Hirugami replied sincerely, "Not at all, I'm just telling the truth."
Hinata believed those words; after all, he felt the exact same way.
If Hoshiumi or Hirugami were to leave in the middle of the match.. he would also feel very sad and regretful.
As Hirugami turned to leave, he shouted to Asahina, who was standing behind him preparing to serve, "Make it a good one!"
Asahina took his position behind the baseline, holding the ball in both hands while lowering his gaze to think quietly for a moment.
They had actually been working on draining Hinata's stamina from the very beginning, but the effect was much worse than he had anticipated.
He looked back at the footage from last year's National Sports Festival and the beginning of this year's Haruko; judging solely by physical stamina, he determined that Hinata had not reached a level where he could maintain high-intensity play throughout all five sets.
Even though Inarizaki changed their tactics midway to give Hinata a chance to catch his breath, he still has energy left even now.
It is truly astonishing.
In a sense, Hinata's physical stamina might not have improved that much, but his planning and utilization of his stamina are far more mature than before.
The effectiveness of the strategy wasn't great, resulting in some losses relative to Karasuno's overall plan.
—It would have been better to have targeted Miya Atsumu from the very beginning.
Asahina looked at the volleyball in his hands; after a one-and-a-half-set break, his condition had improved quite a bit.
Although increasing one's heart rate is conducive to better performance, for him..
A calm state is the best.
Although Inarizaki served first in the Deciding Set, Karasuno took the initiative, since Hirugami had slightly disrupted the opposing Ace's rhythm just now, the rest should be easy to play.
This ball.. let's target Miya Atsumu first.
With only one second left on the serve clock, Asahina raised his hand and tossed the ball.
Unabara Uta reacted almost instantly, taking a step toward Miya Atsumu. As Miya Atsumu stepped back toward the sideline, Unabara Uta had already lowered his center of gravity to receive the ball.
"Beautiful!" Miya Atsumu shouted, stepping forward to follow up with a set.
Scanning Hinata, who was jumping over at Position 4, Miya Atsumu instead turned and gave a back set to Miya Osamu.
After having enough time to catch his breath, Miya Osamu's condition had clearly recovered, he hit this first ball with immense power.
Sighting the gap in the block caused by Hoshiumi's slow recovery, he slammed the ball directly into Hoshiumi's arm.
While covering the offense, Hinata tilted his head slightly, watching the overall blocking rhythm of Karasuno out of the corner of his eye; his eyes, which had been somewhat lifeless due to fatigue, suddenly lit up at this moment.
Hoshiumi, who hadn't even had time to tense his body, decisively gave up on facing the ball head-on, instead proactively adjusting the angle of his arm to let his left hand attempt a touch.
"One-touch!" Hoshiumi's voice rang out.
Takahashi breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped forward to bump the ball: "Nice! Kongming!"
Asahina, who had already taken his position, jumped to set the ball, the moment his fingers touched it, he directed the ball toward Karasuno's Position 4.
Meanwhile, Hakuma, who had already been prepared over there, held his breath and used all of his strength to spike the ball down.
Once this set is over, there is nothing left; his only task now is to show his full strength without any reservations.
But Hakuma's heavy spike was also touched by Miya Osamu, popping up at a high angle toward the back row: "Touch!"
Hinata pulled his gaze away from Hoshiumi and raised his hand decisively, demanding the ball: "Give me the ball!!"
The moment he heard Hinata's highly recognizable voice, Miya Atsumu looked at him almost immediately.
Unabara Uta also cast a glance toward Hinata from the corner of her eye, letting out a subtle sigh of relief.
—The Ace is still calling for the ball.
Suna silently turned his gaze away from Hinata, instead stepping forward to prepare for a spike in the center.
He had wanted to end it quickly from the very beginning, but unfortunately, with the gap in strength between the two sides being so small, the situation remained tense, it dragged on into the Fifth Set.
But in this final set, he didn't want to let the match drag on to those legendary thirty or forty points. Therefore, he still had to aim to increase the pace of the game and build up a lead to lay the foundation for victory.
As he stepped forward, he turned his head slightly to look at Miya Atsumu, communicating with him through his eyes.
Hinata has a very strong presence right now, almost everyone on the Karasuno side is staring at him, so this is the perfect time for him to launch a surprise attack.
The moment he jumped, Miya Atsumu decisively sent the pass out.
But.. the target wasn't Suna, it was Hinata, who was being closely marked by many people.
Hinata jumped from a high point at Position 4, Miya Atsumu's pass arrived perfectly right in front of him.
Suna looked at Miya Atsumu with a look of disbelief, momentarily wondering if that last ball had actually been a set from Miya Atsumu.
Although he knew that Hinata needed to regain his momentum at a time like this, giving Hinata a set under these circumstances.. wasn't that a bit too much pressure to put on him?
