The volleyball bounced high, smashing into the second-floor fence.
With a loud crash, the entire fence shook, Oikawa Tooru, who was standing right behind the ball, looked terrified.
Although this transparent fence was indeed good for watching the match, being hit by something so suddenly was still quite terrifying!
Nagumo nodded along with Aran: "Our Atsumu-senpai is truly amazing."
Wakamura turned his head and glared at him, while Oikawa Tooru's expression also shifted into one of disgust.
But they didn't say much more, after all, Miya Atsumu's serve had been recognized by the entire national volleyball community after undergoing countless tests.
Miya Atsumu, who was on the court, was already prepared to serve his second ball.
This time he chose a buzzer-beating Jump Float Serve, an inspiration he had gained from Hirugami Fuku earlier.
And as it turned out, this kind of serve was indeed nauseating to a certain extent; Shirabu's back-row teammates Suzune Akai and Nishinoya both moved toward the ball at the same time, nearly colliding, yet the ball still flew straight back toward Inarizaki.
Hinata, positioned near the sideline, looked up at the trajectory of the ball's descent and subtly stepped back to create distance for his approach run.
The ball's speed wasn't fast, its angle was very high, so..
"Opportunity Ball!" Miya Atsumu shouted, then lightly pressed his hands downward on both sides.
Almost simultaneously, a "thud" sounded in front of the net, followed immediately by an orange shadow soaring into the air.
The only thing reflected in Masaru Haseda's eyes in the waiting area was that figure wearing number 10, who, under his gaze, soared to a height they could never reach.
In the next instant, Miya Atsumu, who had already jumped, raised his hand to touch the ball, his fingers exerting sudden force to send the ball toward the net at an extremely high speed.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. The fastest to react, Usui tried to make a touch, but the moment his fingers made contact with the volleyball, he couldn't withstand the power carried by the ball.
The ball slammed into Shirabu's back row in an instant, with almost no change in its trajectory.
And even at this moment, neither Tomomichi Chita nor Suzune Akai, who were near the ball, had reacted.
BANG!!
The solid sound of the ball hitting the floor rang out, in the next second, it landed outside the court; the entire process of the toss and the spike was completed in less than a second.
There was no Libero to handle the receive; instead, the Setter made the first touch, coordinating with the front row spiker to complete an impeccable quick attack in the shortest time possible.
The extreme speed achieved this terrifying "one-hit kill" effect.
Tomomichi Chita, finally snapping out of it, withdrew his gaze from where the ball had just landed, his brow furrowing slightly. "So this is.."
The field of vision on the court is different from the field of vision when watching a recording, the frame rate of the recording itself also has an effect; looking at it from this angle on the court, it is countless times more terrifying than in the recording.
No, it wasn't just the change in perspective and field of vision.
Did the spiker and the setter both gain more strength and speed than before..
Even if he knew the opponent was going to spike, he had absolutely no confidence that he could keep up with it.
This ball speed was simply beyond human reaction time; even with the best dynamic vision, it was impossible to keep up once the ball was struck, leaving one with no choice but to rely on anticipation to make the receive.
Honda Subaru also spoke up in time, saying to Masato Kishimoto at the front row, "Keep an eye on number 10's position; make sure to get a basic touch on the ball."
Masato Kishimoto nodded, "Understood, I'll do my best."
That may be true, but it's simply impossible to defend against.
Inarizaki's offense doesn't just rely on Hinata alone; he has to consider the movements of both Miya Osamu and Suna at the same time. Given the intensity of this block.. it's terrifying.
Standing by the court, Masaru Haseda swallowed hard, his fists unconsciously clenching.
Even though he had watched the footage countless times, being actually standing here in person to witness this so-called "miracle" offense at close range..
Fukami's eyes shone with excitement: "That was so cool, it was exhilarating!"
Hearing their voices, Hinata, who had just high-fived Miya Atsumu, turned his head and gave them a thumbs up.
Masaru Haseda, feeling as stirred up as Fukami, imitated Hinata's gesture and gave him a thumbs up: "Shoyo-senpai is so cool!"
Hinata looked at Miya Atsumu beside him with a smug expression, his tone boastful: "See, Atsumu-senpai? The juniors all think I'm super cool!"
Although Atsumu-senpai has many fans, he has several loyal fans of his own now!
Nagumo sighed with emotion, "Our Shoyo is also incredibly amazing."
Aran nodded. "Indeed, Shoyo is super amazing."
Wakamura thought for two seconds, then nodded in agreement, "Hinata is indeed very amazing; his running speed has become even more terrifying than before."
Oikawa Tooru remained silent for five seconds, then raised his hand to cover his face.
There are so many things I want to complain about, I don't even know where to start.
He knew that being on the same team as Aran meant trouble, how could this habit of complaining be contagious!
There must be something wrong with Kansai people, definitely!
Chapter 273: The 273th Fox
Aran shouted from the stands, "Atsumu-senpai, one more point! Ten in a row!"
In the waiting area, Kumagai raised a hand to cover his forehead and let out a deep sigh. "Is this whole business about the ten points never going to end.."
