Veins bulged on Hoshiumi's forehead.
Chapter 374: The Three Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Fox
Aaaah—I'm so pissed off!
Hoshiumi Hikari grabbed his head with his hands, thoroughly ruffling his already disheveled hair into a mess, his expression toward Hinata looking quite ferocious.
"Don't be upset, you'll get them back in a bit," Hirugami said, offering comfort to Hoshiumi as he prepared to swap positions with Takahashi.
After saying that, he added another sentence, "But it's true, Hinata's tooling the block really has your style, Hoshiumi Hikari."
Having just received a bit of psychological comfort, Hoshiumi's footsteps faltered. He turned his head to look at Hirugami, his eyes filled with a hint of disbelief, but mostly with a newly rekindled anger.
Yukihito! Whose side are you really on!
Hirugami shrugged. "This is a sincere compliment; I'm just saying you played well."
Having said that, he gave Hoshiumi no chance to continue refuting him, leaving the court directly to escape Hoshiumi's range of attack.
Hoshiumi Hikari let out a light click of his tongue, aggressively wiping the sweat from his chin with his hand, directing all of his fury toward the Inarizaki members on the opposite side.
He looked at Hinata, who was preparing to serve on the other side of the net: "I'll show you the real deal in a moment."
Hinata's expression filled with pleasant surprise: "I'm looking forward to it!"
Seeing that Hinata was serious, Hoshiumi fell into silence.
After letting out a scoff, Miya Atsumu turned his head toward Tokura and said, "Did you hear that? He's going to be tooling the block, so be careful."
Tokura nodded seriously. "Yeah, I will."
Hoshiumi's breath hitched.
Feeling his emotions being stirred into instability by Miya Atsumu and the others, Hoshiumi Hikari quickly averted his gaze and tried to adjust his state through breathing.
—And they say they win through trash talk, isn't Inarizaki even more extreme than that!
Hinata walked to the serving position holding the ball. Before stepping onto the court, he glanced toward the Coach's bench; seeing that the Coach wasn't planning to use a strategic substitution for the crucial point, he had a general idea of what was coming.
The Deciding Set would be decided at 15 points, generally, it wouldn't reach a third rotation.
Since the coach didn't prepare to substitute him at the very beginning, it's likely to be after the halfway point of the second rotation.
The current score is tied, but overall, Karasuno is still leading. However, as long as Inarizaki can secure a chance to score consecutive points, they can take the lead.
Spinning the volleyball lightly in his hands, Hinata adjusted his state.
There are eight seconds for a serve, on a volleyball court where every confrontation lasts only two to three seconds, this is quite a long time, providing ample opportunity to tune one's touch to its best.
This might be his last serve of this match, so.. at the very least, he has to get a passing grade.
When the serve limit reached six seconds, Hinata opened his eyes again and looked out at the court under the spotlights.
The brightly colored volleyball in his field of vision was exceptionally striking. After a brief moment of thought, Hinata raised his hand and tossed the ball up just as the serve limit was ending.
His brain was struggling to keep up, so he simply stopped thinking about it.
Whether it's disrupting the opponent's subsequent offensive rhythm, or simply focusing on scoring..
Above all, the first priority is to get the volleyball over the net.
When there isn't enough energy to spare, just focus on ensuring the most basic parts are handled first.
After countless serving drills, the entire motion and process of the serve had become etched into his body's instinct. Every step's stride was the optimal answer, having been calibrated and confirmed, so.. there would absolutely be no line violations.
Thud!!
The sound of the hit rang in everyone's ears as the volleyball, spinning, flew over the net in an instant toward Karasuno's back row.
Hoshiumi Hikari, responsible for covering the setter, stepped forward to block in front of Asahina, lowering his center of gravity to steadily receive the ball.
His gaze was calm.
Despite his current disheveled appearance, Hoshiumi Hikari's state remained composed.
Feeling the solid sensation against his arms, Hoshiumi couldn't help but smile.
His receiving had reached this level through countless days and nights of training. He wouldn't possibly make a mistake on a serve with so little actual threat.
Sweat doesn't lie; everything accumulated in the past..
The receiving instinct already carved into his body becomes the most powerful force of all when everyone is completely exhausted.
When it comes to fundamentals, he believed he wouldn't lose to anyone!!
The ball landed incredibly steadily in the front row near the Attack Line, without the slightest bit of deviation, landing exactly directly above the spot where Asahina would move forward and backward to perform the set.
Komori clapped his hands: "A perfect first receive."
Even though Hinata's serve wasn't particularly threatening, to be able to deliver such a flawless first receive while being physically and mentally exhausted—Hoshiumi is truly incredible.
Asahina, having secured the ball, passed it out with maximum speed, utilizing the advantage in the setting point provided by his height, the ball reached Hakuma Mebuki in an instant.
