please go do it right now."
He didn't want to see Miya Atsumu's face swaying on the other side of the net either, so he asked Oikawa Tooru to quickly punish Miya Atsumu.
Under Aran's silhouette, Miya Atsumu quickly made a face at Oikawa Tooru in a spot the camera couldn't capture.
Oikawa Tooru refused to be outdone; he took a step back to hide behind Kindaichi and made a face in return.
Aran said expressionlessly, "Like an idiot."
Chapter 196: The One Hundred and Ninety-Sixth Fox
As the setters of both sides glared at each other, Hinata also glared at Kunimi with eyes full of fighting spirit.
Being stared at by the full-of-fighting-spirit Hinata, Kunimi remained silent for a few seconds, momentarily unsure of what to say.
Does this kind of thing.. even have a purpose..
After replacing Kyokutsu, Seijo's overall playstyle became more conservative, but Kunimi's way of finding any available opening was still quite a headache.
In a sense, it was even more terrifying than Kyokutsu's frequent surprise attacks.
After all, his target wasn't just Hinata; he would also frequently use spikes to slip past Miya Osamu.
Coach Omimi rubbed his chin. "Would it be better to substitute Osamu out after all?"
Coach Kurosu shook his head. "No, playing like this is best."
A targeted suppression tactic can only focus on one person. With the opposing blockers leaning more towards Aran, they can at least ensure that either Hinata or Miya Osamu can perform a quick attack to support the play.
As long as they targeted Miya Osamu, Hinata would be liberated, which was also a very flexible way for Miya Atsumu to handle the situation.
Hinata followed Akagi's movement on the other side and stepped back, ensuring he was in a position to cover any area the Libero could not reach.
Seijo delivered this ball very well, essentially aiming to score, so there was absolutely no need to focus on him.
He can be sure here that Iwaizumi-senpai won't suddenly hit a line shot.
Just as Hinata expected, Iwaizumi decisively chose to avoid Hinata's position, spiking the ball into the open space behind Akagi on the other side.
But Akagi, having anticipated it, lunged into a diving save, precisely receiving the ball and sending it back up toward the top of Miya Atsumu's head.
“Nice receive!”
Hinata retreated to prepare for the follow-up cover attack, while simultaneously meeting the thumbs-up Akagi gave him.
Just watch!
He can also do the work on the floor very well!
“Shoyo!” Miya Atsumu sent the ball toward Hinata.
Having been prepared long ago, Hinata leaped up at the net, staring intently at the gap in the block falling before him, raised his hand to spike the ball with all his strength.