Hoshiumi glanced at the two of them, his arms crossed over his chest, saying nothing more.
Although they bicker frequently, these two juniors get along quite well.. at the very least, they get along better than he does with Hakuma.
Miya Atsumu's second serve failed to score, Sakusa focused on covering the gap left by Miya Atsumu's movement in the back row, securing the point for Itachiyama with a beautiful side spin.
Everyone from Itachiyama breathed a sigh of relief that Miya Atsumu's Service Turn had been broken.
Koldorf and Coach Utsunomiya exchanged a glance after gaining the Service Right, confirming that the other had no intention of changing the key player for this turn, before Koldorf walked to the serving position while holding the ball.
Komori sat down on the Coach's bench, while the front row Middle Blocker, Ogihara Ayato, adjusted his clothes, lowered his center of gravity slightly, cast his gaze toward the far edge of the net.
Feeling a gaze, Hinata suddenly looked up and met Ogihara's eyes.
Watching him??
But he didn't have any impression of ever having faced him before.. Was he being watched simply because of strategic requirements..
His intuition screamed danger, but Hinata denied those suspicions himself.
No, the opponent was simply staring at him, as if it had nothing to do with tactics.
Had he.. offended anyone from Itachiyama at some point? Not that I know of. He gets along great with the seniors and the coaches..
Suna leaned forward slightly, blocking their line of sight: "Shoyo, don't zone out."
The uncomfortable gaze vanished, Hinata also pulled his attention back: "Yeah!"
Sakusa glanced at this junior before turning his head away, saying nothing.
He could probably guess why Ogihara Ayato held such strong hostility toward Hinata, but.. having fighting spirit is a good thing for the current match.
Miya Atsumu, in the back row, glanced at the situation at the net, his fingers tightening slightly before relaxing again.
The whistle blew, Koldorf didn't waste any time adjusting; he decisively tossed the ball up at the first opportunity.
Hoshiumi's expression was twisted: "Everyone's gone bad. That buzzer-beater thing.. it's too disgusting."
Suna loves using it, Hirugami loves using it, now someone from Itachiyama is learning this wicked thing too.
Rishia positioned himself perfectly on the court to receive the ball, earning a word of praise from Hirugami: "Nice receive."
Hoshiumi also nodded. "The receiving level on both sides is much stronger than I anticipated, especially Inarizaki."
The newly substituted Libero and Wing Spiker might not be fully mature yet, but the level they are currently displaying is also very high.
Combined with the adaptability of Miya Atsumu and the Spiker, this level is more than enough.
Glancing at Sakusa out of the corner of his eye, Hoshiumi followed up by saying, "But it's not bad either."
A truly excellent Spiker will find their own way to break through the opponent's defense, won't they?
Miya Osamu and Suna rushed up, Sakusa seized the opening on Suna's side, using a flexible wrist to impart a reverse spin to the ball, driving it straight toward Unabara Uta in the back row.
This kind of offense, which looked like it was setting the ball for the Libero, left Unabara Uta dazed for a moment, but he quickly realized something was wrong.
The ball hit his arm almost head-on, but the spin was lateral, even the opposite of the side spin usually produced by a right-handed hitter.
With a loud bang, the ball went out of control and bounced off the court.
Hinata immediately rushed toward the sidelines to chase it down, but the ball's trajectory was just as strange as it had bounced, making it impossible for Hinata to predict its landing or control it.
Before the ball flew out of the boundary, Hinata successfully touched it.
But.. he only managed to touch it.
Suna lunged forward to receive the ball, but he still couldn't get it over the net.
The whistle blew, Itachiyama scored consecutive points to tie the game.
Nice!
Great ball, Sakusa!
After rolling to dissipate the momentum, Hinata lay peacefully beside the guardrail.
To be honest, the moment he touched the ball, he felt it was over, because the ball was already past the net; even if he managed to receive it, there was a high probability it would fly into the opponent's court from outside the antenna.
Even though he tried his best to control it, the ball ultimately couldn't be saved because it was too close to the net.
“Kami-senpai.. so scary.”
Miya Atsumu walked over, crouched down beside him, found someone to take the blame: "Alright, get up. This ball was Rintaro's fault."
Ginjima, who was still near the Coach's bench, couldn't help but speak up: "Why don't you just say it was the ball's fault then?"
Miya Atsumu readily agreed, "Then it's the ball's fault."
Hinata stood up and argued earnestly, "Volleyball isn't at fault."
Atsumu said without changing his expression, "Then it's the floor.."
Anyway, it wasn't Hinata's fault, so it doesn't matter whose fault it was.
Hinata's expression was incredibly serious: "It's the air's fault."
Miya Atsumu chimed in, "Yeah, it's the air."
The two coaches, who had been listening throughout, fell into silence.
—Shoyo, you've been completely corrupted by Atsumu!
Chapter 338: The 338th Fox
Returning to the court, Miya Atsumu remarked with a hint of emotion, "Sakusa is truly Sakusa."
After the warm-up, the power of Sakusa's spin serve was indeed not to be underestimated; the way it dismantled the block and receiving formation was so tricky and precise that it felt terrifying every time I saw it.
So.. we'll have to restrict it a little bit.
