This time, it's all your fault.
Chapter 388: The Three Hundred and Eighty-Eighth Fox
Hinata looked up from his meal, saw the comment Miya Atsumu was showing him, replied seriously, "I will work hard to improve my skills."
Kageyama, who was walking past with his meal, froze for a moment. "What technique? Are you going to continue strengthening your Quick Attack?"
He had been researching things that Karasuno could use over the past few days, so he was very sensitive to terms like this.
Having come to the Junior National Team training camp, seeing such incredible people and having faced so many excellent opponents..
It's impossible not to long for the chance to go to the Nationals.
There are only a few days left of this training camp, less than a week after it ends, the first round of the Haruko Preliminary Round will begin.
They need to break through the competition in this tournament, then make it all the way through the second round, originally scheduled for late October.. to secure a chance to go to the Nationals.
Karasuno's lack of firepower has always been an issue; although the first-years have good potential, they are still far from being mature.
However, given the opponent's current state, this might be their best opportunity.
Although Date Tech's Iron Wall is formidable, Niokuchi's brain alone isn't enough to sustain it throughout the entire match; as long as his coordination makes the court chaotic enough, Date Tech might find themselves unable to handle them.
He had already confirmed this point during the previous Interhigh matches.
Meanwhile, Shiratorizawa is currently at a transitional stage, the coordination between their Ace and Setter is only so-so; compared to last year, they are much easier to deal with.
This was essentially the same problem that Fukurodani faced, they had conducted specialized training to adapt to it during the Fukurodani Alliance summer training camp.
Therefore, they must, absolutely must, seize this opportunity.
That was precisely why he couldn't let even the slightest possibility of becoming stronger slip through his fingers.
Miya Atsumu rested his chin on the back of his hand and gave Kageyama a wry, forced smile. "That's a tactical secret."
Kageyama blinked, not understanding what Miya Atsumu meant, but the question he wanted to ask had nothing to do with Miya Atsumu.
After his brain worked through it for a moment, Kageyama pulled out the chair next to Hinata, carrying his tray, sat down directly.
He turned his head toward Hinata. "Um, Hinata, about the back row quick attack style.."
Miya Atsumu's smile froze in place. Watching Kageyama's nonchalant actions, a faint vein began to throb on his temple.
Chikatani, who had intended to reach out and pull Kageyama back, paused, looking at Kuwase beside Miya Atsumu, the murderous intent radiating from the latter, and.. Kageyama, who was completely oblivious and still chatting with Hinata.
Help, what on earth is going on!
Someone tugged at the hem of his shirt. Chikatani turned around and met the gazes of Hanae and Aoba.
Without a moment's hesitation, Chikatani turned his head and sat down with last year's group of first-year rookies, completely abandoning Kageyama.
A demon king like Atsumu-senpai.. is truly more than he can handle!
Eat, eat. Just pretend you didn't see anything.
But as it turned out, once someone's resentment began to spread, it wouldn't just affect that one table, but would instead shroud the entire area.
Hanae's eating slowed down, while Kageyama, right in the center, remained completely oblivious.
Noticing the low pressure gradually closing in, Hinata looked up slightly at Miya Atsumu, whose forehead was almost touching his hand.
Unfazed, he looked seriously at Miya Atsumu across from him. "Atsumu-ge, you're scary."
Miya Atsumu calmed down a bit and began to glare specifically at Kageyama.
Kageyama scratched his head, realizing that Miya Atsumu had been staring at them, he spoke up directly, "Miya Atsumu-senpai, regarding the quick attack style Hinata was just talking about.."
Before Kageyama could even finish, Miya Atsumu rejected him bluntly: "No, I don't know."
Although he had intended to nurture the currently disappointing Kageyama, that was no excuse for Kageyama to interrupt his sweet time with Hinata like that!!
Already in a bad mood, he decided to spend the entire day hating Kageyama; he wouldn't say a single word to Kageyama, let alone teach him anything!
Kageyama shut his mouth.
Seeing that Hinata had already finished his meal, wiped his mouth, packed his things, Miya Atsumu stood up first, tray in hand: "Let's go, Shoyo."
Hinata turned his head to say goodbye to Kageyama and left with Miya Atsumu: "I'm coming."
After putting the tray back in its place and going for a walk near the gymnasium to aid digestion, Hinata leaned in and asked, "Atsumu-ge, what's wrong? Are you unhappy?"
He admitted that it was his fault for accidentally biting Atsumu's lip, but Atsumu shouldn't be giving Kageyama the cold shoulder because of it.
It couldn't be.. because Kageyama spoke to him, could it?
Thinking about it carefully, it was indeed a possibility; after all, Miya Atsumu himself was the type who often got inexplicably jealous.
Yeah, it even reached the point where he was scanning every single setter.
Hinata thought exactly that, said it directly to Miya Atsumu.
Hearing Hinata's doubt, Miya Atsumu denied it immediately: "No way, am I really that childish!"
Hinata looked at Miya Atsumu earnestly. "You are."
Considering the time needed to digest lunch, the afternoon training session was scheduled for two o'clock. During the break in between, Miya Atsumu also had a chat with Hinata about Suna.
Hinata lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, as certain things he hadn't fully understood before were connected at this moment, even bringing back even more distant memories.
