Chapter 299: The 299th Fox
Higashiyama clapped his hands, breaking the stare-down between the two juniors: "Don't panic. That spike just now was excellent. Just make sure to mix in strong attacks with technical plays appropriately."
However, that last spike was a bit of a fluke; it just happened to land right in the blind spot created by the opponent's habitual thinking.
This is a common tactic used by Inarizaki, it is indeed highly effective.
Kanzaki's style of play, which focuses on technical balls, naturally produces such an effect, his own strength isn't particularly weak either; he just lacks a little bit of confidence many times.
In short, it's never wrong to offer more encouragement.
The Service Right passed to Kanzaki: "Kanzaki, serve a good one!"
Kanzaki, who had just scored a point with a heavy spike, felt his confidence in his own strength rise significantly. After spinning the ball in his hands, he tossed it up into the air on the fourth second.
He took a running start, jumped, then.. demonstrated his strength during the serve, which was an absolute offensive opportunity!
With a loud thud, the ball "precisely" hit the top edge of the net before tumbling over and dropping into Inarizaki's court.
Hanae shouted expressionlessly, "Nice serve!"
Kanzaki didn't even dare to breathe, sheepishly adjusting his position to prepare for the next receive.
He knew he was wrong, he would start extra serve practice as soon as he got back!
Rishia Heisuke, who was a little distance away from the ball, spoke up immediately to stop Hinata, who was closer, from reaching out: "I've got it!"
Hinata is their Ace; he should be the one entrusted with receiving tasks like this, he only needs to worry about the subsequent attack.
Miya Atsumu shouted, "What a great First Receive!"
Hinata retreated behind Position 2, raising his hand to call for the ball: "Give me the ball!!"
Facing toward Position 4, Miya Atsumu decisively executed a motion similar to a back set, before finally sending the ball to Ginjima Yui, who had already moved forward to jump for an attack at Position 4.
But to Miya Atsumu's surprise, the opposing block was not deceived at all; they seemed to have locked onto Ginjima immediately, completely ignoring Hinata.
Hinata, feeling for the first time that his role as a decoy was completely meaningless, landed lightly on the ground and let out a confused, "Huh?"
Coach Kuchibira was uncharacteristically silent by the sidelines.
He saw clearly that Kito had moved toward Inarizaki's Position 4 along with Koga and the others.
Actually, he felt that Kito hadn't noticed Miya Atsumu's intention to perform a back set at all; after all, that posture looked very much like a jump set, which was also Kito's own usual posture.
Plus, he added a tiny bit of intuition to that..
Forget it, a lucky break is still luck.
Luck is a part of one's skill!
Two heavy thuds rang out in succession across the court; the ball Ginjima spiked was precisely blocked by the opposing side and sent bouncing back into Inarizaki's court.
Unabara, in the back row, didn't rush over in time and missed the ball.
Facing Municipal Kobe's inexplicable scramble, Miya Atsumu felt a bit helpless: "Next ball, next ball."
They used to be the ones doing that, so why has the opposition started doing it too today?
Coach Kurosu also lamented, "Wakamura has graduated."
Both Wakamura and Matou have graduated, so there is no one organized left in Municipal Kobe, on top of that, the newly appointed setter is just making a mess of things..
Cheers erupted from the stands of Municipal Kobe: "Kanzaki, what a great serve!"
The current score still has Inarizaki in the lead, but they have scored consecutive points, so there might be a chance for them to turn the tables.
Kanzaki's second serve wasn't an error, but it was very routine, Unabara received it steadily: "Atsumu-senpai!"
"Shoyo!" Miya Atsumu shouted at Hinata, before sending the ball back toward Ginjima Yui on the other side.
Ginjima Yui is considered the strongest in terms of power in the current Inarizaki team, followed by Kumagai.
When the opponent's front row has sufficient height, this is very useful for breaking through their defense.
Touch!
Nice touch!
With the touch off the block, Hanae successfully sent the ball to the front of the net. As Murata received the ball, his eyes shifted, at the moment of his spike, he slowed down his arm movement, lightly sending a dump over.
Ginjima and Rishia's blocking height was actually insufficient, so most opponents they played against, including the professional Black Jackals, tended to favor using a strong attack to hit over the block.
Therefore, their defensive strategy leaned toward causing a touch, leaving the remaining defensive tasks to the back row.
This sudden dump was indeed somewhat unexpected.
But Rishia did not panic; the moment he landed, he spun around with the momentum and reached out a hand to touch the ball.
Oikawa Tooru, watching from the stands, felt a bit nauseous: "This is disgusting. Are they really using dumps that frequently?"
If you can't receive a heavy spike, you simply can't receive it. This frequency of dumps and roll shots is pure mental torture, not to mention having to stay on guard for heavy spikes that could appear at any moment.
Wakamura pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "This is our way to victory."
Seeing that Rishia had already reached out to receive the ball, Hinata, who was actually closer and theoretically should have been the one performing the defensive work on this ball, completely ignored it.
At this moment, his task was to attack; he only needed to believe with all his heart that his teammate would set the ball to him.
That's right, even for a ball of this difficulty.
The ball's initial position was difficult to begin with; Rishia Heisuke had already tried his best to create as much distance from the net as possible, but to ensure enough height, it was still very close to the net.
Miya Atsumu glanced at the ball's position, stepped forward to turn his whole body sideways, reached out with the hand closest to the net to touch the ball with one hand.
He shouted the Ace's name loudly, "Shoyo!"
