Hinata shook his hand, then quickly used Suna's hand to stand up. "No, no, I'm completely fine!"
It was just a bit of muscle soreness from the impact; his bones and ligaments were completely fine.
Moreover, it wasn't just a simple flesh-and-blood pain; it was more like the sense of satisfaction one gets when successfully performing a First Receive.
Miya Atsumu, completely left out of the loop, raised his hand to cover his face and slowly crouched down.
Damn it! He was beaten to it again!
That Suna guy, why has he suddenly become so enthusiastic toward everyone!
This doesn't suit his personality at all! It's like he's been replaced by someone else!
On the sidelines, Coach Omimi looked completely bewildered. "What's going on with Atsumu today? He was playing quite well during those last few rallies, so why is he spacing out again now?"
—This state is even more unpredictable than Aran's.
Is Hinata the only person left on their team who is consistently stable?
Moreover, Hinata's emotional fluctuations are actually quite significant; sometimes, if he isn't careful, he can easily be intimidated by his opponents.
“Hmm..” Coach Kurosu pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
Looking at Miya Atsumu's face, which was as dark as the bottom of a pot, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.
To be honest, several of the players on their own team actually rely heavily on their teammates for emotional support.
However, after Hinata arrived, he didn't have to worry about that much.
But now.. for some reason, Miya Osamu was isolating Hinata from Miya Atsumu, which directly caused problems with Atsumu's condition.
Even though Osamu was trying his best to praise Atsumu, still..
Watching the Twins start to glare at each other after barely managing a single sentence, Coach Kurosu covered his face with his hands.
If Osamu starts exaggerating about Atsumu like Hinata does, Atsumu will just think Osamu has taken the wrong medicine..
Hoshiumi raised his hand to prop up his chin. "I feel like it's a little bit much."
Although he supported breaking these two apart and was willing to take action for it.
But the prerequisite was that it shouldn't affect his performance during matches, since results were an extremely important thing for Hinata as well.
At the very least, I'll coax Miya Atsumu through the entire Haruko period so he can be at his best.
It would be so great to give him a call then, have him fly over from Nagano so we could all team up and prank Miya Atsumu together!
Damn it, what a great opportunity!
But Shoyo, how did you know the opponent was going to use a Ceiling Serve? It wasn't in the previous footage, was it?
Akagi didn't care about Miya Atsumu's emotions; instead, he turned his head to look at Hinata.
Atsumu knew what he was doing; even if he was unhappy, it was just a momentary surge of heat, he had likely calmed down a bit after the service error.
He was truly curious as to how Hinata could be so prescient in giving them instructions.
Hinata tried his best to describe it: "I watched some beach volleyball footage before, they have a very high frequency of jump serves, their center of gravity is usually a bit low during the approach.."
It's not that, it's just a feeling.
Actually, it was the motion of flicking the sand that was more consistent, but among the players who performed underhand serves in indoor volleyball, he had only seen it on Shimizu.
Akagi didn't question it: "I think I understand, it's a kind of sixth sense."
After all, even he sometimes didn't know why he could sense when an opponent was going to use a Dump; it could only be described as instinct born from sufficient experience.
"Hehe." Hinata puffed out his chest.
Even though his block went out of bounds, it felt great to be able to help senpai with the serve.
Chapter 203: Two Hundred and Three Foxes
Aran clapped his hands. "It's just one point. Let's get it back in one go."
That last ball had a strange angle; if it had flown toward their side, they definitely could have saved it.
“Yeah!” Hinata nodded in agreement.
Fujisawa Kafka on the other side was full of confidence: "Alright, second serve."
Although his Serve seemed to have no effect, Inarizaki's First Receive was quite precise, being able to score was still a good thing.
He stood at the baseline once again, after a quick adjustment to his touch, he tossed the ball up just as the serve time limit was about to expire.
The underhand serve is the foundation of the foundation in volleyball, many beginners who have just started learning volleyball will choose this method of serving.
But the Ceiling Serve is different; he pursues greater power and height, which also makes the underhand serve extremely difficult to master.
Looking at the entirety of Haruko, the error rate for Ceiling Serves is incredibly high.
Not only is it prone to serving out of bounds, but there is also a high probability of the ball hitting the net or striking a player in the front row.
So, the moment they heard the sound of Fujisawa Kafka hitting the ball behind them, Rei and Hoshinoya, who were in the front row providing serve cover, both flinched simultaneously.
In the next second, accompanied by the sound of wind whistling extremely close by, the volleyball slammed against the top of the net between the two of them with a loud thud.
But Fujisawa Kafka's luck was decent enough; the volleyball, which had been hit with sufficient force by him, ultimately cleared the top of the net.
