But it turns out that the more approachable a setter seems, the more likely they are to be devious.
Kozume-senpai and Usui-senpai both look quite unassuming, but when they start playing volleyball, they are each more ruthless than the next.
Oh right, there was also Shiratori-senpai, who completely overturned his perception.
Even though his appearance and voice were extremely gentle, he was a complete volleyball freak, just like Hinata and the others.
And besides.. how could a setter who was scouted by Coach Kurosu be anything other than a guy with a dark side!
He bet that with just twenty minutes of extra practice every day, this guy named Reo Mizuta was definitely a much more devious person than Usui-senpai.
Setting aside the discussion about the junior setter's appearance, Hinata had already flipped to the next photo. "Haseda Katsuya. This guy is a setter and opposite like me."
Taking a glance at the photo, Hinata pursed his lips. "He looks so fierce."
With those slanted eyes and that 188cm height.. he must look terrifying.
Not long after, Ginjima, who had been sent to the first-year teaching building to collect the group, returned with the juniors.
The two people who had just appeared in the photo appeared in Hinata's field of vision, both of them standing over 1.8 meters tall, bowing to everyone at the same time.
“Hello, seniors!”
Ginjima pointed at Hinata and Rishia: "The one with orange hair is Hinata Shoyo, the one with black hair is Rishia Heisuke. From now on, the two of them will be your instructors; if there's anything you don't understand, you can ask them."
Our Captain.. might be a little unreliable. If you can't handle it, try to seek help from Coach Kurosu.
After giving the instructions, Ginjima left in a hurry again: "Shoyo, just show them around the area. Teruya Masato and I are going to print some flyers."
Hinata Shoyo stood up straight. "Understood! I'll get the job done!"
Inarizaki Men's Volleyball has no manager, with the First, Second, Third Strings combined making for a large number of people, many tasks are handled by the First String members themselves.
For example, Miya Atsumu and the others would have to record the measurements reported by everyone in the statistics department, they would also need to organize the details for anyone who needed to have new custom-sized uniforms made.
In the past, two-thirds of this work was done by Kita Shinsuke, it was only when the work was actually assigned to them that they could truly realize the sheer scale of the workload. Especially since they had just won two championships, the number of freshmen this year would inevitably be even greater, everyone would also need time to adjust to such a workload.
The 1.81-meter setter raised his hand to greet Hinata, his face full of gentle smiles. "Hello, seniors. I am Reo Mizuta, graduated from Uenoi Junior High School, my position is setter."
The 188cm Opposite Setter also bowed, saying honestly, "Hello, seniors. I am Haseda Katsuya, a graduate of Denkou Junior High School, my position is Opposite Setter."
After envying the height of the two for a few seconds, Hinata replied, "Hello, I am Hinata Shoyo, I am currently Inarizaki's starting Opposite and Setter."
Masaru Haseda's expression instantly turned solemn, a fierce fighting spirit ignited in his eyes.
The starting Opposite and Setter, in other words.. as long as he defeats this senior, he can become a starter!
Under the gaze of Hinata and the other, Reo Mizuta silently stepped back, creating distance between himself and Masaru Haseda.
The next second, Masaru Haseda bowed deeply toward Hinata: "Hinata-senpai! I want to challenge you!"
Hinata froze: "Eh?"
Rishia was horrified: "Huh?"
Reo Mizuta, standing nearby, burst into laughter. "Haha, I knew it."
Once Hinata snapped out of it, he also turned serious for a moment. "I accept your challenge. What are we competing in?"
—Even though he didn't know exactly why the other person was challenging him.
But no matter what the reason was, he would not lose!
Rishia Heisuke snapped his head toward Hinata.
Don't accept it! At a time like this, it would be better to just let the matter rest and wait for the Coach to handle it!
Masaru Haseda thought very seriously about the current situation, then a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.
There aren't many people in the gym right now. Even if we were to play volleyball, it would largely come down to the chemistry with one's teammates, a point where he certainly wouldn't have an advantage.
And this Hinata-senpai is small in stature and not particularly strong; even though he is a starter, he certainly won't be stronger than him in terms of basic physical fitness.
It must mean that this starter was promoted to the position temporarily after the Third Year students graduated, once a freshman with excellent qualities emerges, he will be replaced.
That means.. this position was being saved for him!
When it comes to volleyball, height, speed, strength are the most important!
He had one hundred percent confidence in all of these events himself!
Thinking of this, Masaru Haseda made a quick decision: "Let's compete in high jumps and sprinting."
This time, Rishia Heisuke cast a terrified look toward Masaru Haseda.
Hinata was very serious, not daring to show even the slightest bit of negligence: "No problem, let's warm up first."
"I'll do it! I'll do the measurements!" Noticing there was a commotion to watch, Unabara Uta broke away from Akagi and volunteered to act as the scorer. Akagi let him run off, as he also wanted to come over and witness this massive commotion.
The two continued their warm-ups as usual, Masaru Haseda, who was fully prepared, performed as usual, stepping forward first to undergo the vertical reach test. His overall performance was very stable, without any unexpected issues, representing the standard level for a freshman at Inarizaki.
