If he gets caught on camera in the cheering section here at Municipal Kobe.. the Twins and Aran will make a scene.
It's better to be a trending topic than to be criticized by his own people later.
Miya Atsumu's first serve of the opening was quite stable, a beautiful Jump Float Serve directed toward the area near the baseline of Municipal Kobe.
Hanae isn't tall enough; he will have a hard time receiving this kind of jump float serve that drops near the back line.
Hinata stepped back to create distance from the net, ready to step forward and jump for a block at any moment, while simultaneously observing Hanae on the opposite side.
Hanae is very skilled at receiving low balls; he had spent some time studying Hanae's movements. The corresponding way to receive this ball was to take a cross-step toward the back-diagonal, lower one's center of gravity, proactively meet the ball with a low hand at a relatively low point.
"Great First Receive!" Kito shouted, then stepped forward to prepare for the toss.
Hinata clenched his fists secretly, giving himself a big thumbs-up in his heart.
Great, it was a perfect answer!
As Miya Atsumu landed, he couldn't help but let out a small click of his tongue, a hint of irritation rising in his heart.
Coach Unabara clapped his hands. "That was a beautiful receive."
However, that composure in receiving was likely built more on their familiarity with Miya Atsumu; Municipal Kobe and Inarizaki had faced each other so many times that there wouldn't be that kind of "first-encounter" effect.
Watching Kito's movements on the court, Nagumo, who was in the stands, froze for a moment. "That tossing motion.. isn't his center of gravity a bit too far back?"
It's not bad," Oikawa Tooru said, crossing his arms over his chest after having seen too many of Kageyama and Miya Atsumu's unnatural setting motions. "But that first receive was very well-placed. Why did he set it like he was desperately scrambling to save the ball?
Nagumo rubbed his chin, narrowing his eyes as he said, "It's just like.."
"Just like shooting a basketball," Enoshita Chikara said with a blink.
Yamaguchi, in the back, looked up and said, "But Kageyama uses this posture sometimes too, so it should be fine, right?"
Kageyama shook his head, staring intently at Hinata and Suna, who had moved forward to follow up with a block on the projection screen: "No, it should be this person's personal habit."
Under the condition of a perfect First Receive, the Setter should use his most comfortable setting posture to provide the Spiker with the best offensive conditions.
"Touch!" Hinata shouted.
Unabara from the back row responded to the call and moved forward, jumping and using his hands to set the ball: "Atsumu-senpai!"
Unabara's pass was excellent, barely requiring Miya Atsumu to move at all.
With a perfect First Receive delivered into Miya Atsumu's hands, a perfect set was practically guaranteed.
And when all conditions are perfect.. the Setter will tend to toss the ball to the Spiker he trusts and relies on most.
Sakurai Haruto, currently acting as a blocker, silently shifted half a step toward Inarizaki's Position 4.
If his prediction was correct, Inarizaki would definitely launch a Quick Attack here.
After scanning the block configuration of Municipal Kobe on the other side, Miya Atsumu gave a single-handed push, his fingers applying force to deliver the ball at the shortest distance and highest speed directly into the hands of Hinata, who had just completed a switch with Suna in that split second.
Sakurai Haruto was completely stunned by Hinata's feint, which had caused him to shift half a step toward Position 4.
He was already too late to chase after Hinata, since he wasn't tall enough himself, he could only force a change in direction and dive toward the ball along with Kanzaki from the other side.
But.. neither of them touched the ball.
Hinata, having completed a spike high in the air above Position 3.5, landed lightly on the ground, while the spike—unhindered by any block or touch—crashed onto the Municipal Kobe three-meter line with a heavy thud.
Hanae lay on the ground, having judged the ball's landing spot but failing to reach it despite giving it his all. The ball was only five centimeters away from his outstretched fingertips, but.. he just couldn't catch up.
The speed of this ball was ridiculously fast, with its landing spot being so close and the trajectory so short, it was actually impossible for him to save it from that position from the very beginning.
[A lightning-fast ball! Hinata has shown us extreme speed and powerful judgment right from the opening!]
"A spike right at the Three-meter Line right at the opening.. that's terrifying." Watching before the broadcast, Enoshita grimaced, his smile looking quite strained.
“Faster.” Kageyama frowned slightly.
Yamaguchi didn't understand what he was saying: "What's faster?"
Kageyama paused for a moment, then organized his thoughts before saying, "Hinata's spike is faster than it was during Haruko, the increase in power is clearly visible to the naked eye."
Although the speed of a spike doesn't depend entirely on power, whether that power is great or not is a decisive factor in whether the opponent can control the ball smoothly.
If he had received that ball just now.. even without the block reducing the ball's speed, he probably wouldn't have been able to catch up to it.
Hinata jumped up and high-fived Miya Atsumu: "Atsumu-senpai, that was a great toss!"
Miya Atsumu replied with a smile, "Shoyo's spike was great."
