Miya Atsumu lifted his eyes and quickly reviewed the matches he had watched previously in his mind, speculating, "I haven't watched the footage from this morning's matches yet, but based on Rakusan's performance in the group stage, they seemed to have intentionally held back this person's offensive capabilities; the setter didn't use him frequently in the offense."
He watched the Rakusan finals in the Kyoto qualifiers; number 8's offense was very decisive, the setter's distribution was very aggressive, completely different from now.
Even though number 8 has had few spikes during this period, the movements and form he displays when spiking are excellent; it's definitely not a case of poor recent form or an injury.
That can only mean that Rakusan is hiding something; this person might have made some major technical breakthrough during the period from the Qualifiers to the Finals.
It could even be used as a trump card, as a weapon against us, Inarizaki.
But with arms that long and flexible.. it really does make one think of Sakusa.
But it wasn't that Sakusa and the others couldn't handle it; a mere second-year wing spiker from Rakusan wouldn't pose too much of a problem.
Hinata seriously rubbed his chin: "Is that so? I knew something felt a bit strange.."
Because the gap was so large compared to the Regional Qualifiers, he was having a hard time telling them apart.
Coach Kurosu nodded, confirming Miya Atsumu's speculation: "In any case, the opponent's current offensive ability is questionable, but their blocking is indeed a very difficult point to break through. Shoyo, be careful."
Hinata patted his chest. "Don't worry, leave breaking through their block to me!"
After playing against Date Tech, his heart, which had been somewhat unsettled, finally settled down.
Coach Kurosu gave him an encouraging smile, but in his heart, he felt more of the pleasure that comes when a scheme is about to succeed.
Since the end of last year's Haruko, the only official matches Hinata has played in have been the finals of the IH qualifiers.
Although they had played several matches against various strong schools during the training camp, there was still much unknown for schools outside of the camp; even the only available references were the Hyogo Prefecture qualifiers and their match against Date Tech.
Rakusan is currently hiding something, but Inarizaki is the same. In fact, if one were to look closely, the new technical skills Hinata developed after playing beach volleyball, as well as their overall defensive coordination, have not even been put to use yet.
As for Hinata.. after returning from his training at Central Physical Education University, he hasn't gained that much practical experience, so perhaps he is feeling some underlying anxiety.
But after playing against Date Tech, Hinata's condition had visibly improved quite a bit.
Hmm.. thinking about it that way, Hinata is also a player who takes a little while to warm up.
Coach Kurosu moved on to the next person: "Their Libero, the third-year Uehara Tsuyoshi, is nothing special; he's just a standard Libero for a powerhouse school, with nothing particularly outstanding about him, but of course, he also doesn't have any periods of severe errors."
He was afraid some people wouldn't understand, so he even gave an example: "Just look at how Shiratorizawa's libero, Yamagata Hayato, handled things last year."
Unabara Uta sat back down after getting her water, trying her best to smile.
The Coach didn't use him as an example; perhaps his level is still somewhat lacking in certain aspects. Indeed, compared to Yamagata Hayato and Komi Haruki and the others, his stability is quite a bit lower.
Inarizaki's substitute libero, Arima Shuji, glanced at this hardworking junior and silently reached out to pat him on the shoulder.
He felt it wasn't that; rather, Unabara Uta was actually stronger than most liberos when it came to pressure resistance and mental fortitude.
Miya Atsumu's serve targeting the libero is essentially a psychological attack on the libero.
Take Date Tech, for example; during the first half of the first set, Miya Atsumu specifically targeted the Libero. Although he also focused on other receivers later on, that Libero was clearly becoming somewhat numb by the end of the second set.
As the most important defensive players, if even the Libero has no confidence in being able to receive the ball, then it is even more impossible for the rest of the team to defend.
And through over a year of being tempered by Miya Atsumu, Unabara Uta's mindset could perhaps already be called the "strongest among liberos in high school."
