——Will I be able to score with such beautiful serves in the future too?
Miya Atsumu lowered his eyes and smiled, then raised his hand toward Hinata, gesturing for him to come over for a high five.
Hinata froze for a moment.
It seemed like he hadn't done anything; why was he giving him a high five?
But despite Miya Atsumu constantly waving his hands at him, he still jogged over and stood on his tiptoes to give Miya Atsumu a high five.
“Nice one, Atsumu-senpai!”
Shoyo's cover was also excellent.
Having been praised, Hinata scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed: "It's all thanks to Suna-senpai and Heisuke."
What could he block? The front row could even look directly over the top of his head.
Hearing that, Suna quietly looked at Miya Atsumu.
Even though his face showed no expression, Miya Atsumu could inexplicably feel the silent accusation.
Miya Atsumu turned his head and returned to the back, preparing to serve the second ball.
Miya Osamu raised a finger toward Miya Atsumu and said quietly to Ginjima, "Look at that pathetic look on his face."
Ginjima didn't react in time, but Unabara responded quickly: "Indeed, he's incredibly biased."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized he was complaining about a senior, immediately raised his hand to cover his mouth.
Unabara Uta looked at Miya Osamu with pleading eyes, attempting to seek his protection.
He said nothing, really.
The opponent is that vindictive Miya Atsumu-senpai! If word of this gets out, he's absolutely dead!
Osamu nodded to him, raising his hand to give an OK gesture.
In matters like this, he wouldn't expose a junior's shortcomings; in fact, he wished someone would join him in criticizing Miya Atsumu.
The whistle blew again, Miya Atsumu delivered another tricky Jump Float Serve, spiking it precisely into the space between Fukurodani's back row players, Mokoba and Komi.
Currently, the responsibilities of the three players in Fukurodani's back row overlap to some extent; as long as the ball is directed toward a position closer to a non-libero, it can lead to a defensive error.
But Mokoba and Komi were also very clear on this point.
Seeing the volleyball fall between the two, Komi immediately shouted, "I've got it!"
Mokoba immediately took half a step back to prevent Komi, who was lunging forward, from colliding with him.
He couldn't be certain yet whether he needed to cover the attack or supplement the setter, after all, nothing was certain until the first receive was made.
As an all-around player, what he needs to do is to fill the gaps in the team across various positions.
Fortunately, Komi's first receive didn't fly too far out of place, Akaashi, from the front row, quickly ran over and jumped, reaching out his hands to prepare for a set.
Suna watched Akaashi quietly, while Rishia stole glances at Suna.
Unlike Miya Osamu, Rishia knew that he was far behind in terms of blocking experience.
Because of this, Coach Kurosu had also instructed him that his blocking strategy should be the same as Hinata's. He just needed to stay close to the senpai beside him and ensure he was ready to perform a double block at any time.
Bokuto had already rushed to the back of Position 4, while at the same time, Osa Noboru had also sprinted past Akaashi Keiji, jumping near Position 3.5 to prepare for a spike.
Based on the positioning of the two players and the staggered formation of the back row, Mokoba was right in the path of Akaashi's back set, so it was difficult to judge from Akaashi's movements exactly who he was going to give the ball to.
Watching Akaashi's movements, Iizuna remarked, "Beautiful off-the-runneing back set."
But the moment he caught sight of Akaashi preparing a back set, Suna turned his head without hesitation to signal to Rishia that it was Fukurodani's Position 4.
If it can't be judged by his movements, then it must be analyzed through his psychology.
—On this most crucial opening serve, Akaashi wouldn't give the ball to anyone other than the Ace.
And just as Suna had judged, the ball was, as expected, delivered by Akaashi to Bokuto's hitting point.
Suna and Rishia jumped up directly in front of Bokuto, while Aran in the back row also guarded the positions for Bokuto's sharp cross or short diagonal spike.
Moreover, Shoyo was positioned quite far forward right now, so he could completely reach a Short Diagonal.
Facing Inarizaki's watertight defense, Bokuto's brain worked at high speed during his brief moment in the air.
A dump or tooling the block would be the best options at this stage.
But a dump can be completely ruled out, because in the current situation, the Libero's defense is already prepared, a dump does nothing to boost morale.
Tooling the block was actually quite unrealistic. Not to mention Suna's impeccable block, Rishia Heisuke's form was also very standard, giving him no opportunity to tool the block at all.
After rapidly eliminating all other options, Bokuto's gaze suddenly shifted in that instant, landing on Shoyo, who was positioned forward and prepared for a Short Diagonal.
The moment Hinata felt himself being targeted, his feet, which had been poised to spring, landed on the floor with a heavy thud, stabilizing his center of gravity the instant he made contact with the ground.
The next second, the heavy sound of a spike rang in his ears.
Bokuto-senpai's backhand short diagonal also crossed the entire width of the court in an instant, smashing down in front of Hinata.
