He has so many fans, there are so many people sincerely wishing for Inarizaki's victory; having one more former opponent makes no difference at all.
However.. he admitted that he was a little bit motivated.
Recognition and encouragement from a powerful former opponent is truly satisfying.
Just like the vast majority of the serves today, Miya Atsumu still chose to perform a Jump Float Serve.
When Komi Haruki's judgment was being severely compromised by the Double Quick, a Jump Float Serve was undoubtedly something that would only add fuel to the fire.
However, Miya Atsumu's ball was a bit too straightforward.
The volleyball did not have an excessive amount of float to it as it crossed the net, heading straight for Fukurodani's back row.
Mokoba couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, because he could truly keep up with this ball.
After setting the ball up, he shouted to Akaashi, "Akaashi! I'm counting on you!"
Akaashi quickly moved forward to set the ball.
Bokuto's current position was theoretically their strongest attacking point; for the sake of victory.. they were determined to win this point.
Bang!
The ball hit squarely between Suna and Rishia, the volleyball, deflected by the block, flew past the boundary pole on Inarizaki's side and out of bounds.
Unabara Uta rushed after it without hesitation. The ball had deflected at a very high speed, but fortunately, its overall trajectory was high, so it was still possible to catch it.
Watching Unabara Uta sprint off to save the ball, Akagi couldn't help but say, "It must be nice to have so much stamina.."
If it had been him, he probably would have chosen to give up on saving the ball to conserve his stamina given this score difference.
Near the railing, Unabara Uta jumped and performed a back set to send the ball back into the court.
“Beautiful!” Miya Atsumu praised.
As Hinata and Suna jumped one after another to prepare for a double quick, he slightly shifted his body and sent the ball toward Miya Osamu in the back row.
Miya Osamu's spike went through an empty space, slamming into the ground to beautifully claim a point.
Miya Atsumu laughed, "Fifth point."
Although his serve was somewhat unsatisfactory, he still managed to take this point through subsequent tactical play and a counterattack.
Oikawa Tooru gave a light click of his tongue. "Fukurodani's thinking has become a bit rigid."
Inarizaki's current playstyle is vastly different from before; they have transitioned from relying on the spikers' offensive capabilities to this current style where the setter plays with total freedom, forcing opponents to try and analyze his psychology.
The difference between before and after was immense, the transition was incredibly fast; Fukurodani was being dragged down by this sudden change.
Akaashi took a deep breath, tidied his messy hair, turned his gaze toward Miya Atsumu, who was preparing to serve the next ball.
So this is High School's Best Setter..
It really is terrifying.
Miya Atsumu turned his head to ask Hinata, who was in front of him, "How does it feel playing like this now?"
Hinata gave a candid assessment: "Even though I'm getting fewer balls, it feels much easier to play."
Miya Atsumu was very satisfied with this answer: "That's good, keep playing like that and this set will be over soon."
Hinata nodded. "Yeah!"
Although he was only answering Miya Atsumu's question, he also subconsciously considered the purpose behind the current tactical adjustments.
On ordinary days, tactical adjustments at Inarizaki are the responsibility of the coach and Atsumu-senpai, so he spends most of his time just listening in.
However, even just listening in allowed him to learn; for instance, he could already grasp the general idea now.
Putting Rishia on the court was intended to provide Osamu-senpai with some breathing room, having him play as the Ace was meant to liberate Aran-senpai, but now, the purpose of Osamu-senpai returning to the court was to give him a chance to catch his breath.
Coach Kurosu had explained this to him once before—was it called pressure sharing or personnel rotation?
Having only learned the principles and not the names, Hinata decided to skip this topic.
Forget all that for now.
Scoring right now is what matters most!
With a five-point lead to rely on, no major issues ultimately arose in this set.
With Hinata's dump scoring, the whistle blew, signaling the end of the set.
The scoreboard at the side of the court jumped to Fukurodani 20:25 Inarizaki.
Inarizaki High is the strongest!!
The cheering from the supporters' section beside them erupted into a violent roar; although the Inarizaki supporters were fewer in number than Fukurodani's, they completely overwhelmed the opposition at this very moment of victory at the end of the set.
Cheers and applause erupted like a tsunami, flooding the entire stadium—the purest expression of joy and praise.
Even though the 67th National Sports Festival is the largest competition in scale, for the single sport of volleyball, Haruko is the most prestigious stage.
Inarizaki hasn't held this championship trophy for many, many years, but this year.. please reach the summit once again!
The shared aspiration of Inarizaki drove them to pour out all their passion, with every cheer almost blowing the gymnasium's ceiling off.
After switching sides, Hinata, sitting on the Coach's bench, looked at the Inarizaki supporters' section on the side, his voice filled with wonder: "Everyone is exceptionally enthusiastic today."
