Hinata also waved at the Shiratorizawa and Iizuna group: "Goodbye, senpai!"
Watching the two players from Inarizaki turn the corner and walk away, Kuroe Kao's smile faded.
He crossed his arms over his chest, looking thoughtful. "It's actually quite surprising. You play so aggressively on the court, but you're this timid off of it?"
“But it is indeed quite interesting. I think I understand you a little bit now..”
As Kuroe Kao spoke, he looked toward Shiratori, who was practically singing Hinata's praises.
But turning around, he immediately met a look of disdain, as if he were being viewed as trash.
Kuroe Kao's facade of profound wisdom instantly crumbled. "Wait, Akiteru is the one bullying people, why are you glaring at me!"
Shiratori said with heartache, "It's all your fault! Neither Shoyo nor Miya Atsumu said goodbye to me individually!"
Hearing these words, Iizuna, who had already silently departed from behind, fell silent.
I really want to call the people from Inarizaki back to hear that..
When Hinata returned to the side of the court with Miya Atsumu, he still hadn't fully recovered: "Those two seniors are so scary—"
Miya Atsumu patted his back: "They're all bad guys, stay away from them."
He is completely unfamiliar with the people from Ichibayashi; it's best to just dismiss them outright.
This time, Hinata didn't have even a shred of doubt: "Yeah! I'll definitely stay far away!"
But Hinata's emotions came quickly and faded just as fast; the intense match on the court drew his attention away almost instantly.
After watching the match on the court for a few minutes, Hinata blinked. "Usui-senpai and the others.. are they targeting Bokuto-senpai?"
This looks so familiar, it's like Seijo was playing just like this just now.
Miya Atsumu nodded. "Seijo's tactics were adjusted by Coach Kusubashi, their current playstyle is indeed one that Usui likes to use."
Although Usui himself is quite mediocre as a setter, he is quite excellent when it comes to tactics and psychological warfare.
Especially his ability to adapt and change overall tactics on the court is extremely high.
As for technical flaws, they can be coordinated through Kiryu-senpai's cooperation, so there won't be any major issues overall.
Otherwise, Coach Kusubashi wouldn't have made him the starting setter.
Fukurodani is a team centered around an Ace; although Washio and the others are capable, they still lack the same level of offensiveness as Bokuto-senpai.
Shirabu aimed directly at Bokuto, as Kiryu's tricky angle spikes either resulted in direct points or caused Fukurodani to commit reception errors.
Although Bokuto was also attempting back-row attacks even under unfavorable conditions, the results were quite mediocre, the overall coordination was somewhat out of sync.
Miya Atsumu stood with his hands on his hips, observing Akaashi Keiji as he spoke to Mokoba. "Akaashi's condition is a bit off today."
Summarizing his thoughts, Miya Atsumu said, "It feels a bit.. overly hot-blooded."
It was obvious that he wanted to provide the best attacking conditions for Bokuto, but under the pressure of Shirabu's attacks and blocks, it was impossible with Akaashi's current state.
Because setting is an extremely delicate task; the more rushed you are, the more mistakes you will make.
Hinata Shoyo looked up abruptly at Miya Atsumu: "Atsumu-senpai, you're the one who gets overly hot-headed."
Clearly, this person is the real repeat offender, has even been targeted by Oikawa-senpai and Kenma and others.
Miya Atsumu reached out and pinched Hinata's ear: "You have the nerve to talk about me? Besides, didn't I play really well in these two matches?"
Even if he was being targeted, he didn't make mistakes and lose his rhythm like this.
After saying that, Miya Atsumu suddenly realized something: "Though.. Shirabu's way of playing would also be very useful against Ichibayashi."
Hinata's ears perked up: "Ichibayashi? The team with those two terrifying seniors from just now?"
“Yeah, that blonde-haired one is their Captain and Ace. Hoshinoya Akiteru, a Setter/Opposite.” Miya Atsumu nodded.
Ichibayashi is also a very typical one-man ace team; the difference between them and Shirabu is basically that their setter is very amazing.. that number 1 wearing glasses.
Relatively speaking, the offensive capabilities of the others are much weaker, the Libero's skill level is quite average; you can suppress them directly with a First Receive.
Fukurodani and Shirabu are the same in this regard.
However, neither side had enough strong service turns to achieve such a direct suppressive effect.
However, Inarizaki was different; what they lacked least was serves.
In their past match records against Shirabu, the number of times they had directly collapsed the opposition through their first receive was certainly not low.
"Understood!" Hinata nodded, then continued to watch the match on the court with intense focus.
For tomorrow's Semifinals, this match will serve as a model worth learning from.
Accompanied by an unforced error from Fukurodani that resulted in a point for the opposition, the signal for a substitution rang out from the sidelines.
Fukurodani's setter, Akaashi Keiji, was substituted off the court by Coach Anromi.
Miya Atsumu was not surprised by this: "As expected, they've been forcibly cooled down."
