Coach Utsunomiya rubbed his chin. "There might be other considerations."
To be honest, since he would face the winner of the upper bracket in the Semifinals at the earliest, he had only focused on watching the footage from the Rakusan Regional Finals, the Semifinals, the group stages, even fast-forwarding through some of it.
After all, the Semifinals are tomorrow, so they can wait until tonight to see the results from the upper bracket before staying up late for their final preparations.
However, he hadn't completely ignored Rakusan's matches during the preliminary rounds. During the Tokyo preliminary tournament, he had used the live television broadcasts as background noise while he was at home preparing his teaching plans.
In my memory, my wife seemed to say that Rakusan's number 5 setter has a very unique serve..
What was it again?
Yumi Matsuo stood at the baseline, a position completely different from his previous jump serve.
In this situation, the answer was almost obvious.
It was either a tricky standing float serve, or.. a Ceiling Serve.
The two coaches from Itachiyama in the stands fell silent for two seconds at the same time, before finally letting out a helpless laugh.
Well, there certainly was a surprise, but..
On the court, Unabara Uta saw Yumi Matsuo's movements, a look of obvious astonishment appeared on her face.
Hinata, who was also in the back row, paused for a moment before turning his head to look at Unabara Uta.
The two exchanged a glance, both catching the bewilderment in each other's eyes, along with the faint sense of pleasant surprise beneath that shock.
The next second, both of them looked at Rishia at the same time.
Hinata raised his hand, pointing his finger forward and using his eyes to urge him on.
Rishia was a bit confused, but he still followed Hinata's signal, adjusting his position forward before the referee blew the whistle for the serve, removing himself from the first receive formation.
Unabara Uta and Hinata both moved slightly toward the center, each adjusting their receiving position by half a court.
The Captain ahead, Miya Atsumu, tilted his head slightly but offered no comment.
The next second, after giving the restless Inarizaki members a warning glance, the referee raised his hand to signal Yumi Matsuo to serve.
Yumi Matsuo's body lowered slightly as he held the ball in his right hand above him and swung his left hand downward, a very standard preparation for a Ceiling Serve.
Hinata blinked, preparing to shift his center of gravity once the opponent hit the ball.
Yumi Matsuo's center of gravity is currently a bit too high; he shouldn't be able to hit it very high.
But.. did the opponent actually choose to use his left hand for a Ceiling Serve? Is he left-handed? Or did he change it specifically?
In the next second, accompanied by a loud crack, the ball flew upward, rising to a terrifying height.
The spin direction of this serve was different from the Ceiling Serve they had in their minds; a serve hit by a left-hander is the opposite of a right-hander, so the direction of movement was also not quite the same.
But the advantage of a Ceiling Serve is the height itself; as long as one can overcome that height, the subsequent spin can be forcibly controlled with a bump.
And this routine.. Hinata and Unabara Uta were already incredibly familiar with it.
Under the world's most intense light source, the two of them had received the most top-tier Ceiling Serves countless times before.
The ceiling lights of this gymnasium in Oita were nowhere near bright enough to interfere with them.
Unabara Uta took a step toward her front left, while Hinata also left his receiving position, pulling back to a position to take a running start.
It's no problem; Unabara Uta will definitely, definitely be able to receive this ball.
Just as Hinata had judged, Unabara Uta accurately predicted where the ball would land and made contact with it.
However, the spin on the left-handed Ceiling Serve was still too unique; Unabara Uta failed to control it perfectly, the ball flew a bit off course.
But even at this level, it was considered perfect, Miya Atsumu couldn't help but praise it loudly.
What a great first receive!
Matsuo was even more stunned by the serve.
He had a great deal of confidence in his serve, but why did it feel like Inarizaki's Libero received it so easily?
In the second set of the front row, Suna got the ball and executed a Quick Attack in coordination with Miya Atsumu, but unfortunately, Uehara Tsuyoshi chased it down and managed to receive it.
Aoba Haruka also quickly followed up, spiking the ball sent by the setter.
Unabara Uta stepped forward and performed a low bump, sending the ball back to the net.
Compared to the slightly erratic first receive, his set was absolutely perfect.
Miya Atsumu, having secured the ball, raised his hand to perform a fake, but instead immediately delivered a Second Attack.
Iori Miwa reacted quickly, diving forward immediately to save the ball: "Yumi Matsuo!!"
The setter, Yumi Matsuo, stepped forward at the call, reaching out with his right hand to touch the ball.
Aoba Haruka followed up with a spike, since he was highly adaptable to the ball itself, he once again perfectly completed the offensive task, but unfortunately, it was touched by Suna.
Rishia Heisuke, stepping back, lowered his center of gravity to receive the ball, sending it toward the net once again.
Hinata called out for the ball: "Give it to me!"
Miyazaki's gaze instantly flew toward Hinata, but Miya Atsumu instead turned and sent the ball toward the center.
Fortunately, Hinata himself was a back-row attacker, so they didn't follow him directly, leaving enough time to adjust and prepare to defend against Miya Osamu.
