Hinata gave him instructions for a spike from Position 4, but he didn't follow the instructions at all.
It felt like.. being completely deceived.
Miya Atsumu serves, Kageyama moves to the front row.
Having gained the service right, Miya Atsumu decisively chose to target Hoshiumi, who was left to fend for himself, bearing the full weight of the defense on his shoulders.
A fast, accurate, powerful serve directly won a point.
But his second serve wasn't as lucky; Hoshiumi held his breath and went straight for a spike against the ball.
After the heavy thud, the volleyball flew toward the area in front of the net.
But this ball wasn't above the net, so there was no issue of competing for it.
With Sakusa rarely speaking, Katsura took on the role of livening up the atmosphere: "Beautiful!"
With a flick of Sakusa's flexible wrists, he made contact with the ball, creating enough distance between the ball and the net.
Under Xiaoshan's cover on the other side, Hakuma Mebuki managed to get the ball once again.
It was still a powerful spike, but this time Suna reacted very quickly, performing a diving movement to reach the ball.
"Nice play!" Hinata exclaimed in praise.
Looking up to observe the ball, Hinata took a step out with his left foot, creating a distance slightly wider than his shoulders, while simultaneously lowering his center of gravity so that his midline aligned perfectly with where the ball would land.
Perfect.
Kageyama, who was observing Hinata's movements closely, felt his breath hitch, but he didn't dare let his movements falter for even a split second. He turned and moved back to create enough distance, bending his waist slightly to lower his center of gravity as he prepared to take a running start.
At this same moment, Bai Ze also called out for the ball: "Here!"
The moment the ball dropped, Hinata jumped, his thumbs and index fingers curled inward, the center of his diamond-shaped hands facing the ball.
With a forceful push of his fingers, he applied a One-touch before releasing.
With a light thud, Hinata popped the ball up in a high arc, sending it toward the high point just above the net at Position 4.
——Come here.
——Spike this ball to death.
Kageyama stepped forward, in that moment, his peripheral vision caught Shoyo's gaze fixed upon him.
—You can do it, right?
Of course.
Stepping up for that final step at the net, the moment Kageyama lowered his center of gravity, he sprang upward again.
Katsura and Hakuma from the opposing side had already moved in to follow up, their Block reaching a terrifying height.
But.. their Block could be broken through by force from the center line using absolute power.
Moreover, there were obvious gaps in the block by Karasuno and Hakuma; it was a problem caused by a breakdown in their rhythmic coordination, it was precisely what gave him the opportunity to break through.
And most importantly—Hinata's set for this ball was absolutely perfect, giving him a gentle set that provided more than enough time to make any necessary adjustments.
If he couldn't give a perfect response to a ball like this.. all those years he spent as a Setter would have been for nothing.
THUD!!
Kageyama smashed the ball down directly, its powerful force carrying an irresistible spin as it carved a path through Hakuma and the others, forcefully breaking through the block and slamming into the floor behind them.
And because there was a Block, Hoshiumi and the others had not deployed defense directly behind the block; by the time Sakusa dove to his side, it was already too late.
After the heavy thud, the ball bounced back up and fell out of bounds, hitting the net that separated the courts.
Hinata raised his hand high toward Kageyama: "Nice! Great hit, Kageyama!"
Kageyama looked at his own hands, dazed for a moment before turning his head to high-five Hinata. "Good set."
Miya Atsumu, who was behind, let out a low laugh.
Hearing his twisted laughter, Suna glanced at him several times, his eyes filled with regret and unwillingness.
Noticing Suna's gaze, the uninhibited Miya Atsumu laughed even more maniacally: "Hahahaha—you've been played completely, Hoshiumi!"
Hoshiumi, getting up from the ground, let out a small click of his tongue, but he didn't bother to argue.
That's right, exactly like that.
Teaching everything step-by-step is meaningless; techniques that are simply instilled and imitated will never truly become the student's own.
But whether it was Kageyama or Hinata, they were at least smart enough when it came to volleyball.
All they needed was the occasional guidance at the necessary moments, something that could point out the general direction of the path ahead.
Regarding Hinata's technique, the various coaches also tended to teach the basics step-by-step, while choosing to teach theory for more advanced techniques, allowing Hinata to practice and adjust himself.
After all, when the same technique is learned by different people, the resulting chemical reaction will be entirely different.
Miya Atsumu himself wasn't the type of person who liked to waste words.
Some things.. are best experienced firsthand through actual gameplay.
And the person most skilled at conveying these things is Hinata Shoyo.
He believed that Hinata could convey enough, he also believed that those who needed such things could extract enough information.
So.. grow.
Grow into an opponent that can let them play to their heart's content.
They are certainly looking forward to it.
Chapter 383: The 383rd Fox
Atsumu reached up to stroke his chin, his gaze sweeping over Kageyama, who had just said something to Hinata.
