Aoba Haruka gave him an annoyed glare. "Just a little bit."
The atmosphere on the court relaxed slightly, losing that heavy sense of silence from before.
Aoba Haruka also breathed a sigh of relief, his entire being filled with a sense of release.
He also knew clearly that, given Rakusan's current state, they likely wouldn't be able to win this match, so.. he would give it his all to explore his own limits.
“Kureha.” He turned his head to look at his younger brother, his voice showing no significant emotion.
“Remember this defeat well, then think about what autumn will bring.”
Just like when she used to follow others around like a little shadow in her childhood, Kureha nodded heavily. "Yes."
Looking across all of Kyoto, they, Rakusan, are the strongest right now.
Seito has strong defense, but lacks offense.
After the Inubushi Higashi captain graduated, the team lacked sufficient setting, their overall offensive sharpness decreased significantly.
Unsurprisingly, Rakusan will be standing here in both October and January of next year.
And he, they..
They will find the path to ultimate victory through failure after failure.
Without a doubt.
With Rishia Heisuke's strenuous efforts acting as a decoy, Miya Osamu managed to widen the score.
The struggle on Rakusan's side had no substantial effect; they were merely trying to prolong the match, using it as part of Inarizaki's training.
Looking at the score in the bottom left corner of the computer screen, Shiratori tapped his arm with his finger and sighed.
The defeat is certain.
Chapter 333: The 333th Fox
The end of the match arrived sooner than expected.
The Itachiyama players, who had just finished their warm-ups, received news that the match was about to end.
Coach Utsunomiya, who had originally intended to let everyone continue warming up their joints, felt a slight sense of regret, but he could only lead his team toward the court.
Just as Komori stepped out of the Players' Tunnel, a long, drawn-out announcement sounded in his ears.
Sakusa looked up at the large screen on the side, where the figures of Miya Atsumu and Hinata flashed by, while the score beside them had already frozen at Inarizaki 25:21 Rakusan, with a total score of 2:0.
Coach Himegomiya stood with his hands on his hips, looking somewhat sentimental. "Inarizaki's victory was much smoother than I imagined."
Coach Utsunomiya nodded, showing considerable appreciation for Inarizaki's decisive and efficient playing style. "Rakusan's strength lies in their offense, but Inarizaki was able to prevent them from executing strong attacks, that alone was enough to be fatal."
“If I had to say where the major mistakes were.. it was mainly because Rakusan failed to seize the opportunity in the second set.”
Given the offensive intensity of Inarizaki, if they fail to seize the initiative during the opening, they will basically be unable to make a comeback in the later stages.
And Rakusan made the most serious mistake in such a critical choice of server, essentially handing that point straight to Inarizaki.
If Miyazaki were the server, there might still be hope for the second set.
The overall score difference in the Second Set wasn't particularly large, which meant that Rakusan and Inarizaki actually still had a chance.
Coach Himegomiya sighed, "What a shame."
She had even hoped that Rakusan might experience a sudden burst of fighting spirit to take down Inarizaki in the quarterfinals.
After all, for Itachiyama, Inarizaki was much more difficult to deal with than Rakusan.
Coach Utsunomiya put his hands on his hips and laughed, "The future looks bright."
Rakusan's core Ace is only a second year; once his height increases a bit next year, combined with those technical skills, his overall strength won't be much different from Sakusa's during the same period.
Moreover, Aoba Kureha is only a first year, has even just recently changed positions.
Given the lack of experience, poor coordination, intermittent lapses in synchronization, the fact that Aoba Kureha could still deliver a passing performance speaks volumes.
If Rakusan can replace their Libero and Setter with stronger players next year, just like Karasuno, they will truly have the look of champions.
Looking at both Inarizaki and Rakusan, who were already lined up and bowing on the court, Inamura peeked out from the Players' Tunnel: "How are things over at Karasuno?"
They will be using the same court as Inarizaki for their next match, they are quite far from Karasuno.
Koldorf, who had excellent eyesight, glanced at the scoreboard and reported, "The score is 19."
Because of some unexpected circumstances at the start of the Second Set, the match progress on Karasuno's side was much slower than on Inarizaki's side.
Looking closely again, Koldorf frowned. "But this score difference.."
Karasuno 19:14 Fukurodani.
For Karasuno, whose defense is incredibly grinding, such a score difference is rare.
Generally speaking, the score gap in Karasuno's matches usually stays around three points, without any significant deviations.
As Inarizaki finished greeting each other and prepared to turn toward the stands to thank the crowd, the television commentators also finished their summary of the match, the two large screens in the arena naturally switched to the match over at Karasuno.
As soon as they turned around, they saw Saru Nagi's spike being casually blocked back by Hirugami Yukio.
As soon as he looked up and saw this scene, Hinata bared his teeth and gritted them. "That block.. it's terrifying."
Date Tech's block was already high and powerful, but against the pure, seamless suppression of Hirugami-senpai, Saru could find absolutely no way to respond from his perspective.