After playing these few matches, I feel like the effectiveness of our offensive deception hasn't been great. Whether it's Takahashi or Komori-senpai, they are both very sharp and can react most of the time.
If I had to say, blocks with shorter reaction times at close range are easier to manipulate.
Miya Atsumu sat cross-legged on the floor, affirming Hinata's statement: "After all, deception itself is a form of psychological warfare. If the opponent is more skilled than you or is already fully prepared, they will indeed be difficult to deal with."
Hmm, if anything, the opponent has already lost the initiative the moment they realize you're going to play like that.
Atsumu shrugged. "But our current offensive power is enough; the main issue is that our defense can't keep up. If we can't get the ball up, everything else is a waste."
Hinata understood what Miya Atsumu meant, but.. he still felt unwilling to accept it.
He looked at the sideline not far away and said seriously, "Setting aside blocking, our back row defense is about the same as Karasuno's; the only difference is the blocking."
Miya Atsumu remained noncommittal about this: "But it's precisely because they can't let it go that Karasuno is Karasuno."
The clash at the net ultimately depends on the strength of the attack itself and blocking ability; since Karasuno excels at the former while Karasuno is proficient at the latter, it was their back row defense, which was originally evenly matched with the opponent, that ran into trouble and gave Karasuno an opening.
If nothing had gone wrong, the final result would have certainly been a fifty-fifty split, rather than being suppressed by Karasuno from the very beginning of the Deciding Set.
Because of this, whether it was him, Hinata, Coach, or everyone from Inarizaki, they all felt a heavy sense of frustration.
A fifty-fifty split under full strength is not a safe choice; surpassing Karasuno is the most ideal outcome.
With the tactical system for offense already becoming well-established and unlikely to see major breakthroughs in the short term, the coaches are leaning towards choosing to further bolster Inarizaki's defensive capabilities.
This includes, but is not limited to, promoting Tokura to the starting lineup, arranging specialized blocking training for Suna, selecting Nishizawa, who is worthy of being called a genius Libero, to serve as a substitute for Unabara Uta.
As long as they can limit the offense of Hoshiumi, Hakuma, the others, they still have a better chance of winning during a counterattack.
But..
Only total suppression can truly secure a victory.
Hinata tilted his head slightly toward Miya Atsumu: "That's how Coach Inubata taught me."
Under Miya Atsumu's calm gaze, Hinata withdrew his gaze and said methodically, "Our tactical variety last year was built upon Osamu-senpai's all-around support, but because of the deficiency in defense, Osamu-senpai was moved to the Right Wing position, which meant he couldn't fully utilize his advantages."
Miya Atsumu said nothing.
He was well aware of this, but if he moved Hinata to the Right Wing and had Miya Osamu play as the Opposite to provide support, they would completely lose their absolute advantage in Quick Attacks; it was simply a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils.
"Hirugami-senpai told me before that if I practice both the first receive and the second receive, I can switch freely between the two opposite modes." Hinata gripped his ankles, his mind contemplating the specific application of these tactics.
Atsumu knew what he was talking about, so he was also considering the practical feasibility.
“Osamu-senpai's technique is excellent, Heisuke or Ginjima-senpai would have absolutely no problem handling a heavy attack.” Hinata counted on his fingers, summarizing their current state.
Although my first receive is just average, I have no problem handling regular plays. The rest.. is the setting.
I've also played a few sets as a setter these past two days, I feel like I'm starting to find my rhythm..
He clenched his fist and looked up at Miya Atsumu again. "I think I can give it a try."
Atsumu rested his chin on one hand, using his other hand to tap his knee.
This logic was flawless; if one could frequently shift tactical lineups and the core playmaker, even a familiar opponent might not be able to react or counterattack in time.
He had great trust in Hinata, since Hinata's first receive and second receive abilities were both up to standard, he would at least not make any serious errors.
However, this brought about a new problem.
He and Hinata were trained by the same master; aside from the fundamental skills taught by Coach Inubata, the rest of his tactical thinking and practical application were basically taught to Hinata by him, step by step.
The similarity between Hinata's second receive and his is visible to the naked eye, to the point where even Hoshiumi would feel nauseated just by seeing it.
Although this also meant that Hinata's second receive was at a level that could keep up with the main group, but..
Excessive similarity would also mean that any changes to the tactical core would lack substantive significance, making it impossible to achieve the goal of adjusting the match's tempo or suddenly accelerating or decelerating to impact the opponent.
To pull this off, Hinata must have even the slightest bit of difference from Kageyama in his setting.
For some reason, besides the intense excitement of Hinata's proactive improvement, Atsumu felt a certain secret sense of loss.
Suppressing those inexplicable emotions deep down, Miya Atsumu took the initiative to say, "Then later, let's study Oikawa-senpai together."
Compared to them, Oikawa Tooru's setting is indeed more approachable.
Oikawa-senpai's plays are quite Academic Style, his setting style is something I've never tried before.
Even though it's difficult to pick up, Shoyo, you already know everyone at Inarizaki so well that you can skip the stage of getting to know your teammates.
Miya Atsumu's voice was calm and rational: "Iizuna-senpai is also an option."
As for Tobio.. his second receive has zero reference value.
Kageyama's play is pure talent showing off; compared to "tactical thinking," his playing style is more like a reaction driven by biological instinct and intuition.
—It has absolutely no reference value.
Chapter 389: The 389th Fox