This person's only official appearance this year was during the Fukurodani vs. Itachiyama match in the Haruko Regional Qualifiers Finals.
In the Second Set, replacing Osa Noboru, he scored a point against Itachiyama with a net touch on a Jump Float Serve.
Unabara nodded: "Understood completely."
A jump float serve that clips the net, huh? Then we just need to position ourselves a bit further forward.
Watching Inarizaki's overall forward-leaning first receive formation, Akaashi frowned.
Inarizaki's preparation is way too thorough; they even watched the Regional Qualifiers?
Kumagai gave a slight smile.
Their main focus for preparation was, of course, the matches following the Spring High, but with Miya Atsumu around, he was essentially a free agent, so he watched whatever Miya Atsumu gave him.
Last night and this morning, he watched every available video of Fukurodani's qualifying matches that he could find.
In the first few matches of the Regional Qualifiers, Fukurodani didn't always field their full starting lineup, many substitutes had played in the earlier rounds, so he had an impression of all the players on Fukurodani.
It was a good thing he watched; Atsumu-senpai was far too farsighted.
Miya Atsumu rested his chin on his hand, watching the match on the court with a sour expression.
Just as Kumagai expected, the server once again chose to use a net-brushing Jump Float Serve to target an important player in the front row.
And that target was, without question, Hinata.
The moment he saw the ball flying toward his position, Hinata decisively stepped back one step to the side.
Unabara Uta lunged from behind, reaching out to keep the ball in play.
Akuma!
When the ball clips the net, its speed is reduced by more than half.
Therefore, as long as they know the ball is coming this way, even a sudden rush from the back row would be more than enough time to reach it.
"Great first receive!" Kumagai exclaimed before quickly moving forward to prepare for the set.
Miya Osamu moved silently toward Position 2 to prepare for a spike, the moment his figure appeared there, it gave Bokuto a start.
Because Unabara Uta had stepped up to receive the serve, Owari Aran had to stay back to bolster the defense, so he did not participate in the attack for this play.
Hinata also seized the gap created by Miya Osamu and Ginjima jumping to split the block, hit a backhand spike into the short diagonal.
Bokuto reached out to bump the ball, successfully getting it up, but it failed to clear the net.
"Opportunity Ball!" Unabara Uta stepped back to receive the ball, sending it toward the attack line.
Akuma! Give me the ball! One more time!!
Hinata shouted for the pass, stepping forward with a large stride while raising his hand, intending to spike.
The moment Akaashi Keiji and Washio moved toward Hinata, Unabara Uta sent the ball to Owari Aran, who was jumping up behind Hinata.
With Hinata having already drawn away most of the block, Aran, performing a back-row attack, achieved a state of a completely off-tempo spike.
He slammed the ball down with full force, much like a spike that had missed the net; the ball hit near the Fukurodani three-meter line, predictably scoring a point for Inarizaki.
Having been used completely as a decoy, Hinata landed and turned to wink at Kumagai.
As Kumagai began to feel inexplicably guilty, Hinata had already rushed toward Aran to high-five him: "Great play, Aran-senpai!"
Miya Atsumu, standing by the sidelines, was quite dissatisfied with this play: "Tsk, what a great opportunity just now. Even Shoyo could have handled that with an overhand hit.."
What kind of pass was that? It was hideous.
Under Coach Kurosu's call, Kita Shinsuke, who was standing near several people, said, "Don't be so harsh on your juniors."
He is someone who is supposed to be a Captain, so why is he being so unreasonable?
Although Miya Atsumu didn't know why Kita Shinsuke had suddenly started talking about his issues in that regard, he shut up anyway, choosing instead to criticize Kumagai in his mind.
The service right naturally passed to Miya Osamu.
However, Fukurodani's substitute Libero was unexpectedly resilient, providing another decent First Receive.
Bokuto, in the front row, was used as a decoy this time, allowing Washio to execute a super spike and score a point.
Komori, sitting in the stands, remarked with emotion, "As expected of Fukurodani's ace for next year, this level of play is quite impressive."
The receive was indeed a bit ugly, but for a first-year Libero to play at this level is already quite impressive.
Moreover, good physical condition also brings faster reaction speeds, which is perfectly suited for executing the quick attacks currently being set by Kumagai.
But even with Bokuto's condition being good, Fukurodani remained dominant.
After Akaashi targeted Kumagai twice during his service turn, Fukurodani gained an opportunity for consecutive scores, further widening the score.
Coach Omimi laughed by the sidelines, "First-years really do tend to have problems with unclear defensive responsibilities."
His mindset was quite good; after all, this set was always going to depend on whether they needed to take a gamble based on the early situation, now he was simply preparing to rest at most.
During Hinata's service turn, Coach Kurosu said decisively, "Substitute Shoyo out."
Kita Shinsuke walked to the sidelines, holding the number 17 substitution board in his hand.
Watching Kita Shinsuke and Hinata switch, Kuroo frowned slightly: "Is Inarizaki planning to just give up this set?"
The others made no comment on the substitutions, but replacing the setter, the libero, the core quick attacker all at once meant they essentially had no intention of continuing to fight.
