As the service time limit approached its end, Miya Atsumu raised his hand and tossed the ball up, delivering yet another powerful jump serve.
But having already clearly felt the evolution in the power and rotation intensity of Miya Atsumu's serve, Hanae decisively abandoned her original plan to use a underhand scoop to absorb the impact, instead dropping her entire center of gravity and using a one-knee drop to hook her wrist, giving the volleyball an almost vertically upward bounce.
He is a Libero, he does not fear the volleyball, no matter when it comes.
Anyway, his arms won't break, so.. let him go for it! The ball!
BANG!!
After the heavy thud, the volleyball soared rapidly in everyone's sight, bouncing almost to the ceiling in the blink of an eye.
Then, it paused, began to fall.
"What a great first receive!" Kito locked onto the ball's trajectory, quickly moving to follow it and raised his hands to set the ball.
He has played so many aerial relays with his teammates.. there's no way his fingers can't handle a volleyball dropping from that height!
The ball was delivered precisely in front of Kanzaki, facing the block from Miya Osamu and Suna, Kanzaki, who already had a slight advantage in height after jumping, raised his hands and lightly tipped the ball over the net.
Backspin spike!
The moment the decision was made, Hinata, who had already retreated, Unabara on the other side both dove toward the ball at the same time, but with the added rotation, the ball's descent speed far exceeded that of an ordinary dump, even exhibiting a strange, eerie arc that seemed to curve down toward the net.
Even though the two of them had given it their all, they ultimately couldn't reach it.
The ball hit the floor, Municipal Kobe scored.
Oikawa Tooru, watching from the stands, clicked his tongue in amazement: "That was fast."
It hasn't even been three minutes since the start of the match, yet the two sides have already scored three points combined, most of that time was spent adjusting their initial positions.
Hinata scrambled up from the ground, unable to help but remark, "Kanzaki-kun's backspin spike is truly amazing."
His introduction to the backspin spike came from Kanzaki; because it was so useful, he had practiced it quite a lot during this time.
But compared to Kanzaki himself, who specialized in this area, he was still far behind.
However, this actually makes it even more exciting, as the vast difference shows that he still has plenty of room for improvement and can become even stronger.
Speaking of backspin spikes.. Coach Himegomiya, who comes from the Women's Volleyball national team, should be very skilled at this; I wonder if there will be an opportunity to ask him for guidance.
Anyway, Coach Himegomiya will be Xiaoxia's mentor in the future, in a few years, he will also be learning from Coach Utsunomiya, so wouldn't he technically be considered Coach Himegomiya's student?
Thinking of this, Hinata couldn't help but snort twice, feeling proud of his own intelligence.
"What are you thinking about?" Miya Atsumu asked softly as he walked over after ending the Service Turn.
Hinata blinked, quickly tossing those unrealistic delusions to the back of his mind, instead asked, "It's nothing. Does Atsumu-senpai have any thoughts?"
Miya Atsumu nodded and explained simply, "Yeah, I'll most likely set a few high balls for you in a moment, so just play according to how it looks."
Hearing this, Hinata's eyes lit up, as he completely understood what Miya Atsumu was planning.
He stood at attention, raising his clenched fist high. "I guarantee the mission will be completed!"
If Atsumu-senpai wants to set a high ball, considering the service turn that was just interrupted, there's a high probability he wants to continue putting pressure on the Libero..
Everything else is manageable, but for a Libero, the hardest things to handle are extreme speed and power.
Hinata knew clearly that he wouldn't be able to achieve the latter, but the former was his comfort zone.
Even if a Libero's skill is incredibly high, they are not an omnipotent god who can teleport.
As long as you hit the ball to a place where the opponent can't reach it, it's a game-winning kill!
Hanae felt a chill run down his spine, when he turned his head, he happened to meet Hinata's gaze.
Some nightmares flashed before his eyes again, making him fall into silence.
Fortunately, after Higashiyama moved to the back row, the area he needed to cover was only half the court, rather than having to cover two-thirds of the court alone like before.
It shouldn't be a big problem.. right?
Not much at all!
As Hanae dove forward to chase Hinata's spike near the three-meter line, she cursed inwardly, as some unpleasant memories flooded back into her mind.
Watching Hanae Akari struggle through continuous, clumsy diving saves and being made to run all over the court, Oikawa Tooru grimaced in the stands.
It's starting—Inarizaki's signature style of tormenting the opposing Libero.
Kanzaki was also feeling anxious.
A large part of the reason they had lost to Inarizaki so many times before was that their Libero, Hanae, had been worn down too severely by Inarizaki.
If they want to win now, they absolutely cannot repeat the same mistakes.
Even though she looks a bit disheveled, Hanae's every ball is delivered quite precisely.
Coach Unabara, standing by the court, nodded repeatedly, very satisfied with this clash between spear and shield: "Hinata's jump attacks are stable enough, he can basically control his hitting point, his ball control has improved quite a bit."
Kanzaki, who had already rushed to Position 4, reached out for the ball: "Give it to me!"
Suna and Hinata moved up at the same time, jumping in front of him to prepare for a block, while Rishia stepped back to join the defensive reception on the other side.
Kanzaki, his mind a bit cluttered, didn't use his brain flexibly at this moment, but instead chose the simplest and purest frontal spike.
