Hearing this, Miya Atsumu's gaze drifted from afar, meeting Hinata's smiling eyes.
The two exchanged a look, but ultimately Miya Atsumu lost the standoff, withdrawing his gaze and turning to glare at Sakusa.
Tsk, how does someone remember his dark past so clearly?
Sakusa remained expressionless, ignoring Miya Atsumu's blatant provocation.
Both sides readjusted their starting positions, Ishikawa in the back was already prepared to serve again.
Even though he didn't consider himself someone particularly skilled at serving, since the coach had sent him out to serve, he had to at least secure this initial advantage for Itachiyama.
His serve just now didn't have much of a substantial effect, perhaps because of the target or because it wasn't tricky enough. The re-serve would give him a second chance to serve; he'd just treat the last one as a trial and error..
"Hmm.." Coach Utsunomiya murmured from the Coach's bench.
Rishia Heisuke did an excellent job covering for Hinata, especially with all the serves directed at Hinata, most of which he could handle perfectly. It was clear that he had put a lot of work into this aspect, with movements that were decisive and beautiful.
If he were to use a Power Serve to disrupt Inarizaki's first receive in this formation.. he would still prefer to aim for the corner by Hinata's side.
Ishikawa thought the same.
After adjusting his form, he decisively tossed the ball up, took a large step forward, after jumping, precisely spiked the ball into the corner of the court by Hinata's side.
Having anticipated this, Hinata took a step backward, extending his arms to press down, attempting to complete the receive without his body touching the floor.
However, he had somewhat underestimated Ishikawa's own strength; although the ball bounced off his arm, the force acting in the opposite direction sent him crashing straight to the floor.
Moreover, the speed of this ball was so high that it essentially meant Hinata had lost the ability to continue his offensive cover.
Coach Himegomiya stood up immediately and shouted, "Beautiful! You broke their rhythm!"
With such a powerful offensive point like Hinata neutralized, with only Miya Osamu and Suna in the front row, the probability of scoring would be very high as long as the block could judge the play accurately.
Miya Atsumu rushed under the ball, slightly bending his knees to lower his center of gravity, leaned his body backward. The moment his fingers brushed the volleyball, he forcefully changed its original trajectory, sending it straight behind him.
Hoshiumi Hikari's expression in the stands was grimacing: "That's ridiculous."
To be able to use a quick attack from a first receive like that for a back quick—Miya Atsumu is truly lawless.
Miya Osamu and Suna had already completed a beautiful rotation in front of the setter; the moment Suna leaped forward, he spiked the ball sent by Miya Atsumu, using his core to swing his entire body and drive the ball toward the space behind Komori.
Komori turned quickly, stepping forward to catch the ball with one hand: "Inamoto!"
“Nice!”
Suna couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance; being received with one hand made it look as if his spike was terrible.
But then again, it's Komori.. so it makes sense.
Watching from the stands, Bessho Chigen couldn't help but say, "Is this a display of skill between the strongest setter and the strongest libero?"
Ishikawa, who had just served, adjusted his position for the approach, then decisively stepped forward, lowering his center of gravity in preparation to jump and spike.
Miya Atsumu kept a close eye on both Sakusa and Ishikawa in the back row, maintaining the same level of vigilance toward both of them.
Actually, part of Hinata's deduction yesterday was problematic.
Shiratorizawa's left wing does indeed operate on a pattern of one person covering for another, but Itachiyama essentially does not engage in any "covering" behavior.
Sakusa can receive the ball himself, Inamura can too. If any one person is targeted by a serve and finds themselves unable to attack, the other person can simply cover for them.
But since both of their offensive styles are essentially geared toward technical play, Ishikawa's other significant purpose of existence is to provide compensation in terms of strong attacks.
In the past, Amatori played this role for Itachiyama; although Ishikawa's performance doesn't quite compare to Amatori's, his overall ability can compensate for that part, allowing him to move forward for an attack even when he is not in top form.
And as former teammates who had played together for two years during Junior High, Inamoto was clearly more experienced than Sakusa when it came to Ishikawa.
In a situation like this, where Sakusa is being marked by two people..
Miya Osamu took a lateral step toward his left, then leaped forcefully, his arms positioning themselves perfectly to block Ishikawa's spike.
With a loud thud, the ball was slammed back, Inamura, positioned to the side, tried to save it but couldn't keep up.
The score jumped to 1:0, with Inarizaki in the lead.
Chapter 337: The 337th Fox
Ishikawa's expression was grim, while Miya Osamu remained calm after landing from a successful block, showing little emotional fluctuation at having secured the point for himself.
He just turned his head, looked at Miya Atsumu, gave him a provocative look.
Miya Atsumu, who had just committed a net violation, remained silent for two seconds before finally unable to help but let out a light click of his tongue.
Luck, it was all just luck.
And besides, he failed to block Sakusa, so how could that be the same!
Glanced at by Suna, Miya Atsumu gave two guilty coughs and turned his head away to prepare his serve.
Based on his own observations, Ishikawa's spike intensity was very strong, he was not the same type as Sakusa. As for the difficulty of the block.. if one had to say, facing him head-on, the spikes from the back row were even harder to block.
Standing by the sidelines, Coach Unabara couldn't help but clap his hands. "A successful solo block, impressive."
Afterward, he felt regretful again: "What a shame.. such a great prospect."
