Is it really okay to receive it like that!
He had just taken a few quick steps forward to prepare for the receive when he saw Miya Osamu and Hinata already jumping up, one on the left and one on the right, behind the three-meter line.
Meanwhile, Rishia Heisuke in the front row stepped back to prepare to receive the ball.
The crowd from Itachiyama in the stands were all dumbfounded: "Wait, what kind of abstract playstyle is this?"
A double quick from the back row, the front row wing spiker runs to receive the ball?
Amatori couldn't help but complain, "This is a mess!"
In the next second, the ball in Miya Atsumu's hands was delivered right in front of Hinata, the only person currently able to follow up on Hinata's attack was Akaashi.
Although a back-row quick attack would give the opponent plenty of time to judge and follow based on the ball's speed and the runner's rhythm, that doesn't apply to Inarizaki's off-beat quick attacks.
After all.. it's impossible to keep up when the ball exists on both the left and right sides simultaneously.
Bang!
The ball pierced through the net and Fukurodani's block like a comet, hitting the ground in the blink of an eye.
The entire scoring process took barely two seconds, giving Fukurodani absolutely no chance to react.
Komi, who lunged only after the ball hit the ground, fell to his knees, looking as if he had already envisioned the miserable state he would be in afterward.
“So.. I hate the Quick Attack..”
Looking at his hand, which felt a bit numb from the spike, Hinata's face was filled with pleasant surprise: "Wow! This feeling is just too amazing!"
He had been chased all over the court by blocks before; although scoring with technical plays was indeed joyful, this kind of simple and direct scoring provided a completely different sense of exhilaration.
He seemed to suddenly be able to empathize with why Aran-senpai liked spiking over the net so much.
The super excited Hinata raised both hands high, giving high-fives to Miya Atsumu and Miya Osamu one by one.
Miya Atsumu was also in a great mood, even turning to face Miya Osamu with a smile: "That cover was excellent, Osamu."
Miya Osamu turned his head with an expressionless face, not wanting to deal with this bastard brother.
Komori recalled the days when he was dominated by this Double Quick: "I really hated this.."
But no matter how much they hated it, this was a hurdle they had to overcome.
After all, on the road to ultimate victory, Inarizaki is the opponent they must face.
Oori Ren's serve also failed to score, the score remained deadlocked at the three-point lead previously established by Inarizaki.
Looking at Oori Ren as he left the court, Aran reached out to pat the empty space beside him and smiled, saying, "Young people certainly have a lot of energy."
Unabara Uta, sitting in the corner of the Coach's bench, shrank his neck.
The Third Year seniors were only one or two years older than them, so why did it feel like an elder looking at a child?
After confirming that Fukurodani wouldn't be able to cause any major disruptions in the short term, Coach Kurosu decisively spoke to Unabara: "Unabara, warm up; you'll be ready to take the court for the final round of the set."
Let Michinari come back and rest for a bit. With Fukurodani in this state, it looks like there's still a long fight ahead.
Unabara stood up abruptly with a loud sound: "Yes!"
He suddenly startled Coach Kurosu.
Kurosu glanced at the unusually excited Unabara Uta, feeling somewhat helpless.
As a result of the ball returned by Fukurodani, Miya Atsumu slowly walked to the service position.
Glancing at the scoreboard, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
Three points.. it's still nowhere near enough.
Bokuto has already rotated back to the front row, there is a high possibility he will seize the opportunity to counterattack; this gap can be closed with two consecutive scores, so he needs to widen the lead further.
And the timing was perfect, as it was exactly the moment their Ace rotated back to the front row.
Tossing the volleyball with a good mood, Miya Atsumu caught it in his hands the moment the whistle blew.
Very good.
Let them blow the horn for an all-out offensive!
In the quiet gymnasium, Miya Atsumu raised his hand to toss the ball, then stepped forward almost simultaneously, leaping into the air just before the baseline.
Bang!!
The moment his hand made contact with the ball, it let out a heavy thud.
Like the downward stroke of a conductor's baton, the once silent Inarizaki brass band erupted into the grand Inarizaki school anthem the very next moment.
"I've got it!" Saru Yamato stepped forward to receive the ball, but the pass was a bit too high and lonely, looking as if it would go straight over the net.
At the critical moment, a broad and sturdy figure rushed to the net, jumping without hesitation and swinging his hand to spike the ball down.
Rishia Heisuke, retreating, lunged sideways and steadily bumped the ball up: "Atsumu-senpai!"
Great, he has completely found his touch for receiving the ball!