Miya Osamu watched Harukawa and Miyazaki opposite him without looking away.
The timing of the two people coming together was off, but their execution was standard. Miyazaki's long arms compensated for part of the error, from the perspective of defensive technique, it was indeed perfectly acceptable.
But.. he didn't intend to play a technical ball either.
In a system where the Wing Spiker is the Ace, the other players are categorized based on the position of the Setter.
Among them, the Wing Spiker adjacent to the Setter is known as the Main Spiker, because he and the Setter will be adjacent for two consecutive rotations in the front row, allowing for more efficient offense in teams that primarily use front-row Setter coordination tactics.
Rishia Heisuke used to play in this position during his third year of middle school.
But as the playstyle of the Stronger Opposite gradually rose to prominence, the current offense has increasingly shifted toward the Left Wing, using the Opposite and the Left Wing Spiker as the core of the offense.
The former main Wing Spiker moved to the Right Wing position, primarily taking on defensive and cover duties, forming a different kind of coordination with the Setter.
Even though the strong attacks from the Position 4 Opposite and the heavy spikes from Position 1 and Position 2 are becoming increasingly popular, the once-brilliant front-row tactics of a former Wing Spiker can still unleash their terrifying energy when the timing is right.
Not to mention.. the person standing in this position now is Miya Osamu, who would naturally be the Ace in any team.
Even if his presence isn't high, it cannot be denied that within Inarizaki, Miya Osamu is the ultimate powerhouse with no weaknesses.
And with his physical development progressing even further today, Miya Osamu's current strength level has already surpassed Miya Atsumu and Ginjima, making him the undisputed strongest in terms of raw power within Inarizaki at present.
At this moment, Rakusan's rushed defensive preparation provided Miya Osamu with the opportunity for a powerful spike.
And right now, the somewhat boring pace of the match needed some kind of stimulation to make the players' senses explode, allowing the match to spark even more fiercely.
Hinata and Rishia can't do it right now, so that job.. let him finish it.
Hinata landed softly on the ground after his decoy spike, at that same moment, a loud bang suddenly exploded in his ears.
Bang!!
In the corner of his eye, the ball that had always remained at the center of his vision turned into a blur in this instant, smashing into Rakusan's block.
The ball, carrying a heavy spin, forced its way through the center of the two-man block, followed by two successive heavy thuds.
By the time Hinata's gaze followed the direction of the ball over the net, it had already slammed heavily onto the ground.
Harukawa and Miyazaki, hit head-on by Miya Osamu's powerful spike, lost their balance and shifted their weight to either side, both falling to the ground in a somewhat clumsy manner.
Meanwhile, Miya Osamu landed by bending his knees to absorb the impact, letting out a long breath.
The court fell silent for a moment, then a sudden, mountain-toppling roar of cheers erupted from the Inarizaki stands, nearly blowing the ceiling off the gymnasium.
Osamu, what a spike!!
That was so satisfying! That was so cool!
Spike!
One more!
Miya Osamu had intended to turn his head to look at Miya Atsumu, but a voice had already erupted from the other side: "Oohhhhhh—"
Hinata rushed to his side, his eyes shining with brilliance, filled with longing and admiration.
“What was that just now! A Super Tornado Thunderbolt Cannon?!”
It went by with a whoosh! And then it smashed through the opponent's block like it was nothing!
Listening to the noisy sounds in their ears, Harukawa and Miyazaki, who had been sent sprawling across the floor, both fell into silence at the same time.
Miya Osamu, who was being wildly praised by Hinata, found his thoughts wandering for a moment, which happened to collide with the slightly distorted expression on Miya Atsumu's face.
Miya Osamu looked down at Hinata, who was so excited that he was flailing his arms and legs, nearly leaning right into him.
—Why does he look a bit like some muscle-bound gorilla with a wild black-and-white hairstyle?
Miya Atsumu raised his hand, only to lower it again helplessly, a sense of powerlessness rising in his heart.
—Just what on earth did Shoyo learn from that certain someone at Central Physical Education University!
——What about Shiratori-senpai? Can't he do something to save the vocabulary of both of them?!
At this moment, Shiratori, sitting in front of the computer, cupped his face in his hands, watching the Inarizaki live stream with a wonderful mood.
Meanwhile, beside him, Shimizu—who had been dubbed a "professional preschool teacher" by the Coach—was with Bokuto, his emotions riding a rollercoaster as he became completely immersed in the Fukurodani match.
Shiratori remarked with emotion, "Such overwhelming power."
On the other side, Bokuto was also shouting continuously: "Get up! You can make it! Ahhh—you made it! Akaashi—"
Shimizu clapped her hands and said with a smile, "Oh—that was amazing."
Bokuto raised his hand to wipe away his tears: "Waaaaah.. We scored! Akaashi is so reliable!"
Shimizu continued, "Mm-hmm, so reliable."
During the break in rotations on the court, Shiratori leaned his back against the chair behind him and added, "So reliable."
—He was referring to Shimizu.
Chapter 331: The 331st Fox