After saying that, he looked toward Suna, who was coming back to swap positions with Hinata: "Rintaro also did a great job supporting."
The Head Referee signaled for both sides to reorganize their positions for the next round of offense and defense.
Hinata also quickly looked up and said to Miya Atsumu, "Good luck with your serve, Atsumu-senpai."
Miya Atsumu patted his shoulder, took the ball thrown back by the opponent, walked toward the service position.
“Don't worry, we'll get the point this time.”
The cheering behind him was once again silenced by Miya Atsumu. Holding the ball in one hand, he leaned forward slightly, picked it up, silently spun it in his hands.
It was obvious that Hanae had anticipated that line shot float serve; it essentially meant that balls with high technical difficulty were of little use to him.
Although the Setter for Municipal Kobe was in the back row, he was not in Position 3.
With Hanae there, they even boldly adopted a strategy of having both middle blockers receive the serve, with the Setter positioned very far forward.
In this situation, unless they give up the proactive advantage of their power serve to opt for a net touch, it is meaningless.
But if it's a net touch, neither Higashiyama nor Kanzaki will give him a chance to score.
At times like this.. it's really better to just give up all that complicated thinking.
There's a saying, isn't there? Raw power overcomes all technique.
In the final second of the service time limit, Miya Atsumu raised his hand and tossed the ball up.
Miya Atsumu utilized the full extent of his six-step approach run at this moment, jumping almost exactly two centimeters away from the baseline.
He accurately caught the ball in mid-air, then fully mobilized his body's strength, utilizing the full power of his entire body to transform the contraction of his posterior chain into the final force of his arm swing for the spike.
Bang!!
The loud sound suddenly exploded as the volleyball, carrying heavy spin, flew over the net in an instant and slammed down right in front of Hanae.
Unlike the previous time when Hinata's spike was intentionally aimed at a position relatively far from him, Miya Atsumu's ball struck directly in front of him.
Miya Atsumu, in his descending state, locked eyes with Hanae for a split second; although Hanae had shifted his entire attention to the first receive the very next second, the meaning in that gaze had already been conveyed to him without the slightest error.
—If you've got the guts, try receiving it.
Bang!!
Another loud bang rang out immediately after, the volleyball bounced off the side of Hanae's arm right after making contact.
Kito chased after it for two steps, but the ball was too fast, he couldn't catch up at all.
Hearing the whistle blow, Hanae's expression turned grim.
From the moment Miya Atsumu tossed the ball and began his approach, he had already guessed that the power and speed of Miya Atsumu's ball would be unprecedentedly strong. Therefore, he had chosen an arched receiving motion from the start to absorb the impact, but..
The spin was too strong.
As Miya Atsumu raised his hand, the cheers from behind him rose like a mountain-toppling tsunami.
It's here! The first ACE serve of this match!
As expected of the strongest Server in high school!
That was so cool!! Atsumu-kun!
Miya Atsumu lowered his hands, placed one hand on his hip as he looked at Hinata, who had turned around to face him, gave a slight nod of his chin as if signaling something.
And Hinata's voice rang out immediately after: "That was so cool! Atsumu-senpai!!"
It just zipped right past him! Hanae-kun couldn't receive it at all!
Miya Atsumu was satisfied.
Chapter 298: The 298th Fox
Higashiyama, the Captain of Municipal Kobe, clapped his hands, trying to soothe everyone's emotions: "Don't worry about it, don't worry about it."
Although it certainly wasn't a good sign that Miya Atsumu lost two points in his very first service turn.. it was fine, as long as he could stay steady on the next ball and not run into any major problems.
Hanae's expression did not look very good.
At this moment, he couldn't say anything like "leave it to me" or "I'll definitely receive it."
There was no other reason; he was simply.. a bit dazed by that previous play.
The ball was thrown back from the spectator stands, after receiving it again, Miya Atsumu returned to his approach position, preparing to serve.
Hanae, who had spaced out for a moment, broke into a cold sweat.
How many steps? How many steps did Miya Atsumu just take?
He didn't see Suna and Miya Osamu walking in front of him at all.
“Six steps.”
At that moment, Kanzaki from the front row suddenly spoke up, causing the once-flustered Hanae to completely calm down.
Knowing that it was likely a Power Serve was enough; he would do his absolute best to handle it.
His gaze pierced through the gap between Suna's arms, locking onto Miya Atsumu behind him: "Bring it on!"
Don't be afraid, even if the opponent is a team that has already won two national championships.
I wonder if Wakamura-senpai is watching this match.. but no matter what, he will definitely win.
Moreover, in terms of their current lineup, they might be slightly stronger than Inarizaki overall, the most critical part of that is him.
As long as he can maintain his form, they won't have any problems.
Miya Atsumu gave a soft hum, his gaze toward Hanae carrying a hint of admiration.
He's got plenty of spirit; he wasn't intimidated by that last ball at all..
—Then let's go for another one.