Someone sitting two rows behind them looked up, blinking in confusion, before finally lowering their head again to send someone an "I've arrived" message.
The lights overhead dimmed at this moment, in the next second, the lights shone upon the players' entrance on the side.
Cheers filled the entire arena in that instant, with the cheers and music from the supporters behind the court ringing incessantly in one's ears.
The tall athlete wearing a white uniform entered the court from the sidelines, drawing the eyes of everyone in the stadium under the spotlights.
The leader, Hirugami Fuku, waved to the entire crowd, responding to the cheers from the spectators.
Hinata grabbed Miya Atsumu's sleeve, his eyes full of stars. "Atsumu-senpai! So cool—he's just too cool—"
Without even waiting for Miya Atsumu to say anything, Hinata had already raised his hand and was waving at Hirugami Fuku: "Hirugami-senpai!!"
Hearing his voice, Hirugami turned his head to look over.
Hinata's position was very close to the court, almost within his reach, but unfortunately, he still had a routine to follow and couldn't stop specifically to say hello.
So he raised his hand, making the signature gesture of the Shwaiden Adler mascot toward Hinata.
The fans sitting behind Hinata immediately erupted in cheers, interspersed with the screams of girls.
The lights on this side dimmed again after the players entered the court, followed immediately by the lights on the opposite side brightening up.
The members of the Shizuoka Leopards also entered one after another, their fans offered their maximum cheers as well.
The strength of the strong teams in V2 is roughly on par with the lower and middle ranks of the V League, so their fan base is equally substantial.
Miya Atsumu introduced to Hinata, "This is a simplified version. In official professional matches, the process of mascots and ball boys entering the court is a very important part."
This gymnasium of the Black Jackals is already of very high specification, featuring large side screens, various lighting setups, LED advertising boards around the perimeter of the court.
In the V1 League, only the stadiums of the Adler and Thor are similar to this one; other teams have many inadequate facilities because their stadiums are much older and haven't undergone recent renovations.
However, the Black Eagle Flag didn't have many to use, the sponsor advertisements along the sidelines weren't as densely packed as they were at V League matches.
However, in terms of the commentary and the television station's setup alone, it was just like the V1 League.
Thinking of this, Miya Atsumu found the headphones used for listening to the commentary and handed a pair to Hinata.
The commentator hired by the Black Eagle Flag this time is Mr. Miyamoto, who is renowned in the industry. He has served as a commentator for various men's volleyball competitions, including the Olympics, the Asian Games, the World Championships, over the past few years. You can try listening to him.
"Mm-hmm." Hinata pulled his gaze away from Ouji Son and put on the headphones under Miya Atsumu's guidance.
The commentator was already introducing the players' basic profiles and briefly summarizing the playing styles and past records of both teams.
Miya Atsumu pointed toward the Adler Libero who was very close by: "Mr. Heiwajima, the starting Libero for the Japan national men's volleyball team in recent years, known for his extremely solid first receive skills."
He is also widely recognized as the strongest Libero in the country.
Hinata blinked and asked Miya Atsumu curiously, "Then.. who is the strongest Setter right now?"
"It's Kito-san, currently with the Tachibana Red Falcons." Miya Atsumu recalled the known intelligence.
Hearing this, Hinata froze for a moment. "Eh? But isn't Oikawa-senpai the starter for the Tachibana Red Falcons right now?"
Even though a team can have multiple setters, the starting lineup is what's truly the strongest, right?
With a senior like him around, theoretically, Oikawa-senpai shouldn't have any chance to start in the lineup.
Miya Atsumu's expression didn't look very good. "This.."
He clicked his tongue lightly, then spoke with a hint of regret, "Mr. Kito suffered a severe injury during last year's World Championships; he had surgery on his lower back and is still in the recovery period."
At the very least, he won't be able to take the court for the next two years. During the second half of last year, the second team's setter was filling in for him, this year, Head Coach Blanco took the opportunity to recruit Oikawa Tooru.
Atsumu-senpai continued, "I heard he has already recovered and is in the rehabilitation phase; he's expected to return to the court by the end of the year."
Athletes' injuries are a headache-inducing issue; Kito's injury happened when he was accidentally bumped by a teammate after a block and fell.
He had a pre-existing lower back injury, his condition wasn't very good during that period, so it suddenly became serious, causing him to withdraw from the competition.
He had watched that match; after all, Kito was the pinnacle of domestic setters, for a long time, he had been the one Miya Atsumu aspired to become.
Miya Atsumu sighed, "That's why you have to take good care of yourself.."
The Setter position already has a relatively lower probability of injury compared to all other positions, but something like a waist injury is indeed a major issue once it occurs, unlike something like a broken leg which can enter the rehabilitation phase in just a few months.
Kito underwent three surgeries in total, the postoperative recovery alone took several months..
Hinata nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I'll remember that."
Iizuna-senpai once told him that he should play every match with a smile on his face.
If it was because of an injury that they had to leave.. it must be, it must be a very, very difficult and heartbreaking thing.
The match in the court officially began after both sides confirmed their starting lineups, with Shwaiden Adler starting on one side.
The Shizuoka Leopards are considered the weakest among the teams that qualified for this V2 tournament, while the Adler are undoubtedly a top-tier V1 team; the gap in strength between the two is quite terrifying.
This gap could be clearly felt from just the first few serves of the opening, before anyone realized it, the score had already widened to two points.