Coach Kurosu's speech came to an end, he and Omimi needed to quickly review the footage from Rakusan's last match to make targeted adjustments to some tactical arrangements.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Miya Atsumu froze for a moment when he saw the old thermos in Unabara Uta's hands, then turned his head and asked, "By the way.. has Imai left?"
Hearing Imai's name, Unabara Uta looked up and replied, "Yeah, he left yesterday morning."
Hinata froze for a moment, then looked shocked. "Left? Did something happen!"
He had spent a lot of time with Miya Atsumu these past few days. For the last two days, he had been following the Coach and the Captain to participate in the lottery and handle subsequent tasks, so he hadn't had many chances to be with Unabara Uta and the others.
But he remembered that Imai should be in the Brass Band Club and would be responsible for their cheering; he hadn't missed a single event, including the Haruko and various other small matches.
The only reasons he could think of for them not continuing the cheering.. were probably that something was wrong with their health, or that something was happening at home.
Unabara Uta hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no."
The Brass Band Club's National Tournament is coming up soon, so she went to Tokyo to follow up on the subsequent rehearsals.
Hinata's eyes widened: "Eh? The Brass Band Club's National Tournament?"
Yeah, our school's Brass Band Club is really amazing; they've been winning awards nationally these past few years.
Unabara Uta was full of pride: "Last summer, Maho couldn't perform because she was a freshman, but this year she's already standing in the front row of the team."
Hearing this, Hinata was shocked: "That's amazing!"
It was the first time he had ever heard that the Brass Band Club also had a National Tournament, he couldn't believe that Imai was actually this amazing.
But he soon discovered the problem: "Eh? Then who are the people cheering in the stands right now?"
Miya Atsumu leaned back slightly, providing the answer for Unabara Uta. "It's just the substitutes who don't have the chance to stand on the national stage."
Inarizaki's Brass Band Club, much like the Volleyball Club, is a large organization with over a hundred members, since the national stage has a limit on the number of participants, those who are unable to compete make up the permanent members of their cheering squad.
Hinata nodded. "Then they're the protagonists here."
Chapter 322: The 322nd Fox
While everyone was discussing tactics against Rakusan after having eaten, there was a knock on the restroom door.
Ogata, who was responsible for observing from the stands and providing information, poked his head in and said to Coach Kurosu, who was standing near the door, "Coach, the Round of 16 is over, we need to get ready for warm-ups."
Upon hearing this, the Inarizaki members all stood up to change out of their uniforms.
The temperature in Oita Prefecture is quite high this season, the air conditioning in the venue is kept running constantly to control the temperature. The playing area is large enough that it's fine, but the players' lounge is a bit too cold under the central air conditioning.
Even though they didn't sweat much during the last match, everyone still dressed quite heavily after leaving the court, doing their best to avoid catching a cold due to the temperature difference.
Coach Kurosu nodded to Ogata: "We'll head over later. I'll have to trouble you to continue handling the cheering side."
Yes, don't worry, Coach," Ogata smiled, then turned to leave. "I'll head out first. Goodbye, Coach.
After stepping outside, he turned his head to look at Nishizawa Hokuto, who was leaning against the door looking inside. "Alright, let's go."
Nishizawa Hokuto looked up at him and said somewhat reluctantly, "I haven't said goodbye to Shoyo-senpai yet."
The Brass Band Club arrived early, but due to funding issues, the Second String and Third String members they brought didn't all arrive until yesterday. Furthermore, because they aren't staying in the same accommodation as the players, he hasn't met the regular players yet.
Ogata patted him and said comfortingly, "We'll talk about it tonight. They're on a very tight schedule right now, so they definitely won't have any extra time to say hello."
"Yeah." Nishizawa Hokuto nodded, but he still couldn't resist stealing another glance back at the lounge bearing the Inarizaki name.
After glancing back several times, he slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at the senior beside him: "The seniors were just so cool. During the match just now, those middle-aged men were constantly shouting the Little Giant's name."