If this rhythm continues, problems are bound to arise; it is still worth sacrificing this service turn, where they are already at a disadvantage, to find a new opportunity.
Akaashi held his head in his hands. "Ahhh—Damn it!"
The sudden sound startled even Osa Noboru, who was just about to substitute out the Libero.
Realizing he had lost his composure, Akaashi Keiji waved his hand, signaling to Osa Noboru that he was fine.
Damn, he originally felt that his condition was quite alright.
After watching the match between Seijo and Inarizaki just now, he was completely fired up by the intense battle between the two setters.
Especially the way Miya Atsumu cleared the path for Hinata; theoretically, he could do that too.
But.. that was only in theory.
The current reality of this failure told him that he couldn't do it.
Calm down," Coach Anromi said, turning his head toward Akaashi Keiji. "Technique itself is interconnected, but it needs to be digested.
Use this time to think carefully about what you need to do; Bokuto-senpai is waiting for you.
Miya Atsumu crossed his arms behind his head, looking like he was just there for the show: "If they can't adjust, Fukurodani is finished."
In the past, Fukurodani always used a five-one formation, but today Shirabu was targeting their weaknesses so relentlessly that they had effectively turned into a one-five formation centered around Bokuto-senpai.
But for Fukurodani.. this wasn't a comfortable way to play.
Hinata looked at Akaashi's back on the Coach's bench: "There's nothing to worry about, right?"
His tone was relaxed, showing not a hint of worry about the situation on the court.
Miya Atsumu lowered his eyes and looked at him.
Hinata also looked up and back at Miya Atsumu: "I will trust Atsumu-senpai unconditionally, believe that a setter's role.. is the same for every spiker."
To believe that a setter in a predicament can adjust themselves and become the pillar of the team once again.
—That is exactly what he did.
Miya Atsumu tilted his head in the opposite direction of Hinata, Hinata noticed that the tips of his ears were slightly flushed.
After a long time, Atsumu changed the subject: "By the way, shouldn't you be cheering for Kiryu-senpai? Why are you empathizing with Bokuto-senpai?"
Hearing this, Hinata raised a hand to rub his chin, appearing to rack his brain for an answer: "It's not that I'm rooting for any particular side.."
I just want to see an exciting match.
The whistle blew immediately after, Fukurodani signaled for another substitution; the setter, Akaashi, stood by the sidelines.
Chapter 200: The Two Hundredth Fox
Watching Akaashi Keiji return to the court, Hinata was stunned for a moment. "So fast."
Although he knew Akaashi-senpai should be a very calm, reliable, intelligent person, this speed of adjustment still left Hinata a bit surprised.
Miya Atsumu crossed his arms over his chest, quietly watching Fukurodani as they conducted the substitution: "It's quite normal. After all, he's someone who could become the Vice Captain of a strong school in his second year; he must possess that level of ability and responsibility."
—Especially in a team where the Captain is unreliable most of the time.
Hinata tilted his head slightly.
That's right, Akaashi-senpai is the Vice-Captain..
After all.. there's no difficulty in confirming what one can actually achieve.
Miya Atsumu looked down at Hinata: "It's only when you blindly pursue things beyond your capabilities that a mismatch occurs."
Hinata nodded vigorously following him. "I understand, it'll cause an injury, right!"
The coach had warned him not to take heavy spikes head-on, as it would easily lead to injury, that he should use a diving back receive to handle them.
Miya Atsumu said with a wry smile, "It's not entirely because of that.."
It's mainly because it affects your overall state; if you don't adjust in time, you won't know exactly what you're capable of doing.
Having said that, Miya Atsumu turned his gaze back toward the court.
But the biggest variable in this match is still Bokuto-senpai, as expected.
In terms of the state of play before the match actually began, Shirabu and the others might have actually held a slight overall advantage.
After all, their overall tactical system was already very mature, with two high-level Middle Blockers on the court, combined with Kiryu's own adaptability and attacking ability, their fundamental strength was completely superior to Fukurodani's.
But that is also where the problem lies; the current situation is vastly different from how it was at the start.
—Bokuto is constantly seeking a breakthrough; he has become stronger.
Hinata was also very surprised: "Bokuto-senpai is actually proactively seeking to use back-row attacks and flat quick attacks.."
When he was studying offensive tactics before, he watched plenty of videos of the top five wing spikers in the country.
Among them, Fukurodani and Shiratorizawa both have very typical ace-core lineups, with Fukurodani being relatively the most standard.
The Ace of Shiratorizawa is left-handed, so there will be many mirror tactics.
Shirabu's skill as a setter is subpar, his first receive is also terrible; the coordination relies entirely on the Ace's adaptability, so he isn't very useful as a reference.
Therefore, aside from Itachiyama, he watches tapes of Fukurodani more than anyone else.
Bokuto's strong attack from Position 4 is the best, Fukurodani itself will always give the best opportunities to the Ace, leaving Mokoba and the others to deal with the less-than-perfect balls.