Hakuma's countless jumps still carried a heavy, powerful momentum that remained unstoppable in this situation.
Tokura reached out as he followed up, putting all his strength into trying to touch Hakuma's spike.
But his approach speed was a bit slow, he wouldn't be able to touch the ball if he couldn't jump in sync with the spiker.
He adjusted on the fly, wanting to pull back to touch the ball at a lower point.
Hinata, from the back row, quickly followed up, recalling all of Hakuma's previous spikes and simulating the possible trajectory and landing point of this ball.
Sensing Tokura's intention, Hakuma reacted quickly.
He had just discussed this topic with Hoshiumi and the coach—how to adjust to avoid any form of intentional contact from the opponent.
And after a brief moment of thought, Hoshiumi Hikari gave the answer.
—Either fast, or high.
"Fast" is easy to understand; his hitting point itself has an absolute advantage. As long as he can prevent the opponent's block from jumping in sync with his own rhythm, he can definitely shake them off.
And it wasn't about jumping higher, but about hitting the ball at a higher trajectory, thereby avoiding having the opponent touch the ball at a lower point on its path.
The former is easy enough to do, but in the current situation, it is a bit difficult, as Hakuma can no longer run effectively.
Continuing to maintain high-intensity jumping and running would not only cause his muscles and lungs to fail, but injuring his knees would be irreversible.
So.. the optimal solution at this time is actually the latter.
Hakuma can adjust the trajectory of his spikes, but only when it comes to left and right adjustments, he cannot spike many balls at extreme angles.
Although he was called a volleyball genius because of his height, his learning speed regarding the overall big picture was quite good, he always fell a bit short when it came to more fine details.
His blocking might be able to keep up with Hirugami, but his offense is completely inadequate.
If you had to say.. it's because he has grown accustomed to relying on his height and absolute violence to produce results, without much awareness of adjusting his technique.
But this also means that the things he hasn't tried before don't mean he can't do them.
And now..
It was the exact moment to leap over it.
Coach Aran watched Hakuma Mebuki play on the court in silence, his expression remaining calm and unruffled.
A heavy thud exploded in his ears as Hakuma used the heel of his palm to spike the ball away.
The ball was pushed forward by him for a certain distance, before falling toward the Inarizaki court in a high parabolic arc.
But this wasn't a dump; it had merely changed its trajectory through a striking motion similar to a serve, its actual speed and power were both terrifying.
Hinata and Unabara, who were originally positioned further forward, turned their heads at the same time, both diving toward the ball as it fell near the baseline.
Both of them had very serious expressions; in the heat of the moment, neither had time to say a word.
By the time Hinata snapped out of it, he noticed that Unabara Uta had already lunged toward him.
Seeing that he wouldn't make it, Hinata used his hand to push off the ground during his diving movement, preventing his hand from reaching forward and dropping, abruptly halting his movement halfway.
But this ball had a very high speed; Unabara Uta actually couldn't keep up with it either.
With a heavy thud, the ball hit the ground; Unabara Uta was ultimately just a little too late.
Hinata clutched his head, using the momentum to slide sideways toward Unabara Uta.
Unabara Uta reached out to catch him, the two of them tumbled together in a heap.
After confirming that Hinata was not injured, Unabara Uta breathed a small sigh of relief.
He turned his head to look at the volleyball as it bounced off the floor and flew out of the court, letting out a heavy click of his tongue.
His original position wasn't even here, considering his leg injury, he could only rely on his other leg for power.
If his right leg were not a problem.. he would definitely, definitely be able to catch up.
YES!!
Cheers and applause drowned out the entire stadium at this moment, Hakuma also clenched his fists and let out a roar, venting all the frustration in his heart caused by Inarizaki's disgusting block.
Hoshiumi glanced at Hinata, who was being held in Unabara Uta's arms with a look of utter disbelief, clenched his fist before quietly relaxing it.
It must feel so frustrating.
It's despairing, isn't it?
They give everything they have to move forward, but a true genius who holds all the advantages only needs to take a single step forward to surpass their ten steps.
The arena is never a utopia; the only reality they must face is the cruelty of elimination.
This court has never lacked talented people.
But the weight of talent varies; for instance, Hakuma was born with a silver spoon in his mouth when it comes to volleyball.
But that was precisely why.. chasing after those people and crushing them all underfoot would be something truly exhilarating, something that would leave everyone utterly astonished.
He has been doing this for many, many years, while Hinata is merely a newcomer who has just stepped onto this track after stumbling and struggling.
Even though Hinata's speed was already very fast, he could also see Hinata's brilliant future..
But volleyball is not an individual sport; true strength lies in the strength of everyone.
At this moment, the stronger ones are him, they are.