If you don't look at them in isolation, Hinata's abilities are indeed quite well-rounded.
The lack of height can be compensated for by jumping ability, the issue of excessive stamina consumption from frequent jumping can be compensated for by Hinata's own excellent physical reserves, he even has skilled technical plays to support him..
Aoba Haruka, who had completely guessed what her brother was thinking, narrowed her eyes. "You're truly an idiot."
To only realize it at this point, he's truly beyond help.
But it didn't matter; there wouldn't be many opportunities for Aoba Kureha to face Hinata, he's still very easy to chase down during a back-row attack.
On the Inarizaki side, Coach Kurosu didn't say much either. After Miya Atsumu gave everyone a few instructions, they all entered their respective periods of chatting.
The time-out ended quickly, under the Head Referee's signal, everyone returned to the court.
Miya Atsumu returned to the serving position to prepare for the fourth serve.
Tossing the ball in his hands, Miya Atsumu, in a great mood, tossed the ball into the air in the final second of the serve time limit.
This time, the Rakusan Libero was quite cautious, positioning himself centrally to ensure he could make adjustments at any moment.
But.. will he really make it in time?
A six-step distance is long enough for Miya Atsumu to complete a full three-step approach, which allows his Serve to reach a maximum speed of 115 kilometers per hour.
It is a serve that would hold its own even on the professional stage. Considering that Miya Atsumu's physical development is not yet complete, he will likely be able to reach a terrifying speed of 130 kilometers per hour once he reaches adulthood.
And for high school men's volleyball, the serves at this stage are already more than enough to make them completely impossible to see clearly.
In this situation, a Libero with average dynamic vision and reaction speed can only rely on anticipation to handle it.
That means.. the opponent's probability of being able to receive this ball is only fifty percent.
And Rakusan was quite lucky today; Uehara's blind guess was correct.
Accompanied by a massive, bone-jarring sound, the ball bounced almost vertically, soaring to an incredibly terrifying height.
Komori, sitting in the stands, gave a wry smile. "That's incredibly high."
It would take a lot of effort for the Setter to get his hands on this set, the final result might not even be good; it mostly depends on the Spiker's own ability to adapt.
Sakusa's expression remained unchanged as he said softly, "Aoba will be fine."
Komori expressed his agreement to this: "Yeah."
During the Junior National Team period, everyone played while rotating positions, many Spikers who were assigned the Setter position couldn't set the ball well at all; at that time, Aoba's ability to find the ball was quite outstanding.
In Komori's own judgment, he might be second only to Kiryu and Hinata.
"Haruka Arai!" Yumi Matsuo shouted to Aoba Haruka at the net.
The ball itself was moving too fast under the force of gravity, the spin on it was quite heavy. He failed to absorb the force with his wrist in time, the ball almost flew out of the court.
Suna, who was responsible for the Block, was momentarily stunned, while Miya Atsumu in the back row couldn't help but burst out laughing; after all, the set from this Setter was simply too ridiculous.
In that kind of position, it is practically a fantasy for a spiker to attempt a spike. Furthermore, even if they did spike, given the initial position in the corner, one would only need to defend against a cross-court shot.
In this situation, a line shot is practically impossible; if anyone tries to spike a line, they will definitely hit the block.
Aoba Haruka, who was moving in to prepare for a spike, also understood this principle clearly, but she simply kept her gaze silently fixed on Suna's hands.
Although Suna's blocking height is average, his defense when it comes to tooling the block is quite good; when he is fully prepared, he almost never gives him a chance.
Then.. what should be done?
Hinata, who was performing a three-man block alongside Suna and Miya Osamu, was also observing Aoba Haruka, attempting to adopt the opponent's perspective to think of a way to break the deadlock.
The ball moved infinitely close to the net, approaching Miya Osamu's hands near the sideline.
Sakusa, in the stands, frowned slightly; if the ball wasn't spiked right now, it would be too late..
But at that very moment, Aoba Haruka thrust her left hand, which had been pulled back for the swing, forward, pressing the ball onto Miya Osamu's hand just as it flew over the top of the net.
Miya Osamu was a bit dazed, but having reached the peak of his jump, he was already descending alongside Suna.
After the ball hit his hand, it flew a short distance back toward the Rakusan court.
In that brief opening, Aoba Haruka swung her right hand down, striking the volleyball just as it flew back.
Even if he wasn't at his peak height right now, his hang time while in the middle of his approach and jump would still be longer than the block's, giving him more than enough room to spike the ball.
Bang!
A heavy sound rang out as the ball flew over the Inarizaki block, crashing into the backcourt where no one was defending because the team had committed to a complete block against a line shot.
The next second, the ball slammed down near the sideline, bounced up, flew out of the court.
Aoba Haruka landed on the ground, bending her knees to absorb the impact.
The referee above raised his hand, signaling a point for Rakusan.
Listening to the roar of the crowd, Hinata, who had also just landed, was a bit dazed. "Eh?"
In the waiting area, Masaru Haseda also looked puzzled. He quickly turned his head toward Reo Mizuta, the know-it-all of their first-year class, asked, "Um, wasn't that a double contact?"