Hinata pressed down on one leg, controlling the front of his arm to receive the ball.
BANG!!
The volleyball flew up in everyone's sight, falling toward the other side of the net.
Opportunity Ball!!
Mokoba shouted, retreating while chasing the ball, lightly jumped to set the ball up.
"Sorry!" Shoyo also apologized quickly.
Bokuto-senpai's spike was indeed powerful.
Even though he knew the opponent would spike it, he was completely unable to control it given the underlying spin.
Watching the ball fly toward the net, Bokuto's voice rang out immediately: "Akaashi! One more time!!"
Akaashi leaped from where he stood, raising his hands to set the ball in front of Bokuto once again.
Under Suna's signal, Rishia Heisuke followed up once again.
But for some reason, he jumped slightly too early this time, causing a nearly imperceptible opening to appear in the block from Bokuto's perspective.
And that tiny opening.. was the best opportunity for him to tool the block.
The loud sound exploded in Rishia Heisuke's ears. He gritted his teeth, his expression remaining calm as he adjusted his hand position the moment he saw Bokuto-senpai spike the ball.
“Touch!"
Rishia's voice followed immediately, under his touch, the volleyball was sent flying, landing high into Inarizaki's back row.
The expression on Bokuto's face was one of visible surprise.
Because from the cleanliness and lack of hesitation in Rishia Heisuke's movements, he could tell that the opponent had done it on purpose.
Akaashi's expression also turned solemn, his vigilance toward Rishia Heisuke rose to a whole new level.
—Are they intentionally creating openings to bait Bokuto-senpai's spike?
This kind of playstyle is difficult to execute without sufficient experience and technical support for tooling the block and getting a touch.
The moment Rishia Heisuke landed, he immediately retreated to create distance, preparing to launch an attack from Position 2.
What he lacks least is experience dealing with tooling the block and quick attacks.
Under Hoshiumi's training, Hinata's proficiency in tooling the block has improved by leaps and bounds recently.
In addition, Hinata wouldn't jump for high balls that frequently during team practices, so he spent most of his time trying to find opportunities to use a dump.
Due to various reasons, he was almost traumatized by being tooled.
Not only could he intentionally create an opening to let the opponent attempt to tool the block, but he could also react in the moment to pull back his spike and force it out of bounds.
Akagi, from the back row, sent the ball precisely to the Attack Line.
Shoyo circled around the court to take a running start toward the net and jumped, while Aran was also prepared to execute a back-four rotation.
Bokuto and Akaashi's attention was drawn to Rishia on the other side at this moment, by the time they turned their heads to look at Miya Atsumu, the ball had already unknowingly reached Hinata's hands.
Bang!
Another sound of a hit rang out as the volleyball flew across the net in a flash of lightning, smashing into the floor right in front of Saru Yamato.
The entire process happened so fast it was almost instantaneous; even the highly experienced Mokoba couldn't react in time.
The whistle blew, marking another undisputed First point.
Earth-shaking cheers erupted from the Inarizaki cheering section, above them, Shiratori also clapped to cheer for Inarizaki.
He said with a smile, "As expected, no matter how many times I've seen it on video, being in the actual position to receive it leaves you completely caught off guard."
Miya Atsumu's precision setting technique, which was almost like a flat ball, felt awe-inspiring no matter how many times one watched it.
Furthermore, Hinata's follow-up speed was also shocking; no matter how many times one saw that kind of total, wholehearted trust, it never failed to move them.
Hinata, who had just scored his first point of the day, rushed toward Miya Atsumu and jumped up to give him a quick hug. "Great play, Atsumu-senpai!"
Miya Atsumu patted his back, the smile on his face completely unhidden: "Shoyo, you played beautifully too."
After letting go of Hinata, he also took the opportunity to nuzzle Hinata's face.
Watching his movements, Suna silently raised a hand to give him a thumbs up.
While Miya Atsumu was looking at Suna, Hinata had already rushed toward Rishia Heisuke, giving him a massive bear hug: "Heisuke, you were amazing!"
Great block and touch! The cover for the spike was great too!
Rishia also straightened his back: "This is within my responsibilities."
See, he didn't hold the team back at all.
No matter who the opponent is, he will always play just as brilliantly.
Ignoring the two first-years cheering behind him, ignoring Suna, whose hand gesture had changed from a thumbs-up to a V-sign, Miya Atsumu slightly raised his head and looked at Akaashi Keiji on the other side of the net.
Half of his face was in shadow beneath his hair, leaving only the upturned corner of his mouth strikingly visible.
“Fukurodani, are you ready.. to face the storm?”
Akaashi maintained his side-on stance and gave a subtle, almost imperceptible nod.
He had always been peaceful and humble, but at this moment, facing Miya Atsumu at full power, he showed not the slightest hint of fear.