Osamu's state on the coach's bench was completely relaxed, a stark contrast to Coach Omimi beside him, who was clenching his fists with his body tense.
It's no problem.
Miya Atsumu slid forward on the court, the momentum of his forward lean carrying his entire body a significant distance in the opposite direction of the ball.
He leaned back with the momentum, the angle between his upper body and the ground becoming extremely small, forcing his setting hand to a much lower height.
Miya Atsumu's fingers touched the volleyball itself when it was less than one meter above the ground.
The moment Miya Atsumu's fingers touched the ball, the entire trajectory of the ball changed.
He made the volleyball, which had been falling toward the ground, bounce back up and fly toward the high point over Position 4 behind him.
The ball was very close to the net, it was clearly not intended for the back row players, as they wouldn't be able to reach it from that distance.
Unless.. Miya Atsumu can still deliver a pass with enough hang time in this state.
Suna had already moved from his original position at Position 3 toward the ball, lowering his center of gravity and preparing to jump.
Although this ball was a bit high for Suna, given his own height, he could actually reach this position; he just doesn't usually like to jump.
With a basic judgment made, Washio Tatsuki, acting as the middle blocker, immediately led Bokuto and Akaashi to chase after Suna.
But he was very patient and did not jump immediately.
Even though he knew it was impossible, but..
The orange figure in his field of vision had already charged up from behind, clearly intending to perform a spike.
It's most likely a feint..
Washio frowned, just then, Akaashi Keiji's firm and decisive voice rang in his ear: "Number 17!"
Instantly pulling back his attention, Washio immediately locked his gaze onto Hinata.
Suna indeed did not jump; instead, he moved half a step toward Position 3 in the opposite direction only after Akaashi spoke up.
The ball flew into everyone's field of vision toward the Position 4 marker, then, along with the spin on the ball..
—It stopped.
Akaashi felt his head ring, a sense of extreme absurdity surfaced in his perception.
You've got to be kidding me.
How did he remember Miya Atsumu's pass being in such terrible condition? Could a ball like this really be passed out like that?!
Hinata tilted his head back, his eyes fixed intently on the ball without shifting even a fraction.
Even though its time in the air was only a brief moment, but..
It was enough.
In the next instant, a heavy thud echoed in everyone's ears.
On the coach's bench, Miya Osamu couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, his originally calm eyes now covered with an excitement and fervor nearly identical to Miya Atsumu's.
If it were anyone else, perhaps Miya Atsumu would truly be using trust to manipulate and coerce them.
But if it were Hinata..
Miya Osamu was willing to believe that Atsumu-kun was simply asking a question and seeking his opinion.
Because he knew it clearly, Atsumu was also certain.
—Hinata can really do it.
Miya Osamu raised his head, following the silhouette that shared the same color as the morning light, looked toward the high point in the distance.
From his seated angle, he couldn't even look Hinata straight in the eye.
Miya Atsumu remained in the same posture as his recent pass, staying still to avoid being collided with by the spikers advancing from both sides.
He tilted his head back slightly, watching the direction of his pass from his inverted perspective.
A pair of strong, powerful calves hooked backward in mid-air, with the swinging motion of the upper body, they suddenly kicked forward.
Even just watching, Atsumu could feel exactly how much power exploded in that instant.
Hinata forcefully pressed down a powerful spike that was completely out of reach, driving it straight down over Washio Tatsuki's head and onto the three-meter line behind him.
Washio's face was filled with confusion, completely unable to comprehend what was happening at this very moment.
It was clearly a back-row attack spike, part of its height had clearly been converted into forward momentum, so why.. was it still so high?
Saru Yamato, in the back row, lunged with all his might, but in the end, he couldn't reach the ball.
The volleyball slammed heavily against the floor, then bounced back up almost vertically.
Hinata landed on the ground a bit later, his forward momentum not being completely absorbed by the previous attack.
He stumbled forward uncontrollably, leaning over and rushing two steps under the net.
The once quiet venue was instantly swallowed by gasps and cheers.
What just happened with that ball?!
He saved it, passed it out, even scored with a back-row spike?!
The middle-aged man in the hat had already shouted himself hoarse, but he still couldn't calm the blood boiling within him: "Atsumu-kun! Little radish!"
A perfect play!! So strong—
Coach Himegomiya kept clapping, her voice full of admiration: "A textbook counterattack after a counterattack."
No, they have even surpassed the textbook definition.
These kids.. are writing their own textbook.
Beside Hinata, Akaashi Keiji turned back in shock, looking at him as he had just straightened his back and looked up.
Hinata just raised a hand to wipe the sweat from the side of his face, not noticing Akaashi.
