Rishia, whose center of gravity was overly shifted, fell to the ground and rolled half a turn, clearing the space.
Unabara Uta from the back row had already lunged forward, using one hand to pop the ball up to a sufficient height.
The ball flew to a high point behind the three-meter line, approaching the center as it descended.
Ginjima at the Coach's bench stood up in excitement, shouting, "Beautiful!!"
Coach Omimi also hurriedly shouted, "Follow it, follow it!"
Hinata, who had already retreated, looked up and stared at the ball, then decisively took a step forward once he had confirmed its position.
This ball came suddenly and was poorly placed, leaving him with insufficient time to further adjust his approach distance, but..
—It was enough.
His teammates have already done everything they could.
Next.. it was his turn.
Thump!
With the help of those artificial wings from his approach, Hinata skillfully increased his height, still managing to jump to a point higher than most players even with insufficient approach conditions.
His gaze focused on the ball, while simultaneously watching the block that was already closing in from behind.
Date Tech's block was high and intimidating.
Perhaps it was an insurmountable obstacle for him in the past, but now.. he has more than one way to break through.
Under Fukiage's gaze, Hinata's eyes suddenly shifted to the front court area beside the block.
Is he going for a short diagonal?
Indeed, although the conditions for this ball were poor and there wasn't enough ball height, there was at least enough distance from the net to allow the spiker to make sufficient adjustments.
That short diagonal angle was indeed quite extreme, it's difficult to hit when there is almost no ball height.
But considering the spiker is the "Little Giant of Inarizaki".. perhaps he really can do it.
Fukiage adjusted his blocking direction following Hinata's gaze, while at the same time, Sakunami Kosuke, who had also caught onto Hinata's intention, adjusted his own positioning.
Komori smiled with difficulty in the stands. "They're getting more and more skilled."
Skilled at what?
It was, of course, something he had experimented on him before—fishing.
The moment Hinata's hands were about to touch the ball, he suddenly pulled back his strength and lightly tapped the bottom of the volleyball.
In the next second, the ball flew over the net and past the block, dropping close to the floor into Date Tech's court.
A dump.
While in mid-air, Fukiage hurriedly turned, trying to save the ball, but it was already too late.
With a soft thud, the volleyball slammed onto the orange floor.
Nice kill!!
Nice play! Shoyo!
“Beautiful feint!!”
Rishia Heisuke, having scrambled up, rushed toward Hinata alongside Unabara Uta, high-fiving and hugging him, nearly tossing him into the air in celebration.
Miya Atsumu stood with his hands on his hips and curled his lip. "Didn't you say you could only hug the setter?"
Now anyone can just go up and give him a hug.
Miya Osamu rolled his eyes: "You might as well just say you can only hug me."
Atsumu lightly tapped his palm: "Good idea."
Osamu almost laughed from anger: "Scum."
Inarizaki's diverse offensive tactics were something Date Tech had never encountered before, since they themselves lacked coordination in command and control, they failed to come up with an effective solution.
In addition, their setter's thinking was quite straightforward, making it impossible for him to compete with a devious guy like Miya Atsumu, the score gap gradually widened after several failed strategic battles.
After Aone managed to block Miya Osamu's spike for a score, the service right passed back to Nokanawa.
"That was almost a block out," Hirugami said from the sidelines.
Miya Osamu tried to tool the block, but he failed.
Date Tech's Position 1 had an unexpectedly sharp intuition, giving Inarizaki no opportunity.
Nokanawa walked to the service position while hugging the ball, taking a deep breath to steady his mindset.
After successfully breaking out from Miyagi, the Scorekeeper had led them to study the tactical playstyles of those national-level defensive powerhouses.
And among them, the one they studied the most was Karasuno.
Karunso's style of combining blocking and serving is actually the ideal state for Date Tech.
Furthermore, Karasuno's blocking tactics are even more diverse; they can flexibly switch between a two-person block, a three-person block, or even transition between predictive blocking and follow-up blocking.
Combined with those extremely powerful serves, they are also highly skilled in both defense and offense.
Unfortunately, Date Tech still isn't able to pull off a serve like that.
His own serve was already quite powerful within his team, but compared to the players of Inarizaki, it was still not even close.
