Amidst the cheers of his teammates, Fukami tossed the ball into the air at the very last second of the service time limit.
Actually, the first-year students all knew very well that, with their current strength, it would be difficult for them to earn a starting position in a short amount of time.
For a top-tier powerhouse like Inarizaki, unless they are players like Miya Atsumu and Hinata who are desperately needed and extremely talented, most others don't get the chance to be in the starting lineup until their second year.
Even Hinata didn't have any match records at this time last year.
That was precisely why, aside from their daily fundamental training, the area they put the most effort into was their serves.
Fukami knew very well why he had received the opportunity to come to Inarizaki; the team needed his serve, so he would hone his serving skills to perfection.
Only by doing so.. could he live up to the expectations of his teammates and seniors!
Staring at the position behind Asahina on the other side of the net, Fukami couldn't help but curl his lips into a smirk.
The same strategy Suna used just now would be equally effective for him; by targeting the inevitable defensive blind spots behind the setter, he could lure players with less experience or poor judgment into making mistakes within their own team.
However, the opponents, having already been hit once, likely wouldn't take the bait so easily, but.. he still possessed a level of brute strength far superior to Asahina's.
In the next second, a heavy sound exploded in everyone's ears as the ball slammed into Karasuno's court in an instant.
Unlike Asahina's previous serve, which was tricky but too light, Fukami's serve was powerful and heavy enough.
The moment he made contact with the volleyball, Takahashi felt that something was terribly wrong.
In Junior High, he had received many of Fukami's serves, but none were nearly as terrifying as this one.
During this year.. Fukami's serve quality has become several times stronger as his physical condition and technical skills themselves have improved.
As expected, a video is just a video; you can only truly feel the terror within such an ordinary-looking power serve by receiving it in person.
"Sorry!" Seeing the ball fly off course, Takahashi hurriedly called out to the others.
Asahina did not panic too much; after exchanging a glance with Hoshiumi in the front row, he raised his hand and sent the ball out.
The conditions for this ball weren't particularly good; for him, he could only manage the basics of getting the ball into position, without having the time to deceive the block.
But that was enough.
While it is said that deceiving the block is the job of a setter and the part that best showcases a setter's individual skill, at the end of the day, a setter's most fundamental essence is to allow the spiker to spike with ease.
Because of this, rather than showing off personal skills, what is more important is the height and angle of the set, the distance from the net, providing enough airtime for the spiker to adjust their movement.
Only after doing all of this well can one have the right to consider quick attacks that use feints against a block or pursue individual technique.
And at this very moment, as the setter, all he had to do was believe in his Ace.
Jumping with all his might against Inarizaki's block, Hoshiumi Hikari moved from Position 2 to the center of the court at Position 3, leaping toward the high point indicated by the setter.
The moment Hoshiumi Hikari jumped, Hinata leaped almost in sync, while Tokura was a step slower, ensuring that the two of them, despite their different heights, could reach the high point at the same time.
The height difference between Hoshiumi Hikari and Hinata was not significant, so Tokura handled it according to the plan he used when playing against Hinata during practice.
The greater the height difference between the attacker and the defender, the harder it is to time the jump. The precision of Inarizaki's jump timing was so great that even Hirugami, who was responsible for the decoy, was somewhat surprised.
However, considering Hinata is with Inarizaki, it was to be expected.
With Tokura acting as a middle blocker, Inarizaki's overall blocking height was decent. However, the contact point of Hoshiumi Hikari's full-power jump was still far beyond the block, coming down heavily from above.
The moment he pinpointed where the ball was flying, Hinata abruptly adjusted his body, leaning backward to ensure his hands could block the ball's path.
The sound of fingers making contact with the volleyball rang out immediately after, Hinata shouted, "Touch!"
"Nice!" Miya Osamu praised loudly, then followed up with a set.
Hinata landed and quickly lowered his center of gravity to move laterally, his gaze brushing past Hoshiumi Hikari.
After experiencing so many purely violent spikes.. even Hikari-kun's spikes seem gentle now.
"Give me the ball!" Hinata shouted, calling out to Miya Atsumu for the ball.
Miya Atsumu's gaze swept over the ready Hirugami, while Hinata had already made a sudden one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn while rushing toward Position 2.
The moment Hirugami and Hakuma's gazes followed Hinata's movement, Miya Atsumu raised his hand and pushed the ball toward Position 4.
Hinata reached Position 4 a step faster than the ball, but due to its own spin, the ball experienced a brief moment of hang time just after flying past Position 3.
Tokura, who had already completed a cross-over swap with Hinata, leaped at the ball's position, Hirugami and Hakuma, following up from the back row, jumped immediately after him.
On the other side, Hoshiumi was slightly further away because he was performing a one-on-one block against Hinata, given that his own height was insufficient, the value of his follow-up jump was close to zero.
Knowing the pros and cons of the situation clearly, Hoshiumi Hikari decisively took a step back, withdrawing from the net to defend the front-court ball.
Seeing that he hadn't successfully deceived Hoshiumi into jumping, Hinata felt a slight sense of disappointment.
As he landed, Tokura also spiked the ball.
The Karasuno players read his body orientation and judged it would be a cross shot, causing the block and the back row players to shift in that direction.
