"Yeah." Rishia nodded.
His idea to serve just now was correct; Hoshiumi also raised his center of gravity for this ball, so any contact with his serve would definitely throw his balance off.
Hoshiumi knew this as well, so he was sacrificing his own offensive opportunities to support the setter's movement.
But.. the arc of his serve was still a little bit too high.
It's okay, he'll score next time.
Chapter 358: The Three Hundred and Fifty-Eighth Fox
Watching Hoshiumi walk toward the service position with the ball, Unabara Uta stretched his legs after returning to the court.
After Hinata's beautiful score just now, the gap had been widened even further. Even though Karasuno had regained the Service Right, it was still a two-point difference.
As long as no major issues arise in the rest of this set and they don't give the opponents frequent opportunities for consecutive scoring, they will definitely be able to take this first set.
Whether it was due to the effect of the compression bandage, the only thing he could feel now was a tight, binding sensation.
The doctor didn't give him any painkillers. He asked Coach Kurosu, but he didn't agree either. He probably wanted him to feel the pain himself so he could stop before things got worse..
Taking a soft breath out, Unabara Uta opened his eyes, which had been slightly closed.
The whistle blew at that same moment, Hoshiumi on the opposing side also began to lightly rotate the volleyball in his hands.
It's fine, he knows what he's doing.
Now.. it was far from the time for his candle to burn out.
“I've got it!”
As Unabara Uta's voice rang out, the solid sound of the ball hitting the forearms immediately followed.
Watching the volleyball fly up, Miya Atsumu quickly stepped forward to set, while Hinata sprinted from the side to pull away for a quick attack, jumping near the Position 2 marker.
His gaze was incredibly intense, Hakuma, who had just been toyed with by him, almost immediately turned his gaze toward him.
It was too late for Hirugami to speak; Hakuma had already moved a step toward Hinata.
In this formation, Hakuma acted as the middle blocker, covering Inarizaki's Position 4 himself, so as Hakuma moved, Norikura Isao, who was also following the play, mistakenly moved toward Hinata as well.
And in the very next second, the ball in Miya Atsumu's hands was set to Ginjima Yui, who had already swapped positions with Tokura and jumped on the side of Position 4.
Hirugami frowned slightly, but he could only watch Ginjima's movements, at the moment Ginjima prepared for a heavy spike, he suddenly adjusted the angle of his arms to block the path of the ball.
But Ginjima's spike was not something he could control alone, not to mention that he had sacrificed his own balance to block it. The moment he made contact with the ball, Hirugami's center of gravity was thrown off.
After a loud thud, the ball flew straight out of the court at a very high angle.
Hoshiumi and Takahashi stopped their pursuit of the ball the moment they saw its trajectory; it was already out of reach.
As he landed, Ginjima pumped his fist and shouted, "Yes!!"
Hinata raised his hands and cheered, "Great job, Ginjima-senpai!"
Miya Atsumu raised his hand to high-five Ginjima, praising him with genuine sincerity, "Nice one, Yui!"
Shoyo's decoy was also great; that big dummy has completely lost his bearings.
Hinata chuckled.
Miya Atsumu's gaze shifted toward the sideline, returning to the scoreboard, which showed a three-point difference once again.
Since Aran graduated, Inarizaki has rarely played such heavy spikes. After all, the Ace himself is a master of technical play and quick attacks, Miya Osamu is quite versatile, so he is quite busy and rarely performs heavy spikes, instead focusing on more efficient technical play; Rishia's strength has not yet been fully developed.
Ginjima, having returned to the Wing Spiker position, was in his element. With Hinata and the others no longer able to keep up physically, Ginjima's brilliance was exceptionally apparent.
However, the reason that last play went so smoothly was mainly because Hinata, acting as a decoy, played a significant role.
If it were a triple block formation centered around Hirugami and Hakuma, even if Ushijima-senpai came over, he probably wouldn't be able to break through easily.
But it's enough; after all, direct confrontations have never been Inarizaki's strong suit.
Moving around to harass and interspersing some powerful attacks is the best way to handle it.
Both teams' Aces had rotated to the back row, with both of them delivering impressive back-row attacks, the overall rhythm and intensity of the game showed no signs of weakening.
But similarly, neither side had another opportunity to score consecutive points.
Watching on TV, Yamaguchi frowned slightly. "It feels like Karasuno is playing reactively, but that shouldn't be the case.."
Although Karasuno focuses on serves and blocking, the players themselves are skilled enough to make their offense effective. However, from what he could see, Karasuno didn't seem to have that intention.
Tsukishima made a simple deduction: "The higher the intensity of the match, the more it tests fundamentals and proficiency. Even Karasuno wouldn't want to choose an uncertain playstyle in a match like this."
Enoshita Chikara nodded. "That makes sense. There's a saying that the more you try, the more mistakes you make. Since the opponent is Inarizaki, who is incredibly skilled at seizing an opportunity ball, it would be very easy to collapse if things aren't handled precisely."
At this stage of the match, it's more a test of endurance, so staying within one's comfort zone is relatively safer.
But just then, Kageyama, who had been quietly watching the match, suddenly spoke up: "Also, it looks like Karasuno intends to just give up this set."
Tsukishima froze for a moment, lowering the hands he had been holding across his chest, his tone filled with surprise: "To think those words would come from the King's mouth.."
