Everyone looked at Miya Atsumu, who had taken on the task of commanding the team.
Atsumu looked at Hoshiumi.
He asked an incredibly profound question: "Are you.. sure you want me to go?"
Hoshiumi raised an eyebrow slightly. "What else?"
Whoever is the Acting Captain goes to draw lots; he didn't have any particular fondness for drawing lots.
The two of them stared each other down in a standoff for a long time, but eventually, Miya Atsumu decided to make full use of his authority as the acting Captain. He walked up to Coach Arakune with his chest out and head held high to face Kageyama for the draw.
The coin flipped and landed; seeing the final result, Miya Atsumu's heart finally sank.
Watching Miya Atsumu walk back, Hoshiumi let out a sneer. "I knew it, you really can't do it."
Miya Atsumu flared up in embarrassment, "Hey! That's too much!"
Kageyama walked back to his teammates' side and said softly, "First serve."
Hinata pumped his fist and cheered, "Yes! We're halfway there!"
As expected, Atsumu-ge's luck hadn't turned around yet; during this period, even when Miya Atsumu led them in scrimmages within Inarizaki, he often served from the back row.
He reached out and pointed to the opposite side. "Go for it, Kageyama! A killer serve!"
Hakuma looked at the energetic Hinata and transferred the offensive pressure meant for Hoshiumi onto Hinata.
“Your serve is the one that's truly a killer serve.”
Hinata froze for a moment, failing to immediately realize what Hakuma was talking about.
Suna's laughter followed: "Pfft."
Hanae, who had also seen that widely circulated meme, couldn't help himself and burst into laughter. "Hahahaha—that's certainly true!"
As he passed behind Kageyama, he reached out and patted his shoulder. "Kageyama, watch your back of your head."
As Kageyama showed signs of confusion, Hinata finally understood what everyone was talking about, his face turned bright red as he stammered, unable to say a single word for a long time.
Miya Atsumu, who had been slower to react, had already walked to the position directly opposite Hinata. Just as he lowered his gaze to look at Hinata, Hinata turned his head toward Hanae and blurted out, "I didn't hit Kageyama last time! It was five centimeters off!"
The scene fell into a deathly silence, while Suna could no longer hold back his laughter, Kageyama, who had been out of sync with everyone else, finally reacted as well.
His face turned almost as black as the bottom of a pot, as unpleasant memories from the past resurfaced.
Opposite him, Miya Atsumu let out a light click of his tongue, his voice carrying a hint of faint regret.
As Hinata cowered, trying to hide behind Sakusa, but was ruthlessly pulled out by him, Kageyama looked toward Sakusa: "Regarding the tactical arrangements.. is there anything we need to be careful about?"
Sakusa simply said softly, "No."
Hinata nodded in agreement, "You're the one directing, so play however you want to play."
Everyone is very strong, so don't overthink it. Just play according to how you usually perform within your own team.
Kageyama lowered his eyes to seriously consider Hinata's words, then looked up again. "Understood."
Coach Arakune, who had already taken his position as the Head Referee, turned his head to look at Kageyama, who had stepped back to the serving position, using his eyes to ask him if he was ready to serve.
Kageyama held the volleyball with both hands and nodded to him.
Coach Arakune raised his hand and blew the whistle, signaling Kageyama to serve.
There wasn't much time for pre-match preparation; only a few minutes had passed from the end of the lottery to the submission of the rotation sheets, which was not enough time to arrange a complete set of tactics.
Most of it still depends on the players' ability to adapt and coordinate with one another, as well as.. the setter's own ability to control the flow of play.
Tossing the volleyball in his hands, Kageyama Tobio let out a long breath.
To be honest, if you had to say, his usual condition within the team wasn't particularly good either. Karasuno's lineup itself had certain issues, the coordination wasn't very smooth, there were many things to consider during matches.
He understood what Hinata meant, but after thinking it over, he did not intend to do so.
Just as Hinata said and did, the players standing beside him now are all elite talents chosen from hundreds across the country, so it is only natural that they would be even stronger.
That also means..
He could freely choose any playstyle he could imagine, without even needing to weigh his options; simply choosing the best one would be enough.
At this thought, a clear look of excitement appeared on Kageyama's face.
He tossed the ball up, took a quick approach, leaped with all his might from just before the baseline. His gaze bypassed the volleyball, which was about to meet his hand at the contact point, fell upon Chikatani Eikichi in the back row on the other side of the net.
He had watched all the matches involving Inarizaki, Rakusan, Itachiyama. Aoba Haruka's receiving was decent, Komori was even the nation's top Libero, so the only person who could truly be targeted was Chikatani, who was a former Middle Blocker.
Bang!!
With a heavy thud, the ball flew over the net almost instantly, accurately smashing into the corner where Chikatani was positioned.
Everyone in Komori found Kageyama quite unfamiliar, their only impression of his serve was Miya Atsumu's comment that he had "decent quality," but to be safe, they still chose a formation of three players for the first receive.
The moment he saw this serve, Hoshiumi cursed Miya Atsumu from head to toe in his heart.
You call that "decent quality"?!
Setting aside the accuracy of this power serve, the speed of this ball is clearly faster than Miya Atsumu's serve!
Komori's reaction speed was extremely fast; the moment he realized Chikatani likely wouldn't be able to receive this ball steadily, he immediately dove toward it.