After Haruko ended, he had also been in contact with Miya Osamu, but unlike his previous vague attitude and negative state, this time Miya Osamu decisively rejected the staff members in charge of the contact and clearly stated that he had no intention of continuing to play volleyball.
Coach Unabara, who had just returned after being rejected by Hirugami Yukio after three visits the day before, felt even more miserable.
But there was nothing to be done; as the saying goes—you can't force what isn't meant to be.
But it's also fine; Suna has become more reliable, Hinata has grown tremendously as well; they are both capable talents.
Mm, Inarizaki is good; Inarizaki has fertile soil, capable of growing fine seedlings.
Thinking this way, Coach Unabara glanced at the Inarizaki waiting area, attempting to observe the first-year freshmen who were not yet eligible to take the court.
Anyway, Kurosu's eyesight is highly unlikely to be an issue, so he can just pick someone who is already ready.
Coach Kurosu, sitting on the Coach's bench, raised his hand to rub the back of his neck, feeling an inexplicable sensation of being watched by something.
Meanwhile, Miya Atsumu had already taken his position for the approach, waiting for the referee's signal to serve.
Inarizaki's Captain, Inamura Gen, shouted sternly, "Don't panic, take it step by step!"
Losing the initiative is only a single point; as long as they organize a proper offense, they can win it back. If they let their mindset become unbalanced, the cost will be too high.
Their current task is to handle the service turn of the strongest player in all of Junior High.
Ishikawa dropped his center of gravity, ready to receive the ball at any moment.
Even in a rematch, the beginning of their defeat remained unchanged, in fact, he was the one who lost this point.. of course, he should be the one to win it back himself.
With a loud thud, the ball flew over the net at a high angle, falling unpredictably toward the opponent's side.
A Jump Float Serve, one that looked like it would maintain its height until just before reaching the baseline, only to drop sharply near the line.
While stepping back to create a running distance, Hinata, imagining himself from Komori's perspective, thought about how to handle this ball.
Rather than chasing after it to use an underhand pass, it's better to handle a ball like this with an overhead pass.
In his memory, Komori's frequency of using his hands to receive the ball was very low, but because the plummeting ball was difficult to judge for its landing spot, it would be very hard to receive with his hands, so intercepting it with his hands in mid-air..
In the next second, Komori shifted his center of gravity, slightly rising onto his toes and reaching up to touch the ball.
The ball flew straight forward, the trajectory created by the touch of his fingers sent the ball precisely above Inamoto's head.
What a great first receive!
As he lowered his center of gravity again, Komori glanced up at Miya Atsumu, who had just served, his eyes carrying a trace of imperceptible declaration and provocation.
He was indeed not good at receiving with his hands before, but that didn't mean he wouldn't improve in that area for the rest of his life.
Quite the opposite, after failing multiple times against Miya Atsumu's Jump Float Serve last year, he worked hard to improve his overhead receiving ability.
Look, he is now able to deliver an even more perfect answer than before.
Coach Omimi asked at the right moment, "Why is everyone provoking Miya Atsumu?"
Coach Kurosu was already used to it: "It's just Miya Atsumu's unique charisma."
"Touch!" Suna touched the ball spiked by Sakusa, Kumoita from the back row prepared to follow up.
But just then, his peripheral vision caught Miya Atsumu's movement.
Understanding the situation, Unabara took a step forward and struck the ball toward the net.
Miya Atsumu stepped up from the back row, his gaze following the ball's position as he moved toward the net, jumping in preparation to set.
And Hinata and Miya Osamu jumped almost at the same time, spreading out to the maximum distance on both sides of the net.
A sufficiently powerful and mature block can indeed be invincible when following up, but when the offensive points are sufficiently dispersed, even Itachiyama's block couldn't avoid being forcibly split in two.
And in this situation, Miya Atsumu, who had originally prepared to set the ball, pulled his hands back mid-air, letting the volleyball fly over the net and smash onto the ground.
Koldorf, who was still moving toward Hinata, was completely stunned. He spread his hands helplessly, gesturing toward Sakusa and Inamura on the other side to indicate his innocence.
This ball fell almost by grazing the net, its placement extremely precise—something someone with poor spatial awareness would never be able to notice.
And Miya Atsumu, who possessed an absolute sense of space, also confirmed that Kumoita had indeed placed the ball exactly where he had instructed before executing this play.
If Kumoita couldn't provide it, he would just set it as usual to the spikers on both sides to spike.
Having finished his mission of acting as a decoy, Hinata landed on the ground and immediately looked at the person most responsible for the success, Unabara: "That was amazing, Unabara!"
To be able to make the ball graze the net and drop without touching it, Kumoita's receive on this play could be described as nothing short of impeccable.
Miya Atsumu, who had originally intended to come over and claim credit, froze in his tracks, eventually turning his head and walking away in silence, his retreating figure looking incredibly desolate.
The kid has grown up, become mature, is no longer easy to fool..
Miya Osamu, having seen right through Miya Atsumu's heart, said, "You scum."
Why do you keep picking on Unabara?
Miya Atsumu gave a light snort. "So noisy."
Unabara raised his hand, Hinata jumped up to give him a high five.
When they played as partners in beach volleyball before, they celebrated just like this.
Glancing at his own Libero, who was even shorter than their Ace, Karasuno's setter Kongming smiled and said, "Their Liberos are all so big, little Ai."
Takahashi replied expressionlessly, "If you don't want legs, you can just say so."