Hinata rubbed his chin, recalling Oikawa Tooru's setting.
Although they had only faced Aobajohsai twice, because both Miya Atsumu and he himself were very interested in Oikawa-senpai, they had watched many of the opponent's matches.
Of course, it wasn't limited only to the opponent's high school matches; because Oikawa and Aran were on the same team, while they watched Aran's matches, they also watched Oikawa Tooru's professional matches.
If one were to say that even back when he was at Aobajohsai, Oikawa Tooru was already a Setter capable of bringing out one hundred and two percent of his teammates' abilities.
So, after entering the professional leagues and having top-tier teammates, a highly versatile setter like Oikawa Tooru has an even greater presence than before.
With his own excellent serving ability, striking looks, seemingly approachable personality, his recognized status as Kito's junior, Oikawa Tooru undoubtedly took the top spot in this year's V1 survey of "players most desired as teammates."
By the way, the second place on this list is Shwaiden Adler's Heiwajima Toshirou.
The most brilliant aspect of Oikawa Tooru's technique is actually how he fully inspires and coordinates his teammates' abilities after understanding the extent of their strengths.
It is the simplest product of using a setter's own philosophy to utilize basic techniques, pushing everything currently within one's power to the absolute limit.
Hinata lowered his hands and pursed his lips imperceptibly.
Under Miya Atsumu's observation, Hinata spoke softly, "I suddenly realized.. Oikawa-senpai is even more amazing than I originally imagined."
Miya Atsumu narrowed his eyes slightly.
Looking at Hinata's head, he remained silent for a while before saying, "If I had to say, that is indeed the case."
Oikawa-senpai.. is someone worth admiring.
The soft words drifted into Hinata's ears, making him feel for a moment as if Miya Atsumu were smiling through gritted teeth.
Meeting Hinata's puzzled gaze, Miya Atsumu pushed himself up from the ground, "Ultimately, a Setter is merely someone who helps the Spiker take flight; to some extent, they are constrained by the Spiker's own abilities."
How did that saying go? Hmm.. If you don't have rice, you can't make a meal?
After thinking about it seriously for a moment, Miya Atsumu gave a completely wrong answer.
However, Hinata couldn't understand it either, merely blinking in confusion.
Clearing his throat, Miya Atsumu shook off the embarrassment and confusion from his academic studies, instead speaking in a way that Hinata could understand: "As they say, a shadow only becomes deeper because the light source is so powerful."
“A setter like Oikawa-senpai can only maximize his value by stepping onto an even stronger stage, where more people with sufficient vision will be able to capture his worth.”
Atsumu looked down at Hinata, who was still on the ground: "This is the same for you, Shoyo."
This does not conflict with "achieving results"; in fact, they can be said to run parallel to each other, as achieving results is itself the ticket to entering such a higher-level evaluation system.
The more one's talent leans toward being "latent," the more important this becomes.
Miya Atsumu gave the final verdict to their discussion: "But none of that matters for now, since it's not something that can be replicated in a short amount of time. For the time being, let's set our research goal as Oikawa-senpai during his high school days."
After apprenticing under Blanco, Oikawa's playing style became significantly more uninhibited; it was a style characterized by a certain boldness that nonetheless possessed a meticulousness.
That style of play requires a high level of proficiency; just like Kageyama's playstyle built on technical accumulation, it is something Hinata cannot replicate at his current stage.
Hinata nodded. "I understand."
If it's just Oikawa-senpai, who is limited to the high school stage.. there really is a lot of room for research.
Coach Unabara and the others have favored letting him play as a setter these past few days; perhaps he'll have the chance to practice it properly today.
As the time for afternoon training approached, the number of people in the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium gradually increased. Hinata stood up and patted his pants, preparing to head to the designated area to line up.
Just like the previous few days, it was another practice match with groups switching positions, but if one had to say what was different..
Hinata's gaze drifted toward the figure at the very end of their line.
Feeling Hinata's gaze, the other person looked over as well.
Chestnut-colored hair that was slightly long, hands that were bandaged..
—It was him.
Hinata's eyes widened slightly. On that day, he had been in the shadows and was only focused on the injury on the other person's hand, so he hadn't had a good look at his appearance.
Looking at him now.. he was quite different from the efficient image in his memories.
“.. Setter, Hinata, Libero, Hayami.”
The coach's voice reached his ears, Hinata quickly snapped back to attention, standing straight. "Yes!"
Miya Atsumu, who was not assigned to the same court as Hinata, gave a light click of his tongue and simply followed Sakusa quietly to the other side.
Having just decided that he wanted to try something new, if possible, he still wanted to guide Hinata from a close distance.
But.. letting Hinata explore and grow freely could also be a good choice.
After all, the coaches had always done the same during training sessions before, he personally really enjoyed that feeling of opening a blind box.
His gaze swept over the people called to the same team; aside from Bai Ze, there was no one he was particularly familiar with.
As the setter, Hinata took charge of the team's command, looking at Kageyama Tobio—who had been assigned the role of Middle Blocker on the opposing side—with anticipation.
The Middle Blocker only plays half the court, so it is indeed a bit of a shame that he cannot engage in a full-court duel with Kageyama, but Kageyama's talent for strategic coordination also cannot be fully demonstrated because of the Middle Blocker position.
It also meant.. that they had truly seized a sufficient advantage.
