Miya Atsumu glanced at the three members of Hoshiumi's group who had repositioned on the other side of the net. Instead of setting the ball at the highest point of his jump, he slightly pulled back his hand and pushed the ball backward at a lower point, using his individual skill to further delay the timing of the attack.
Meanwhile, Hirugami, who had already charged toward Ginjima's side, came to a sudden, jarring halt at this very moment.
Jumping simultaneously with him on Ginjima's side, Hinata, who possessed superior hang time, raised his arms and spiked the ball.
Hoshiumi, jumping in sync with Hinata, swung his arm violently toward his own left, forcibly shifting the direction from his original target of Ginjima toward Hinata.
Hirugami also joined in at this moment, the two of them forming a block in front of Hinata.
But the block itself was lower because it had been forced into position, with the boost from his jumping ability, Hinata still managed to successfully spike the ball over the top of the block.
In that instant, Takahashi from the back row lunged toward the edge of the court, but he misjudged the ball's trajectory as it veered off due to its spin.
The ball hit his upper arm and then bounced toward the net.
The ball's height was too low and its speed was too fast, making it clearly impossible to set. Asahina retreated toward the edge of the court, leaving space for Hoshiumi to make his move.
Having already landed, Hoshiumi used his peripheral vision to quickly judge the ball's trajectory, lowered his center of gravity, reached down to dig the ball up.
His arms became a springboard that changed the ball's direction, under his control, the ball flew directly over the net toward Position 4.
Hirugami, who had taken over the role of Ace from Hoshiumi, leaped with all his might, his contact point far exceeding the blocking height of Hinata and Suna.
Under the heavy spike, Miya Osamu in the back row failed to control the ball smoothly.
The ball hit his arm and then bounced out of the court.
The whistle blew, Karasuno scored.
Miya Atsumu couldn't help but click his tongue: "Tsk."
A super spike is truly the most unstoppable type of attack, especially when the opponent possesses both technical skill and physical strength to back it up.
Miya Osamu spoke directly, "Sorry, mine."
The ball returned to the hands of the server once again, marking the end of the first rotation, at that moment, Hinata's gaze was cast upon Hakuma, who had returned to the front row.
Feeling Hinata's blazing fighting spirit, Hakuma glared back without yielding an inch.
As the sound echoed, Asahina's spike slammed into Inarizaki's court; as Hinata retreated to create distance for his approach, he also made a hand signal behind him.
Advancing forward, Miya Atsumu caught the gesture and understood immediately.
Miya Osamu's first receive was perfectly placed; given the favorable conditions, Miya Atsumu had no reason to refuse Hinata's request.
Moreover, regardless of the opponent's block, Hinata's decision showed that the height of the block no longer mattered.
The contact of his fingers against the ball lasted only a split second, but Miya Atsumu handled the force within the ball with absolute precision, sending it toward Position 2 in a perfect, spinless arc.
"Beautiful," Kumoita couldn't help but exclaim.
At the same time, Hinata had already stepped out with his right foot, completing the first step of his approach.
After a four-step approach, he came to a halt extremely close to the net and took one final step, his sole striking the floor with a dull thud.
Thud.
The boy's arm extension was incredibly standard and beautiful, his arm carving a perfect semicircle that was almost perpendicular to the ground as he swung down for the spike.
But at this moment, none of this was what Hakuma was focused on.
Even though he lacked the lateral approach step because he was positioned directly opposite Hinata, his vertical jump for a block was still high enough to make countless spikers hesitate.
But..
Bang!!
The lower half of the ball passed through the gap between Hakuma's palms; although it never fully went over his hands, it was a direct confrontation with the Two-Meter Giant's block.
The ball's extreme speed brought it close to the Karasuno side of the floor almost instantly, the nearby Norikura Isao performed a sliding tackle, extending his leg to forcefully intercept the ball from hitting the ground.
Hinata was slightly dazed for a moment, but he still quickly retreated from his offensive position to prepare for the subsequent block.
To break through from the front, was the arc of the ball's trajectory a bit too high??
Hakuma, clearly unwilling to give up, shouted for the ball: "Give the ball to me!"
Asahina had already moved forward to cover the ball, but the conditions were very poor, he had no time to make many adjustments.
After a brief touch, he sent the ball toward Position 4.
But.. it wasn't Hakuma who performed the spike.
Hoshiumi and Hirugami had already completed their switch in the center of the court. Hakuma's role as a decoy had, for the time being, drawn the attention of Suna and Hinata, meaning that at this very moment, Hoshiumi was facing almost an empty net.
But Hinata, having missed the block, had no intention of giving up just like that.
As he landed, he used the flexibility of his ankles to take a lateral step, cutting into the path of the cross shot just as Hoshiumi's spike was about to land.
His whole body lunged forward, but his fingers slightly stiffened and leveled backward, forcefully "touching" the ball.
Bang!!
