Observing Hinata's jumping motion, the Karasuno members jumped immediately after Hinata's leap, intending to block him.
But at that very instant, another shadow lunged from the side, leaping up less than a step away from in front of Hinata.
Two arms swung down almost simultaneously, forming an angle toward the inside.
BANG!!
The volleyball left an almost invisible blur in Takahashi's field of vision, its extreme speed making it impossible for him to keep up.
The ball slammed into his arm, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling, while the ball flew out of bounds.
Until the moment the ball hit the floor.. he couldn't even distinguish who had spiked it.
The whistle from the Assistant Referee sounded at that exact moment, piercingly sharp, leaving the Inarizaki members, who had just prepared to cheer, momentarily stunned.
Miya Atsumu, who had already raised his hand to high-five the others in celebration, was completely bewildered.
What's going on? Why did the Assistant Referee blow the whistle? There shouldn't have been a possibility of an offensive violation just now.
He confirmed that his feet had not crossed the center line when he landed after the spike; even if it were something like a net touch, the Head Referee should have been the one to call it.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Assistant Referee signaled that Inarizaki 10's back-row attack was out of bounds.
Upon hearing the ruling, Hinata raised his hand and pointed to himself: "Me?"
Takahashi sat on the ground, her brain momentarily short-circuiting.
What happened?
How was that spike just now? Did Inarizaki commit a violation?
Hinata looked a bit dazed in his field of vision, saying something to the Head Referee, then glanced over this way after feeling his gaze.
In the moment he locked eyes with Hinata, Takahashi's somewhat frozen brain finally managed to spring back to life.
Is it.. Hinata's back-row attack?
But in the next second, he saw Miya Osamu in front of Hinata, slightly closer to the net.
No, was that Miya Osamu's spike?
That's it. The power of that last ball wasn't something Hinata could produce; that heavy, forceful, fast spike was, without a doubt, Miya Osamu's handiwork.
Miya Osamu's jump was a little bit later, which indeed created a time difference against the block. Although the final result wasn't a super-height spike, he still managed to exploit the gap in the block.
Bold, yet an absolute sense of confidence.
And from beginning to end, there was a sense of effortless mastery, without a single shred of doubt regarding the outcome of such an aggressive playstyle.
Everything.. was just right.
Hinata communicated with the Assistant Referee with a hint of helplessness, while on the other side, Miya Atsumu was also explaining.
Although he was very close to the ball just now, he confirmed that he hadn't touched it.
However, he stepped on the line on purpose, after all, to close the distance between himself and Miya Osamu to achieve the deceptive effect.
He hadn't expected.. that he would not only deceive the opponents, but even confuse the referee.
The Head Referee realized what had happened and quickly signaled to the Assistant Referee that the person who just spiked the ball was not number 10.
The Assistant Referee also quickly realized that he had made a mistake with the call, hurriedly apologized to the Inarizaki members, while the Head Referee followed immediately with the correct decision.
Komori scratched his head in the stands: "I didn't see it clearly at all."
They were sitting a bit far away, everything that just happened was too fast; he didn't see clearly who exactly performed the spike.
Sakusa frowned slightly. "It feels like Inarizaki is desperately pursuing ultimate speed."
Most likely.. it's because Inarizaki's Libero won't play all five sets.
Enoshita Chikara speculated.
Coach Kurosu from Inarizaki isn't the type to force injured players onto the court, so I guess the indicator might be two to three sets.
Their substitute Libero's skill level is clearly a notch below the starter's; in that situation, their chances of winning against Karasuno are even smaller.
Yeah," Kageyama nodded, "Inarizaki needs to win this set.
Whether it was to use the opportunity of these two sets to wear down Karasuno's momentum, or to end the match as quickly as possible, victory in these two sets was absolutely vital.
At the very least.. we have to ensure we win at least one set.
Glancing at the scoreboard by the court, Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue lightly. "We can't seem to pull ahead.."
To be honest, that wrong call just now really gave him a fright.
After all, if that point had been lost just now.. Karasuno would have completely seized the initiative.
Given the intensity of Karasuno's defense, it would be very difficult to make a comeback.
Fortunately, we can still hold our ground for now.
Moreover, it's his service turn; he must continue to find ways to break through the opponent's defense.
Chapter 362: The Three Hundred and Sixty-Second Fox
Hoshiumi frowned slightly as he glanced at Miya Atsumu, who was preparing to serve.
To be honest, under the current circumstances, Miya Atsumu's Serve isn't particularly difficult to deal with; Norikura Isao and Takahashi's receiving skills are reliable, so there shouldn't be any issues even with a double-blocker first receive.
Compared to the match against Itachiyama this morning, Miya Atsumu's performance had actually shown a noticeable decline in form.
If the quality was still like that first serve.. Takahashi and the others would have had absolutely no problem.
Receiving Hoshiumi's provocative gaze, Miya Atsumu returned it with an equally provocative smile.
He held the ball and stood still, four steps away from the baseline.
Yes, he still intended to use a Jump Float Serve.
