Looking at the somewhat distracted Shoyo, Miya Atsumu spoke up and asked, "What's wrong? Shoyo?"
Glancing sideways to see what those first-years were talking about, Hinata said in a low voice, "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but that Reo Mizuta.."
I feel like he doesn't really trust his teammates when he's playing.
Hinata's single sentence pointed out the strange aspect of it, causing even Miya Atsumu's footsteps to falter slightly.
He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment; there had indeed been many instances of overall mismatching on Reo Mizuta's side during that last match.
However, compared to the situation with Masaru Haseda, the overall strength on Reo Mizuta's side was indeed much weaker.
Moreover, in matches of this caliber, a Spiker with sufficient skill can play a much larger role than a Setter.
If he were playing himself, he would probably end up playing in a way that was increasingly dominated by his own whims.
But..
It was obvious that Reo Mizuta had failed to do this; in fact, one could say he had done it terribly.
Since it is already certain that the Spiker is unreliable, then one should use suggestive or coercive means to make the Spiker follow one's own intentions completely.
Hesitation will only lead to having one's fatal weaknesses exploited by the opponent, resulting in no effective outcome at all.
Miya Atsumu shrugged his shoulders. "Some people just have that kind of personality; once they have strong teammates, they'll naturally be able to play without holding back.."
Seeing Hinata's dissatisfied expression, Miya Atsumu immediately changed his tune: "I'll go have a chat with him later. How can you not trust your teammates on the court?"
Hinata agreed, "Exactly, exactly!"
Miya Osamu, following behind, twitched at the corner of his mouth, wanting nothing more than to turn around and walk away.
Meanwhile, Rishia Heisuke closed his eyes, pretending he hadn't seen anything at all.
Chapter 271: The 271st Fox
The final distribution of the new students was similar to Hinata's year.
After all, the recommended students Coach Kurosu had already selected were exactly what the First String was lacking. As for the others, much like Hinata and Kumagai last year, they either didn't have enough spots among the starters, or their fundamental skills weren't quite good enough yet and needed more practice.
For this very reason, aside from the three including Masaru Haseda, Coach Kurosu did not select anyone else for the First String.
In terms of overall skill level, Miya Atsumu did not agree with Reo Mizuta joining the First String.
After all, looking strictly from a setter's perspective, with him and Kumagai available, there is no real need to add another substitute setter in the short term.
But once Rishia Heisuke entered the First String and Kita Shinsuke graduated, they would be missing two of their key servers; besides Fukami, Reo Mizuta was also a great option for a key server.
However, recently, Inarizaki has mainly been practicing individual skills and has not organized many intra-squad matches.
Hinata crouched by the edge of the court, biting the rim of his water bottle and squinting as he stared at Reo Mizuta, who was in the middle of saying something to Fukami: "It really is strange after all.."
“Why are you still obsessing over him?” Miya Atsumu leaned in from the side to look at him, forcibly occupying his entire field of vision. “Alright, alright, stop looking at him and look at me.”
"It won't be anything major; right now, our focus needs to be on the match in a few days." Miya Atsumu waved his hand in front of Hinata, Hinata's gaze was easily drawn away.
“I heard that Kiryu-senpai and the others are coming back to watch this match!”
Hinata's eyes widened, he spoke with a hint of pleasant surprise, "Kiryu-senpai!"
Miya Atsumu nodded and said simply, "Didn't Black Eagle Flag start soon? The Azure Rockets, where Kiryu is, are playing a practice match against Tachibana Red Falcons, they chose Osaka as a compromise location."
After I spoke with Aran-senpai, he said he happened to have nothing going on that day, so he's coming back to visit, Kiryu-senpai wants to come along too.
Hinata's expression became even more surprised: "Aran-senpai is coming back too!"
Hinata, who was suddenly full of energy, pumped his fist to cheer himself on. "Then I'm going to show the seniors my progress!"
Miya Atsumu sighed, "It's a shame Kita Team can't come back. Kanagawa is a bit too far away.."
The Kita Team failed to pass their first choice in the university entrance exams a few months ago, but they subsequently took the exams for Yokohama Marine University and successfully enrolled in the agriculture program. They are currently studying in Yokohama.
Hinata proactively suggested, "Then when we go out to compete in the future, let's go visit the Kita Team while we're at it!"
Miya Atsumu made an 'X' sign with his hands, a mysterious smile spreading across his face. "The Kita Team and Akagi-senpai will be there to watch during the Interhigh."
So they didn't need to go looking for them; in fact, the Kita Team had even asked about their training camp schedule before, giving the impression that they intended to come back for a look.
Fukami, on the court, waved at Hinata: "Shoyo-senpai! I still want to see that short diagonal after the quick attack!"
The responsibilities of a Middle Blocker include more than just blocking; the quick attack is also a vital part of it. Although his performance on offense is average, he must learn such a super cool move!
Hinata quickly stood up and rushed toward the court, prepared to teach his junior something useful: "Here I come, here I come! Haseda Katsuya, you need to learn this one too!"
Haseda also came over, preparing to watch Hinata teach: "Alright, Shoyo-senpai, I'm ready."
The Short Diagonal—he had seen it in the highlights Suna-senpai showed him before. Shoyo-senpai had used the Short Diagonal to score many points for the team, it was a very useful technique when overcoming a Block.
Standing by the sidelines, Kumagai stood with his hands on his hips, his face written with shock: "Are you serious? Letting Shoyo teach?"
In his memory, the few times Shoyo had taught..
