Hoshiumi's fingers trembled, as if he were suppressing some erupting emotion.
Although he couldn't see clearly, he had a strong premonition.
It's over, everything is over.
Miya Osamu and Suna aren't here to help at all! The two of them are just adding fuel to the fire!
He knew that everyone at Inarizaki was on Miya Atsumu's side!
In this kind of situation, you don't fear a powerful opponent; what you fear most is a sudden flash of inspiration from your own teammates!
Hoshiumi raised his hand to cover his mouth, struggling to force his contorted face back into a calm expression.
Don't panic.
There will still be chances after the match ends; this time, he will do it himself!
Chapter 204: Two Hundred and Four Foxes
So this is what an absolute technical setter is like.
Iizuna had not yet recovered from that previous play; after all, in that kind of situation, the only person capable of providing a set that could be called ultimate perfection was likely Miya Atsumu.
As a setter, it was impossible not to long for such an ability, but he also knew that he couldn't do it himself.
But to be honest, ever since Komori and Sakusa arrived, he has rarely had a chance to make a save like that.
—He's been completely spoiled.
Amatori nodded: "Ichibayashi's setter is also very impressive; his ability to adapt to various situations is very strong."
Iizuna also raised a hand to stroke his chin. "Hmm, but I don't have much of an impression of this person."
High-level setters usually make a name for themselves in Junior High, not to mention Kuroe Kao is already in his third year of high school; theoretically, it's impossible for him not to have heard of them.
Amatori recalled, "The Double Flower of Tochigi Prefecture is just too incredible. They've monopolized the national slots for junior high and high school for the past few years. Even Ichibayashi only made it to the nationals during Haruko."
Iizuna laughed with difficulty: "There are just too many dark horses in this year's tournament.."
Every year, new faces emerge during the Haruko, but this year's new recruits are simply too fierce; they have already secured a spot in the national top eight, with one team guaranteed a spot in the Semifinals.
After saying that, Iizuna looked at the Kuwase beside him: "Where is Agatsuma? Why hasn't he come back after eating?"
Amatori leaned back and pulled out his phone to scroll through it.
The moment he saw the message, he fell silent. "He said he can't find us anymore."
Iizuna was stunned: "My crutch is still with him!"
The two of them were both wearing casual clothes, since Iizuna had bandages wrapped around his feet, he simply wore cotton slippers to go out.
Anyway, they are both staying in the dorms now, so they can just hitch a ride with Coach Himegomiya when they head back.
Without the guidance of Itachiyama's beacon, the difficulty of finding one's companions in the vast crowd increased significantly in an instant.
As the two stared at each other, Ichibayashi had already snatched another point from Inarizaki with a powerful attack.
Hinata fell on the ground on his back, in an instant, he thought of every unhappy thing that had ever happened in his life.
The junior fell to the ground quite hard, since he had already fallen several times yesterday, he would likely be covered in bruises by now.
The most critical thing is..
Even after falling like that, he still couldn't receive it.
Hoshinoya stood on the opposite side of the net, looking down at Hinata with his chin raised, his slightly parted lips revealing sharp teeth.
Hinata hurriedly struggled to get up from the ground, sitting cross-legged to face Hoshinoya.
Just as Miya Atsumu, standing nearby, was about to back him up, Hinata's voice drifted over.
I'm fine, Hoshinoya-senpai, don't worry!
Hoshinoya nodded slightly upon hearing this, then turned around to prepare for his serve.
A massive question mark appeared above Miya Atsumu's head.
He looked at Hinata, then looked at Hoshinoya's back, asked in disbelief, "Huh? How did you tell that he was worried about you?"
Hinata blinked. "I just saw it."
Although this senior is a bit intimidating, he actually seems like a decent person.
He didn't even get dragged out and buried after crashing into the opponent yesterday!
Atsumu was just about to reach out to pull Hinata up, but another hand was a step faster than his.
He turned his head and saw Miya Osamu reaching out to pull him up.
Miya Atsumu exploded instantly: "Are you ever going to stop!"
Miya Osamu raised an eyebrow. "What about me? Is there something wrong with caring about my juniors?"
Atsumu was left speechless by that one sentence, able only to point his finger at Osamu, trembling uncontrollably and rendered mute.
Watching the two of them glare at each other, Hinata stood at attention beside them, not even daring to breathe heavily.
Help me.. what on earth is going on today?
The referee glared at everyone on Inarizaki, using a highly intimidating gaze to urge everyone from Inarizaki to return to their positions.