In Karasuno's match footage from the new school year, there actually weren't many instances of receiving a Jump Float Serve. He had previously watched the opponent's Junior High footage to study Takahashi, but that was already a year ago, the changes were nothing short of astronomical.
As for Norikura Isao, he has no record of playing as a substitute other than during the Spring High tournament at the beginning of this school year.
However.. he has already decided how he is going to play now.
Just like Karasuno's tendency to target Unabara Uta's right side, he had also roughly figured out the zone where Takahashi's receiving was unpracticed.
He didn't just want to score; his philosophy regarding his Serve had never changed from the very beginning.
—To break down the opponent's defensive core.
Spinning the volleyball on his fingertips, Miya Atsumu tossed the ball high into the air with an air of nonchalance.
Komori froze instantly in the stands: "Eh? A high toss?"
Before his words had even finished falling, Miya Atsumu, who had already jumped behind the baseline, struck the ball with his palm.
Takahashi himself is of average height; most players who specialize in hand-based attacks have the height and physique to back them up, although he can do it, his performance isn't great. Furthermore, during the previous service turn, he noticed that Takahashi's reaction speed was somewhat slow and his lower body was a bit unstable. Therefore.. he only needed to ensure that this serve was both high and heavy.
In the next instant, the ball, propelled by the force of his palm, flew over the net at high speed without any spin, maintaining a very high trajectory as it soared toward Karasuno's back row.
Because they were defending a Jump Float Serve, Karasuno's entire first receive formation was positioned quite far forward, especially Takahashi.
After all, most Jump Float Serves are meant to have no spin, so they can't easily reach the back court, they were prepared according to standard Jump Float Serve defensive positioning.
Takahashi's eyes followed the volleyball as it went up, but the ball, which was faster than any Jump Float Serve in his memory, did not give him enough time to react.
A ball with such a steep angle would usually be aimed to drop near the baseline, but.. it was already too late to retreat, adjust his position, make a play on it.
He was forced to raise his hands and shift his center of gravity upward, attempting to intercept the ball before it dropped.
The ball was unexpectedly high, in the end, Takahashi only had enough time to touch the bottom edge of it with her fingers.
Bang!
A heavy thud rang in everyone's ears. The ball was so heavy that Takahashi couldn't even manage a basic bump; after hitting his hands, the volleyball continued its descent toward the floor, his entire center of gravity was completely disrupted at that moment.
On the other side, Asahina rushed over to try to save the ball, but not only did he fail to save it, he also tumbled into a heap along with the falling Takahashi.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scores.
“Great play!! Atsumu-ge! You were so cool!” Hinata immediately turned back to look at Miya Atsumu, raising both hands high in celebration, “Is that some kind of Fūrin Kazan-style thunderous heavy cannon Jump Serve?!”
Miya Atsumu, who had just been about to lift his chin and gloat for a moment, was left stunned on the spot by that incredibly long, complex sentence.
He raised his hand and silently brushed away the hair on his forehead, which had become a bit messy from the sweat, said helplessly, "Shoyo, you're not allowed to be with Bokuto-senpai anymore.."
Hinata blinked. "Is my name not good?"
After deeply understanding Shiratori-senpai's way of giving compliments, he learned a bit from him. This is so cultured! So pleasant to hear! So passionate!
Suna suddenly said, "That's not flashy enough."
Miya Osamu nodded, giving Hinata an example: "It should be an invincible, powerful Jump Float Serve."
Suna couldn't help but chuckle, "Isn't that even less flashy?"
Miya Atsumu's fierce gaze swept over them, but Suna and Miya Osamu, who had already joined forces, ignored him together and continued to come up with all sorts of ridiculous names for his Serve.
Feeling as though his dignity was being trampled underfoot by the two of them, Miya Atsumu protested, "Hey! I'm the Captain!"
After teasing Miya Atsumu quite blatantly for a few words, Miya Osamu suddenly looked toward Ginjima, who was still on the other side thinking about what name to give Hinata. "Gin, why don't you come up with one?"
Ginjima pondered for two seconds before giving a very serious response: "Atsumu's Serve."
Hearing such a dismissive name, Miya Atsumu turned his head and threw himself onto Hinata, starting to fake cry, "Shoyo—they're all bullying me—"
Hinata clenched his fists and said indignantly, "I'll avenge Atsumu-senpai! Let's go find the Coach and report them together!"
Coach Kurosu couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
Unable to suppress his urge to complain, Rishia Heisuke covered his face with his hands at the Coach's bench.
—What on earth is all this!
——In the end, wasn't it only Shoyo who was being serious about how good the names sounded!
—And Atsumu-senpai! Weren't you the one opposing the idea of picking a name in the first place! Why are you suddenly obsessing over whether the name sounds good or not!
Compared to the somewhat relaxed atmosphere on Inarizaki's side after scoring consecutive points, Karasuno was in a state of chaos.
Hearing the buzzer, Hinata, who was still discussing with Miya Atsumu how to tattle to the coach, turned his head toward that side and found that Karasuno had called a time-out.