As Miya Atsumu descended, he couldn't help but curl his lips into a smirk, his eyes filled with undisguised belief as he looked toward the boy extending his arms in mid-air.
Strategy?
Planning?
None of this matters right now.
He only knew that the Ace was calling for the ball, at this very moment, letting the Ace score back the point he had just lost.. was the best tactic!
Moreover, he knew that Hinata would not let him down.
Watching the ball fly toward him, Hinata's gaze slowly focused on Hoshiumi on the opposite side.
That's right, declining condition and physical exhaustion weren't problems faced by him alone; the players playing the whole match weren't just the Wing Spikers.
Although the Libero has the chance to step off for a rest, in essence, there is not much difference between that and playing the whole match.
Atsumu had said before that Takahashi was a first-year, so his physical stamina would definitely be much worse than his.
Being in poor condition will also affect one's judgment, which means.. the deceptive playstyle will be even more effective than before.
And since he is no longer able to perform high-frequency maximum jumps, a deceptive play that doesn't consume much stamina is the best choice at this moment.
As Takahashi noticed the gaze shift toward the side of the wrist, he decisively took a step forward, preparing to defend against a potential short diagonal.
But in that split second, at the moment of contact, Hinata gave the ball a light push, dropping it into Karasuno's court along a line almost parallel to the sideline.
Although the landing point was close to the net, the Karasuno defenders on that side were positioned too far toward the other side and couldn't react in time.
Hirugami turned to try and save the ball as it hit the ground, but he couldn't reach it.
The ball landed softly, the whistle sounded immediately after, as the Head Referee made a gesture to announce that Inarizaki scores.
Nice play!
“Nice one, Shoyo!”
The moment Hinata landed, Ginjima and Unabara Uta rushed over from behind, surrounding him in the middle as they cheered.
Hirugami's expression was very serious, far from the calmness he had just shown.
He thought.. Hinata's slump would last a bit longer, at the very least, he wouldn't look like he had regained his form after only one minute of the match.
At this rate, not only have they had no effect on Hinata's condition, but Hinata has even managed to figure out a way to target them.
"Like monsters." Asahina sighed.
They played with enough self-indulgence, enough freedom.
But.. these people just happen to have the ability to support such recklessness.
I'm a little envious.
Hinata rushed up to Miya Atsumu with both hands raised high. "Atsumu-ge! Wasn't I super cool?!"
Miya Atsumu didn't high-five him; instead, he leaned down, wrapped his arms around Shoyo's waist, gave him a hug: "Shoyo, you were absolutely amazing."
I'm not lying to you this time; as long as you want the ball, I'll give it to you.
Hinata said very firmly, "Then you have to give me the next ball too."
"Alright." Miya Atsumu agreed quickly.
By this stage of the match, he could no longer fully trust Suna and the others' condition, as the disadvantage in physical stamina was a reality.
Using Suna and Miya Osamu's intimidation ability to focus on clearing a path for Hinata is the best choice.
Suna glanced at Miya Atsumu's profile and silently swallowed the words he had originally intended to say.
Has Miya Atsumu's setting habit been unconsciously influenced by Hinata?
No.. should I say it's that he has better opportunities to perform?
In the stands, Iizuna rested his chin in his hands, a pleasant curve forming at the corners of his mouth. "Is this a rare moment of honesty from a liar.."
Inamura muttered to himself, "That is rare."
Miya Atsumu was the type of person who would deceive both sides of the net at the same time.
He never gives the ball to the Ace, instead using his teammates' sincerity to deceive the opponents' trust..
It's terrifying.
Miya Osamu's serve failed to score; he had some trouble with his toss, which resulted in poor overall serve quality.
Having gained a counterattack opportunity, Karasuno quickly organized a fairly fierce offense, Hoshiumi successfully scored by tooling the block.
Miya Atsumu clapped his hands to comfort Hinata and Ginjima, who had lost points on the block, saying, "It's okay, it's okay. Next ball."
After saying that, he turned to look at Miya Osamu, who had just served, gave him a fierce glare.
Miya Osamu rolled his eyes.
But then again, since he was the one who made the mistake first, he couldn't really say anything.
There were no time-outs in the deciding set to adjust one's state, making every service advantage crucial.
"Nice serve!" Karasuno cheered for Hoshiumi.
Hoshiumi raised a hand to touch his hair.
His hair was styled with gel every morning, but after playing matches all day long, sweating, wiping his face, his hair had become a bit messy and was no longer as neat as it had been before.
But that doesn't matter; the current goal is to secure the first ace of this set!
The Miya Twins have already been completely defeated; now it is his time to perform.
After a soft chuckle, Hoshiumi spun the ball in his hands, feeling in high spirits.