Unaware of his presence, Hinata had already approached Miya Atsumu and called out his name: "Atsumu-senpai—"
Without even waiting for him to say another word, Miya Atsumu waved his hand in concession, "I know, I know, I'll adjust on the next play."
He had slightly underestimated Washio's level on that last play; although the toss was high enough, compared to Hinata's hang time, the ball spent less time at its peak.
In theory, if he had been in perfect condition just now, Hinata would have definitely been able to hold out until Washio began to descend.
Amatori grimaced in the stands: "Inarizaki is playing so fiercely.."
That feeling of being bitten into and then relentlessly torn at.. even just thinking about it feels painful.
Especially since they have truly been played like that by Inarizaki..
Usui Mitsuru rested his chin on his hand, looking thoughtfully at the score on the court, which had been pulled apart in one go by Inarizaki.
Fukurodani is in a very passive position; I don't think they'll be able to make an impact in the short term.
Kiryu Ya nodded: "Fukurodani is indeed slow to warm up. It's quite normal that they can't find their rhythm against a team like Inarizaki, who starts at peak performance."
It wasn't just Bokuto, the Ace, who was slow to warm up; even Mokoba and Washio were of that type.
Fukurodani's matches often don't start gaining momentum until the Second Set, which is quite similar to Aobajohsai.
But once Fukurodani is fully in the zone, that state of collective hunting like a flock of birds of prey.. is equally a headache.
Rishia Heisuke prepared to serve the second ball.
He was very satisfied with his previous serve, the cheers from Inarizaki were equally satisfied, offering him even more intense encouragement this time.
The whistle blew again.
Rishia did not choose to follow the same pattern as the previous play this time, but instead shifted his target to the very center of Fukurodani.
The ace, Bokuto, is currently positioned in the center of the court, so no one will have the opportunity to run outside the court to prepare for a run-up after the first receive.
In this situation, if the ball can be hit toward the middle near Position 5, it is possible to interfere with the front row player's approach route.
"I've got it!" Saru Yamato shouted, before diving to chase the ball.
With a heavy thud, the ball flew erratically toward the net.
Akaashi's expression remained unchanged as he continued to adjust his position to perform the toss.
Amatori blinked. "Fukurodani's condition has also declined significantly these past few days."
In the match against Shirabu the day before yesterday, Fukurodani's first receive was very stable during the latter half of the game.
Although it's clear they are trying very hard now, the Fei Yichuan is still seriously off.
Iizuna nodded, affirming what Amatori had said: "After all, Fukurodani doesn't have that many substitutes; it's mainly a matter of physical stamina."
There were simply too many people in the gymnasium; even in winter, with the heating turned on in the Central Court itself, the spectator stands were quite hot.
Considering his hairstyle as well, Heisuke gave the baseball cap back to Inamura just now.
Anyway, the time for making a fool of himself is over!
Everyone is watching the match right now; no one is going to care about him!
Bokuto-senpai!
Bokuto-senpai's full-power spike slammed directly into the net.
Suna, who had intended to block it directly, failed to control the ball; as he was knocked backward by the heavy spike, the ball flew out of bounds.
Bokuto's spike went out of bounds, Fukurodani scores.
Nice hit!! Nice hit, Bokuto!!
The Fukurodani cheering section, which had been silent for a long time, finally erupted with cheers that went beyond the usual chants.
Bokuto stood tall with his chest out, accepting the cheers coming from behind him.
Oikawa Tooru raised an eyebrow. "When it comes to receiving cheers, why is it that some people are treated like messianic heroes, while others are just like minor celebrities?"
Although he didn't mention names directly, everyone at Aobajohsai knew exactly who he was talking about.
The former was obviously referring to Bokuto, while the latter was Miya Atsumu.
Iwaizumi crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "Then what are you?"
Hearing this question, Oikawa Tooru raised his hand to stroke his chin, thinking seriously for a moment.
In the end, he said quite confidently, "As for me.. I should be a superstar."
Iwaizumi Hajime rolled his eyes and decided to stop talking to him.
This guy has far too much confidence in himself..
"Superstar"? More like a comedian.
Hinata spoke up to comfort Rishia Heisuke, who had lost the Service Turn: "Heisuke, don't worry about it! We'll win it back right away!"
It was such a pity that Heisuke couldn't score on his serve.
In that case, he would reach the next rotation as quickly as possible and then let Heisuke serve!
"Yeah!" Rishia Heisuke nodded heavily.
