Just as Mokoba expected, Bokuto's attention was immediately drawn away by something new: "Ohhh—Burn!!"
He circled around the net and finally raised his hand facing the Inarizaki side.
The block just now was only a minor mistake; he'll strike back immediately!
On the other side of the net, Hinata and Bokuto raised their hands together after facing each other: "Burn!"
Although that last point was mainly due to Suna-senpai's efforts, he still contributed at least a tenth of the work.
He will definitely score on the next ball!
Miya Atsumu laughed, returning to the back of the court in high spirits, waiting for the referee's signal to serve the next ball.
This time, Miya Atsumu chose to stand behind Position 6, rather than his previous position on the sideline.
Komi was not surprised either, merely taking the opportunity before the referee blew the whistle to silently adjust his positioning slightly backward.
A Jump Float Serve from the center position.. rather than vertical variation, it might lean more toward lateral movement.
Therefore, there is a high possibility that this ball will fly toward Saru Yamato.
Of course, one cannot rule out the possibility that this initial positioning was merely a feint; with Miya Atsumu's level of composure, he could easily execute a wipe shot off the net to target their setter.
As it turned out, Komi was right.
Miya Atsumu's ball hit precisely on top of the net above Suna's head, then rolled over the net, landing on Fukurodani's side.
Akaashi wasn't overly surprised; instead, he moved with the momentum, reaching out to dig the ball up.
Mokoba Akitsugu from the back row stepped in immediately, jumping to set the ball to Bokuto.
Although he claimed to be a jack-of-all-trades, he was indeed a master of none.
Regarding his responsibilities as a setter, what he does relatively well is giving high balls to Position 4.
Although he can set other balls as well, he has no way to effectively coordinate both sides when players from the back row jump in.
However, he couldn't worry about all that; he could just leave everything to Bokuto.
Having secured the ball, Bokuto jumped again against the block of the Inarizaki trio.
He caught the gap between Rishia Heisuke and the Position 2 marker, adding a slight spin as he transitioned, letting the ball graze Rishia Heisuke's arm as it passed through.
Akagi dove, successfully saving the ball.
Hinata raised his hands and shouted for the set, "Atsumu-senpai!!"
Miya Atsumu stepped forward and, without even jumping, used the strength of his fingers alone to set the ball, delivering it perfectly to Hinata's most comfortable hitting point.
More importantly, the speed of the entire set did not suffer much reduction despite the lower starting point.
Washio, who had been staring intently at Hinata's movements, moved in to follow him the moment he stepped forward to prepare for a spike.
Even though it was only a single block, he still managed to restrict Hinata's most proficient line spike as much as possible.
On the other side, Mokoba and Komi successfully executed their defense against Hinata's spike, successfully sending the ball up to the Attack Line.
One more time!!
Hearing the Ace's voice, Akaashi didn't hesitate to send the set over: "I'm counting on you, Bokuto-senpai!"
With Akaashi's feint forcing Osamu and Hinata to tie each other up, Bokuto's attacking conditions this time were much, much better than before.
Being able to explode with full strength, Bokuto went straight into a head-on confrontation against Suna and Rishia's block.
A heavy thud suddenly rang out, Rishia's entire center of gravity was thrown off balance.
After passing through the block, the ball's speed barely decreased at all as it bounced diagonally out of bounds.
This ball hit Inarizaki's block before going out of bounds, so it is counted as a block out.
Hearing the whistle signal a score, Bokuto cheered, "Yes! I'm totally fired up!"
This spike left him feeling completely refreshed, as if he could take on ten people at once.
Watching Bokuto jump twice in place on the opposite side, Miya Atsumu's expression looked terrible: "This is going to be troublesome.."
It was arguably the worst possible situation; Fukurodani in the Second Set was on a completely different level compared to the First Set.
This kind of seamless collective attack driven by an Ace.. it's far too troublesome.
Glancing at the scoreboard showing Fukurodani 8, Inarizaki 9, Coach Anromi shouted from the sidelines to cheer on his players.
“Give us a good serve!”
Osa Noboru stood in the serving position, while holding the ball in one hand, he couldn't help but pull up his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
The situation now is completely different from the last set.
In the previous set, they were left with a massive point deficit, the kind of gap that couldn't be closed no matter how hard they tried, even though there wasn't actually that much of a difference in their actual abilities.
In this set, they were neck and neck with Inarizaki, not falling behind at the very start.
In this situation.. even the slightest mistake would be seized upon by the opponent, becoming the fuse that leads to defeat.
What should I do, what should I do?
The whistle blew in his ears, Osa Noboru steeled his heart, raising his hand to prepare for the serve.
There was no time to think about anything else; he would just do his best to get the ball served.
As it turned out, Osa Noboru's choice was the right one.