At the same time, his hand was itching to reach out, attempting to issue a yellow card to one of the Miya Twins.
Coach Kurosu, standing by the sidelines, gave a light cough, while Kita Shinsuke, also at the Coach's bench, cast a profound gaze toward the two of them.
The two of them withdrew their gazes at the same time and returned to their respective positions.
The whistle blew, Hoshinoya, standing behind the center line, slapped the ball hard against the ground before calmly picking it up.
Counting down the time for the serve, Hoshinoya didn't wait until the very last second; instead, he casually chose to toss the ball up at the sixth second.
Taking a large step forward, he aimed for the ball's position, jumped, swung his hand to spike it.
Hinata stood in front of Atsumu, staring at Hoshinoya's serve motion.
He remembered the Coach had said before that the reason this senior's spike had so much power was because of the speed brought by his instantaneous arm swing.
Of course, he had been practicing his arm swing himself, so he could still sense some of the difference.
A heavy sound rang in his ears as the volleyball flew like a meteor over the net, crashing toward Akagi Michinari on the other side.
Hinata pursed his lips slightly, then quickly pushed off to the side, preparing for the subsequent attack.
But unfortunately, Akagi failed to stabilize the ball, the first receive flew off course.
Akagi scrambled up from the ground. "Sorry, my bad, my bad!"
Coach Kurosu, standing by the sidelines, clapped his hands. "Don't worry about it! Focus on the next ball!"
Inarizaki isn't a team that specializes in defense, so missing a Power Jump Serve like that is perfectly normal.
In terms of the power of this Power Serve, it was about the same as Oikawa Tooru's.
Noticing that Hinata had been staring at Hoshinoya on the opposite side, Miya Atsumu was a bit puzzled: "What are you looking at?"
Hinata's tone was extremely certain: "When Hoshinoya-senpai swings his arm, he uses more power to drive his entire body."
As he spoke, he rotated his hips and his entire upper body, imitating Hoshinoya's spike from just now.
“Just like this—"
But that kind of rotation was a bit too extreme; he didn't manage to fully replicate it.
Miya Atsumu, on the other hand, saw right through it: "It requires higher flexibility, doesn't it?"
Suna usually turned like this when spiking as well, but his purpose was to adjust the ball's trajectory, whereas this Ace from the opposing team used it to increase his arm swing efficiency.
After catching the "I want that too" look in Hinata's eyes, Atsumu offered Hinata some advice.
If you want to try it, go practice with Yukihito later. Once your flexibility improves a bit, let Rintaro see it.
Hinata raised his hand. "Got it!"
Coach Kurosu, on the sidelines, rubbed his chin. "This is going to be tough.."
Although Inarizaki is more balanced overall, Ichibayashi's strength is too prominent, their setter is not a weak link like Shirabu.
Even the relatively weakest First Receive was supported by two Wing Spikers, so there weren't any major issues.
Perhaps compared to Shiratorizawa and Shirabu, Ichibayashi is actually somewhat more similar to the current Fukurodani.
Moreover, with the highly skilled Ouji Son present, their offensive capabilities will only become even more terrifying. Even the Ace himself is in peak form, so there won't be any need to warm up.
Hoshinoya was preparing to serve the second ball.
Kuroe narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze settling imperceptibly on Akagi.
He didn't want to worry about Miya Osamu's current situation right now, especially since Inarizaki has a lot of versatility in the Wing Spiker position.
By comparison, the Libero position is the more manageable point to focus on.
Using a strategy of suppressing the Libero with serves isn't a tactic only used by Inarizaki; Ichibayashi uses it as well.
Hoshinoya slammed the ball hard against the ground, catching it in his hands as it bounced back up in front of him.
As his center of gravity leaned slightly forward, he raised his hand and tossed the ball into the air.
Akagi's pupils contracted, he anticipated Hoshinoya's spike, diving toward Hinata's position.
“Atsumu!” he called out to the setter.
I got it!
What a great first receive from Michinari!!
Hoshiumi, in the stands, pursed his lips: "As expected, he's truly experienced."
In yesterday's match against Ichibayashi, both Kamibayashi and Hoshinoya failed to receive several of the serves, so Akagi's ability to smoothly control the second ball like that is truly impressive.
But this was basically built upon Akagi's extensive experience when facing heavy hitters; in comparison, Karasuno seemed a bit..
Hirugami said, "Let's arrange some practice matches with teams like Shiratorizawa, Inarizaki, Fukurodani later."
Hearing the names of those few teams being mentioned, Hoshiumi froze for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"