Chapter 197: The One Hundred and Ninety-Seventh Fox
Kuroe Kao rested his chin on his hand, quietly watching Inarizaki's side continue their service turn: "Actually, the result of the match is already very clear at this stage."
Given Inarizaki's current state, the probability of them suffering a massive collapse due to large-scale errors is practically negligible.
Unless Miya Atsumu sprains his ankle or dislocates a finger, or Akagi suffers a serious injury.
If the substitute coming on the court gets stage fright, or if they don't coordinate well with the starters, there is a high possibility they could be overtaken by the opponent in one go.
Of course, that is just an assumption; such a thing is impossible.
One of the things that makes Inarizaki such a headache is their bottomless bench.
Most of Inarizaki's substitutes actually have some playing time recorded during the National Sports Festival and now during Haruko, which means stage fright is simply not an option.
Not to mention that their Captain is an all-around player; if anyone runs into trouble, the Captain can step in to save the day.
Although they might not be able to build up a significant advantage, they.. certainly won't run into any major problems.
After repeatedly confirming that Miya Osamu's condition was much worse than before, Coach Irihatsu submitted another substitution request to the head referee.
Number 16 Kyokutsu replaced Number 13 Kunimi Akira.
Miya Atsumu sighed with his hands on his hips. "You're back, Seijo's little Ace."
Plus, with Oikawa-senpai's Service Turn right now.. he intends to level the Score in one go.
But they won't give Seijo a chance.
That being said, Oikawa Tooru's serve becomes quite difficult to handle in this situation, where everyone's physical strength is nearly exhausted.
With the Fei Yichuan, even if Miya Atsumu wanted to chase after it, it would already be too late; he could only watch helplessly as the volleyball smashed against the wall.
The score on the sidelines jumped to 22:19, it was still Oikawa Tooru's Service Turn.
Hinata took a deep breath in silence, trying his best to calm his racing heart.
He absolutely could not get nervous; he had to maintain his composure and rationality at all times.
Observe the ball's trajectory calmly..
BANG!!
A powerful serve smashed down in front of him once again, clearly targeting him for a spike.
This time, it didn't even give Akagi on the other side a chance to make a save.
Hinata instantly pulled away and moved to the side, struggling to control the ball so that it would fly upward instead of hitting the ground out of bounds.
He was sent crashing straight to the ground, the moment his back hit the floor, his vision blurred for a split second.
“Atsumu-senpai!!”
"What a great First Receive!" Miya Atsumu shouted, his eyes following the volleyball as it landed just outside the sideline marker.
With Hinata and Miya Osamu being neutralized and Kindaichi's stamina severely declining, Aran was completely liberated.
The ball sent toward the Ace almost crossed the entire court.
Aran, leaping from Position 4, did not disappoint. With a powerful spike, he forced his way through the block, earning a point for his team.
The score jumped to Inarizaki 23:19 Aobajohsai.
Miya Atsumu and Aran high-fived: "Nice play! Aran!"
Aran shouted, "Yes!!"
Even in the stands, the Iizuna team felt a headache coming on: "Aran's condition is just too good.."
After being forced to sit out for two sets, Aran, as the Ace, likely has an extraordinary amount of stamina right now.
Under these circumstances, where things were slightly spiraling out of control for Aoba, he didn't even know how to deal with an Ace who had regained the initiative.
Suna walked to the service position while holding the ball.
The server had already been changed once during the service turns, so this time, he would have to do it himself.
But in this situation, Suna's serve was indeed quite lacking in threat.
Even though he timed the toss to occur the very instant the referee blew the whistle, it wasn't difficult for the already high-strung members of Seijo to react.
Watari Chikaharu stepped up to pass the ball to Oikawa Tooru, while Kyokutsu, who had returned to the court, also utilized his physical advantage, using lateral movement to instantly shake off Miya Osamu and Oori Ren.
An incredibly sharp Short Diagonal spike was struck in reverse, smashing down right near the sideline close to the front court.
Nice hit, Little Mad Dog!
Kyokutsu, Kyokutsu, nice spike!
One! More! Ball!!
Oikawa Tooru stared sharply at Miya Atsumu, who was reaching out to pull Hinata up from the ground.
Three points, only three points.
Let's overtake them all at once!