Kumagai handed the towel and water bottle to Hinata: "After all, it's the Finals, you guys are playing brilliantly."
Hinata replied with a smile, "I think so too."
Holding his water bottle, his face was full of happiness.
A volleyball match played amidst such applause was once, at one time, like a dream to him.
Would his silhouette, just like years ago, be projected onto the television screen..
—He will.
Thinking of this, Hinata couldn't help but grin foolishly, feeling a faint sense of excitement.
Glancing sideways at the several first-years who were chatting happily, Coach Kurosu rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
He said softly, "Shoyo.. has an unexpected ability to bring people together."
Coach Omimi agreed, "It's true, Shoyo's social skills are also impressive; he gets along very well with most of the players from other schools."
—He's completely different from Atsumu.
Suddenly realizing Coach Kurosu's meaning, Coach Omimi turned his head to look at him: "So.."
Coach Kurosu waved his hand, signaling that the topic should end here. "Let's wait and see. We'll discuss it once the next group comes up."
Omimi nodded. "Alright."
Having just returned to the court from the hospital, the Ichibayashi group sat down one after another on the rooftop behind the Inarizaki supporters' section.
Listening to the rhythmic, synchronized chants, Kuroe Kao felt a sense of emotion.
Inarizaki supporters are certainly annoying, but they're actually quite popular, aren't they?
As she spoke, Kuroe Kao raised her hand to support her chin, but she suddenly remembered that her right hand was in a cast, so she quickly switched to her left hand.
Rei, standing beside him, was stunned. "Popular? Am I?"
After finishing yesterday's match, he had grown to loathe the Inarizaki supporters, spending the entire night reflecting on his own mindset.
On the other side, Ouji Son looked at his junior with some surprise, but the moment he caught sight of the other's hair, he forced his words back down.
That golden hair reflected the gymnasium's ceiling lights, making it extremely conspicuous even in the dark areas of the spectator stands.
Yes, they went to the emergency room last night, this morning, the Third Year seniors went back to the hospital to have their injuries re-treated.
And Rei went to a nearby barbershop with Nasu to dye his hair blonde, just like theirs.
Ouji Son raised his hand to cover his face: "Hold on, I need a moment to adjust.."
Why did his cute junior follow in their footsteps too?
Coach Nasu is such a menace!!
“That being said, regarding the Inarizaki supporters, they aren't actually just simple demons." Shifting his gaze away from his junior's hair, Ouji Son continued the previous topic.
“However, their reputation as demons is so resounding that many people don't even realize..”
“As the largest and most systematic cheering squad in the high school circuit, the Inarizaki supporters actually help cheer for many smaller teams as well.”
Hearing these words, the freshmen from Ichibayashi were momentarily stunned.
Kuroe Kao nodded in agreement. "After all, if you don't have enough historical achievements, you won't have much funding or many supporters. If things go any further, the volleyball team might end up fighting all alone."
At a time like this, a team that can help provide cheering and encouragement is truly precious.
“Didn't we have supporters on the first day too?”
At that time, the person in charge of the Inarizaki brass band even came to find me, asking if I wanted to help play the Ichibayashi school song.
Kuroe Kao laughed. "But I refused."
Even Nasu was a bit stunned this time: "Why?"
Kuroe Kao leaned back into his chair, looking completely lost. "Because I don't even know how our school song goes."
The usually reliable Vice-Captain displayed an unreliability at this moment, causing everyone in Ichibayashi to look at him with disbelief.
Rei lowered his eyes, lost in thought.
Nasu approached him and asked softly, "What have you come up with?"
Glancing at this senior, Rei answered honestly, "Everything has two sides; you can't summarize it in a single word.."
Listening to such high-flown words, Nasu felt a headache coming on: "Alright, alright, let's get back to the match."
The court had been cleared, the scoreboard at the side of the court returned to zero, signaling the start of the next set.
Amatori sighed with emotion, "Even though they were overtaken later, Fukurodani's condition is quite good."
In a matchup like this, Itachiyama would likely have a fair fight against Fukurodani; Inarizaki's ability to pull ahead by such a margin can only be described as exploiting Fukurodani's weakness against such difficult-to-handle Double Quick attacks.
Iizuna also nodded, "Miya Atsumu's condition can't even be called good; the quality of his serves declined quite a bit in the later stages.."
In fact, even Komori wouldn't play through an entire match cycle like Miya Atsumu; one could only say that Miya Atsumu's physical stamina has indeed improved.
Watching Kumagai begin warming up on the sidelines, Amatori added, "Inarizaki is preparing to make a substitution, isn't it?"
Fukurodani made the same judgment.