Chikatani, who is a Middle Blocker by trade, does not have strong enough skills in receiving or back-row attack. Although his diving to save the ball would leave him unable to move forward for an attack, it is still better than simply giving up the point.
Moreover.. he would move out of the way as quickly as possible. As long as Miya Atsumu wasn't planning to use a Quick Attack, he would most likely be able to make it in time.
But Chikatani's reaction speed was a bit slow; while Komori moved aside quickly after his receiving movement, Chikatani failed to complete his approach in time.
However, Miya Atsumu didn't care; he hadn't intended to use Chikatani anyway.
Rather than offense, Chikatani's strength lies in his receiving and providing cover for the front-row Libero's attacks; for now, he just needs to make good use of Hoshiumi and Bai Ze.
No.. or perhaps there's Aoba?
The moment that thought entered his mind, Miya Atsumu, who had originally prepared to set the ball toward Bai Ze, used his right hand to flick it, sending it directly behind Position 3.5.
Aoba Haruka, who hadn't originally intended to jump, stepped forward without hesitation the moment she saw the ball flying toward her. After a simple two-step approach, she leaped directly into the air, raising her hand to prepare for a spike.
With Bai Ze's threat being two meters tall, Hakuma's vigilance was focused almost entirely over there. Miya Atsumu's sudden change in setting target caught him off guard, he was completely unable to follow up.
But at the exact moment Aoba Haruka spiked, Hinata, having timed his distance perfectly, jumped to follow, reaching his peak just a step later and precisely cutting off Aoba's landing path.
Thud!
“Touch!” Hinata shouted, a triumphant grin spreading across his face as his body descended.
He knew it, Atsumu-ge wouldn't just obediently set the ball to the player at Position 4 for a Strong Attack; his decision to defend the other side of the court was correct!
“Beautiful!” Hanae praised sincerely.
Aoba is also very skilled at technical plays; that last ball clearly had a lot of spin on it, so if he doesn't touch it during the block, it will be very difficult for him to receive.
Moreover, the back row on their side right now consists of him and Suna, so it's difficult for anyone to receive the ball except for him.
The touch ended with a heavy thud on the ground. Hinata's gaze swept across the opponents in the front row who were preparing to block, then he immediately retreated to create enough space for a running approach.
He shouted loudly, "Give the ball to me!"
The blocker on Miya Atsumu's side was Bai Ze, who after all had the height advantage; it was enough for Miya Atsumu and Hoshiumi to call out to him in time.
Hanae sent the ball steadily right above Kageyama's head, without the slightest deviation in position.
Kageyama lowered his center of gravity and jumped in place, raising his hands to prepare for the set.
He glanced at the positioning of the three people on the opposite side, a complete plan formed in his mind almost instantly.
Although Miya Atsumu and Hoshiumi are both veteran blockers, Bai Ze is merely a novice with nothing but height and has yet to fully adapt to volleyball, so his judgment will inevitably be too slow.
The opposing team's blocking strategy relies eighty percent on instructions from both sides, while effective, the problem is that Bai Ze's reaction speed after receiving those instructions will inevitably not be fast, there will even be a noticeable time difference.
And this time difference.. meant there was a type of attack they would be absolutely unable to block.
A powerful, undeniable presence surged from the end of his line of sight. Kageyama looked over, someone was already jumping there, calling for his set.
Without any hesitation, Kageyama's fingers moved slightly, sending the ball straight out.
Just as Hinata was about to touch the ball, Miya Atsumu leaped up suddenly, a confident smile on his face as he blocked his path.
He knew that Hinata would definitely come.
Because.. this was the optimal solution that Kageyama could think of.
In the next second, the orange-haired boy also smiled.
At the moment of the spike, Hinata's fingers suddenly eased their pressure, lightly tipping the ball underneath it, lofting it from Miya Atsumu's block toward the edge of the court.
As a light thud sounded, a look of slight bewilderment appeared on Miya Atsumu's face, but the ball had already flown past; any struggle from him at this moment would be in vain.
Chikatani dove from the back row, but even with his horizontal diving, he ultimately couldn't reach the ball.
The ball landed softly, the whistle sounded immediately after.
Hinata bent his knees in coordination and slowly looked up at Miya Atsumu on the opposite side, smiling quite slyly.
He knew that Atsumu would definitely be able to guess they would use this kind of Quick Attack.
Miya Atsumu frowned, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward. "Shoyo, you're really becoming more and more devious."
Using his trust against him..
It had been a long time since he stood on opposite sides of the net from Hinata. Having grown accustomed to controlling the entire court, including Hinata, he had almost forgotten.. that this little fox, Hinata, wouldn't let himself be caught so easily.
Just as sparks were flying between the two as they locked eyes, Kageyama's surprised voice rang out: "You.. feinted it?"
Hinata turned his head to look at him. "What's wrong? Was it no good?"
Kageyama thought hard. "No, it seems like the set I made was a line?"
In theory, there shouldn't have been any time or opportunity for an impromptu adjustment?
Hinata's answer was also very blunt: "Ah, I knew you wouldn't set a curve like Atsumu-ge's, so I didn't plan on going for a direct spike from the very beginning."
—No.
Those two words pierced Kageyama's heart almost instantly, leaving his mind completely blank.
“I.. won't?”
Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue lightly, his expression looking quite displeased.
Even though he knew that Hinata and Kageyama could also coordinate a negative tempo Quick Attack, the feeling of watching it on video was completely different from seeing it in person.