Suna and Hinata, who had predicted the opponent would attempt a dump or use the block to tool, were both left dazed.
Especially Hinata, who hadn't had time to tense his body, was hit heavily on the hands by the ball, causing his entire center of gravity to be thrown off.
Bang!
Bang!!
Two consecutive thuds rang out. After forcing himself to stabilize his body and turn around, Hinata saw the volleyball flying out of the court and Unabara being knocked down.
Unabara Uta!
Unabara, having had the ball bounce off his chin, felt like his brain was spinning, but he still waved his hand dismissively: "I'm fine, I'm fine."
Taking a glance at the Municipal Kobe side, Unabara Uta let out a silent sigh.
As expected, he still had a long way to go.
To be honest, he was actually very aware that he wasn't a particularly talented person, he had also done many stupid things during his time in Junior High.
—For example, because of an ankle injury from falling down the stairs, he had to spend the entire Interhigh Junior High period sitting in the stands.
So when he heard that Inarizaki wanted to offer him a recommendation for admission, he was actually a bit dazed.
Perhaps.. he has some amazing talent that even he himself hasn't realized?
During the second semester of his third year of junior high, he had come to Inarizaki with his junior high coach for signing.
He turned back after leaving because he had forgotten the pen Imai had given him, which he had carelessly left on Coach Kurosu's desk.
At the door of the office where he had just stopped to sign, he heard the voices of his coach and Coach Kurosu talking.
Slightly lowering his head to let out a breath, Unabara Uta looked up slightly, peering through his side-swept bangs at Hanae Akari, who was turned to the side, saying something to a teammate.
Actually.. the two coaches didn't say much, they just sighed slightly that Inarizaki had failed to recruit Hanae Akari to the team.
So from the very first second he stepped through the gates of Inarizaki High School, he was well aware that he was merely Hanae Akari's replacement.
Of course, he accepted it well.
After all, even though he had been named the Best Libero in the prefecture, it was only because his school was the ultimate winner; the award was merely a byproduct.
From a standpoint of pure ability, he was indeed not as good as Hanae, that was all.
Moreover, Imai had already decided to apply to Inarizaki High School, which had the highest college entrance rate in the prefecture; being lucky enough to be granted admission to Inarizaki by recommendation was truly a blessing from the heavens.
So, his only dream was to spend these three years of high school in peace and quiet, play some volleyball along the way, then go to an ordinary university to continue his mediocre life.
But, but..
Unabara withdrew his gaze and looked back at Hinata, Miya Atsumu, Rishia Heisuke as they walked past him.
He had seen the scenery at the peak, while watching from the waiting area, he had countless times fantasized about the scene of him personally lifting that trophy.
Unabara Uta's life might have been changed at that very moment.
—His life had already become extraordinary.
Noticing that Unabara Uta hadn't said anything, Hinata, worried that he had been injured by that last ball, hurried over and interrupted his thoughts: "Unabara Uta? Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?"
Glancing over at Municipal Kobe, where staff were still mopping the floor, Rishia Heisuke hurriedly asked, "There's still time, do you want to apply some ice?"
Unabara raised a hand to rub her reddened chin, nodding with a smile. "I'd appreciate that, I feel like it's going to swell up in a bit.."
Taking the ice pack and pressing it against his face, Unabara's gaze swept toward the Inarizaki stands behind him, landing precisely on Imai, who was playing the trumpet in the middle of the aisle.
He sighed. "Maho probably won't mind my pig nose.."
Hinata gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry, even as a pig's head, Unabara Uta, you're still very cool."
Rishia looked at Hinata, his mouth twitching slightly. "No, the priority right now is praying that I don't end up looking like a pig's head."
Otherwise, when the awards ceremony and group photos are taken after the match, they'll end up with photos where their faces are lopsided from the swelling, which would be just too tragic.
Hinata suddenly realized, "Oh! That makes so much sense!"
Seeing that the opposing court had already been prepared, Unabara quickly handed the ice pack back to Coach Omimi: "Okay, I'm revived!"
Shoyo, you just focus on jumping as hard as you can; leave the rest to me.
Miya Atsumu raised his chin slightly and narrowed his eyes at Unabara Uta. "Stop talking big; your top priority is to deliver a ball that can actually be received."
Unabara Uta stood at attention. "Yes, Atsumu-senpai. No problem, Atsumu-senpai."
Ginjima rubbed his chin, looking intently at Miya Atsumu and the second years. "This scene looks strangely familiar.."
Miya Osamu was already used to this: "Doesn't Atsumu intimidate the juniors like this every single day?"
Especially as a Libero, Unabara Uta could be called the biggest victim of the pressure exerted by Miya Atsumu.
Aran couldn't help but sigh in the stands, expressing his disdain for Miya Atsumu's behavior of bullying his teammates: "You don't act like a Captain at all, Atsumu."
Anyway, the person involved now was no longer himself, so he could judge Atsumu as he pleased!
He put it this way: if he didn't build good relationships with Hinata and people from other schools, sooner or later they wouldn't even be able to schedule practice matches.
—Aran was pointing out how Miya Atsumu had made enemies with a whole series of strong schools.
Even though he is the Captain, yet..
Not only does he bring internal strife to the team, but he even brings external threats.