Koganezawa, finally finding an opportunity, rushed toward Hinata: "Hinata! Long time no see! You've grown taller!"
Looking up at Koganezawa, Hinata's eyes were full of envy: "Koganezawa-kun has grown taller too!"
He felt that Koganezawa would grow even taller than the setter from Shiratori in the future; it was truly enviable.
Niokuchi reached out and dragged him back directly: "Alright, don't have too much communication with the opponents. Let's go."
With Koganezawa's personality, he'll probably be getting played by these foxes and then helping them count their money.
That Little One hangs around Inarizaki every day; he definitely isn't anything good either.
Miya Atsumu fell silent for two seconds before finally saying those words: "Stay away from those setters."
Hinata replied decisively, "Yeah, Atsumu-ge is the best."
Having received Hinata's affirmation, Miya Atsumu was extremely satisfied, his chin practically pointing toward the sky.
After a brief warm-up, the referee for the next match also walked over with a coin, prepared to conduct the toss.
Miya Atsumu and Niokuchi stepped forward and stood to the side, waiting for the referee to toss the coin.
The coin flew high into the air, flipping before landing.
The final result caused Miya Atsumu to frown slightly, while Rishia Heisuke let out a sharp gasp.
—Date Tech starts first.
Kumagai clicked his tongue lightly. "A bad start."
Miya Atsumu walked back and said simply, "It doesn't matter whether it's the starting rotation or the back-row rotation; Date Tech's serves are quite mediocre, so it's fine."
They don't only prepare for the starting rotation; they also have a corresponding defensive counterattack routine for the back-row rotation.
Moreover, having played as a starter for so long, he was getting a bit tired of it.
Niokuchi couldn't help but burst out laughing: "It looks like fate is on our side."
Great, he'll be bragging about this for a whole year.
Miya Atsumu glanced up slightly, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Even if you're lucky, it doesn't mean anything if you don't have the skill."
Behind them, Rishia Heisuke was clutching his pants, "Help, is this pre-match trash talk segment not over yet.."
Unabara Uta crossed his arms over his chest. "You'll get used to it."
Ginjima added, "But Atsumu's luck really isn't as good as the Kita Team's."
In a few previous small matches within the prefecture, Miya Atsumu had also served a few times, but he was nowhere near the level of Kita Shinsuke, whose starting serve rate was basically above ninety percent.
Miya Osamu said expressionlessly, "Maybe the Inari God didn't grant him blessings in that area."
After all, this guy was given a peach Omamori, so perhaps his luck has already been used up in other ways.
But it didn't matter; even if fate abandoned them, they could still achieve victory in every battle by doing their absolute best.
Ginjima felt the same way: "That makes sense."
The court had already been cleared, the players for this rotation entered the court one after another from both sides of the corridor.
Inarizaki's school song still echoed throughout the entire arena, seeing such a scene for the first time, the Date Tech supporters couldn't help but feel a bit flustered.
“Go! Go! Let's go! Let's go! Date Tech!”
Go! Go! Inarizaki is the strongest!!
The Date Tech side was shouting with all their might, but they were firmly overwhelmed by the Inarizaki supporters, their voices nearly silenced within the arena.
Komori, on the sidelines, laughed with difficulty: "That's terrifying, Inarizaki.."
Before this, there were no Inarizaki matches, so the Inarizaki supporters' activities were basically just going through the motions every day—singing the school song and shouting chants for some insignificant small schools, sometimes even without even hanging up any team flags.
Especially since this match is being held in the far southwest, many schools from the Tohoku region lack the funds to travel here for support, so the Inarizaki supporters have had quite a lot of work these past few days.
Moreover, Date Tech hasn't made it to nationals in many years, so they don't have enough funds to bring many supporters, they certainly can't handle an intimidating presence like Inarizaki's.
Komori put himself in the shoes of the Date Tech players: "I hope the Date Tech players can keep their composure."
It wouldn't be good if the Inarizaki supporters' cheering managed to break their morale.
Sakusa slightly lifted his eyes, looking toward the two teams already lined up in the court following the player introductions.
It's starting.
The Karasuno members gathered in the classroom watched the projection on the large screen, everyone's expression extremely serious.
Inarizaki is the strongest opponent they have ever faced, many of their tactics were learned and evolved from Inarizaki.
Date Tech is their greatest opponent right now, the stumbling block they must overcome on their path to the nationals.
