Hoshiumi gave a word of praise: "Nice play! Kongming!"
Miya Atsumu, whose service turn had been interrupted, felt a bit displeased: "Tsk, that was tricky."
But he didn't say anything more, because at that moment, a notification suddenly rang out: Inarizaki requested a substitution.
Kumagai Kuniharu from Position 3 is replaced by Miya Atsumu from Position 1.
In the stands, Iizuna gasped, "That's a low blow."
Replacing the starting setter at a time like this was absolutely not simply about trying to conserve Miya Atsumu's stamina.
It is even more likely that this is a signal to Karasuno, an attempt to force them, who have already chosen not to follow, to once again gamble everything on a desperate struggle.
This is.. dragging Karasuno down into the abyss of mutual exhaustion.
Chapter 359: The 359th Fox
Karasuno's strategy of sacrificing minor pieces to save the king was built on the certainty that they could no longer make a breakthrough in this set, but as long as they were certain there was a chance to catch up and overtake, victory would always be their top priority.
After all, the purpose of a stalling tactic is also to seek a more long-term victory by exhausting the opponent; if there is a chance to take the first set directly.. why not?
And at this very moment, Inarizaki's substitution at setter was an active way of giving Karasuno the chance to close the three-point gap.
"No, you should say that these three points are Inarizaki's entire stake," Komori said with extreme composure.
Sakusa nodded: "There's only a three-point margin for error."
But this choice is wise. If they let Karasuno drag them into the Second Set in a relatively composed state, Inarizaki will find it very difficult to play.
Inunari's tone was very serious: "In any case, Karasuno is determined not to let Inarizaki play easily, they won't let Karasuno go down with them either."
But.. this kind of all-or-nothing behavior from Inarizaki is no different from walking a tightrope.
"That's truly wicked.." Unai laughed with difficulty, recalling some terrifying memories.
Watching the sudden increase in offensive intensity from Karasuno, Unai breathed a small sigh of relief: "Karasuno is following suit."
Miya Atsumu took a large mouthful of water, watching Kumagai's setting as Hinata performed a strong attack from Position 4.
Kumagai's ability to direct the play was indeed much worse than his, but.. it was actually sufficient.
Anyway, even if he were to handle the distribution, a large part of it would still rely on Miya Osamu and Hinata to draw the block away. Right now, Kumagai is in good form and possesses sufficient strength, so the effectiveness of his strong attacks is quite good.
On the court, Kumagai tilted his head slightly, meeting Asahina's eyes for a brief moment.
Hinata's figure suddenly darted across the net, cutting off Kumagai's line of sight.
The next second, the ball flew through the air, dropping toward the area near Karasuno's Position 4, where Suna and Miya Osamu had already gathered, Hinata, who had rushed over, had already followed up.
The three of them jumped simultaneously in front of Hoshiumi, Suna's Block was high enough to shut down Hoshiumi's offense.
Hoshiumi frowned slightly, forced to choose an angle near the sideline to barely spike the ball cross-court.
Unabara Uta's reaction was fast; she pushed off again with her left leg and performed a diving save to keep the ball in play.
Komori exclaimed in admiration, "It feels like Inarizaki's Libero has gradually adapted to the state of switching legs; the smoothness of his diving and his success rate in saving balls have both increased significantly."
Unabara Uta's decent condition, combined with the excellent stamina reserves from not playing the full match this morning, made his performance quite brilliant. Although Kumagai's slight flaws in setting increased the probability of the spikers being blocked, Inarizaki didn't make many major mistakes regarding their counterattacks.
Moreover, after deciding to drag Karasuno into the fray, Hinata and Miya Osamu also began playing technical ball.
Anyway, since he had no choice but to make this decision if he couldn't completely shake off the block, he might as well be more thorough about it.
Inarizaki 24:22 Karasuno, Inarizaki reaches set point.
Last point! Go for it!!
Standing near the baseline, Tokura felt a slight numbness in his scalp, momentarily at a complete loss of what to do.
Before this, the key point had already seen a change in the server, so he could only rely on himself for this ball.
But serving.. he doesn't know a thing about that!
Don't be nervous, don't be nervous.
The coach didn't expect him to score on a serve; ensuring he didn't make a mistake was the greatest success, if he could build on that to disrupt the opponent's offense, that would be even better.
Seeing his tension and confusion, Miya Atsumu on the coach's bench, Unabara Uta who was still drinking water, Suna, who was positioned in front of Hinata and had just been performing serve cover, all raised their hands at the same time, making a "3" sign in unison.
Coach Kurosu couldn't help but chuckle.
A few people on the court were competing behind their backs, so the Karasuno members naturally didn't see it, but Unabara Uta and Miya Atsumu made no attempt to hide it, Hoshiumi noticed it immediately.
That Meisei guy's receiving has become so bad that every opponent is targeting him! I told him he should have let that guy become a Middle Blocker!