Watching the match on the court, Shirabu said softly, "Actually, it's understandable."
Fukurodani has already reached its peak, which is the most difficult stage to handle. In the previous match between Shirabu and Fukurodani, Bokuto, who was in excellent condition during the third set, also brought them down.
After a moment of contemplation, Shirabu continued, "If they play normally, given Inarizaki's current declining state, they might not even win, they could even be affected in their subsequent matches due to the stamina issues of their starters."
On Fukurodani's side, the only one whose condition has clearly declined is the Libero; everyone else, including Washio and Bokuto, is currently in their strongest phase.
Moreover, it looks like the substitute Libero for Fukurodani is quite capable and won't affect things too much.
Fukurodani is currently leading by two points; although it doesn't look like much, it is actually quite difficult to claw back.
Inarizaki also had no reason to keep fighting, so substituting Hinata out was completely understandable.
Sitting on the Coach's bench drinking water, Hinata loudly cheered for Kita Shinsuke, who had subbed in for him: "Go Kita Team!!"
Looking at the still energetic Hinata, Shiratori's smile was somewhat helpless.
Actually, looking at Hinata's current condition.. it feels like he wouldn't have any problems if he continued to play.
“Choosing to avoid an opponent at their peak is a very wise move.” Shiratori smiled.
“For Bokuto, it's frustrating to have all that power and nowhere to use it, not to mention that Inarizaki is also strategically conserving their strength to let their starters rest.”
“And Fukurodani wouldn't dare not play at full strength, because they can't afford to lose.”
At this point, Shirabu tapped his chin with one finger. "Hmm.. it's a kind of 'Tian Ji's Horse Racing' strategy, I suppose."
Kuroo didn't understand what he meant by "racing horses," but he had understood what was said before.
Indeed, compared to a best-of-three match, a best-of-five match offers much more room for tactical maneuvering.
Moreover, player substitutions are an essential part of a five-set match; otherwise, professional teams wouldn't need to prepare so many substitutes.
Leaving the opponent's strong zone completely open is indeed a good method.
After all, Inarizaki currently held three match points, so they were naturally quite composed in this situation.
Chapter 227: Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven Foxes
Watching the match rhythm, which had been significantly slower than before, Amatori felt a headache coming on behalf of Fukurodani.
“That's disgusting, this way of playing by Inarizaki..”
After agitating Fukurodani's condition, they instead directly shifted their strategy, switching to an incredibly strong defensive lineup consisting almost entirely of second-string players to slow down the pace of the match.
While attempting to extend the resting time for the starters as much as possible, they were also trying to wear down Fukurodani's condition.
This playing style was just too flawless, ruthlessly exploiting Fukurodani's vulnerability—the fact that they simply could not afford to lose.
The defensive lineup, centered around Kita Shinsuke and Miya Osamu, suppressed Bokuto's spike almost throughout the entire match.
Even if they couldn't score to close the gap or take the lead, they could at least ensure that Fukurodani wouldn't be able to score.
Watching from the Coach's bench, Hinata grimaced, unconsciously starting to see through Bokuto's eyes.
Watching Bokuto's short diagonal get read and touched by Miya Osamu to change its direction, only to be steadily received by Kita Shinsuke, Hinata grabbed the clothes at his chest and leaned back.
Ah—so frustrating! That super short diagonal! It was covered!
That sudden shout startled Suna, who was sitting on his other side.
After seeing Hinata's expression become completely uncontrollable, Suna silently moved toward Akagi, distancing himself from Hinata.
Miya Atsumu, on the other hand, found it quite amusing.
Ever since Bokuto began being suppressed in every aspect, Hinata's expression had been quite something, as if the person playing the match on the court wasn't Bokuto, but him.
He reached out and put an arm around Hinata's shoulder, patting him comfortingly. "Relax, this time we're the evil demons."
Hinata looked at his own hands. "I remembered when I played against Kenma and Oikawa and the others, I felt incredibly uncomfortable all over."
Although the feeling of finally breaking through a stalemate while fighting from a disadvantageous position was exhilarating, it didn't mean he wanted to go through it again.
Spikes that don't score, poor defensive quality..
This wasn't just his own suffering; it was more about how his poor performance directly caused his teammates' hard work to go to waste.
Especially since he had been playing in the right wing's defensive position for the wing spiker, he couldn't even imagine the kind of pressure a team's ace like Bokuto-senpai would feel in such a situation.
Miya Atsumu continued to comfort him, "Don't worry, don't worry, you have me. I won't let you play in such a difficult position."
Setting the stage for the spikers is the job of their setter; as long as there is an opportunity, he will never give up on his spikers.
And for Akaashi Keiji on the court right now.. it must be the same.
After several attempts, Bokuto's spike from the wing smashed through the Iron Wall in front of him, the ball slamming into the floor and bouncing toward them.
The several people on the Coach's bench all ducked down at the same time, dodging the ball as it came crashing toward them.
The whistle blew, Fukurodani scored.
"Hell yeah!!" Bokuto and Akaashi high-fived heavily, both of them cheering at the same time.