But since it is currently Itachiyama's Service Turn, we'll have to wait for the next round.
Thinking of this, Miya Atsumu turned his head toward the waiting area and made a hand gesture toward it.
Receiving Miya Atsumu's signal, Kumagai blinked, gave an OK sign, then, after exchanging a look with the coach, headed toward the Coach's bench.
Coach Utsunomiya also noticed Kumagai approaching and silently exchanged a glance with Komori beside him.
Koldorf's second serve followed the same pattern, but Unabara Uta, having anticipated it, provided a better response this time, sending the ball steadily right to Miya Atsumu's head.
Under Sakusa's watchful gaze, Miya Atsumu sent the ball to Hinata, who had jumped near the edge of Position 4, without any feinting, but the set was so high and deep that it was well beyond the reach of Inamura and Sakusa.
Seeing the ball flying toward him, Hinata, who had already taken a running start away from the net, took another half-step back before charging toward the net with a nearly four-step approach.
The height of Miya Atsumu's set was almost at his maximum hitting point, so he had to ensure he was in perfect condition.
The moment he saw the height of the ball, Ogihara, who was already moving toward it, judged that he wouldn't be able to reach it.
His expression was grim, but he still took a slight step back following Hinata's movement, allowing his jumping ability to reach its maximum potential.
Even if he can't reach it, he has to block, he must adjust his touch after the opponent's spike. Hinata is very skilled at various backspin spikes and Woguo; we absolutely cannot leave even the slightest opening.
If Hinata gets even the slightest opportunity.. he will definitely be torn to pieces.
Hinata was that kind of person; he knew it very well.
Slender fingers appeared in Hinata's field of vision at that moment, but they weren't high enough; the ball could still be spiked down without any obstruction.
Komori is not on the court right now; the ones responsible for receiving in the back row for Itachiyama are Ishikawa, along with Sakusa, who has moved back to cover the setter.
In this situation, as long as his spike isn't touched by the block, he can score this point with maximum efficiency.
Hinata swung his arm with all his strength, the moment it made contact with the ball, it let out a heavy thud.
The next second, he slammed the ball down heavily, spiking it straight behind the setter who was being covered by Sakusa in his field of vision.
But the moment the sound of the hit occurred, a fingertip touched the ball from below.
The moment the ball was spiked down meant its height had dropped slightly, that slight drop was the greatest opportunity for a Middle Blocker to execute a block.
—He caught it.
But upon contact with a ball traveling at over a hundred kilometers per hour, Ogihara Ayato's forced touch was instantly sent out of control.
After being deflected by a hand, the ball bounced backward, flying even higher than before after making contact with the block. Sakusa, who had lowered his center of gravity after sensing Hinata's intent to spike, quickly stood up and chased after the ball.
Unfortunately, his speed was just a little too slow, he ultimately failed to save it.
Near the railing, Sakusa stopped, watching the volleyball fall outside the railing at an even higher speed, nearly hitting the tripod used for the camera.
Hinata landed on the ground, slowly raising his center of gravity as he absorbed the impact.
He raised his head slightly, his eyes peering through his orange-headed hair over the net toward Ogihara, his gaze fierce and terrifying.
It seemed.. like a response to the provocative look Ogihara had just given him.
Ogihara Ayato looked at his middle finger's nail, which was slightly lifted and bleeding after the heavy impact, then turned his head to look at Hinata.
The moment he locked eyes with Hinata, Ogihara felt as if he had fallen into a pit of ice; that profound sense of helplessness spread through him once again, leaving him breathless.
But in the very next second, a slightly panicked voice rang in his ears: "You're injured!"
He watched helplessly as that orange-headed boy crawled directly from under the net, reaching out to grab his hand to check his injury.
Coach Utsunomiya, having realized what happened, quickly raised his hand to signal the Head Referee that a player was injured and a time-out was needed, the members of Itachiyama also gathered around one after another.
Watching Hinata being inexplicably surrounded by a bunch of Half-ripe Bananas, Miya Atsumu, who had originally wanted to high-five Hinata to celebrate, was left completely bewildered.
Wait, what? Where is our Hinata? How did he get blocked by Itachiyama?
Inaramura took one look at the intruding Hinata, just as he was about to say a few words, he shut his mouth and shot a glance toward Sakusa.
Sakusa wanted to refuse, but seeing that Inamura and Koldorf were helping Ogihara with his injury, Komori seemed to be talking to the coach, he could only reach out, grab Hinata by the back of his collar, lift him up.
The Itachiyama Ace said coldly, "You should leave."
Hinata kicked his legs in mid-air, trying to struggle: "I haven't apologized yet!"
Sakusa put him back on the other side of the net, saying softly, "He's fine. Bumping into each other is normal during a match; it was his own fault for trying to do something beyond his ability."
He could understand Ogihara Ayato's anxiety, but he did not agree with the wrong judgment the other had made by losing his composure because of it.
Hinata wanted to say something more, but Miya Atsumu had already pulled him back, wrapping an arm around him: "Get back here, be careful or someone will report you in a moment and get the referee to give you a yellow card."
"But.." Hinata wanted to say something more, but a sneer erupted from behind him.