But he was too late to speak, as the referee had already raised his hand, preparing to signal the serve.
Having a plan in mind, Tokura calmed down.
The whistle blew suddenly the next second, although Tokura was startled by the sudden sound, he still gripped the volleyball firmly, not letting it slip from his hands.
Position 3.. I just need to focus on that two-meter hitter, right?
Taking a deep breath and adjusting his state, Tokura raised his hand and tossed the ball into the air.
Actually, he is capable of timing it perfectly, but because he was a bit nervous at the start, he forgot to count, so he could only focus on ensuring the serve wasn't late.
The serve went over the net in a very standard fashion toward the front of Hakuma, but luckily Tokura's serve wasn't fast, so Hoshiumi was able to successfully recover in time.
Asahina breathed a sigh of relief, quickly moved forward, handed the ball to Hoshiumi, who had completed Akagi's receiving movement and jumped from the back row.
Sighting the space between Kumagai and Suna, Hoshiumi spiked the ball directly into Kumagai's hands.
The ball bounced high, flying straight toward the stands, Hoshiumi scored by tooling the block.
Inarizaki 24:23 Karasuno, the service right passed to Norikura Isao.
"He still got caught." Kumagai shook his hand, which was aching from the impact.
Hoshiumi's tooling the block was truly too sharp; his decisiveness was even a level above Hinata's. If he left even the slightest gap, he would definitely, absolutely be targeted.
Miya Osamu clapped his hands: "Next ball, next ball, it's no big deal."
Norikura Isao's serve was mediocre; although it was heavy, it wasn't something Hinata couldn't handle.
He lowered his center of gravity and steadily received the ball.
Kumagai decisively passed the ball to Miya Osamu, who was already launching an attack from Position 4.
Miya Osamu slammed the ball through the gap between the block and the sideline, but Norikura Isao was there in time to cover, digging the ball up.
Kongming!
The called Asahina quickly stepped forward, arching his back as he sent a toss to Hoshiumi.
Inarizaki's Block this time was perfect, leaving Hoshiumi with no choice but to tip the ball over to seek a different route.
Unabara Uta lunged forward and saved the ball.
"Akuma! Give me the ball!!" Hinata shouted, calling for the toss.
Kumagai had already moved under the ball and was prepared to make a setting motion.
But just as Bessho and the others moved toward that side, Kumagai swung his arm and sent the ball directly over the net in a tip.
Takahashi from Karasuno's back row rushed over and extended his arms to receive the ball.
Over here!
Give me the ball!!
Hoshiumi and Hakuma in the back row both called for the ball at the same time.
As Inarizaki's block prepared to spring, Asahina, who had just finished a diving recovery and had not yet returned to position, used one hand to push the ball, sending it into a tip.
Hinata dove for the ball, but in the end, he was just a fraction too short.
The score jumped to 24:24 at this moment, with Karasuno tying it up at the very last second.
"Alright! Catch up in one go!" Hoshiumi clenched his fists tightly.
As long as they could score one more consecutive point, they could take the lead, after that, the advantage would be theirs!
Inamoto scoffed at this and protested, "How disgusting, these black-hearted setters!"
Both sides' spikers are in such great form, the Ace is calling for the ball, yet the setters are actually playing against each other!
Does this even make sense!
Iizuna smiled, choosing not to comment on it.
Indeed, compared to the setters from the two teams on the court, our own junior was indeed a bit foolish..
Coach Kurosu glanced at Miya Atsumu beside him, his eyes questioning whether he should send him in to play these final few points to secure the victory.
Miya Atsumu remained unmoved, simply raising his hand to give Kumagai two hand signals.
Only after seeing Kumagai nod to him did Miya Atsumu speak up: "Karasuno is really going too far. Aren't they just picking on our Libero because his legs aren't as quick as they used to be?"
Coach Kurosu smiled. "That is their weakness; it would be strange if they didn't target it."
However, Unabara Uta and Ginjima had decent coordination; that last ball came too suddenly, so there really was nothing they could do.
Miya Atsumu rubbed his chin. "Did they tie it up??"
"But it's already late in the set; Karasuno will most likely catch up," Sakusa said calmly from the stands.
Inarizaki wouldn't make a mistake severe enough to give Karasuno three consecutive points.
Komori propped up his face with his hands. "Not necessarily, didn't Hoshiumi just rotate back?"
As expected, when you aren't the one playing, watching such a grueling match is incredibly exciting. If I were to put myself in that position.. it would be nothing but a nightmare.
Hoshiumi cheered loudly, "Give us a good serve!"
Norikura Isao took a deep breath, closed his eyes, held his breath in silence for two seconds before finally exhaling.
At this moment, having control over his service turn is the most important thing.
His previous serve failed to have any effect, they managed to score thanks to the play by Asahina and the others.
This time.. he will pave the way for the team!
The volleyball in his field of vision suddenly soared upward, Hinata lowered his center of gravity slightly, dropping his body as he focused on the ball.