In fact, before Miya Atsumu could even call out, Hinata, who had already etched the idea of attacking into his instincts, had already stepped forward and leaped, ready to attack.
The approach is the process of giving a human wings, the jump is the springboard for flight, allowing a human to reach out and touch a sky that has begun to feel far out of reach.
Faster, higher, stronger.
This is what they pursue, it is what Hinata himself dreams of.
He didn't know what kind of person his future self would become, but at least at this very moment.. he was indeed standing in a place where he could look down upon everyone on the opposite side.
And then—a spike.
The crisp sound of the hit appeared in Hanae's hearing once again. Having already been exhausted for more than half a rotation, he subconsciously took a step toward the position he couldn't reach, preparing to dive straight for it.
But.. his intuition was screaming of danger.
It's not like this, it shouldn't be like this, the ball won't be over here!
The moment his eyes met Hinata's, the ball smashed in the opposite direction, because the volleyball itself didn't obstruct his view, Hanae saw Hinata's backhand form with absolute clarity.
Bang!
The ball slammed precisely onto the sideline before bouncing out of bounds, making it an indisputable in-bounds play.
As Miya Atsumu landed, he cheered, "Nice play, Shoyo!"
Hinata landed heavily, performing a follow-up movement to absorb the impact. Upon hearing Miya Atsumu's voice, he immediately turned his head and rushed over. "Atsumu-senpai, that set was amazing! So cool! So incredible!"
Driven by the excitement of the spike scoring, Hinata, who had already lunged onto Miya Atsumu, shouted, "I really love Atsumu-senpai the most!"
Seeing that Hinata looked like he was about to take a bite out of him, Unabara rushed forward, attempting to block the camera: "Stop, stop, stop, it's being recorded, it's being recorded!"
My little ancestor! Don't make him dance on the line between life and death over and over again!
Hinata stopped, getting off Miya Atsumu with a hint of regret.
In this play, Hinata gained a personal highlight reel, while Miya Atsumu gained Hinata's praise and the cheers of the entire crowd.
Only Unabara.. received a glare from Miya Atsumu.
Brilliant," Coach Unabara couldn't help but clap from the sidelines. "His ball control is masterfully refined.
Coach Hiya glanced at the documents in his hands and compared them with the statistics he had compiled for these few plays. "Indeed, many players of his age lack his level of awareness when blocking, his error rate has significantly decreased compared to the Haruko tournament."
When he spoke with Coach Washijo a few days ago, he learned that Goshiki Tsutomu had already started this kind of training, it was expected to show results soon.
Before this, players of such stature placed a heavy emphasis on training their physical conditioning itself; after all, they were still in their growth stages, making it difficult for their techniques to take a definite shape, which required coaches to expend energy on frequent adjustments.
Therefore, Shiratorizawa, which already placed a heavy emphasis on the players' physical abilities, also prioritized training for stamina and strength. In terms of both mental and physical conditioning, Goshiki Tsutomu could be considered among the best group of spikers in this generation.
Coach Hiya couldn't help but remark with a sigh, "After all, not everyone has the physical conditioning that Hinata has to support both physical and technical training at the same time."
Coach Unabara laughed, "That's true, he's like a little monster."
Coach Hiya held the folder and turned to ask, "What about Suna? Are we considering him this time?"
Unabara, who had been laughing just a moment ago, stopped laughing the instant he heard this. "Let's wait and see. Although he is indeed more stable than before at this stage, what if he starts slacking off again in a bit?"
He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject: "Anyway, the summer training camp is set for the end of August, so there's still plenty of time."
If Suna performs well, he can be promoted directly to the main roster to compete with Ushijima and the others from Iizuna after the training camp, alongside Miya Atsumu.
At this point, Coach Unabara's expression grew even more sorrowful. "Speaking of Miya Atsumu.."
Coach Hiya also understood what he wanted to say, but he could only follow with a bitter smile.
Actually, Miya Atsumu's birthday could have been used as an excuse to hold him back; their original plan was to have Iizuna and Oikawa lead the U20 group, while Miya Atsumu and Kageyama would lead the group below them.
But unfortunately, they couldn't keep Oikawa Tooru, so they could only move Miya Atsumu up to be with Ushijima and the others.
After all, Iizuna itself is a bit weak in terms of raw hardware compared to Miya Atsumu and Kageyama, so it is most appropriate to have him lead the team to provide cover for Miya Atsumu.
Moreover, the lower divisions have Kageyama to use, so there is no absolute need for Miya Atsumu to anchor the court.
Coach Unabara nodded. "Speaking of Kageyama, he is indeed a talent with great potential. He has incredible natural ability, but he lacks finesse."
I took the liberty of arranging a practice match between Coach Washijo and Karasuno a while ago. I've watched the footage, he has matured quite a bit compared to before; he's also corrected many of his bad habits with setting. Once he joins the team this summer and gets some practice, he'll be ready to use.
The members of the publicity department began to grow curious: "Is his evaluation really that high? That player named Kageyama?"
Unabara nodded, "Yeah, he's a player just as worth looking forward to as Atsumu and the others."
Even in the world of sports, where geniuses are never in short supply, the small amount of brilliance he showed at this stage was enough for everyone to discover his talent.
However.. compared to Miya Atsumu, Hinata, the others who had already found their own paths, Kageyama was still far from what could be called "perfection."
But it doesn't matter; polishing diamonds is exactly what they, as coaches, are meant to do.