Suna, the only one in Inarizaki who cannot perform a jump serve, would still manage to time his hits perfectly, leaving Hinata as the only one who would be substituted in for service during crucial points.
Hinata's serve is mediocre compared to the powerhouses of the national level, but for them, it is already quite good.
—He still has a long way to go.
The whistle blew in his ears, Nokanawa finished adjusting his state, raised his hand to toss the ball into the air.
All he could do was complete his task of using his serve to disrupt the opponent's subsequent offense.
So now, he only needs to hit the areas that will cause chaos in the opponent's formation.
"I've got it!" Rishia Heisuke stepped forward, steadily receiving the ball for Hinata.
Hinata looked up at the ball's position, stepped forward quickly, jumped from behind the Three-meter Line to launch an attack.
But Atsumu's ball wasn't for Hinata; instead, he sent it to Suna in the center.
Date Tech's block had already lunged forward, with three players standing firmly in Suna's way.
The moment Suna used his waist to force a change in the spike's trajectory, Aone's hands moved to follow, precisely cutting off the ball's path.
Bang!
After the sound of the collision, the ball dropped straight down onto Inarizaki's side of the court.
Rishia, who remained in a defensive position, took a step back, while Unabara Uta on the other side lunged forward, sliding to get between the ball and the floor.
Coach Kurosu shouted loudly, "Beautiful! Cover!"
Unabara Uta also shouted loudly, "One more time!"
Miya Atsumu moved forward, tracking the position of the ball.
The height of this ball was a bit too high; given his own jumping ability, it wouldn't be easy for him to set it with both hands.
But it didn't matter.
The Libero has already provided a perfect answer; the rest is his job.
Everyone who had retreated from their offensive positions rushed forward again, launching attacks from all directions toward the net.
The entire setting process was unexpectedly quiet; no one called for the ball, Miya Atsumu offered no unnecessary instructions.
Following his intuition and judgment, Aone had already made his decision.
Number 10.
Back row, fast-tempo quick attack.
An orange shadow flashed past his line of sight, Aone's gaze locked onto that figure almost instantly.
He took a step forward and lunged toward Inarizaki's Position 4.
At the same time, Miya Atsumu's right hand was about to make contact with the ball, appearing as if he were preparing to push it toward the front.
Niokuchi did not hesitate any longer, following Aone as he lunged toward Hinata's position.
Seeing this, Koganezawa also quickly followed, three iron gates slammed shut in front of Hinata in an instant, an incredibly powerful pressure descending upon him from above.
The conditions for Miya Atsumu's ball were not ideal; he couldn't make it particularly fast with just one hand, it was difficult to adjust the height.
Judging by the position and momentum of Hinata's jump in coordination with Miya Atsumu's set, it certainly wouldn't be a high ball.
Niokuchi lowered his arms, spreading them over Hinata like an opening umbrella.
His arm and finger movements were perfect, the distance between him and the net was just right; in a state of full preparation, he would not give the opponent the chance to use a tool against the block or a dig.
Moreover, Hinata's position is close to the sideline, Aone is directly opposite him; their block can shut down any cross shots to the backhand.
A side spin ball at this position is very easy to tool the block on, Hinata isn't Sakusa; he won't be able to hit it out.
So—
It's possible.
Aone stared fixedly at Hinata, his perfect block driving their momentum to its peak.
Sakunami Kosuke in the back row stared at Miya Atsumu's movement, while simultaneously observing his own team's block.
At the very moment their Iron Wall converged and jumped, Miya Atsumu's right hand suddenly gave up the touch, while his following left hand pressed directly underneath the volleyball.
Sakunami Kosuke's eyes widened.
The light sound of a touch occurred at that moment, the ball was sent directly upward by Miya Atsumu, falling behind him with a slight spin.
And over there.. someone had already jumped, waiting for the arrival of that ball.
No words were needed, no gestures required.
The bond connecting them by blood made it very clear to them exactly what the other was thinking.
Miya Osamu's gaze was fixed on the volleyball that had already flown before him.
With no blocks obstructing his vision, the field of view was vast, the defensive gaps left exposed were incredibly clear.