He wanted to know how Inarizaki and Karasuno's opponents would act now, how they would dismantle Karasuno's defense and neutralize Inarizaki's offense.
As long as there was even a tiny bit of something he could use as a reference, it would be enough for him.
The warm-ups for Inarizaki and Rakusan on the left court have concluded, they are the first to enter the official match phase.
The commentators by the court introduced the players, the first to take the court was Rakusan.
Unrivaled strength! Rakusan is the strongest!
As one of the top-tier private high schools in all of Japan, Rakusan's cheering squad was also quite extraordinary, even featuring a Brass Band Club.
The simultaneous performance of both schools' cheering squads completely overwhelmed the momentum of the neighboring court.
[Rakusan, Captain, Harukawa Kazuya.]
The Rakusan Captain entered the court first, as the tallest of the starters on both sides, Harukawa possessed an incredibly commanding presence.
Standing in the waiting area, Hinata slightly lifted his gaze to glance at Miya Atsumu's sharp profile, who was positioned diagonally in front of him.
Although they were both handsome, the Rakusan Captain and Atsumu-ge gave off completely different vibes; they were entirely different kinds of captains.
Noticing Hinata's gaze, Miya Atsumu didn't look away, simply reaching out to lightly brush Hinata's arm behind him.
Hinata withdrew his gaze, no longer thinking about those random things.
【Number 3, Iori Miwa.】
【No. 4, Aoba Haruka.】
【Number 5, Yumi Matsuo.】
Hinata looked toward number 8, who was already on the sidelines preparing to enter the court; watching from such close range, those long arms felt even more overwhelming.
[Number 8, Miyazaki Sho.]
And immediately following, a tall figure who looked nothing like Aoba Haruka, except for his hair and eye color, also stood by the sidelines.
【Number 13, Aoba Kureha.】
Hinata rubbed his chin, then glanced again at the Miya Twins, who looked like they had been copy-pasted.
As expected, these two brothers from Rakusan didn't look like brothers at all; they were very easy to tell apart, so he definitely wouldn't get their names mixed up!
[Number 15, Libero, Uehara Tsuyoshi.]
[Head Coach, Natsume Yuichi.]
Ohhh—
Bokuto grabbed Shiratori Natsume, pointing at the refined coach from Rakusan on the screen and saying, "Natsume, look! I told you someone with the surname Natsume exists!"
Shiratori no longer wanted to argue and simply followed Bokuto's train of thought: "Ye-yes.."
Anyway, Bokuto's focus was always strange and would likely shift again soon, so he only needed to act as a decorative object that responded to everything he said.
Before Shiratori Natsume's drifting thoughts could return, Bokuto's cheering erupted once again.
Look! Natsume! It's Akaashi! Akaashi is on the court!
He reached out and pulled Shiratori over, pointing at the Fukurodani Captain on the tablet and shouting, "This is my high school's setter, he's incredibly amazing!"
Shiratori followed Bokuto's finger, shifting his gaze to the tablet: "I know."
Rather, it was more like.. he had even met with the other party a while ago.
Of course, it was his one-sided lamentation, as he hoped that Akaashi University would consider coming to Central Physical Education University.
But unfortunately, Akaashi solemnly rejected him and hoped he could look after Bokuto, even apologizing to him on Bokuto's behalf.
His original words were that his initial wish had been fulfilled, that he would not continue playing volleyball after graduating from high school.
For Shiratori.. it was indeed a bit too much of a regret.
The laptop and tablet were both playing audio at the same time, the two excited commentaries interlaced in his ears, giving Shiratori a massive headache.
He tried his best to shift his attention away from Fukurodani and focus entirely on the laptop.
On the screen, Miya Atsumu and Miya Osamu had already taken the court one after another, the commentator's praise was endless, seemingly ready to read out Miya Atsumu's entire personal resume from the moment of his birth.
Shiratori seemed to enjoy it, but he had Bokuto constantly cheering for the Fukurodani players as they took the court one after another, right in his ear.
He also kept reaching out to pull him, wanting him to look at those players from Fukurodani.
In Bokuto's words, they were his cute, reliable, powerful juniors.
However, Fukurodani has undergone many changes since Bokuto's graduation. Aside from Saru Nagi, who gained some recognition in junior high, the new players left no impression on Shiratori Natsume, so he could only offer half-hearted responses.
A little while later, the dormitory door was pulled open; it was Shimizu returning from going out to buy drinks.
Watching the two of them move the table that used to hold the water dispenser into the middle, while simultaneously watching two different matches, Shimizu tilted her head in confusion.
What.. are you doing?
Right at that moment, the laptops placed on both sides of the table rang at the same time.
【No. 10, Hinata Shoyo.】
【Number 4, Hoshiumi Hikari.】
[Inarizaki's setter and opposite Ace, extremely skilled at running quick attacks and various fundamental plays, he is undoubtedly the team's most powerful attacker, also known as..]
