A player with no achievements in Junior High has suddenly become a key starter capable of playing a vital role in the Finals.. Inarizaki's Coach has terrifying vision and training abilities.
"Ah, Shoyo is going to serve!" Shiratori exclaimed excitedly.
Hinata took a deep breath and stood behind the baseline in a position to take a running start, preparing to serve.
Everyone cheered enthusiastically, "Nice serve, Shoyo!!"
The whistle blew, Shoyo adjusted his breathing, waiting steadily for the final movement of the eight-second mark.
He raised his hand to toss the ball up, then took a quick approach to perform a spike.
"I'll take it!" Komi Haruki shouted.
He would not be confused by Inarizaki again; even with the distance, he would be the one to receive it.
During the diving, he popped the ball up, sending it straight toward Akaashi.
Akaashi's form also gradually returned to normal.
Without having to struggle to deal with all those deflected first receives, he could focus his center of gravity on the setting itself.
“Bokuto-senpai!” he shouted for Bokuto once again.
Oori Ren and Miya Atsumu both stared at Akaashi at the same time, refusing to shift their gaze to Bokuto-senpai just because of his call.
This kind of verbal deception is a common tactic used by a Setter. Given that Fukurodani's level of Quick Attack isn't that high, the best option is to watch the Setter's toss before making a move.
As expected, in the next second, Akaashi's arms shifted slightly, intending to give the ball to Mokoba, who had jumped up beside him.
Watching Mokoba's movement, Oori Ren jumped along with him the moment he leaped.
Miya Atsumu frowned slightly.
This ball.. something seems wrong with it.
The direction was definitely this spot, but the trajectory of this pass..
Under everyone's gaze, Mokoba did not spike the ball; his hand had already dropped mid-swing.
The ball flew over his head, at that moment, a figure had already leaped into the air with a thud from the back row.
Broad shoulders blocked the light shining from behind, in Hinata's field of vision, there were only Bokuto's eyes, which remained strikingly bright even in the shadows.
—I'm being targeted.
—There was no block touch or deflection to limit the ball's path.
——He won't be able to receive this ball.
All judgments flashed through his mind in an instant, but Hinata did not retreat in the slightest.
In an instant, the ball flew over the net and smashed toward him, the ball itself growing larger and larger in his field of vision.
Hinata raised his hands, blocking it in front of him.
He pressed his forearms together and pointed them upward, intending to pop the ball up.
But the volleyball, which had no block to slow its speed, was simply too fast, giving Hinata no chance to lower his center of gravity.
Because his center of gravity was too high, he was knocked off balance the moment he touched the ball, he fell flat on his back onto the ground.
A heavy thud rang out, the ball bounced out of bounds.
The whistle blew; Inarizaki's receive went out of bounds, Fukurodani scored.
“YEAH!!” Bokuto-senpai cheered, looking completely energized, “This is my—back-row attack!!”
Hinata struggled to get up from the ground and sat there, giving up on thinking. As expected, he knew he wouldn't be able to receive it.
After Bokuto's powerful scoring, the service turn naturally passed to Washio Tatsuki.
The Fukurodani cheers shouted loudly, "Tatsuki, get a good one!"
Looking across all of Fukurodani, Washio's serve is second only to Bokuto's, his service turns remain a strong advantage for Fukurodani.
Kuroo rested his chin on his hand. "How enviable, 190cm."
Kenma, who was beside him, wore a mask on his face and was huddled entirely inside his jacket.
Kenma's low voice drifted over: "If Kuroo actually included the height of his hair, he'd be 190."
Kuroo had originally suggested watching the livestream at home, but Kenma refused.
Since it was Fukurodani playing in the Finals, it was better to watch it live, since their opponents were Inarizaki, he was actually quite looking forward to it.
Kuroo said with a righteous expression, "I'm not like Bokuto and the others; I don't rely on my hair to cheat."
For a Middle Blocker, 190cm is a massive chasm.
If he could have grown to 190, he would have played professional volleyball, but.. it's probably hopeless.
Given his current height, he'd be thankful for even one more centimeter.
Yaku said bluntly, "It's not like Bokuto and the others are cheating with their hair."
It's useless to say anything about how someone is taller than others; everyone is equally honest. But it is true that even though Bokuto is only slightly taller than Kuroo, the visual effect of that hairstyle makes him appear much taller than Kuroo.
Lev, in the back row, was still making a fuss: "Hair? What hair?"
Kuroo remained silent.
Height is the greatest talent in volleyball, but.. there are also those who are good for nothing besides their height.
"Lev, be quiet," he said expressionlessly.
The whistle blew, after a simple two-tap of the ball in his hands, Washio Tatsuki raised his hand and tossed it up directly, without any hesitation or adjustment.
They haven't had many opportunities to score consecutive points until now.
If there is no opportunity to speed up the scoring rate and take the lead, then he must disrupt the opponent's scoring rhythm as much as possible.
