What are they trying to do? Building a prototype for the National Team? Why wasn't he included!
—Hanae was very dissatisfied with this.
Thinking this, Hanae glared at Miya Atsumu with his fiercest look, but he was quickly glared back by Miya Atsumu.
Defeated, Hanae decided to start glaring at the back of Hinata's head.
Hinata raised his hand to scratch the back of his head, which felt a bit chilly, then turned to look at Hanae and gave him a smile.
Hanae felt a pang of guilt.
Sakusa moved to the back-row serving position, while Hanae moved to the front row.
With both Hanae and Sakusa being proficient in defense, the team's offensive core has shifted entirely to Hinata and Hakuma Mebuki.
And Kageyama and Hinata, who serve as the core of the team's coordination, are more familiar with each other, so they will be used more often.
Although Hakuma's skill level isn't great, at least he has the height.
Moreover, the opposing side also has the two-meter Hyakuwa Takehiro, most of the time, Kageyama will use Hakuma and Hyakuwa to create a collision.
With both sides keeping each other in check, the score in this match wasn't pulled apart.
The service right passed to Hanae, besides coming to the Junior National Team training camp, Hanae was very excited, having not served for several years.
Although he hadn't decided who to target yet, following the principle of picking the easiest target, he would definitely aim for the person with the worst receiving skills.
The moment Coach Arakune blew the whistle, Hanae decisively tossed the ball.
Although it wasn't an extreme buzzer-beater, he performed a standing serve, because his height wasn't sufficient to create a high contact point, the ball didn't stay at its peak for long, so the overall time taken wasn't very long.
With a light sound, the ball was sent directly toward Hyakuwa's position in the back row by Hanae.
As a two-meter tall giant Wing Spiker, Hyakuwa Takehiro did not actively take the first receive from the very beginning, he has always been someone his teammates protect within the team.
It is no exception now; Aoba and Hoshiumi are both covering for him.
The protection he received did not come without a price; everything was done so that he could execute his strongest offense.
The current team's setter is Miya Atsumu-senpai, whom Hinata always talks about; he has one hundred percent trust in him.
So.. let's go!
Watching the ball drop steadily toward the area near the attack line after Hoshiumi-senpai received it, Hyakuwa Takehiro adjusted his position and moved forward for a run-up without a word.
Even if he was covering him, Hoshiumi-senpai had still left him enough space to perform.
The path for the attack had already been laid out; he only needed to utilize his height—the strongest weapon in Hinata's mouth—to give his all to the spike!
The moment he saw Hyakuwa Takehiro's attacking stance, Miya Atsumu was somewhat taken aback, but knowing that his opponent had already found his rhythm, he passed the ball without hesitation, aiming it directly at Hyakuwa Takehiro's most comfortable spiking point.
Kageyama and Sakusa jumped at the same time, creating distance from the net to perform a block.
Hyakuwa Takehiro, who was not particularly skilled at back-row attacks, ultimately failed to break through their block, as the low trajectory of his back-row spike allowed the two of them to meet the ball mid-flight.
Touch!
"Great touch!" Hanae shouted.
He stepped back, jumped, spiked the ball toward the position where Kageyama would set it, landing it perfectly right above Kageyama's head.
Kageyama's peripheral vision swept across the three-person block from Chikatani on the opposing side, while simultaneously confirming the positioning of the back row.
Hinata was performing a feint from the back row, his powerful presence had already drawn the opponents' attention. Taking everything into consideration, the best point for an attack..
Yes, right there!
While focusing his gaze on the high point at Position 4, Kageyama sent the ball out in a direct pass, aiming straight for the high point of Position 4, both fast and high.
With a loud thud, the ball landed directly on the ground.
Meanwhile, Sakusa, who should have been spiking this ball, was still at his starting position for the approach, eight zhang away from the ball.
A silence fell over the court, Kageyama, who was attempting to coordinate with Sakusa for the first time, also fell silent.
Across the net, Miya Atsumu burst into laughter immediately, clutching his stomach. "Hahahaha! Tobio-kun, what kind of set was that!"
He laughed wildly, being quite familiar with Kageyama, showed absolutely no consideration for Sakusa's feelings.
Sakusa looked at the volleyball on the floor and couldn't help but let out a soft click of his tongue.
He admitted that the position of that ball was indeed the best, leaving enough space for a shot to bypass the block.
But.. that doesn't conflict with his inability to keep up.
A ball that fast and high was never something he could have accounted for in terms of his positioning or ability to follow up.
Sakusa frowned slightly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Kageyama, who had stopped thinking under Miya Atsumu's mockery.
No..
Does this person really think he can keep up with a ball like that?
Who instilled that perception in him?