Miya Atsumu glanced at Bokuto before turning back to look at Oori Ren in the waiting area; the two of them exchanged a nod.
Bokuto's state of adjustment was unexpectedly fast; that spike just now was both swift and fierce, not even in the same league as his performance at the start of the match.
Oori is about to rotate to the front row.
When Bokuto-senpai is in good form, his back-row attacks are also terrifying, so they must prepare in advance.
Akaashi's serve failed to score.
After Inarizaki's counterattack was suppressed by Fukurodani, Suna decisively called for Aran and Hinata to perform a block together.
The three of them completely shut down Mokoba's spike, scoring a point from the block.
They didn't dare let Hinata receive a spike like Bokuto's, but they could still give it a try against a ball like Mokoba's, which had such obvious intent.
Komi Haruki clapped his hands. "Don't panic, one ball at a time, one ball at a time."
It was mainly his fault; he hadn't stabilized the receive from Suna's spike just now, since Akaashi's set was suboptimal, it was only natural for him to choose to let Mokoba handle it.
But Suna completely manipulated this psychological state, instead handing a point to the opposing side.
Suna moved to the back row to prepare for his serve, Akagi left the court at that moment.
Just as Komi's absence provided Inarizaki with a great opportunity for a counterattack, Akagi's absence now provides Fukurodani with the same kind of opportunity.
Moreover, the players currently in the back row for Inarizaki are Miya Atsumu, Rishia Heisuke, Suna, these three are not as skilled at defense as Saru Yamato and Mokoba.
Bokuto rubbed his hands together eagerly: "I'm ready!"
Akaashi glanced back slightly at Komi and Saru, saying coldly, "Make the first receive more stable."
Rishia's and Miya Atsumu's serves were indeed difficult to receive before, but it would be unacceptable if Suna's serve couldn't be handled by Fei Yichuan.
Especially since Fukurodani's own substitute setter was indeed lacking in terms of coordination; it was a poor trade-off for him to have his stamina inexplicably drained by his teammates.
Komi raised his hand to signal OK: "Understood."
Just Suna! Not even worth mentioning!
The whistle blew, less than half a second later, the sound of the ball being struck rang out.
The ball slammed into a position just in front of the center court while no one from Fukurodani could react. If it hadn't been for Komi's rapid reaction, the ball would have likely been missed entirely.
Watching the volleyball fly through the air in a crooked trajectory, Akaashi sighed inwardly.
"Give me the ball!!" The Ace called out for another toss.
This time, Bokuto chose to attack from Position 2.
Akaashi managed to send the ball over, fortunately, Bokuto was reliable enough to score a point with a spike.
Everyone at Fukurodani looked toward Suna as he prepared to leave the court.
A buzzer-beater serve like that..
It's truly obnoxious to the extreme.
Chapter 218: The Two Hundred and Eighteenth Fox
In the stands, Hirugami sighed softly, "Even though he didn't score a point, Suna's timing on that buzzer-beater was excellent."
After Inarizaki's successive powerful serves, Suna's service turn was clearly meant to be a time to relax.
But Suna insisted on choosing this kind of buzzer-beater playstyle that gave no time to react; stepping onto the court truly felt like a heart-stopping experience.
Hoshiumi nodded. "Super annoying."
Hirugami Fuku, Hirugami Yukihito's older brother, is an expert at hitting these kinds of buzzer-beaters, Hirugami Yukihito has tried it before as well.
But he couldn't reach that extreme state, so in the end, he chose to make his main playstyle his own.
The service turn passed to Bokuto.
Bokuto, who had just scored a point with a spike, was in an excellent mood. He slapped the ball against the ground a few times before catching it in his hands.
What a great spike!
Immediately after the whistle blew, Bokuto raised his hand and tossed the ball into the air.
But the moment he tossed the ball, not only was he silenced, but even Mokoba in front of him fell silent as well.
First of all, Bokuto-senpai wouldn't play a whistle serve.
He himself preferred a playstyle where he could act on impulse and serve once he had found his rhythm.
Secondly, his touch when tossing the ball at a time like this was definitely not in good condition.
This guy definitely lost control of his tossing motion because he was agitated after seeing Suna's serve.
Yes, exactly, that's it.
Bokuto rushed forward in a panic, but he didn't manage the distance well on his first step, he almost stepped on the line when he jumped.
But in the end, it was a close call that turned out fine, the ball successfully cleared the net.