The cheering sections for Inarizaki and Karasuno were adjacent to each other; during Inarizaki's matches, those people were calling out Hinata Shoyo's name, while during Karasuno's matches, they were calling out Hoshiumi Hikari's name.
Those voices were so clear, so deafening.
That's right, just as he had long yearned for.
Just like.. the sun of the court.
As he followed Ogata to the staircase, the sound of cluttered footsteps came from the direction of the Inarizaki rest area behind them.
The figures in his field of vision wore the exact same red jackets as him, but underneath, they had changed into that team uniform he had once worn in his dreams.
Perhaps one day..
Walking at the very back, Hinata slightly turned his head to look toward the other end of the hallway, but he didn't see anyone.
Noticing that he had fallen behind, Miya Atsumu walked over and took his hand. "What are you looking at? Let's go."
"Yeah, coming." Hinata withdrew his gaze and followed Miya Atsumu's footsteps toward the court.
The men's and women's volleyball matches for this IH were not held at the same time; once the quarterfinals began, there was enough space in the venue for both sides to warm up.
With the foundation provided by the morning's matches, the afternoon's warm-ups did not take much time, focusing primarily on stretching the joints to prevent injury.
The players from Rakusan and the Inarizaki members didn't have much interaction, after all, the two sides weren't very familiar with each other.
After spiking the ball sent by Miya Atsumu, Hinata ducked under the net and turned his head to look at Aoba Haruka, who had also just landed after finishing a spike not far away.
This person.. is the Wing Spiker that Atsumu-ge mentioned before, the one who made it into the Junior National Team training camp in his first year.
At that time, there were hardly any first-year players selected, to be able to stand out in the most competitive position of Spiker was enough to prove how terrifying the opponent's strength was.
And Aoba Haruka was also sizing up Hinata Shoyo; the moment their eyes met, he gave him a gentle smile in return.
Seeing Aoba Haruka's smile, Hinata Shoyo was a bit puzzled, so he also raised his hand, waved at him, responded with a big smile.
Miya Atsumu, separated from Hinata by the net, raised an eyebrow slightly and turned his head to glare at Aoba Haruka.
Aoba Haruka, who had been tormented by Miya Atsumu for several days during the training camp for the Junior National Team, shrugged her shoulders and walked away from the net as if nothing had happened.
Damn it, where are Hanae and Chikatani!
Come and share this heavy gaze from Demon Senior with him!
Hanae, who had already been eliminated by Karasuno in the morning, sat on the top of the stands with his arms crossed, expressionlessly watching the two upcoming matches on the court.
He was currently sitting on the second floor of the stands, with the Inarizaki cheering squad on the left below him and the Karasuno cheering squad on the right.
Both sides were shouting their slogans so loudly right now that it was giving him a headache.
It was nothing else, simply because.. he couldn't stand the sight of either side.
One is the bitter rival who has shut them out by large margins in the Regional Qualifiers for several consecutive years, the other is the hateful enemy who just used a block this morning to make their Ace shut down.
If Karasuno and Inarizaki both win in a bit.. that would be even more infuriating.
Forget it, he just has to pray that both teams can win all the way to the end and then fight to the death in the Finals.
Yeah, exactly, that's it!
Sitting beside him, Kanzaki was listless, his mind completely blank and his face pale, looking as if he were miles away.
Every time he closes his eyes now, his mind is filled with Hirugami's hands and the eyes of the back row players.
As the team's Ace, he scored seven points across the two sets..
Forget playing volleyball, you should just go home and farm.
Hanae nudged him with her elbow. "Wake up, the match is about to start."
Kanzaki placed his hands on his stomach, looking incredibly peaceful, as if he had just taken a stroll. "Let me be decadent for five more minutes.."
Seeing him in such a state, Hanae remained silent for only a few seconds before ignoring him, focusing all his attention on the two matches that were about to take place simultaneously on the court.