Hinata swallowed hard. "Incredible.. that first receive from Adler.."
The power serves from the Shizuoka Leopards were already terrifying in his eyes, but the Azure Rockets' libero managed to neutralize every single one of them.
Miya Atsumu propped his chin up with his hand. "I feel like even if it were me, it wouldn't be easy to score.."
Heiwajima was quite skilled at receiving power serves, his proficiency in handling the ball upon contact was also very high, which meant the opponent's adaptability to jump float serves was also extremely high.
Relatively speaking.. would it be better to use a more tricky serve like a side spin?
Atsumu simulated a scenario of himself on the court in his mind, but in the end, he simply shook his head.
He didn't feel very confident that he could break through the opponent's defense, but he was still young and had plenty of time to refine his abilities.
The day he joins a professional team.. he will eventually score a point directly from a serve against an opponent.
—Definitely.
“I've got it!”
The Shizuoka Leopards' Libero let out a shout, then moved quickly to dig the ball, sending it with precision to the front row setter's position.
Give me the ball!
Ouji Son, charging forward from the back row, shouted loudly while raising his hand to call for the ball.
The Setter did not hesitate for long, quickly setting the ball to him.
Ouji Son took a sufficient approach run-up, leaped with a thud in front of the net, raised his hand to spike the ball.
Hirugami quickly followed up, precisely blocking the path of the ball.
With a loud thud, he touched the ball, it slammed down toward the back row.
Heiwajima received the ball steadily, then shouted, "Follow up!"
Jumping from the side, Hirugami coordinated with the setter to execute a quick attack, smashing it hard against the block in front of him.
The ball bounced at a very high angle toward Shwaiden Adler's side, but it went out of bounds.
—The Shizuoka Leopards' block went out of bounds; this point belongs to the Shwaiden Adler.
Hinata, who had been saying something to Miya Atsumu, looked up and saw a volleyball smashing toward his face at an extremely high speed.
He instinctively raised his hand to slap at the ball, sending it straight back.
Bang!!
The ball soared high into the air, flying over the net and smashing down into the Shizuoka Leopards' court.
Miya Atsumu clapped from the side: "Beautiful, a score."
Hinata, who had become the center of attention, turned his head toward Miya Atsumu, who was watching the excitement, called out, "Atsumu-senpai!"
As Hinata and Miya Atsumu lowered their heads to speak, someone in the second tier of the home stands behind them rested their hands on their face, straining to look toward them in an attempt to see the two faces clearly.
With messy hair and a face scrunched up because he had overslept and nearly missed the opening of the match, Hoshiumi Hikari turned to Hirugami Yukihito beside him and asked, "Did I see that right? Are those two in the first row Shoyo and Miya Atsumu?"
Hirugami Yukihito nodded. "It seems so. That hair color is quite easy to recognize, isn't it?"
Hoshiumi Hikari tried his best to fix his hair, but he failed, so he could only smooth it down with his hands. "No, where did they get front-row tickets?"
The seats they were in, located behind the commentary booth, were already extremely difficult to obtain; Hirugami Fuku had only managed to get them because the Adler stands for this match were located in this section.
Hirugami Yukihito made a reasonable guess: "It should be provided by the organizers, after all, it's the Black Jackals' own stadium.. Could it be that Miya Atsumu has already confirmed his move to the Black Jackals?"
Hoshiumi's mind went blank for a fraction of a second, before he couldn't help but let out a little chuckle. "Good, that's great."
He won't have to be on the same team as Miya Atsumu anymore! This was incredible news!
However, Adler's setter should also be retiring in the next year or two, so I wonder who they will recruit then.
Hmm..
I hope it's someone who is easy to communicate with, has a great personality, is a normal person who speaks sense!
That sounds simple enough!
Chapter 287: The 287th Fox
Hoshiumi glanced several more times toward Hinata and Miya Atsumu before finally letting out a soft click of his tongue and pulling out his phone to send a message to someone.
As Hirugami-senpai looked over in confusion, he suddenly let out a sinister "jiejiejie" laugh.
Under the shocked and confused gazes of everyone around him, Hoshiumi Hikari coughed twice as if nothing had happened. "It's nothing. Let's get back to the match."
That's right, he did nothing!
Miya Atsumu rubbed his chin, seriously contemplating how to deal with Shwaiden Adler.
Shwaiden Adler's strength is comprehensive and flawless, with virtually no weaknesses from offense to defense. To win, one must rely on methods that are superior in at least one specific aspect.
Actually, in the October V1 League, the Azure Rockets had once won against the Shwaiden Adler in an away game, securing a beautiful 3-1 victory.
In that match, the Azure Rockets had substituted out their original Opposite responsible for defense and brought in a player meant to serve as a substitute for the Ace, winning that match by relying on an onslaught of offense and the bare minimum of defensive support.
However, after that, this playstyle became somewhat ineffective. Other teams tried to imitate it, but they were all neutralized and countered one by one by the prepared Shwaiden Adler.
If I had to summarize.. first, other teams don't possess the same level of offensive quality as the Azure Rockets.
Secondly, Shwaiden Adler's reaction speed to adjustments is extremely fast; he adjusts his subsequent playstyle and lineup almost the moment he senses something is wrong.
If it were him.. he would definitely use an even more tricky technique to break through the opponent's block.