Whether it was because Kageyama's own career as a Setter wasn't going very smoothly, Kageyama's performance in the Spiker position was even better than as a Setter; his approach for a Spike was very decisive, he seemed to get along well with Hinata's setting..
However, Hinata learned setting from him, so there is no possibility of him being incompatible with any spiker.
Yeah, he is truly amazing, Shoyo is amazing too.
Miya Atsumu's mood remained relatively wonderful as he glanced sideways at Hoshiumi and Hakuma Mebuki, who were talking to each other.
In the past, he would always direct Hinata to attack Hoshiumi's defense, but because of his own lack of physical strength, Hinata was actually at a great disadvantage against Karasuno's Block.
But if he came himself, there wouldn't be this problem, let alone the fact that the opposing team's current lineup doesn't have Hirugami's incredibly obnoxious Block; most of the time, the only thing that needs to be dealt with is the Libero in the back row.
This feeling of making Hoshiumi crawl all over the place.. it's truly exhilarating!
Miya Atsumu rubbed his hands together, unable to wait to move to the front row to bully Hoshiumi.
Meanwhile, Hoshiumi was seriously analyzing with Hakuma Mebuki: "Now is your perfect chance for revenge! Suna doesn't get many chances to play Libero, so you should take advantage of the time and bully him."
“The unpleasantness caused by his touch during the match.. it's time to get your revenge!”
Hakuma's expression was solemn, as if he had just opened the doors to a whole new world.
—That's right!
Snorting twice, Hakuma turned his head and stared intensely at Suna on the opposite side.
Having successfully ignited the fighting spirit of the slow-to-warm-up Hakuma, Hoshiumi revealed a rather sinister smile.
In response to Kageyama's puzzled gaze from across the net, Hoshiumi cleared his throat, acting as if nothing had happened, turned his head back to the position where he should be receiving the ball.
Actually, he was quite familiar with the Libero position.
He didn't have any chances to play when he was in Junior High, because although his fundamentals were very solid and his receiving was excellent, he was only occasionally called up to fill in as Libero while playing in the Second String.
When he applied to Karasuno back then, he didn't think much about it; he simply chose it because Karasuno was the strongest high school for volleyball in Nagano.
But the subsequent development of events truly went beyond his expectations.
He knew that since the New Coach took office, Karasuno had transitioned from an offensive-oriented powerhouse into a team that relied on Blocks and Serves to score points, the Coach seemed to favor players with large physiques.
Even though he believed he could carve out a path for himself at Karasuno, he never expected that during his very first trial after joining the club, Coach Aran would take an interest in him at a glance and promote him and Hirugami to the First String together.
At that time, Hakuma was a complete novice, so during that summer, only he and Hirugami were there.
In that autumn within his memories, in the gymnasium closest to the sea in all of Japan, he competed in the National Sports Festival quarterfinals for the first time as a starting Wing Spiker.
And then..
He became famous overnight.
"The Little Giant of Karasuno"—that title also began to spread after that.
With some seniors retiring after the National Sports Festival, he and Hirugami had already become the mainstays of the team during that year's Preliminary Round.
It was also at that time that Coach Unabara, who had come to scout the Nagano Haruko Preliminary Round Finals, contacted him and Hirugami, but Hirugami refused, in the end, he was the only one who went to Tokyo.
The training camp before the Haruko Finals was the true beginning of his fateful connection with Miya Atsumu, whom he had only seen during the training matches before the National Sports Festival.
But looking back now, he was also very grateful that he had become acquainted with Miya Atsumu back then.
Setting everything else aside, he was incredibly grateful to Inarizaki for discovering and nurturing Hinata Shoyo, for introducing him at the very beginning.
His already rich and brilliant volleyball life had indeed gained a most unique color because of his meeting and getting to know Hinata Shoyo.
And.. an intense sense of anticipation, unlike anything he had ever felt before.
Hoshiumi's smile was so wide it almost reached his ears. He stared at Miya Atsumu, who was preparing to serve on the opposite side, shouted loudly, "Bring it on!"
Unlike when he was playing as a Wing Spiker, he could now devote his entire being to defense.
Without having to worry about supporting the subsequent offense, he could move freely to perform the Receive Serve.
A mere serve from Miya Atsumu was well within his capabilities.
Miya Atsumu slightly lifted his chin, sizing up the defensive formation on the opposite side.
Unlike before, Katsura did not step back to cover the setter Sakusa; instead, Sakusa moved forward to prevent himself from being targeted by the serve.
That means.. Hoshiumi and the others chose a Double Receive strategy.
No, considering Chongtian's receiving performance was far from ideal, was Hoshiumi actually covering two-thirds of the court all by himself?
But unfortunately, Miya Atsumu had absolute confidence in his own ball control abilities.