【The Ace Wing Spiker of Karasuno, who can flexibly change his role between defense and offense, possesses incredibly versatile techniques and a strength that leaves no openings, widely known as..】
—The Little Giant!
Chapter 323: The Two Hundred and Twenty-Third Fox
The Little Giant, huh..
Aoba Haruka tilted her head, observing Hinata, who was already standing by Suna's side on the other side of the net.
Meanwhile, Akaashi Keiji was also sizing up Hoshiumi Hikari.
Fukurodani had not had any contact with Karasuno before, but they had a very profound concept of Karasuno's strength.
At the beginning of the year during the Spring High, Karasuno left the court after losing to Ichibayashi. He knew very well how strong Ichibayashi's Ace was; he was someone capable of suppressing Inarizaki's defense all by himself.
Inarizaki's victory over Ichibayashi was also thanks to suppressing the opponent's Libero, leaving them unable to organize an offense and securing the win.
Although he felt that Bokuto would not lose to that spiker from Ichibayashi, Saru Nagi was still a first-year, his experience and physical development had not yet caught up, leaving him quite far behind Bokuto and the others.
In this situation, neither he nor Saru Nagi himself had the confidence that they could break through Karasuno's defense.
Therefore, before this, their tactical deployment focused primarily on enriching offensive strategies to interfere with Karasuno's powerful blocking as much as possible.
As for exactly what kind of effect it can achieve.. that will depend on the performance in actual combat.
Luckily, in the recent toss, he won the first serve for Fukurodani, meaning they wouldn't have to face Karasuno's powerful service turn immediately.
Anyway, let's just give it a try.
Meanwhile, Rakusan on the other side of the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium wasn't as lucky; the result of the coin toss for this match meant that Inarizaki would serve first.
Inarizaki's first server is almost always the strongest in high school, Miya Atsumu.
Watching Miya Atsumu, who had already adjusted his distance and was preparing to serve, Karasuno's Libero Uehara Tsuyoshi silently moved forward a bit before the referee's whistle.
The distance Miya Atsumu created was four steps for a Jump Float Serve, a decision made after their Head Coach repeatedly reviewed the footage of Inarizaki.
Although Miya Atsumu could also choose to jump early for a Jump Float Serve from six steps away, the quality of his serve would relatively decline because his jumping position would be incorrect.
Uehara took a deep breath, struggling to adjust his condition so that he could face Miya Atsumu's serve in peak condition.
At the same time, Miya Atsumu's gaze had already cast across the net and onto him.
Deep, bone-chillingly cold.
As expected, their Head Coach's judgment before this was correct; Miya Atsumu would definitely choose to use a Jump Float Serve to target him, focusing on the fact that he wasn't very good at receiving.
Suppressing the slight fear rising within him, Uehara Tsuyoshi shouted, "Bring it on!"
The next second, the whistle blew, Miya Atsumu immediately called for the cheers behind him to stop.
The air seemed to freeze, just as the tension in Uehara's mind reached its breaking point, Miya Atsumu suddenly tossed the ball into the air.
Without giving his opponent even a single moment to breathe, Miya Atsumu took a large stride forward and leaped steadily in front of the baseline.
Thud.
BANG!!
The ball reached Uehara's vicinity almost instantly, he, who had been staring intently at the ball from start to finish, didn't blink at all, his body instinctively making the motion to raise his hands.
There was no time to retreat and adjust his footing for a proper receive; at this moment, he could only choose to reach out and touch the ball..
Although his receiving wasn't good, he wasn't completely incapable.
Stay calm, be confident, he can definitely do it!
Another heavy thud of a touch followed immediately, the ball flew backward out of control after making contact with Uehara Tsuyoshi's hands.
Damn it, it was just a Jump Float Serve..
How could it be so heavy!
Uehara Tsuyoshi hurriedly shouted, "Sorry! Save the ball!"
Iori Miwa dove, before hitting the guardrail, he managed to touch the ball, forcing it back toward the court.
Watching the ball about to fly over the top of the net, Aoba Haruka maintained a calm expression and offered a word of praise: "Great save!"
At the same time, Hinata on the other side of the net also moved almost simultaneously, even relying on a speed faster than his to charge directly under the ball, lowering his center of gravity before jumping with a thud.
He had spiked this kind of tip many times and was very familiar with it, so..
Bang!
The sound of the hit followed immediately. Before Hinata could even reach his peak jump, Aoba Haruka, who was already much closer, had already struck the ball, taking advantage of his height and long reach.
Hinata's hands made direct contact with the ball, causing it to deflect and fly high into the air.
His expression contorted for a split second, Hinata hurriedly shouted, "Touch!"
"Nice touch!" Miya Atsumu shouted immediately, while making a gesture to signal Unabara Uta not to receive the ball.