Rishia Heisuke lowered his head slightly, constantly reflecting on the problem with that last ball.
He didn't have the same decisiveness as Hinata when spiking that kind of tip, he needed to reflect on it.
After the Fukurodani members finished celebrating, Bokuto suddenly turned his head to look toward the net.
“HEY! HEY! HEY!” He pointed his finger at Hinata. “Hinata, hey!”
Although he didn't know why Bokuto was suddenly shouting at him, Hinata raised his hand as well: "Hey!"
Bokuto laughed loudly. "Did you see my super short diagonal!"
Hinata nodded frantically, his voice rising with excitement as he spoke, "I saw it! It was incredible! It just zipped right past everyone!"
Just like the first time he saw Bokuto training in the gym, he bypassed all the blocks and scored a point through an incredible, extreme trajectory.
Unfortunately, the block was so tight just now that he couldn't see the specific movements clearly.
So Hinata scrambled to the front of the net and asked, "Then Bokuto-senpai, is there anything I should watch out for?"
Under the shocked gazes of the Fukurodani members, Bokuto rubbed his chin and replied directly, "It's nothing much in terms of technique; it's mainly about the timing of when you use it."
You don't necessarily have to choose to play like that only when you can only hit a short diagonal.
Miya Atsumu stood with his hands on his hips, a look of immense pride on his face.
See, didn't that just stir things up?
Processing Bokuto-senpai's words in his head, Hinata nodded. "I completely understand! It's crystal clear and simple! Long live Bokuto-senpai!"
Bokuto broke into a wide, joyful laugh. "Hahahaha—Give me two more!"
Hinata jumped up: "Bokuto-senpai is the best and coolest senpai! Bokuto-senpai is the greatest Ace!"
Bokuto laughed loudly toward the sky, "Hahahaha—as expected, I really am the strongest!"
Mokoba and Komi crossed their arms over their chests, silently calling out to their own Vice-Captain, "Akaashi."
Akaashi walked up step by step behind Bokuto-senpai, calling out to him with the collective resentment of the entire team, "Bokuto-senpai, do you realize we are in the middle of a match?"
What is with this impromptu lesson on the court!
Miya Atsumu also reached out and grabbed Hinata, who was about to crawl under the net to have a close-range conversation with Bokuto-senpai: "Shoyo, do you not love Hoshiumi-senpai and Kiryu-senpai anymore?"
Hinata responded decisively, "That's impossible! Hoshiumi-senpai and Kiryu-senpai are both amazing! I love them so much!"
Hoshiumi-senpai is a formidable mentor to the Little Giant, Kiryu-senpai is the all-around Wing Spiker everyone admires, Bokuto-senpai is a dashing, top-tier Ace—they're all different!
Miya Atsumu narrowed his eyes. "And what about me, Atsumu-senpai?"
Hinata's answer was also very decisive: "I love Atsumu-senpai the most!"
Atsumu was satisfied and set Hinata down.
As soon as he turned around, he saw Miya Osamu and Suna standing side by side, both giving him the middle finger.
On the other side, Unabara Uta, being held by Miya Osamu, ultimately gave a hesitant thumbs-up to Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu remained expressionless. He released his hand from around Hinata's neck and gave both Miya Osamu and Suna the middle finger.
Hinata blinked, he followed Miya Atsumu in giving Unabara Uta two thumbs up.
Unabara Uta fell into an eerie silence for a few seconds, before finally turning around to cover her face and sigh.
—Is there still a chance?
After interrupting Saru Yamato's service turn, the score jumped to 18:24, with Inarizaki leading Fukurodani.
Inarizaki reached set point with a six-point lead, while Miya Atsumu successfully gained the service right.
Taking the ball from the Head Referee, Miya Atsumu shrugged his shoulders. "What a shame, it looks like I'll be the one to end this match."
In the waiting area, Miya Osamu spoke bluntly, "Get on with your serve."
If he loses this point, Miya Atsumu can expect to be dragged through the streets by all of them.
Standing six steps away from the end line, Miya Atsumu lightly spun the volleyball in his hands.
Kita frowned in the waiting area, but considering that Atsumu would now jump to attack float serves, he said nothing.
They had already discussed it before the match, noting that this game was not suitable for Atsumu-senpai to use a Power Serve, they hoped he wouldn't do it despite knowing better.
But Miya Atsumu didn't care.
They were already leading by a huge margin and had reached set point, so what was wrong with him hitting a power serve to feel good!
Watching Komi Haruki dive to make a perfect reception of the ball, Kita Shinsuke gave a small chuckle.
After receiving the ball, Akaashi decisively sent it back to the Ace, Bokuto.
Jumping against Inarizaki's double block, Bokuto spiked the ball directly into Rishia's hands.
Akagi quickly chased down the ball, successfully sending it back.