The more you think, the easier it is to make mistakes.
Since he wasn't good at serving to begin with, he didn't feel much pressure regarding the serve itself; he could simply let it cross the net and leave the subsequent counter-attack to the defense.
“I've got it!" Akagi took a step forward and steadily received the ball.
Miya Atsumu quickly stepped forward to prepare for the set: "Great first receive!"
Hinata and Rishia Heisuke jumped simultaneously near the side markers, while Suna took the lead in the center to coordinate a Back Quick Attack with Miya Atsumu.
With enough blockers drawn away by the others, Rishia Heisuke took the ball and delivered a full-power spike.
But even if the only blocker in front of Rishia was Bokuto, he perfectly completed the task of restricting the ball's trajectory.
Rishia was forced to spike a sharp cross, Saru, who had been waiting for it, received the ball head-on.
"Nice receive!" Akaashi shouted, moving under the ball before jumping to set it in front of Bokuto at Position 4.
Coach Unabara, standing by the sidelines, was quite satisfied: "That follow-up movement after the block was quite beautiful."
Bokuto's inconsistent form was something that had always given him a headache, but although Bokuto's performance in the previous set of this match was mediocre, it was only a matter of whether his touch was warm enough.
Taking time to warm up and being in poor form are two different concepts.
The former can stabilize from bad to good, while the latter is very likely to cause the team's formation to collapse midway through.
Suna and Rishia Heisuke both rushed forward to join the block on Bokuto's side, while Hinata, who was wary of Washio playing a quick attack, quickly retreated after confirming that Bokuto was spiking, preparing to receive the ball.
Facing Inarizaki's block, Bokuto decisively chose to avoid a straight spike and instead opted for a sharp cross into the gap.
When it comes to this kind of flexibility in choosing ball paths, Bokuto is one of the strongest among high school players.
With Bokuto's sudden adjustment of the ball's trajectory, the speed of the ball was completely unaffected; it slammed down right in front of Hinata, who had already retreated in preparation to receive it, almost instantaneously.
Hinata adjusted his movement and reached out to try and receive it, but his positioning was relatively far forward, he simply didn't have enough time to continue retreating and create distance.
With a loud thud, Hinata's vision spun wildly.
As the ball flew up, he was also forced to fall to the ground.
Hoshiumi clicked his tongue lightly. "There's no way around it."
He could see that Hinata had tried his best to adjust, but Bokuto's attack had hit him too hard on his weak point.
Hinata, who had fallen to the ground, quickly regained his senses and scrambled up on all fours, but he still couldn't keep up with the subsequent attack.
Suna performed a feint in the center, Aran in the back row also called for the ball.
Atsumu! Set the ball to me!!
Although Hinata's set wasn't particularly good, he provided enough basic height, making it not too difficult for Miya Atsumu to set.
After performing another high-ball feint, Miya Atsumu transitioned into a back set, delivering the ball with precision toward the area near the Position 2 marker.
Rishia Heisuke leaped up there with a thud, preparing to spike.
But in the next second, his vision suddenly went black.
The Iron Wall formed by the three members of Fukurodani pressed down like a massive mountain.
Washio Tatsuki's eyes widened, his gaze locking onto Rishia Heisuke without any deviation.
—Got him.
The shadow cast by the arm fell across Rishia Heisuke's face.
Rishia Heisuke's expression changed abruptly, even his breathing momentarily paused by instinct.
Damn, their strategy has been anticipated and seen through.
His jumping ability is currently the lowest in Inarizaki.
And although strength training is effective, he is still far from reaching the level of Aran and Bokuto, who can powerfully spike through a three-person block when in peak condition.
It was already too late to adjust the trajectory of the spike or any other technical ball..
Two consecutive sounds of impact rang out as the volleyball was blocked by Washio back toward Inarizaki's side, falling toward the ground at an extremely high speed.
At the critical moment, Akagi took a step forward, staying low to the ground and pressing his upper body almost flat against the floor without performing a diving save.
The ball hit his forearm and bounced sideways, slightly out of control.
As Rishia landed and prepared to save the ball, Miya Atsumu called out without hesitation, "I've got it!"
Rishia instantly pulled back and adjusted his position, ready at any moment to perform a cover spike.
As for Atsumu-senpai's words, even if it were a low ball, he could ensure it reached the front of the net. The best option would be to find an opportunity for a drop shot, it would be even better if he could deceive the opponent with a tip over the net.
Behind them, Hinata tilted his head slightly, locking eyes with Miya Atsumu for a brief moment as he charged forward.
The three members of Fukurodani regrouped in front of the net, standing ready for Inarizaki's attack.
Even for a compensatory attack, they had to maintain the highest level of vigilance.
After all.. this is Inarizaki, whose offensive capabilities are considered the best in the entire high school circuit right now.