A powerful service turn must not be wasted; his only goal is to score.
A loud thud echoed in everyone's ears. As Rishia Heisuke rolled backward to absorb the impact, he shouted loudly, "Save it!"
He received it, but with a slight error, the ball landed outside the court near the area behind the Coach's bench. Atsumu-senpai likely wouldn't be able to keep up, so he could only try his best to send the ball back on the third touch.
Miya Atsumu didn't hold back; he didn't let anyone else go for it, but instead chased after the ball himself, preparing to perform a direct second touch.
“What a great first receive!” he shouted, chasing after the ball to reach up and touch it after Coach Omimi and Coach Kurosu quickly moved their chairs out of the way.
Rishia was stunned for a moment by that shout of "Great first receive!" As he stood up and looked up, he saw that Miya Atsumu had already sent the ball beautifully into Aran's hands.
Even though Rishia's pass wasn't particularly good, Miya Atsumu still managed to adjust it just enough for Aran to spike it. At a time like this, there was no need for space to adjust the ball; simply ensuring Aran had the opportunity to spike it to death was enough.
Aran leaped in front of the net, with a full-power spike, he forcefully broke through Fukurodani's block.
The ball slammed into the ground, Aran scored a point for Inarizaki.
The score on the sidelines jumped to Fukurodani 11:16 Inarizaki at this moment, entering a time-out.
In the stands, Iizuna frowned: "This score gap is even more terrifying than I expected."
Of course, he wasn't referring to this 5-point gap. This was the result of Fukurodani breaking up several of Inarizaki's consecutive scoring runs after adjusting their form; if they had remained in their previous state.. they would have been left behind by more than 8 points by Inarizaki long ago.
Amatori clicked his tongue lightly. "This set is definitely lost."
He knew Fukurodani would definitely drop the ball in the opening set.
When we played the Regional Qualifiers against them, Fukurodani's first set was always ugly, but this momentum they're gaining is the result of their adjustments.
But the reason why they, Itachiyama, couldn't produce this kind of effect was eighty percent because of Agatsuma; this guy, just like Bokuto, takes a long time to warm up.
Iizuna sighed, "There's no helping it. In terms of pure offensive capability, Inarizaki is already the strongest."
The opening was an aggressive onslaught, like a sudden downpour, leaving Fukurodani absolutely no room to breathe.
To be able to find their rhythm and start clawing back the score under such intense pressure means Fukurodani is already quite impressive.
"Let's see how the Second Set goes; we still need to avoid letting Inarizaki pull ahead in the score during the opening." Iizuna contemplated Fukurodani's potential path to victory.
There are unstable players on Inarizaki's side as well, especially Suna and the Miya Twins, so Fukurodani shouldn't find it impossible to compete.
Beside the Inarizaki Coach's bench, everyone was also having a brief discussion.
Oori Ren said calmly, "Let's just play steadily."
Having already secured one set, they had no need to waste energy on unnecessary exertion.
Miya Atsumu held a different view: "While I don't think Fukurodani can do something as exaggerated as scoring five or six points in a single go, playing steadily and defensively will definitely make Fukurodani very comfortable."
They could certainly slack off, but the same applied to Fukurodani.
But he didn't want to give Fukurodani a chance to catch their breath, not even for a second.
Inarizaki's greatest advantage was actually their overall roster, which was capable of supporting frequent substitutions.
In contrast, Fukurodani's starting lineup lacks that level of flexibility.
Miya Atsumu gave an extremely bold suggestion: "Wouldn't it be better to keep agitating Bokuto-senpai?"
“We should speed up the process of bringing his condition up to speed and maximize his physical exhaustion. Compared to Bokuto-senpai when he is in peak form, Bokuto-senpai is much easier to play against when he is fatigued.”
Normal people have good states and bad states, but Bokuto-senpai is different; he has a third kind—a state that is far too good.
Bokuto-senpai, who gets overly hot-blooded, could be a great point of breakthrough, especially since he tends to lose synchronization with his teammates.
Oori Ren and Suna both looked over, their eyes filled with obvious surprise.
For such a proposal to come from Miya Atsumu at a time like this..
Suna couldn't help but ask, "Can you do it?"
He'll go first, he won't make it.
Compared to a physical monster like one of the Five National Spikers, he'd probably be exhausted before he could even get the momentum going.
Atsumu shrugged his shoulders, looking completely fearless: "Don't we still have Shoyo?"
He is just a Setter; even if he needs to compensate for issues with the First Receive, his overall movement cannot be compared to a Spiker.
Moreover, the one who can get Bokuto fired up has never been him; looking at the situation from the start of this set until now, the one who can influence the opponent's emotions is Hinata.
Hinata froze for a moment. "Me?"
When he was in the front row, he was watched closely by Washio-senpai. Although he didn't know why Bokuto-senpai was also observing him, he didn't seem like the type to provoke his opponents..
Miya Atsumu didn't know what to say for a moment.