Ginjima, standing beside him, gave a forced laugh: "Haha, ha.."
Fukami leaned over and asked in a low voice, "What ten points?"
Kumagai looked back at him, then at Reo Mizuta, who was staring at the court in deep thought, then he raised his hands to press down on both of them. "Good luck, remember to get ten points when you go on next.
Fukami raised his hand and clenched his fist, his face full of fighting spirit. "Leave it to me! I'll come back with a hundred points!"
Reo Mizuta forced a smile. "You won't be able to do it.."
Kumagai wore a smile, looking very gentle: "I'm rooting for you!"
However, right now, the overall serve intensity of their starters is very high. It's estimated that only Suna and Hinata will be substituted, with Ginjima or others being brought in occasionally when a Jump Float Serve is needed.
It is estimated that the Coach will prioritize substituting himself, the Dual Wielder, followed by Fukami, only then would he consider Reo Mizuta.
As for Masaru Haseda.. he's likely someone who would step in for Hinata, Miya Osamu, or Rishia when a substitution is needed.
After all, Masaru Haseda doesn't have any particular specialty at the moment, but his strength lies in his balance; he is the type who can be moved wherever there is a shortage of players.
—A very useful brick.
When Masaru Haseda looked over, Kumagai coughed twice, feeling a little guilty, refocused his attention on the court.
The whistle sounded in everyone's ears, signaling that Miya Atsumu's next serve was about to arrive.
Suzune Akai silently moved a step toward Tomomichi Chita, expanding her defensive range even further.
To say that a serve would result in ten points or something.. isn't that a bit too much of a slight against him!
Since three people attempting a First Receive will affect the final quality of the reception to some extent, it would be better to adopt a Double Receive strategy.
Although it's dangerous, it's.. worth a try.
Tomomichi Chita glanced at Suzune Akai and silently left space for him to maneuver.
Their current advantage lies in having two Liberos on the court; as long as they can fully utilize the roles of both players, there will be enough room for a counterattack.
He has already memorized the other quick attack, he will follow up on it later.
This time, Miya Atsumu hit a power serve, it was one of those with heavy spin like the ones at the very beginning.
Suzune Akai decisively abandoned her original stability for receiving and lunged outward, performing a beautiful diving receive beneath the ball.
Coach Kurosu couldn't help but nod. "As expected of a former Libero, you rarely see a diving save of this caliber from a freshman."
Usui Mitsuru, having secured the ball, raised his hands and sent it toward Position 4.
Honda Subaru jumped up with a thud after finding his position, Miya Osamu and Suna followed immediately, the two of them working together to block directly in front of Honda.
Suna's height had reached 1.87m in the most recent measurement, he is expected to break the 1.9m barrier before graduation.
Because of this, his vertical reach from a standing position was essentially several centimeters higher than it was during Haruko.
Although it didn't seem like much, for most spikers whose contact point was around 3.3 meters, those few centimeters could very well be the difference between being able to spike over the block or being blocked.
Suna calmly observed Honda Subaru's movements, while on the other side, Miya Osamu watched Suna out of the corner of his eye, ready to adjust the direction of the block along with him at any moment.
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Honda's forehead under their intense, unwavering stares.
The serve itself from Suzune Akai was quite mediocre; although Usui Mitsuru tried his best to adjust it, the height of the ball was still far from sufficient.
In a situation like this, one should actually choose a dump or tooling the block to break through the block, but the two from Inarizaki didn't give him any chance to use tooling the block.
A dump..
Honda's gaze swept over Hinata and Unabara in the back row of Inarizaki who were preparing to receive the ball, he decisively abandoned the idea.
Sending out a serve with no intimidation would be a waste of effort; at this moment, he should try thinking from a different perspective.
There is a small opening on the left side; although it's a bit tricky, it's definitely worth a try.
In a situation where the opponent is clearly trying to bait him into a dump, a powerful spike instead would be the key to breaking the deadlock.
Suna's gaze locked onto Honda's wrist, his mind already simulating Honda's subsequent movements.
The ball had almost passed Honda's hitting point; the speed of this decision..
——Too slow.
In the moment Honda attempted to adjust the trajectory of his spike, Suna, having read his tell, suddenly changed his blocking direction and cut off the ball's path.
With a loud bang, Suna blocked the ball back into Shirabu's court.
Nishi Haruma from the back row dove forward and barely managed to save the ball.
Aran, up on the floor, said, "The first receive was too low, the setter didn't handle it well either."
Oikawa Tooru, who was resting his chin on his hand nearby, said, "Yeah, the spiker was a bit hesitant during the spike, so he shouldn't be surprised that he got caught like that."
Kiryu frowned slightly, but said nothing.
He knew that both of them were right, that Shirabu's team truly did have serious coordination issues following the large-scale roster changes.
This is a step the juniors must overcome, a responsibility they will surely bear; as their senior.. he only needs to watch quietly.
"Great save!" Usui Mitsuru stepped forward to follow up again.