The scoreboard by the court flickered; less than a minute into this set, Inarizaki had already added a point to their score.
Iori Miwa, having fallen slightly out of rhythm, looked at Miyazaki Sho and Harukawa, who had just scrambled back up, raised a hand to scratch his head. "Is this right?"
Yumi Matsuo threw up his hands, his eyes filled with despair as he looked at the others. "No, this isn't right."
Miyazaki's serves did indeed score more points, but the coach still chose him to serve because he had specifically practiced a high ceiling serve with his left hand.
In the previous set, Inarizaki pulled ahead with a massive score difference right at the opening, so after a brief chat with the coach, he decided to save it for the second set.
With the added element of uncertainty, a powerful service turn could potentially secure two or three points through good luck, but the situation in the previous set was difficult to reverse. Both the coach and he preferred to save a surprise for the opponent at the start of the second set.
In the world of high school volleyball, there aren't many players who use the Ceiling Serve.
The Ceiling Serve is very hard on the wrists, since a Setter relies on delicate wrist movements to handle the set, even fewer people bother to learn it.
So, in order to avoid affecting his setting, he also practiced specifically with his left hand.
This was his secret weapon, also one of Rakusan's trump cards.
But at this very moment, his proud serve was seen through and received perfectly by his opponent on the very first encounter?
Moreover, that first receive was incredibly solid, as if.. his serve had no power at all.
Yumi Matsuo clutched his chest, feeling as if a breath was stuck there, neither rising nor falling.
Damn it, I've been completely underestimated!
Unabara Uta was currently marveling at his own luck—how he had managed to know everything he was tested on and guess everything else correctly.
He really wasn't familiar with left-handers; he hadn't played against Ushijima back in high school.
But tricky spin.. Miya Atsumu is very good at that, to counter Itachiyama, they had specifically practiced handling backspin.
Moreover, there isn't much difference between receiving and setting in essence, he is very comfortable when it comes to handling spin.
In short.. he is truly amazing.
While Hinata was still showering Miya Osamu with praise, Unabara Uta was already giving him a thumbs up.
And in his heart, he thanked the generous and kind Shimizu-senpai, who had accompanied them for two weeks of training on the beach.
When he has the chance to go back to Tokyo, he wants to treat Shimizu-senpai to the best fish!
Coach Natsume rested his chin in both hands by the sidelines, letting out an ambiguous low sound from his throat, his expression exceptionally serious.
Taking a look at Miya Atsumu, who was preparing to serve, Coach Natsume couldn't help but let out a sigh.
As expected, he knew it.
Rakusan still held something back despite their intense match schedule, so Inarizaki, who faced far less pressure, would have even more hidden up their sleeves.
But he didn't guess that the Libero had not only improved his adaptability to various types of balls during this time, but could even handle this kind of Ceiling Serve so well.
No, if you must say.. it's actually that he's better at dealing with Ceiling Serves?
Coach Himegomiya pointed at Unabara Uta and said, "This is what you call being perfectly suited for the job."
Inamoto shrank his neck and nudged the teammate beside him who specialized in this: "You're finished; if you play against Inarizaki, the coach is going to bench you."
Looking at Inarizaki's current state, I'm afraid the Ceiling Serve won't be a good choice before Unabara Uta graduates.
The whistle blew in the arena once again, Miya Atsumu called for the Inarizaki cheers to stop, just as usual.
Whether it was because Unabara Uta's brilliant performance had stirred up some fighting spirit, or because he had gradually adapted to Miya Atsumu's serve through the course of the set, Uehara's reception was exceptionally beautiful.
After jumping, he reached out and steadily received Miya Atsumu's Jump Float Serve, forcibly stopping the ball that would have otherwise plummeted near the back row.
What a first receive!
Rakusan, which had been relatively quiet and only maintaining basic cheering, suddenly erupted into a frenzy.
As long as they break Miya Atsumu's service turn, the initiative will remain in their hands!
Aoba Haruka raised his hand to call for the ball: "Give it to me!"
It wasn't just the people from Inarizaki who were inspired by Miya Osamu's beautiful spike; of course, he, who was already facing adversity, was also inspired.
But unfortunately, he was not good at using power, couldn't achieve that effect of overwhelming everything with sheer strength.
Aoba Haruka lowered his center of gravity, his vision dropping briefly before suddenly rising again as he jumped.
Suna and Miya Osamu's hands also followed from below, forming the prototype of an Iron Wall in his field of vision.
His gaze shifted instantly toward Suna's left hand, looking through the gap between the block and the net toward the back.
Unlike the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium and the National Stadium, the floor of this gymnasium in Oita is not orange, but a very deep blue.
Everywhere the eye could see, Hinata, who had already rotated to the front row, approached from the side; that splash of orange was, without a doubt, the most brilliant color on the court at this very moment.
It was brilliant, it was dazzling.
Aoba Haruka knew that Hinata had already guessed he was going to hit a short diagonal, that at this very moment, he was preparing to block his position.
Although he believed he was physically stronger than Hinata and was confident he could execute a strong attack head-on, he.. he was still somewhat unwilling to accept it.
There was a gap between Hinata and Suna, his own follow-up was partially disconnected from the back row defense because he moved too fast.