If Miya Atsumu is all-around as a setter, then Hirugami Yukio is an absolute ruler at blocking.
Unlike complex tactics used for setting, a block itself is not subject to much interference.
As long as one has sufficient height and long limbs, along with enough explosive power and reaction speed, one only needs to focus on the setter and then chase the ball.
Moreover, Hirugami can rely on his intelligent brain and keen observation skills to catch the opponent's small movements, performing exceptionally well in both predicting the block and executing follow-up blocks.
Moreover, Hakuma, who was positioned next to him, could act as his strong arms to execute his setting, he had even just managed to solo-block one of Osamu's spikes.
Miya Atsumu, standing beside Hinata with one hand on his hip, spoke on Hinata's behalf, voicing his inner thoughts: "But finding a way to break through a block like that is the most challenging part—it's what makes it so exhilarating for both body and mind."
Hinata nodded, his eyes looking at Miya Atsumu with the gaze of someone who had found a kindred spirit: "Exactly, just thinking about it makes me shake with excitement."
Just thinking about how he would be crawling all over the floor because of the counterattack, Unabara Uta admired Hinata from the bottom of his heart: "What a masochist.."
If one had to say, being able to love Miya Atsumu, being loved by Miya Atsumu.. that in itself was already quite terrifying.
Only Hinata could fully accept Miya Atsumu's perverted demands for a spiker.
He was already being tortured to death by Miya Atsumu just from the simple task of receiving.
Rishia watched Unabara silently, everything understood without a word.
Feeling a bit unnerved by Rishia's stare, Unabara Uta gave in: "It's me, it's me, okay? I'm a masochist."
He was quite pathetic, having managed to survive under Miya Atsumu's thumb until now, even feeling self-satisfied because of a compliment or two.
Rishia withdrew his gaze and raised a hand to pat Unabara Uta's shoulder. "It's okay, Atsumu-senpai will be graduating soon."
Unabara Uta felt comforted, his eyes brimming with tears.
But in the next second, Rishia Heisuke's sharp remark became the final blow that brought him down.
But some terrifying orange creature is no less impressive than Atsumu-senpai, so you'd better work hard to stay alive.
Having said that, Rishia Heisuke turned his head toward Kumagai: "Akuma is too."
Several of the second years fell into silence at the same time.
After a long silence, Kumagai silently raised his hand to cover his face, feeling helpless about his dim and.. no, his future where he would be roasted to death.
You have to realize that even someone as strong as Miya Atsumu has been driven by Hinata to undergo extra physical training.
Can he really.. survive three years of high school?
And at that moment, the terrifying orange creature squeezed between them: "What are you talking about?"
Kumagai smiled, shifting the blame directly onto the junior who was handing out towels behind him: "We were talking about adding extra physical training for Reo Mizuta."
Reo Mizuta froze for a moment, then pointed at himself. "Me?"
Ignoring the junior's voice, Kumagai continued, "Reo Mizuta really likes you; he said he wants to be your practice partner, since I might have to balance my studies in the future and won't have much time to practice with you."
Hinata's eyes lit up upon hearing this, after receiving affirmative answers from both Rishia Heisuke and Unabara Uta, he raised his hands in excitement and rushed toward Reo Mizuta.
“Reo Mizuta! You're the best! Don't worry, I'll definitely look out for you from now on!”
He had previously thought this junior was quite scary and difficult to get along with, but now it seemed it had all been a complete misunderstanding.
Reo Mizuta waved his hands repeatedly, feeling uneasy under such intense, direct enthusiasm: "No, it's not that, I.."
No, the point is, is he supposed to undergo extra training with Hinata?!
He'll die! He'll definitely die!
Fukami dove straight between the two of them from below, slapping his chest with a loud thud. "Shoyo-senpai! I used to be a setter, so if you want extra training, you can totally come to me!"
Reo Mizuta was dumbfounded.
—Why is this guy saying he's going to play Middle Blocker at a time like this?
Masaru Haseda followed up by saying, "I can do it too, I can do anything."
Although his setting isn't good, he has no problem acting as a practice partner.
Reo Mizuta was left feeling completely abandoned and bewildered, his head filled with question marks.
Is this right? This can't be right!
Seeing Miya Atsumu's unhappy expression and the way he looked like he was about to crush the water cup in his hands, Miya Osamu teased him mercilessly.
Look at his prestige among the juniors; that's what a real Shofu is.
What Miya Atsumu was, was nothing less than pure intimidation.
The Captain, Miya Atsumu, who was without Shofu, rolled his eyes: "If you don't speak, no one will think you're a mute."
The aggrieved Captain lifted his foot and walked pitifully toward Hinata, who was being surrounded by his juniors.
Coach Kurosu watched the group bickering from the side; even though it was the stage for the coach to speak, he said nothing at all.
Besides, there wasn't much to say; the kids all had their own ideas.