The moment the heavy sound rang out, Hinata directly popped the ball up, sending it toward the defensive blind spot in Karasuno's back row caused by Norikura Isao's absence.
Feeling the solid sensation against his fingertips, Hinata, who had just landed, couldn't help but lick his lips.
The angle of this ball is very high; given its landing speed and position, Takahashi won't be able to catch it.
So.. this point belongs to him.
The sound of the ball hitting the floor rang out across the court, the Head Referee signaled that Inarizaki scores.
Hinata straightened up after absorbing the impact and pumped his fist in celebration: "Yes!"
Hoshiumi, who landed a step after Hinata, widened his eyes slightly, somewhat unable to react to what had just happened.
Huh?
Looking at Hoshiumi's expression, Miya Atsumu almost couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Haha."
Hinata raised his hand and rushed toward Miya Atsumu: "Did you see that! Atsumu-ge! I scored with a block!"
The point is.. he blocked Hikari-kun!
Miya Atsumu gave him a high five. "I saw it, Shoyo is amazing."
Suna swallowed the words that were already on the tip of his tongue, as Shoyo approached him, he gave him a high five. "Nice play."
"Hehe." Hinata stood with his hands on his hips triumphantly, casting a very serious, provocative look toward Hoshiumi.
Hoshiumi was momentarily at a loss for words.
And the words the two of them hadn't spoken were ultimately blurted out in a rant by Inamura, who was looking a bit broken by the sight.
No, is that even a block? What kind of block is that?!
Komori said seriously, "During the opponent's attack, if a defensive player jumps and ensures that some part of their body is above the height of the net, they make contact with the ball after it has left the opponent's body, it is ruled a normal block."
He continued, shifting his tone: "However.. a normal blocker isn't trying to score by 'deflecting the ball upward'."
The corners of Sakusa's mouth curled into an imperceptible arc beneath his mask, his mind subconsciously adding to Komori's words.
A standard block usually involves pressing the ball down from above, but Hinata's style, rather than scoring through blocking, is more like..
Sakusa fell silent for two seconds, unable to find the right adjective for a moment.
He gave up, refusing to continue analyzing the behavioral patterns and thought processes of those people from Inarizaki.
On the court, Hoshiumi pointed at Hinata, but in the end, he could only raise his hand to cover his face.
He's gone bad, he's gone completely bad!
This reckless, casual, bold playstyle that pursues novelty and excitement through sudden surprises.. was exactly the deepest impression the Miya Twins had left him.
Why did his good disciple end up with such an unreliable mentor like Miya Atsumu?
If it were him, he would never teach someone to be like this!
At this moment, Hoshiumi's prejudice against Miya Atsumu reached a new peak.
But..
Rishia, having completed the exchange with Suna by the sidelines, walked onto the court with a serious expression.
Suna nodded to the Coach, took a seat at the Coach's bench, after his gaze swept over Hoshiumi, he turned his eyes toward Rishia, who was in the middle of the court preparing to serve.
He could actually guess what Hoshiumi was thinking.
However.. Rishia was the first person to guide Hinata after he officially started playing volleyball, the second was most likely Kumagai, who was training and coordinating with Hinata in the Second String at the time.
Even so, even in the short few days Hinata spent interacting with Miya Atsumu.. no, even in just a few dozen minutes, he was led completely astray by Miya Atsumu.
The fact that this effect was achieved was not only due to Hinata's strong learning ability and how quickly he could be influenced by others, but it was even more likely because Hinata himself had this "unstable" nature in his very bones.
That is precisely why the coordination between these two people has developed at such a rapid pace.
However, even if the two of them pull off something spectacular now, it has nothing to do with him for the time being.
Coach Kurosu's decision to substitute him now is likely a preparation to have Rishia play as a Middle Blocker in the front row during the next rotation's clash.
Rishia's height is sufficient, ranking among the top in all of Inarizaki, he has trained very evenly during regular practice, so it will definitely be no problem for him to temporarily take over his position.
After all.. his blocking was, quite frankly, just relying on psychological warfare to get by; his greater value as a Middle Blocker was as a decoy, so replacing him with Rishia's heavy spike would be just as effective.
In their past lineup, the person who truly bore the responsibility of the "Iron Wall" was Oori-senpai, whose presence was not particularly high.
Right now.. they truly don't have anyone else who can take over.
Coach Kurosu looked at Tokura, who was in the front row with his hands on both sides of his head.
The pace of development.. should be a bit faster. Tokura's physical fitness is good; he could actually handle a heavier training load.
The slow progress previously was mostly because Tokura himself lacked sufficient understanding of volleyball, had little interest, lacked enough passion for learning; a lot of effort was wasted just building his foundation.
This was the first time Tokura truly played as a starter.
So.. he also hoped this match could make Tokura more interested in volleyball.
Coach Kurosu rested his chin on his interlaced hands.
It should be possible.
Shoyo.