The front row, which he should have been defending, was a complete void at this moment, Rishia, who was covering for him, had not yet taken his position.
In this situation, the best choice would actually still be a Dump.
But if a dump is too slow, a blocker can catch up to it before it hits the ground; to avoid this, one must add backspin.
He had indeed studied it, but his proficiency was not high.
The moment he locked eyes with Aoba Haruka, Hinata's brain went numb, he instinctively pulled back his strength so that his body could drop rapidly.
And in that very instant, Aoba Haruka used a forehand tip to push the ball toward Position 4 of Inarizaki, adding just a hint of backspin to it.
It was small, but it was enough..
Before Aoba Haruka could even land, Hinata, who had already controlled his momentum to land on the ground, had already swung his leg out, precisely meeting the ball with the top of his foot.
Miya Atsumu's voice rang out immediately after: "Beautiful!"
Hinata pursed his lips, then quickly adjusted his posture, stepping back to create distance for his approach run.
He almost lost control of his ball control just now, nearly being called for a carry.
Arima, waiting in the sidelines, froze for a moment: "Shoyo used to play soccer?"
The movement was somewhat too instinctive, even carrying a sense of lingering desire.
Kumagai nodded. "Hinata used to play soccer before he started playing volleyball."
On the other side, the Karasuno members, who had been delayed from starting the Second Set due to issues with the gym floor, were also looking up at the large screen.
Hoshiumi Hikari couldn't help but praise, "Nice play."
That save was incredibly clean and efficient; from jumping to restrict the short diagonal to landing and turning to defend the dump, it was all done in one fluid motion, without a single unnecessary movement.
As expected of his disciple, his fundamentals are already very solid; it's likely partly due to his time playing beach volleyball not long ago.
Beach volleyball swallows up many useless movements; to pursue higher efficiency, one must ensure they are in peak condition at all times, with no wasted movement whatsoever.
Hinata had already rushed under Position 4, poised to execute a Quick Attack.
He tilted his head to watch Miyazaki rushing toward him, the moment the opponent braked at the edge of the court, he suddenly turned and took a step toward the center of the court.
Miyazaki was startled, Harukawa also moved half a step in response, driven by instinct.
But at that very moment, Hinata pulled back that step and leaped straight up, using his left foot as his center.
The rapid change in tempo left the Rakusan players unable to keep up, Miya Atsumu's set arrived exactly as expected, aligning perfectly with Hinata's hitting point.
Under the restriction of Miyazaki and Harukawa, who had jumped again by leveraging their height and arm length, Hinata made the same judgment as Aoba Haruka had previously, casting his gaze toward Position 2 of Inarizaki with the intention of hitting a short diagonal.
Aoba Haruka reacted instantly, stepping forward to jump and attempt a block.
At that moment, Hinata's hand had already made contact with the volleyball, but it wasn't a spike toward the Short Diagonal.
Instead.. it was a ball hit straight down the middle.
His movement didn't hesitate in the slightest; he spiked the ball the moment it briefly hung in the air.
The ball dropped with spin, precisely through the gap between him and Harukawa, falling into the space between the block and the three-meter line.
—He had been deceived; that look was meant to hint at it, but Hinata had never actually intended to hit a short diagonal from the very beginning.
Aoba Haruka bit his lower lip as the volleyball landed almost simultaneously with him.
To be honest, before the Junior National Team training camp, his only impression of Hinata came solely from those two matches during the National Sports Festival.
Immature and tenacious, but from a standpoint of pure ability, there was really nothing particularly noteworthy about him.
But Miya Atsumu showered Hinata with nothing but praise.
That incredibly sharp-eyed setter, that sharp-tongued and arrogant strongest player, somehow mentioned Hinata to them many times, subtly insulting them every single time.
He even secretly stepped on Sakusa-senpai, saying things like, "Shoyo could definitely spike this ball."
However, Sakusa didn't say anything at the time; instead, he simply accepted it.
As for his curiosity about Hinata.. it probably started from that time.
Now that they had actually faced each other, he suddenly understood why Miya Atsumu held Hinata in such high regard and was so fond of him.
Like him, he is a player who lacks raw power, but through his jumping ability, he can reach a level similar to his; both of them rely on technical play to battle against the opponent's Iron Wall.
But unlike him.. Hinata seemed to have an even more powerful strength supporting him.
He is more decisive and has stronger execution than him.
He is different from the version of himself that simply spikes every ball to fulfill his mission as an Ace.
Hinata is more like a symbiont to the setter; even with his own sufficient individual combat capabilities, he can perfectly execute every single command and movement of the setter, even if that setter isn't Miya Atsumu.
He is very similar to Hoshiumi, yet also very different.
Compared to Hoshiumi, who is as calm as the ocean on the court, Hinata is much more extroverted.
Like a solar storm, he could rely on that intensity to sweep through everything, swallow everything, color everything.
He wasn't actually provoked by Miya Osamu's spike, but rather by the look in Hinata's eyes, which caused him to act even more impulsively.
Indeed, no setter could refuse a spiker like that.
Taking a long breath, Aoba lowered his gaze, hiding the surprise and admiration that had just surfaced in his eyes because of Hinata's offense.