I can't understand that; that way of expressing things is like some kind of encrypted communication," Rishia Heisuke grumbled in a low voice. "And the most critical thing is.. that someone actually manages to understand it.
“Huh?” Unabara Uta was stunned for a moment.
What did he hear? Someone could actually communicate without any barriers using those nonsensical onomatopoeic descriptions like Shoyo's?
Hinata, in the middle of the court, had already begun his own performance, raising his hands to start mimicking a spiking pose.
Like this, you whip your wrist into position, then lock onto the target and—bam!—spike the ball.
And then, your body should be like this, maintaining balance and landing perfectly.
Hinata landed lightly on the ground, turning his head to look at the two people beside him. "I'm finished."
Kumagai, standing by the sidelines, looked up and covered his face: "I knew it.."
Rishia Heisuke also closed his eyes and continued, "For example, Shiratorizawa's Ushijima-senpai, or Itachiyama's Sakusa-senpai, they would be able to understand."
He had already become incredibly aware of this point back when he participated in the intensive training camp at Shiratorizawa with Hinata.
It would have been fine if no one could understand, but the fact that someone actually did made him feel like there was something wrong with him.
Rishia patted his chest. "It's truly for the best that no one could understand.."
Just then, a loud shout rang out across the court: "Ohhh—so that's how it is! I get it now!"
Kumagai and Rishia both looked up in shock, seeing Fukami with a look of realization as he stared at Hinata, while he also grabbed a volleyball from the side, looking eager to try.
Beside them, Masaru Haseda's expression was blank. He looked at Hinata with some confusion, then looked at Fukami Subaru, before finally locking his gaze on Rishia Heisuke by the sidelines.
Relatively speaking, Rishia Heisuke was the person he was most familiar with besides Hinata.
So..
Rishia and Haseda locked eyes, catching the plea for help on the other's face.
His conscience ached for a brief second, but Rishia Heisuke decisively turned his head, averting his gaze.
Sorry, he can't save him.
While Fukami continued to practice spiking, Hinata looked at Haseda: "As for Haseda Katsuya.. I think either Aran-senpai's or Kiryu-senpai's playstyle would suit you better."
Hinata summarized simply, "My playstyle might be more.. agile?"
Haseda shook his head. "No, you can learn a lot just by following Shoyo-senpai as well."
He wasn't entirely sure exactly who these two senpais were, but he knew that his current level wasn't yet capable of reaching such a powerful realm.
Therefore, it wouldn't matter who he learned from right now.
Hinata rubbed his chin, recalling Shirabu from his memory. "Speaking of which, I remember the Ace of Shirabu right now should be Honda-senpai, right?"
He turned his head toward Miya Atsumu, who had appeared by his side at some unknown moment, asked him with hands on his hips, "Is that so?"
Miya Atsumu raised a hand to pat his head. "Shoyo remembers it very clearly; it really is him."
However, they also have another incredibly talented freshman who will likely start taking over the Ace position starting next year, making him your formidable future rival.
Even if the first-year Ace grows, there is a limit to that, so he won't pose a threat to him for the time being.
Hinata thought for a moment and gave a simple example: "Ah, like Ushijima-senpai and Akari?"
Miya Atsumu held up one finger. "You could say it's like you and Aran-senpai."
The second year is the perfect time for a new Ace to show their fangs, but there are also monsters like Sakusa who make a name for themselves in their first year and reach the top in their second.
As for whether there will be any in this generation..
Miya Atsumu smiled and held up the folder in his hand, presenting it to Hinata. "It's this person, Tomomichi Chita. 1.81m, specializes in.. well.. quite insidious playstyles."
Hinata nodded. "He looks just like it. He seems like someone who would be very difficult to deal with."
Miya Atsumu glanced sideways at Hinata, a sentence caught in his throat that he couldn't bring himself to say.
This phrase had come from Hinata's mouth more than once, used to describe a series of people including, but not limited to, Sakusa, Ushijima, Hakuma, Hoshinoya.
But now.. Hinata was getting along quite well with all of them; everything about them looking scary was just a deception.
Hinata's interest was piqued: "Are there any others?"
Miya Atsumu agreed readily and continued flipping through the pages: "It just so happens we have training matches coming up in a while, so I'll give you a quick look at Shirabu's possible starting lineup for now, though most of it is just speculation."
These two, Aito Oya and Masato Kishimoto, are the ones replacing Yunnan-senpai and Unabara Uta. They are in the same year as you, are currently both Second Year.
Their heights are 1.88m and 1.91m respectively. We aren't sure what their playstyles are yet, since they don't have any match records since entering high school; Coach Kusubashi has likely implemented some drastic changes to them.
Hinata let out an envious sound: "So tall.."
Based on height alone, it is indeed the style of Shirabu's blocking duo, it should be quite similar to the previous ones.
Hmm.. he will ensure that every attack can break through the block.
Miya Atsumu glanced at Fukami, who was still studying the short diagonal, after a second of silence, continued flipping through the pages. "There's also a first-year wing spiker, probably used as a specialized defensive player, who was admitted through recommendation, just like Chita."
Hinata scanned through the opponent's profiles.
Suzune Akai, 1.74m, from Naokoshi Junior High School in Oita Prefecture, played as a Libero during junior high.
He exclaimed in surprise, "Eh? A Libero switching to Wing Spiker?"
Indeed, a Wing Spiker also bears a significant portion of the receiving responsibilities, so the two positions are, to a certain extent, interchangeable.
Take Gen-senpai, for example; he is a Libero who used to be a Wing Spiker.