It seemed the other person's gaze was too intense, so Hinata finally shifted his eyes, looking at Akaashi out of the corner of his eye.
Just as Hinata was about to turn his head to ask, Miya Atsumu's voice came from across the net: "Shoyo."
Seeing that Akaashi had no intention of speaking to him, Hinata quickly ducked back under the net: "Atsumu-senpai!"
He raised his hand toward Miya Atsumu, Miya Atsumu unceremoniously slapped it back, "Nice one, Shoyo!"
Coach Unabara, on the sidelines, laughed with great joy: "A perfect combination."
These are all players he plans to recruit under his command in the future.
Whether it was Bokuto's energetic performance for Fukurodani today, or Inarizaki's coordination and teamwork, which even exceeded the standard expected of high schoolers, they were all incredibly precious assets to him as a national team coach.
In the stands, Shiratori Natsume recalled the match records from this Haruko: "Shoyo's highest contact point should be around 3.4m."
When playing against that gray-haired first-year from Nekoma before, Hinata jumped once at that extremely terrifying height.
In the subsequent matches, he didn't actually jump for those extreme high balls; he maintained control over his hitting point throughout almost the entire match, staying at 3.15m for quick attacks and 3.3m for high balls.
Because most Middle Blockers around 1.85m have a standing vertical reach of under 3.2m, they often don't actually need to jump that high.
Washio and Kuroo are actually about the same height, but Washio Tatsuki's jumping ability is slightly better than Kuroo's, even comparable to the blocking height of the 1.9m Osa Noboru.
To achieve an effect that can reach over the block during a back-row attack.. it truly requires utilizing one's entire jumping ability.
And when combined with the forward momentum provided by the long approach run, the final result is this effect of being able to jump to the highest point in front of the net.
But that last ball, Miya Atsumu was actually able to pass..
Shiratori couldn't help but say, "When it comes to setting, Miya Atsumu could truly be called peerless."
Impeccable technique and an absolutely devoted attitude..
To be honest, he actually kind of wanted to spike Miya Atsumu's pass.
I wonder if there will be a chance in the future.
Having been completely fired up after that last play, Hinata shouted loudly to cheer for Rishia Heisuke behind him: "Heisuke, serve a good one!!"
For Fukurodani, Rishia Heisuke's service turn was also a troublesome element.
As a vital key server for Inarizaki, that powerful, heavy spike serve ranked among the top even within Inarizaki.
The next second after the whistle blew, Komi Haruki shouted loudly, "Bring it on!"
Rishia patted the ball against the floor.
Halfway through the time, he caught the ball in one hand, then turned his palm upward, preparing to toss it.
Taking a deep breath, he sent the ball flying from his hands, in the next second, he took a step forward.
The four-step approach still maximized the overall stride length, resulting in a higher contact point and explosive spiking power.
The heavy sound of the hit appeared in the next instant, Hinata felt as if a dark shadow had flashed before his eyes before the ball slammed down right in front of Mokoba.
Rishia cleverly avoided Komi Haruki's position, hitting the ball toward Mokoba Akitsugu, who was far less skilled at receiving heavy spikes than Komi Haruki.
Moreover, Mokoba is highly skilled at both covering for the setter and executing follow-up attacks; they wouldn't just let the opponent move freely.
Mokoba worked hard to control the ball, but in the end, it was still a bad first receive.
Akaashi rushed out of the court to receive the ball, barely managing to back-set it back into the court from outside the lines.
The conditions for this attack weren't particularly good, since Washio himself didn't have much experience handling such bad balls, he lacked the ability to spike this one.
Therefore, Akaashi still sent this ball to Bokuto.
Bokuto never cared whether a spike was good or bad; as long as it was a ball, he would spike it, though he might make a scene if it got blocked back.
But after the match against Shirabu ended, Bokuto's own growth was visible to the naked eye.
Even Akaashi could feel completely at ease handing this kind of ball to Bokuto, trusting with all his heart that he could bring home a score.
Bokuto eyed Aran's hands, forcing a spike that resulted in tooling the block out of bounds.
Kuroo watched Inarizaki's frequent double blocks and asked with a frown, "Hinata's vertical jump height is sufficient, but he doesn't participate in blocking very often."
“Being able to jump high doesn't mean you can jump high quickly; if you jump too late or too early, you're just giving the opponent a chance to tool the block.”
Hoshiumi rested his chin on one hand and said simply, "Shoyo doesn't have enough experience to pull off a move like that yet; for now, he can only manage to block me, since I'm someone he's familiar with."
After all, their two jumping rhythms were basically the same, so it was natural for Hinata to block him with ease.
Hirugami gave a chuckle. "It took Hikari-kun several years to reach the level where he could keep up with our three-man block."