Unabara Uta read out Masaru Haseda's score: "333.9 cm."
Masaru Haseda nodded silently. Although he didn't consider his jumping ability to be particularly exceptional, his vertical reach was already considered above average among his peers of the same height.
This Hinata-senpai was over twenty centimeters shorter than him; even if his jumping ability was excellent, he still wouldn't be able to reach higher than him.
Rishia Heisuke asked Reo Mizuta, who had been smiling all along, "Are you coming?"
Although he didn't want to admit it, this Haseda was truly capable; he himself couldn't even touch this position last year.
Reo Mizuta shook his head, the smile vanishing from his face, but his gaze remained locked on Hinata: "Thank you for the kind offer, Rishia-senpai, but I'm not very good at this, so let's forget it."
Masaru Haseda challenged Hinata in order to try and fight for a starting position, but right now, Inarizaki's starting setter is the legendary High School's Best Setter and best Server, Miya Atsumu.
Moreover, he remembered there was still a setter named Kumagai above him, so there was no way a starting position would ever fall to him.
Unabara signaled to Hinata that he could start whenever he was ready.
Hinata hopped in place a couple of times, after a quick warm-up, he stretched and moved his joints thoroughly.
Their last vertical jump test was at Itachiyama, he also really wanted to know if he had actually made any progress during this time.
Taking a deep breath, Hinata silently lowered his center of gravity.
He kept a four-step distance from his intended takeoff position, while simultaneously preparing to step off with his right foot.
Unlike his usual three-step approach starting with his left foot, this was a four-step approach designed to maximize his jumping ability during actual gameplay.
He didn't use it much himself; in terms of proficiency, Rishia Heisuke, who had already integrated this approach into his serves, was superior.
However, when it comes to simply testing vertical reach.. he has no problems at all.
Once ready, Hinata suddenly took his first step forward.
Unlike Masaru Haseda, every step Hinata took against the floor sounded incredibly solid.
After taking his final step with his left foot, Hinata's right foot followed immediately in the next second, striking the floor with a heavy "thud."
With the sudden upward swing of his arms, he soared into the air, ascending to an incredibly terrifying height under everyone's gaze.
The confident Masaru Haseda stared with wide eyes, watching helplessly as Hinata's hand surpassed the handprint he had originally left behind.
—it was even longer than the length of an entire finger.
The next second, a heavy thud sounded again; Hinata had landed steadily on the ground. He pressed down with his heel, perfectly absorbing the impact.
At the same time, Unabara also moved the measuring tape over, accurately measuring Hinata's final result.
342.3 centimeters.
Masaru Haseda suddenly lost his composure, his entire brain stalling: "How much?!"
Reo Mizuta couldn't help but laugh, a look of extreme pleasure washing over his face. "Hahaha, as expected of.."
Inarizaki's Little Giant, huh.
Chapter 265: Two Hundred and Sixty-Five Foxes
Hinata expressed considerable satisfaction with his performance: "I'm in super great form today!"
Unabara Uta nodded. "Indeed, you're quite a bit taller than last time."
However, most of these improvements were simply because Hinata Shoyo had grown a little bit taller.
Wiping the powder off his hands, Hinata walked up to Masaru Haseda and looked up at him, saying, "I won this one! So, shall we head over to the stadium now?"
Masaru Haseda stared blankly at Hinata as he walked toward him, still unable to recover from the rather unconventional scene that had just occurred.
But there was one thing he did indeed know.
—This junior should be a genuine starter, not just someone filling in.
Moreover, that senior's movement just now was very impressive; he is clearly also very skilled at short-distance sprinting events.
I admit defeat, Senpai.
You're amazing, many times more amazing than I expected.
Masaru Haseda conceded very decisively, with absolutely no intention of continuing any futile struggle.
Although he didn't understand much about the grand principles of how to conduct oneself in the world, his grandmother had taught him to cut his losses in a timely manner and to hit the brakes before a situation reached the point of no return.
Hinata froze for a moment, not expecting this surrender to be so sudden.
He suddenly understood where Hoshiumi's recent worries came from; indeed, seeing fewer and fewer of his own people would leave one with a sense of regret..
However, this feeling only lasted for a moment, he soon became happy again.
That's a complete victory for me!" Hinata patted his chest, acting like a little man. "From now on, I'll protect you!
"Ah.. yeah." Masaru Haseda nodded.
He lost to Hinata-senpai, so from now on, he'll be Hinata-senpai's little brother.. probably.
Watching the temporary farce come to an end, Akagi also called out to Unabara: "Unabara, come back and continue training."
Unabara looked pale: "Coming, I'm coming."
Hinata proactively said to the listless Masaru Haseda, "Even though we aren't doing the sprint anymore, I'll still take you to see our stadium. You'll have to go there for the physical fitness test in a while."
"Okay," Masaru Haseda nodded.
Hinata looked at Rishia Heisuke again. "Heisuke, are you going too?"