Kageyama was the one who was most obsessed with the quality and meaning of every single match at the beginning, yet now he could speak of "dropping a set" so casually.
Kageyama was quiet for a while, as if he were organizing his thoughts.
Tsukishima did not rush him; instead, he was somewhat curious about what Kageyama would say.
"It's probably just a common strategic adjustment; there's more room for maneuver in a best-of-five match, Inarizaki has done this before," Kageyama said calmly.
But I won't let them. If it were me, I would definitely find a way to break through.
Tsukishima remained silent for two seconds, but his focus had drifted slightly: "You.. you haven't watched the recordings of every single Inarizaki match several times, have you?"
Kageyama nodded earnestly. "Yeah, they're very valuable for reference."
Tsukishima remained silent.
Fine, he admitted that Inarizaki was the team with the most diverse tactics among high schools right now.
But looking at Miya Atsumu's cocky face.. how could Kageyama keep watching?
No, should I say it's precisely because Inarizaki has Miya Atsumu that their tactics have become Kageyama's primary reference?
Yeah, he suddenly felt a tiny bit of admiration for Kageyama.
Yaotome raised her hand to interrupt their conversation: "So, is there something I should know? I didn't quite understand, regarding.."
Letting it go?
Inamoto looked at Komori beside him: "I don't feel like Karasuno is letting up either."
Blatant throwing matches is against the rules.
A familiar voice came from behind. Inamoto, standing by the aisle, turned around and saw Iizuna Sho walking over.
"Iizuna-senpai!" Inamoto's face was full of surprise.
At Iizuna's signal, their entire row shifted one position inward, making an empty seat for him.
After greeting the two coaches who were whispering, Iizuna sat down and continued the previous topic.
“Besides, preparing to let a set go doesn't mean you have to go easy on them. Look, Hoshiumi hasn't stopped trying to mess with the Inarizaki Libero either.”
Karasuno, who didn't have a particularly intense match this morning, already held the advantage in terms of physical stamina. Since Inarizaki has already surpassed them with two consecutive points in this set, it would be better to change tactics and focus on draining the opponent's stamina.
Inamoto also realized it at this moment: "Oh—I completely understand!"
They had experienced firsthand how difficult it was to stage a comeback after losing the advantage to Inarizaki, since Karasuno lacked Itachiyama's various top-tier offensive capabilities, trying to counter-attack would only make things even harder.
Relatively speaking, the more reliable approach would be to wear down Inarizaki's momentum through this set and then catch up in the subsequent sets.
"Smart." Iizuna laughed heartily and refocused his attention on the court.
After the third-place match ended, he asked the coach where they would sit, but since seating in the finals venue was tight and there were no vacant seats in Itachiyama's own cheering section, Coach Utsunomiya had to find seats on short notice.
Because of this, he spent a considerable amount of time finding his way from the stands on the other side of the gymnasium, he ended up watching the match via live broadcast.
The service right on the court had already passed to Miya Atsumu. Iizuna noticed that Kumagai was already waiting at the Coach's bench, holding a sign with an illegible number on it.
Glancing at Inarizaki's current rotation, Iizuna speculated, "Are they preparing to substitute Suna or Hinata?"
Inamoto shook his head. "I'm not sure. It could be anyone."
After all, he is one of the strongest players among Inarizaki's key service rotation players at this stage, no matter when he enters the court, he is a powerful weapon.
Miya Atsumu glanced at Kumagai by the sidelines, roughly understanding what the Coach meant.
He decisively changed his approach to the serve, shifting from his original targeted serves that sought to balance risk and reward to complete power serves.
Before the Head Referee signaled the serve, he took two steps back before turning to signal to the Head Referee that he was ready.
Takahashi narrowed his eyes slightly.
Adjusting the approach distance to be even larger.. it means he's going for a Power Jump Serve.
Right now, Karasuno's back row consists of him, Hoshiumi, Hakuma; if he were Miya Atsumu, he would choose to target Hakuma one hundred percent of the time.
After all, among Karasuno's starting lineup, Hakuma had the worst receiving, Norikura Isao, who was responsible for covering him from the back, wasn't particularly skilled either..
Before Takahashi could even finish thinking of a countermeasure, the whistle signaling the serve had already blown.
In the next second, Miya Atsumu raised his hand to toss the ball without a moment's hesitation, quickly moving in to follow through.
After the heavy impact, the ball reached the corner of the Karasuno court almost in an instant.
Seeing that Norikura Isao had no time to retreat, Hakuma decisively raised his hand and reached for the ball.
BANG!!
Watching the ball fly back, Unabara Uta shouted loudly, "Opportunity Ball!"
Hoshiumi's face darkened instantly, he shot Hakuma a fierce glare out of the corner of his eye.
What is this big dummy rookie doing! How can he just send the ball straight over the net when he tries to receive it? All that physique is for nothing!
Bessho and Asahina from the front row moved together to block directly in front of Miya Osamu, restricting his spiking trajectory.
Takahashi stepped back to receive the ball, sending a decent set to the front row.
Asahina adjusted his position to follow up, as Bessho jumped in the center of the front row to coordinate a Quick Attack with him, he raised his hand and lightly flicked the ball, sending it directly over the net.
Unabara Uta dove from the back row to try and save the ball, but in the end, he still failed to touch it.