Hinata had already crowded close to Kageyama's side, nudged him with his hand, said, "Kageyama, even though Sakusa-senpai is the strongest Ace, he's a pure technician."
Kageyama, who was completely out of sync with his teammates after getting excited, snapped in embarrassment, "Shut up!"
At this moment, Sakusa had also found the answer to the previous question.
Whether it's Miya Atsumu or Kageyama..
That kind of unreasonable setting was indeed a habit Hinata had picked up.
While Miya Atsumu was still laughing on the court, Coach Unabara raised his hand and covered his face.
Coach Hiya laughed heartily. "Kageyama still has plenty of room to grow."
Karasuno's training system isn't perfect, but in terms of maturity, he is more than a step behind Hinata and the others.
Coach Unabara smiled. "As long as their physical skills and talent are sufficient, we confirm they are capable talents, we don't lack the time to train them."
It should be noted that the players in Kageyama's generation are far from being adults, they are still nearly ten years away from their true physical peak and golden age of experience.
As long as they don't suffer any major illnesses or injuries in the meantime, by the time this group of players reaches about twenty-five years old, he is confident that he can cultivate the strongest generation of players seen in recent decades.
—These children have that kind of potential.
At this thought, Coach Unabara made a decision: "Let's test Hinata's setting ability in a bit; let him play setter, Kageyama play opposite."
Let them further explore the untapped potential within everyone.
Chapter 381: The Three Hundred and Eighty-First Fox
Kageyama, who had sent a super terrible set, pursed his lips.
Since the start of this match, he hasn't set a single ball to Sakusa; after the first ball, Sakusa moved to the back row, since then, he has rarely moved forward to attack, except to cover for back-row attacks.
After all, the lack of a Libero's defense was an objective reality. Once Hanae moved to the front row, Sakusa took on the full responsibility of defense, acting even more like a Libero than the Libero himself.
Although he had watched the matches of Itachiyama and Inarizaki, his understanding of Sakusa was still limited.
That match had a very fast tempo, all of Sakusa's offensive sequences were completed very cleanly and decisively.
With the overall tempo of the game, he actually couldn't clearly feel the difference between Sakusa's takeoff and that of the others.
Thinking back on it carefully now.. in situations where he didn't need to defend, Sakusa would actually take his approach a bit earlier.
Moreover, he had to admit that because he had played so smoothly with Hinata and Hyakuwa Takehiro in the first half, he had somewhat forgotten this.
He shifted his gaze away from Sakusa with a hint of guilt, Kageyama locked eyes with Miya Atsumu on the opposite side once again.
Atsumu-senpai was still looking at him, even having a hint of an indescribable smile in his eyes.
Kageyama was a bit dazed, so he could only nod at Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu, on the other hand, looked toward Suna.
Suna rolled his eyes, having no desire to pay any attention to the smug Miya Atsumu.
Atsumu's face, that expression, that look—it was clearly saying..
—See? I'm not the only one who gets fired up.
—It's all Shoyo's fault!
Across the net, Komori-senpai was already walking toward the service position with a volleyball in his hands, leaving himself plenty of room for his approach.
Noticing this out of the corner of his eye, Hyakuwa was somewhat surprised.
He remembered.. wasn't this Komori-senpai a Libero?
Komori stood at the starting position for his approach, excitedly bouncing the volleyball in his hands.
He hadn't actually started practicing the jump serve until he began playing Libero in high school, Sakusa only started practicing it after graduating from junior high.
Even though he had already made up his mind to play Libero, he still practiced the jump serve in his spare time; after all, knowing oneself and knowing one's enemy ensures victory in a hundred battles.
It's just that.. he hasn't had many opportunities to put it into practice until now.
Now is the time to test the results of his training!
As the whistle blew, Komori-senpai adjusted his form and decisively tossed the ball upward, taking a large stride forward and lowering his center of gravity before rising to increase his height.
The distance between him and the baseline was sufficient to ensure that he wouldn't step on the line.
And after that.. it's just like an offense, spiking the ball away.
Bang!
The ball instantly flew over the net and smashed toward Hinata's side, while Komori, who had just finished his serve, gave a forced smile.
Damn, it was completely off.
He had originally intended to aim for Hakuma Mebuki, who was not good at receiving, but the ball was deflected and flew toward Hinata instead.
According to his judgment, even if Hinata's receiving skills were nowhere near as exquisite as Hoshiumi Sakusa's, he shouldn't have any major problems receiving the serve.
Just as he had expected, Hinata stepped back, lowered his center of gravity, reached down to meet the ball.
The solid sound of the volleyball hitting the arms rang out, the ball landed steadily right on the attack line.
Watching the volleyball fall toward his head, Kageyama called out as usual, "Great first receive!"