The match between these two teams now.. in a sense, is serving as a reference for them.
Looking at the rotation of both sides, Yamaguchi was the first to be stunned. "Is Inarizaki serving second?"
Tsukishima said, "That's rare."
Nokanawa from Date Tech served first, Inarizaki chose a two-block, one-libero formation to handle the receive.
Hinata was positioned in the back row near the corner, perfectly protected by Rishia, while Unabara Uta was responsible for receiving on the other side.
Scorekeeper rubbed his chin by the sidelines.
Nokanawa's serve level could be considered quite good within their team, but even so, Inarizaki still chose to have two people receive it.
During the practice matches, Inarizaki's back-row rotation favored a stable opening with three people for the first receive, but have they changed their strategy now?
It didn't matter; to them, the opponent's carelessness was also an important means for them to break the deadlock.
Nokanawa took a deep breath and tossed the ball up in the final second of the service time limit.
His goal was to disrupt Hinata's momentum as he moved forward to participate in the subsequent offense, so he only needed to hit the ball toward the area near the sideline.
The boos in his ears were obvious and loud, so he could only do his best to ignore them.
He had practiced targeted serves a lot, so.. it would be no problem.
Rishia Heisuke stared at the ball smashing toward him and took a step toward his left.
There was no need to dive for this ball; as long as his lower body was stable enough to provide an active upward force..
Hinata didn't even bother with the ball; as soon as the sound of the hit rang out, he had already circled around to the outside of the court, preparing for a diagonal approach run.
Bang!
What a great first receive!
Before the members of Date Tech could even react, the ball had already lightly cleared the net.
Hinata had already leaped for a spike, even Aone, who had rushed over to cover, was a bit stunned.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scores.
—Second Attack.
Chapter 315: The Three Hundred and Fifteenth Fox
Miya Atsumu landed lightly on the ground, glancing with a good mood at Niokuchi, who was originally moving toward Hinata to prepare for a block.
As he expected, they were all just a bunch of big oafs.
Although the first serve of the opening is important, it doesn't necessarily have to go to the Ace; any ball that results in a score is a good ball.
The Libero, Sakunami Kosuke, apologized immediately, "I'm sorry! My bad, my bad!"
Niokuchi hurriedly waved his hands to comfort his own Libero: "It's fine, it's fine. I didn't expect the opposition to play like that either."
To play like this right from the opening.. it's a bit too terrifying.
Hirugami, standing by the sidelines, rubbed his chin. "A playstyle that completely ignores conventional forms.. as expected of Miya Atsumu."
Hoshiumi expressed his disdain for this: "That's disgusting."
Hinata, having missed the spike, felt a momentary surge of resentment, but he still turned his head and cheered, "Atsumu-ge is amazing!"
Setting everything else aside, this point was scored with incredible precision and efficiency. The entire scoring process was extremely short, as they managed to seize the Service Right almost immediately.
Miya Atsumu said triumphantly, "Of course."
He didn't even need to look at who he was; those big dummies on the other side weren't even a fraction of his match.
After the Inarizaki side finished adjusting their rotation, the referee signaled for Miya Atsumu to serve.
Nokanawa tilted her head slightly. "Here he comes, the number one server in high school."
On the other side, Sakunami Kosuke took a deep breath, silently encouraging himself.
He can do it, he will definitely be able to receive the opponent's serve..
Atsumu-ge, serve a good one!
Atsumu-senpai, serve a good one!!
The Inarizaki supporters' brass band dominated the entire arena, the sheer pressure washing over everyone was almost suffocating.
The whistle blew, in the next second, everything suddenly went silent in Sakunami Kosuke's ears.
Eh?
He couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
Although he had seen him on video, facing Miya Atsumu face-to-face in person.. still made his breath catch.
What kind of serve will it be? A jump float serve? A power serve? Or a heavy spin?
Sakunami Kosuke's mind was in a complete mess, his overly nervous brain and body caused his reaction to be half a beat slow.
By the time he looked over after hearing the sound of the hit, the ball had already cleared the net and was crashing down toward their side.
It was aimed directly at him, without any deviation.
Sakunami quickly lowered his center of gravity and reached out to receive it with his forearm.
This ball was neither a sudden-drop jump float serve, nor was it one of those with a heavy spin trajectory; it was simply an incredibly straightforward power serve.
But..