Miya Atsumu also decisively trusted his Ace at this moment: "Shoyo!"
Hinata leaped up at Position 4, silently watching the ball fly toward him.
—It's not just when you can only hit a short diagonal that you need to use a short diagonal.
As long as you observe the timing of the attack, those seemingly superb techniques aren't necessarily the key to breaking a deadlock in a desperate situation.
These things.. can also just be a basic way of playing to change the ball's trajectory.
Bang!
The sound of the hit rang out, the volleyball tore through the Fukurodani block at an incredible speed, finally slamming down near the Three-meter Line.
The whistle blew immediately after, Inarizaki took the First Set.
“Super Short Diagonal—!” Bokuto-senpai's eyes widened. “That was incredible!!”
Although the force of the hit was clearly much weaker than his, the ball's speed, driven by the swing, was even more terrifying than his!
The members of Fukurodani all turned their heads at once, looking at their Ace with extremely resentful glares.
Hinata stood with his hands on his hips and gave Bokuto-senpai a cheeky grin.
You taught me well, Bokuto-senpai.
Chapter 221: The Two Hundred and Twenty-First Fox
The Head Referee rotated his fists in front of him, signaling both sides to switch sides.
After Kumagai and Unabara Uta finished moving their things, everyone returned to the Coach's bench.
Hinata cheered, "Coach! I feel like my touch is incredible!"
Coach! Did you see my last Short Diagonal!
The noise in his ears suddenly flared up, Coach Kurosu revealed a happy yet slightly strained smile: "I saw it, I saw it. That was a great hit."
Alright, everyone take a break. Miya Atsumu and I will briefly adjust our strategy for the next set.
He reached out and pressed the bouncing Hinata down into the chair beside him, only after he had calmed down did he turn his gaze toward Miya Atsumu.
After being praised, Hinata sat there clutching his water bottle and grinning foolishly for a while, before finally recalling the details of the First Set.
If this approach were applied, it would indeed be able to break the deadlock more quickly, but the cost would be an intense consumption of physical and mental energy.
But this was already the Finals, he didn't have as many things to worry about, so..
Over at Fukurodani, the rest of the team had also returned to the side of the Coach's bench.
"Next set, next set!" Bokuto-senpai shouted loudly, walking at the front with his hands raised.
Mokoba slapped Bokuto on the back without any hesitation: "It's all your fault!"
Who hands out skill books to their opponents right on the court!
The key thing is that the Little One's learning and adaptability are just too ridiculous! He could use it flexibly right after hearing it?!
Bokuto looked at him with a pitiful expression, his eyes filled with a sense of injustice: "Why are you hitting me again? I didn't do anything!"
Mokoba said resolutely, "You are not allowed to talk to that Little One from Inarizaki anymore; you'd better give him your most unpleasant face!"
He knew that putting those two together would definitely lead to trouble!
How could anyone coming from Inarizaki possibly be a good sort?
It must be, it must be those black-hearted foxes sent to bewitch the not-so-bright Bokuto!
Bokuto lowered his head. "Oh.."
Akaashi, who had already returned to the Coach's bench while Bokuto and Mokoba were arguing, called out to his Ace: "Bokuto-senpai."
Hearing Akaashi's voice, Bokuto-senpai looked up at him. "Huh?"
Akaashi had a smile on his face as he said softly, "Bokuto-senpai, please don't worry about too many unnecessary things. Just like you said before, volleyball is a fun sport."
Please play volleyball exactly the way you want to, Bokuto-senpai.
Mokoba crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head slightly. "That's not wrong.."
On the other side, Komi sighed helplessly, turning his head to look at Saru Yamato. "Bokuto's personality was definitely spoiled by them."
Saru Yamato laughed heartily. "Isn't it because everyone spoils him?"
Watching his players chatting and laughing, Coach Anromi quickly filled out the rotation for the Second Set and handed it to the Head Referee.
He didn't know exactly how Inarizaki planned to adjust their strategy, but they would simply remain steadfast to meet any change.
After a brief discussion, Miya Atsumu and Coach Kurosu also finalized the lineup for the Second Set.
It was largely the same as the First Set, with only a slight adjustment to the starting positions to allow Miya Atsumu, who could perform a powerful serve, to take the first service turn.
They had played quite smoothly in the first set, since Fukurodani likely wouldn't make any specific adjustments to counter the Ace in Position 4 during the opening, they would just stick to their previous way of playing.
Rishia's performance has also been very stable, for now, there seems to be no need for a substitution.
They could completely choose to let Miya Osamu continue resting, waiting until a critical moment to send him out to kill the game.
By contrast, what is currently more worrying is Miya Atsumu's stamina.
After all, even with the physical training intensified during the period following the National Sports Festival, Atsumu's own physical conditioning is only at a mid-level within the team; it is already quite good that he has been able to maintain top-tier form through to this stage of the Haruko.