Inarizaki 23:20 Aobajohsai, Iwaizumi serves.
"I've got it!" Miya Osamu, stepping back, steadily received the ball that the opponent had spiked into the corner.
On the other side, Hinata stepped forward and suddenly leaped up behind the three-meter line, his movement swift and beautiful, clearly intending to execute that kind of off-tempo quick attack.
As Kindaichi took a step forward, Miya Atsumu instead performed a back set.
Miya Osamu, who had already jumped up beside the Position 2 marker, raised his hand and lightly tapped the ball.
The ball dropped the moment it cleared the net, smashing into the front area near the net.
24:20, Inarizaki match point.
Miya Atsumu raised his hand and high-fived Miya Osamu: "Beautiful!"
It's over after one more point; this pace is a little faster than he expected.
Iwaizumi Hajime shook his hands. "Tsk."
Does Miya Osamu actually still have the energy to spike a flat, wide ball like that after a First Receive..
—Actually, it's almost gone.
Miya Atsumu, whose mood had improved significantly with the prospect of victory, looked at the people from Seijo with a beaming smile.
But in order to end the match as quickly as possible and go back to rest, there was no harm in increasing the intensity of the offense during the final stage.
Miya Osamu caught the ball returned by the opposing side, preparing to perform his final serve of this match.
If they win this point, they win the match.
Iwaizumi Hajime took a deep breath, staring at Oori Ren, who was covering the opponent's serve.
Winning this point would allow them to continue their counterattack.
The whistle blew at that exact moment.
Everyone in the stadium held their breath for a moment, waiting for Miya Osamu to toss the ball.
Watari Chikaharu was equally extremely nervous.
Miya Osamu's state during his last serve was just average, so the probability of an error on this ball..
The next second, Miya Osamu raised his hand and tossed the ball up.
It wasn't a full-power jump serve like before, but rather a more conservative serve that still maintained a degree of threat.
He certainly knew that his condition had declined significantly, so rather than risking a service error, the best course of action at this time was to hit a more conservative, standard serve with less power.
Even though it was ugly, at the very least, it ensured he wouldn't directly give points to the opponent; he just had to leave everything to his teammates.
"I've got it!" Watari Chikaharu positioned himself steadily beneath the ball, setting it perfectly into place.
Oikawa Tooru took a deep breath, stepped up from the back row, jumped in place, preparing to set the ball.
Miya Atsumu quickly made a hand signal behind him, then moved to the center along with Oori Ren and Aran, waiting for Oikawa Tooru to set the ball.
But despite how it looked on the surface, they had actually long since prepared to adjust their positions.
Just like the "4" he had signaled to the back row just now, he was certain that Oikawa Tooru would give the ball to Iwaizumi Hajime.
Because for Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime was the spiker he trusted most of all.
In such a life-or-death moment, Oikawa would inevitably set the ball to him.
The moment he caught that Inarizaki's block was leaning, Oikawa Tooru already understood the plans of Miya Atsumu and the others.
In the previous Miyagi Prefecture regional qualifiers, Kageyama had also caught him in the moment he would subconsciously set the ball to Iwaizumi.
But..
Give me the ball!!
The Ace's voice calling for the ball was so clear and distinct.
The shout was a manifestation of trust in the Setter, the courage to take the fate of everyone upon himself.
—How could he not pass?
Even if he would be figured out, he was going to hand the key to victory to the Ace, letting the Ace smash through that door.
While preparing the set, he sent a glance toward Miya Atsumu on the other side of the net, then controlled his body to create a barely perceptible arch in his back.
Receiving the signal, Miya Atsumu's mind began to race.
What is Oikawa-senpai going to do?
A back set to Kyokutsu number 16? Or was he preparing to use it as a feint to pass to number 12? Or was it a complete fake?
In that moment of hesitation, the ball had already left Oikawa Tooru's hands, clearly sent straight to Iwaizumi Hajime in the back row.
But that moment of hesitation had already created a gap between them and the spiking Iwaizumi Hajime, so his hurried jump only allowed him to barely touch the ball.
Oori Ren shouted, "Touch!"
The force of Iwaizumi's spike was immense; even after being touched by Oori, the ball's trajectory barely changed, still falling toward Inarizaki's back court.
Hinata and Akagi both rushed toward the ball as it was about to land out.