Asahi, still in the back row, moved half a step toward his left, his peripheral vision sweeping past Suna, who was sitting at the Inarizaki Coach's bench, a certain prediction suddenly formed in his mind.
At that exact moment, Tokura suddenly twisted his body and slammed the ball down with a line shot.
Asahi stopped his movement before he could reach the ball's trajectory, letting it fly past his ear and causing his hair to shake violently.
The sound of the ball hitting the ground followed immediately, the referee on the sidelines raised his flag, signaling that Inarizaki 11's spike was out of bounds, Karasuno scored.
Asahina was somewhat dazed, while Hoshiumi Hikari in the front row looked at him with a surprised expression: "Your reasoning is correct; this number 11 really did learn that spike technique from Suna."
Hearing Hoshiumi's words, Hinata was a bit dazed.
You have to realize that in the morning matches, Miya Atsumu had barely set any balls to Tokura, Tokura hadn't even shown off his spiking abilities, so how could they have predicted it in advance?
Could it be.. is this the world of geniuses?!
Asahina gave Hoshiumi a slight nod.
Actually.. it was just some very simple reasoning.
Based on Tokura's own posture and gait to infer his past experiences, observing the extent of his physical stretching during the morning when Tokura faced Itachiyama's block.
Considering Inarizaki's experience in nurturing Suna, it really is a shame that such physical conditions aren't being utilized properly..
The answer is already obvious, isn't it?
However.. the quality of that spike was just as terrible as he had expected.
When he heard Tokura spike the ball out of bounds, Miya Atsumu's face instantly darkened, he glared at Tokura with an extremely sharp gaze.
Tokura, clearly knowing he had caused trouble, shrank his neck back and took two steps toward Hinata, attempting to seek Hinata's protection.
Hinata couldn't help but sigh, "So close, just a little bit more.."
The opposing team's setter not only anticipated Tokura's playstyle in advance but also possessed keen judgment, easily determining that this ball would go out of bounds.
He turned his head toward Tokura. "But it doesn't matter, we'll get the next point back!"
The seniors had told him that the best way to make up for one's mistakes was to take back the points that were lost, the same applied to Tokura.
Miya Atsumu didn't say much either, just let out a heavy click of his tongue before turning back to the back row.
This situation was essentially within their expectations; after all, Tokura himself, whose experience and skills haven't been fully honed, was a double-edged sword.
However, making the best use of every spiker was simply his duty as a setter.
On the next play, he would adjust the ball's rotation more noticeably, giving Tokura more time to adjust..
A burning gaze projected from the front; Miya Atsumu looked up and met Hinata's orange-red eyes.
Being stared at like that by Hinata, Miya Atsumu felt a momentary pang of guilt.
Oh no, because the decoy is so effective, I've accidentally been using him non-stop..
He repented.
But he'll do it again next time.
Watching Fukami return, Masaru Haseda spoke up, "Next time, get ten points."
Fukami nodded heavily. "Yeah! I definitely will!"
Kumagai remained silent.
After a brief exchange at the opening, Hoshiumi, who was already in Position 2, moved toward the service area, leaving the front row.
Hinata, having not received the opportunity for a head-on confrontation with Hoshiumi, felt a little disappointed, but he quickly readjusted his own state.
Anyway.. let's warm up first.
Chapter 354: The 354th Fox
Having gained the Service Right, Hoshiumi Hikari demonstrated his impeccable serving ability, hitting a precise serve toward the gap Miya Osamu was covering for Miya Atsumu, slightly disrupting Inarizaki's rhythm.
Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue softly, but he still jumped near the edge of the court to complete the set.
Using the strength of his own wrist, Miya Atsumu instantly sent the ball across the entire width of the court, delivering it right in front of Hinata.
Norikura Isao and Hirugami's reaction speeds were incredibly fast; the moment Hinata jumped, Hirugami had already leaped into the air, positioned at his side to block the cross-court spike.
Because this set was intended to achieve maximum speed and account for Hinata's one-footed jump after adjusting his position, it wasn't very high. Combined with Hirugami's own height and arm span advantage, he completely covered Hinata from above.
Hinata instantly held his breath, his gaze sweeping past the solid arms in his field of vision to the Libero, Takahashi, who was moving toward the edge of the court in the back row.
It was completely different from the decoy tactics used against schools like Fukuda General.
At this moment, neither Asahina nor Hoshiumi Hikari made any suggestion that he should hit a short diagonal, but instead arranged for the Libero to guard the line between the edge of the block and the antenna.
A world that had slowed to a crawl under extreme dynamic vision was reflected in Takahashi's field of vision.
He knew that although this line shot was extremely difficult, but..
—Hinata can definitely do it.
At the very moment Hinata was about to spike, Takahashi, exploding with his maximum speed, also rushed toward the direction of the line shot.
But in that split second, Hinata suddenly pulled back his strength, pressing the base of his palm against the bottom of the volleyball and using his entire hand to lightly touch it, sending the ball flying over Norikura Isao's head.
Seeing the change in the ball's trajectory, Takahashi exerted all his strength, forcing his body to pivot by twisting his ankles, lunged desperately toward the front row.
But a ball with backspin lands much faster than a regular dump, with Takahashi's start being a step too slow, the distance between him and the ball was nothing short of a chasm.
It would be nearly impossible for the front row blocker to turn and save the ball after landing from his jump.
Beautiful.