Miya Osamu stepped forward and received the ball with one hand near Suna's position: "Atsumu."
Miya Atsumu moved up from his original position, facing the net directly and preparing to set the ball.
After receiving the ball, Osamu immediately circled around the entire court, taking three large strides forward to position himself under Position 2, preparing to jump.
Seeing Miya Atsumu's movement as he prepared for a straight set, Rei and Hoshinoya quickly moved in front of Miya Osamu.
Aran had already pulled away, moving behind Miya Osamu to cover the back four.
On the other side, Suna had already pulled back to near Position 2 to prepare for a spike, Ouji Son also moved up, preparing for a One-on-one Block.
Hinata, who was also in the front row, had retreated quite a bit, standing together with Akagi as if preparing for a counterattack.
In the next instant, the volleyball was popped up almost vertically by Miya Atsumu, falling toward a spot closer to the back between Position 2 and Position 5.
An orange shadow followed from behind almost instantly, utilizing the full longitudinal distance of the court to complete an extremely long approach.
With enough distance for his approach, Hinata reached a terrifying height the moment he jumped at the Three-meter Line.
That contact point was something Ouji Son could tell at a single glance was out of his reach.
Before Nasu, who had been fully focused on waiting for either Miya Osamu or Aran to spike, could even react, Hinata's spike had already slammed down right in front of him.
With a loud bang, the ball slammed into Nasu's wrist just as he had extended it, then it flew out of bounds.
Nasu also fell to the ground as his whole body twisted from the impact.
What happened?
How come he hadn't even seen it clearly before the ball came crashing down at him?
Kuroe Kao let out a long sigh. "We really can't let this Little One go even for a second.."
If you divert your attention even slightly, they will definitely launch a lightning-fast attack.
Hinata jumped up with both hands raised high: "Atsumu-senpai's set is amazing!"
Osamu reached out, grabbed Hinata by the collar of his shirt, pulled him down from mid-air.
After controlling Hinata, Miya Osamu slowly set him down on the ground. "Just give a high five, don't go hugging people randomly."
Hinata blinked, but meeting Osamu's eyes, which were full of disapproval and concern, he reluctantly took the words to heart.
No random hugging, he understands!
You can only hug after playing a super good ball, right!
Atsumu looked at Hinata pitifully, but Hinata only raised his hand, gesturing for him to come over for a high five.
"Nice play." Miya Atsumu's listless voice sounded in Hinata's ear.
Hinata blinked, feeling a strange sense of emptiness in his heart as he watched Miya Atsumu walk away.
He pursed his lips and looked back at Miya Osamu beside him, his expression looking quite pitiful, as if he were asking—
Is no one going to praise me?
Miya Osamu reached out and patted Hinata on the top of his head. "You played incredibly well. Look, even the opposing Libero fell down."
Keep it up on the next ball, strive to make the opposing Libero crawling on the floor.
Hinata worked hard to regain his confidence: "Alright! I'll definitely do my best!"
They are only leading by one point now; they just need to find a way to widen the gap.
In the stands, Iwaizumi rubbed his chin. "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but why is Miya Osamu being so aggressive today?"
When they played against them yesterday, Miya Osamu's stamina was almost completely exhausted by the latter half of the match, his overall frequency of participating in attacks dropped significantly.
But today, Miya Osamu played aggressively from the very start, providing cover during almost every attack.
What is Inarizaki planning to do..
"People don't feel tired when they're doing something wicked," Oikawa Tooru chuckled.
Facing Iwaizumi Hajime's look of disdain, Oikawa Tooru instantly regained his serious demeanor: "It was just a joke. I expect it's a tactic Inarizaki discussed in advance."
They'll definitely be in better shape after a day's rest; it's quite normal to choose to increase the intensity of their attacks.
Oikawa rested his chin in his hand and glanced at the blond hair on the court: "Even though Miya Atsumu seems to be having some issues with his condition.. this situation actually worked out by chance."
Since he wanted to pursue speed, he did indeed need to be a bit more aggressive.
Anyway, Miya Atsumu could guarantee that he remained calm when he was the Setter, that was enough.
Hinata's mediocre Serve was received by Nasu; even though his Jump Serve speed had improved significantly compared to before, it still couldn't compare to the others.
There isn't much that can create deception during a serve, serve concealment only extends to this side of the net.
When he cannot directly spike the ball into the floor, the extended trajectory of a serve becomes Hinata's greatest disadvantage.
So he could only try to exploit the gaps in the opponent's receiving formation as much as possible, such as..
The classic movement pattern in front of the Setter.