He had worked with the teammates present on the court at least once before, so he had a basic understanding of their playing styles and skill levels.
His setting attempts.. shall begin from here.
Hoshiumi, who was responsible for setting, stood with his hands on his hips and glanced at Kageyama beside him, his eyes filled with a hint of curiosity.
To be honest, besides Hinata and Miya Atsumu acting as intermediaries to facilitate their contact over the past few days, he had almost zero interaction with this person.
But he could see that Kageyama's setting was quite good; from a technical standpoint, he undoubtedly deserved the title of "genius."
From his personal perspective, Kageyama is almost the most outstanding setter of these past few years, aside from Miya Atsumu.
This would be the first time they worked together directly, so it was unknown what Kageyama's specific personality was like or whether he was easy to communicate with.
If they can get along, I feel like I could consider recommending them to Shwaiden Adler, who is about to face the problem of his starting setter retiring.
With a plan in mind, Hoshiumi's gaze toward Kageyama gradually straightened.
Kageyama bowed slightly toward Hoshiumi, respectfully greeting Hinata's mentor: "Hoshiumi-senpai, please guide me."
Hoshiumi nodded inwardly, very satisfied with Kageyama's respectful attitude toward seniors.
He raised his hand and patted his chest, saying to Kageyama with great enthusiasm, "Don't worry, don't worry, leave it to me!"
When Hinata was making the simple pre-match arrangements, no one said anything, everyone followed Hinata's arrangements exactly.
This kind of treatment left Hinata feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sudden favor, he subtly puffed out his chest. "Hikari-kun's sets are still very easy to read, he has no way to perform a Quick Attack with teammates who lack proficiency, so under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be any issues with the back row Block being unable to keep up."
As he spoke, Hinata looked up at the two-meter-tall blocking core: "Bai Ze, you just need to move with the ball. Your legs and arms are long, so I can guarantee there won't be any issues with following up from the back row; observing the spiker actually makes it easier to be deceived by the setter."
At worst, just sprawl to get a touch; there won't be any issues with the back row receiving.
Hearing these words, Hayami, who had been keeping her head down lost in thought, suddenly looked up and gazed at Hinata with a look of surprise.
Hinata noticed his gaze and said very seriously, holding up one finger, "Atsumu-ge said that Hayami-san is amazing; if it's him, there definitely won't be any problem."
Hayami froze for a moment, then lowered her head again, her slightly long hair falling down to hide her expression.
After a brief discussion, the temporary Captain, Hinata, stepped forward to draw lots between himself and Hoshiumi-senpai.
Under Bai Ze's eager anticipation, Hinata came bouncing back with the starting lineup: "The starters!"
Chongtian gave Hinata a thumbs-up: "Impressive!"
Hinata cleared his throat, placed his hands on his hips, said to everyone, "Alright, alright, everyone do some simple stretching and warming up. Coach said we start in ten minutes."
The morning's thorough training had actually served as a certain warm-up, but the main purpose was to stretch and move the joints to prevent sprains before the practice match began.
"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.
Hinata felt like he was absolutely cool right now, all he needed was a red cape!
Adjusting his knee pads, Hinata tilted his head slightly toward Hayami, who was warming up his ankles and knees: "You.. don't wear knee pads?"
Hayami shook her head slightly. "Knee pads affect flexibility."
Hinata blinked and proactively suggested, "But you have a knee injury, right? If you don't mind, could I lend you mine?"
The two of them were about the same size, so the size of their knee pads would certainly be the same.
"My knee is already healed; the doctor has already examined it." Hayami's voice was very cold, without the slightest hint of emotional fluctuation caused by Hinata's concern.
He turned his head toward Hinata, his gaze cold and sharp: "And another thing.. are you pitying me?"
Hinata answered honestly, "No, I just think it's better to have some protection if you want to play volleyball without any inhibitions."
New shoes and a new volleyball also need time to adapt to. On my first day playing here, I almost tripped and dropped a ball because the color of the volleyball was different.
As he spoke, Hinata glanced down at the Asics on Hayami's feet, which were clearly newly purchased.
Since the doctor said there were no issues and the coach also let him play volleyball, then he truly is fine.
The other party's behavioral inconsistencies might be due to past habits..
But for some reason, Hinata could faintly sense that imperceptible fear emanating from Hayami.
But none of that mattered.
Whether for Hinata or for everyone else on this court, everyone certainly wants to pursue a match played with everything they have, a truly exhilarating and uninhibited game.
To this end, as the temporary Captain, he needed to ensure the condition of every single player.
Just like.. the former Kita Team.
Hayami lowered her eyes and thought seriously for a moment: "My knee pads are over in the locker room; it would be too late to go get them now."
If you don't mind, Hinata-kun.. could I borrow a pair to use temporarily?
Hinata chuckled, "Of course, no problem!"
As he spoke, he quickly took off a knee pad and handed it to Hayami.
Hayami, who also used this kind of patellar stabilizer, fell silent for a moment.
Unlike those knee pads used to protect the knees from impact, the ones Hinata uses are specifically for the left and right sides.
Hayami said again, "Um.. it's the other side."
Hinata paused for a moment, after a second of feeling guilty, he decisively took off the other one as well and stuffed it into Hayami's hands: "I'm lending you both! When I'm the Setter, I won't have to do any floor-scraping!"
Chongtian laughed heartily upon hearing that.
Hmm, he's mopping the floor.