Fukami also looked up at Reo Mizuta, his eyes full of curiosity: "It wasn't a ball handling violation either?"
Reo Mizuta, who was equally shocked, was left a bit dazed by the question: "Even if you ask me.."
He didn't know either! This kind of niche knowledge wasn't in his database!
Just then, Kumagai beside him spoke up, "That.. is judged in stages, right?"
Aoba Haruka's first touch was at the same time as Kazuharu's, so it should be ruled a contested ball.
Facing Hinata's shocked and confused gaze, Miya Atsumu held up a finger to explain, "The second touch was the spike."
And the rules for a three-touch violation were reset the moment Kazuharu touched the ball; Aoba's second touch was actually the first touch of the next rotation.
Because the opposing Rakusan had already adjusted their rotation, Miya Atsumu's speaking pace was a bit fast given the limited time, so Hinata only understood half of what he said.
But that half was enough. Having opened the door to a whole new world, Hinata's eyes were filled with pleasant surprise: "So you can play like that too! Aoba is amazing!"
He had just thought Aoba was going to play a rebound, but he didn't expect this kind of handling. It was indeed a way of playing that made full use of the rules; although its practicality might not be high, it provided him with new ideas.
Very good, he learned something!
Aoba Haruka, who was still saying something to his teammates, felt a chill on the back of his neck and turned his head to meet Hinata's burning gaze.
He felt a bit uneasy being stared at, after averting his gaze, he asked back, "What are you looking at me for?"
Hinata was full of earnestness: "No, I just think Aoba-kun is truly incredibly amazing."
“To be able to pull off a play like that, it's nothing short of a miracle."
A string of compliments flew into Aoba's head, her face instantly turned bright red. After coughing lightly twice, she averted her gaze.
He said, trying to hide his embarrassment, "Even if you praise me, I won't go easy on you just because I'm happy."
"No need for you to go easy on me, Aoba-kun," Hinata said, moving even closer to the net and slapping his chest with his hands, making a loud thumping sound.
Please, use all sorts of amazing techniques to play against me!
That's it! Just like that!
Let him see and learn even more tricky techniques!
Aoba Haruka was completely stunned. Just as he was about to complain about whether Hinata was a masochist, the Head Referee signaled that the serve was ready.
Miyazaki Sho, who had originally been identified by Inarizaki as Rakusan's second Spiker, moved to the back row even without a single normal spike occurring.
Hinata, his excitement surging, lowered his center of gravity, ready at any moment to receive a front-court ball, exhaled sharply through his nose.
Oh no, he feels a bit overly excited right now.
I wonder if Miyazaki Sho has some incredible new trick he hasn't revealed yet, if he'll be able to learn it.
Miyazaki Sho, having taken his position for the approach, also felt as if he were being watched by something. As he turned, he instinctively scanned Inarizaki's defensive formation.
Yeah, they're all looking at him.
Miyazaki set aside his doubts and, as soon as the Head Referee signaled the serve, immediately raised his hand and tossed the ball into the air.
He took a large step forward and leaped in front of the baseline, his long right arm striking the volleyball directly.
Bang!!
The volleyball traced a massive arc, flying directly past the antenna and into Inarizaki's court.
Although Unabara Uta had anticipated it after watching Rakusan's previous footage, he still failed to control the heavy spin on the ball the moment it made contact.
After the heavy sound, the ball bounced off the court and struck the second-floor stands at an angle, resulting in a score from the Rakusan serve.
Coach Natsume gave a light chuckle. "The momentum has shifted."
Chapter 326: The 326th Fox
That side spin.. it's too tricky.
Watching Unabara Uta's grimace on the court, Arima Shuji also frowned in the waiting area.
As a Libero himself, he knew exactly how difficult that last ball was to receive.
Just like the unique spin of Ushijima's left-handed serve, this heavy spin, brought about by the intense whipping motion of the arm and wrist, is also quite difficult to absorb.
Moreover, no matter how special Ushijima's serve is, most of them are hit straight on, so one can even completely give up on neutralizing the spin and focus on hitting the ball as high as possible, leaving the spin to be handled by their powerful setter.
But a side spin serve is different. Unlike a direct smash, a side spin will "brush" off the arm during a standard receiving movement.
If you want to receive it steadily, you can only try your best to raise your shoulders, controlling the angle of your arms to align with the ball's arc itself.
That's true, but actually handling it depends heavily on experience and luck.
He certainly couldn't handle it himself, but as for Unabara Uta..
Miya Atsumu glanced at Miyazaki Sho, who was preparing to continue his Serve, then looked at Miya Osamu, who was in front of him preparing for the receiving movement.
After a brief two-second contemplation, he turned his head toward Unabara in the center: "Unabara.."
Before he could even finish his sentence, Unabara Uta had already answered, "Don't worry, Atsumu-senpai, I've noted the spot from just now. There won't be any problems."
He looked Miya Atsumu in the eye, his gaze steady: "I'll give you a great First Receive!"
Hinata, in the front row, turned around and gave Unabara Uta a thumbs up.
Unabara patted his chest and told Hinata that he would take care of it.