"Nice." Miya Atsumu took two steps forward.
Miya Osamu raised his hand toward Miya Atsumu to ask for the ball: "I'll take it!"
Miya Atsumu didn't even look at him, raising his hand to deliver a high-angle set toward Position 4.
Beside him, Suna jumped, preparing to spike.
Glancing at Hinata, who remained stationary in the back, Osa Noboru felt relieved, then focused his gaze on Suna.
But in the next instant, he saw Suna's hand brush past the ball.
Watching Suna fail to even jump before dropping, Osa Noboru felt his vision go dark.
A thud echoed right next to his ear.
It was a sound he had become familiar with over these two sets, one he had come to regard as a nightmare.
A small figure occupied his entire field of vision.
He didn't know when Hinata had started moving forward, nor did he know exactly at which second Hinata began his approach; he just..
Like a beam of light breaking through the clouds, it descended upon him in his moment of complete defenselessness.
The sound of the hit suddenly overlapped with a high note from the music that had been present in his senses all along.
The ball vanished from Osa Noboru's sight in an instant, followed immediately by the sound of it slamming into the floor ringing in his ears.
The whistle blew immediately after, announcing that Inarizaki scores.
As Hinata landed, the spiked volleyball flew over the net once more, where it was firmly caught by the slightly leaping Miya Atsumu.
He turned to look at the members of Fukurodani across the net, a playful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Fourth point."
Standing at the net, Hinata turned his head to stare intently at Miya Atsumu, his chin tilted slightly up as if he were implying something.
Miya Atsumu quickly abandoned his plan to act cool, walked briskly up to Hinata, raised his hand to signal for a high-five.
Hinata stood on his toes and slapped his hands against them with force.
“Nice play, Shoyo.”
Atsumu-senpai, what a great set!
Coach Inubata, sitting in the stands, wiped away a tear: "So cool—"
Amatori covered his eyes with his hands, watching the match through the gaps between his fingers: "Wow, this score gap is going to be hard to close."
Go Fukurodani! Come back from two sets down and crush those cocky foxes from Inarizaki!
That's right, he just can't stand seeing Inarizaki win!
With the current score gap as a safeguard, the overall atmosphere within Inarizaki became much more relaxed. Although they didn't widen the lead any further, they also didn't let Fukurodani catch up.
The service right was handed back to Oori Ren once again, Akagi and Unabara swapped out on the sidelines.
Watching the substitute Libero Unabara Uta enter the court during Saru Yamato's service turn, Amatori narrowed his eyes, then placed both hands before his eyes to look into the distance. "Wait, what?"
He spoke in shock, "Does Inarizaki not have a single Third Year left on the court?"
Iizuna remained silent: "Yeah."
Yes, that's right.
The Inarizaki court was currently split between first-year and second-year players, while the third years were all sitting together on the Coach's bench to rest.
“What a terrifying bench..” Even Amatori felt a headache coming on for Coach Utsunomiya and the others.
Every year, recruitment was already a century-long battle between Fukurodani and Itachiyama, but this year, Fukurodani's performance in Haruko was even better than Itachiyama's. This will make it even harder to recruit talented players next year.
If it hadn't been for the fact that he had already signed several students through early recommendation, he would have thought Coach Utsunomiya might have come away with nothing.
Well, that was impossible.
After all, eighty percent of their starters were currently admitted through recommendation, though Sakusa and the others from Iizuna were doing quite well academically, didn't look like they had come here purely for sports.
On the court, Unabara Uta steadily received the heavy spike from Bokuto in the back row, causing Amatori to gasp once again.
With every match these Inarizaki freshmen play, their experience increases, leading to a visible qualitative change in their performance.
Every single match, they played better and more brilliantly than the last.
Amatori couldn't take it anymore: "Is this even right!"
Chapter 225: The Two Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Fox
"Calm down, it's going to be fine!" Kyaku-tou, the manager of Fukurodani, shouted loudly from the sidelines.
Amatori, in the stands, also led the shouting: "Go! Go, Fukurodani!"
It's nothing, I just can't stand to see the Tokyo Team lose.
The few groups supporting Inarizaki were not to be outdone, Shiratori cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting loudly, "Atsumu! Go for it!"
Shiratori's voice was so loud that even Miya Atsumu, who was preparing to serve on the court, could hear it.
He was very familiar with that voice; even though it had cracked, he could still recognize it was Shiratori Natsume.
His emotions felt a bit strange, but in the next second, Miya Atsumu decided to cast them all aside.