Isn't it just a matter of timing?
—It wasn't too difficult for him.
Watching the video of the play, Asagami observed Shoyo's every move out of the corner of his eye, feeling a wave of disdain in his heart.
Wait, with Hinata's approach rhythm, he should only just be jumping when the ball flies over Position 4 for the spike.
Even if his movements were fast and his jumping ability was strong, he still wouldn't be able to make it in time.
But seeing Aran approaching and noticing that Ushijima had been taking this ball seriously from the very beginning, Asagami set aside his concerns and joined the other two in front of Hinata, preparing to jump for a block.
Just as Asagami had anticipated, when the ball reached the spot where Hinata was scheduled to jump for the hit, Hinata had not yet reached his peak height.
He felt a slight sense of emotion in his heart.
Judging by the current rhythm, Shoyo will ultimately miss this ball, completely missing the timing for a spike.
If Shoyo could have jumped just a little bit higher, he could have shortened his approach even more and would have been able to catch up to the ball.
—What a shame.
Ushijima, Asagami, the others naturally saw this scene as well.
Although they had already jumped in preparation for the block, most people in this situation would choose to temporarily adjust their reach to dig the ball, so their overall defensive connection with the block was not very strong.
Just as Asagami and the others reached their peak and were about to descend, Shoyo, who was on the other side of the net, forcibly rotated his entire body while still in mid-air to face the position of the antenna.
He reached his hand back and spiked the ball, hitting it closer to the pole.
Since he couldn't complete the spike from his original position, then..
He just needs to spike from a further position.
In the next second, an incredibly crisp sound of a hit rang in everyone's ears.
The ball swept across the front of the entire block with a side spin, smashing directly into the inner side of the three-meter line on the opposite court.
Eh?
Bokuto, who was responsible for defense in the back row, widened his eyes, but his movements couldn't keep up at all, he watched helplessly as the ball landed within their court.
With a soft thud that echoed throughout the arena, the ball bounced after hitting the ground and finally rolled to the sideline, near the side line.
Shoyo landed on one foot, spreading his arms to stabilize himself with his incredible sense of balance, let out a long breath once he had regained his footing.
Bokuto's voice rang out immediately after: "A super—super-super Short Diagonal!"
That was incredible! Shoyo-kun!
Heiwajima, standing by the sidelines, clapped his hands. "Brilliant."
He had seen many players with powerful physical abilities, tall and sturdy, in professional matches, but he had rarely seen such an extremely flexible little guy.
Asagami landed, dumbfounded: "What on earth was that?"
He looked at the ball, then finally looked at Shoyo with a face full of shock. "Are you.. some kind of Volleyball Hero?! No, how did you even spike it like that?"
He had indeed heard people mention Hinata, but he hadn't followed Japanese high school volleyball for the past two years, nor did he have time to watch matches; this was his first time seeing Hinata in person.
Hinata straightened his knees, tucked his hands away, turned back to look at Asagami, flashing him a smile just like Miya Atsumu's: "That's a tactical secret!"
Of course, the real answer to the question was.. he didn't know either.
In this situation, most of his offensive thinking follows bodily instinct, simply smashing the ball along the most correct path within his field of vision.
Asagami fell silent for two seconds before turning his head to look at Aran. "Why do I suddenly feel like he's not cute anymore?"
Suddenly, an aura drifted from Shoyo that made his fists itch..
Aran wagged a finger: "If you ignore his expression, he's still quite cute, Asagami-senpai."
Shoyo froze for a moment. "Eh? Is it a senpai?"
Miya Atsumu nodded in agreement. "That's right, it's a senpai. Shoyo probably hasn't met him, right?"
Hinata shook his head honestly; he indeed had no impression of this senpai.
Miya Atsumu gave Hinata a brief introduction: "He was the Vice-Captain of the Kita Team, after graduation, he went to a volleyball club in Bahrain."
Looking at Asagami, then at Aran who was nodding along, Shoyo was a bit surprised. "Is that so?"
Aran nodded: "That's exactly right."
Asagami waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, no, isn't the focus right now Volleyball Hero?!"
He felt like he had suddenly gained several more amazing juniors!
Aran remarked, "You're the one who changed the subject first, Senpai."
Asagami's expression was serious: "But it really is incredible!"
Aoba Haruka felt a sudden, inexplicable stomachache: "Why has this turned into a manzai routine.."
But you have to admit, the concentration of fox-like vibes on this court is a bit too high!
Hayami stood by the sidelines with her arms crossed over her chest. "After all, it's Inarizaki—a famous talent-scouting and nurturing hub led by the renowned Coach Kurosu."
Hanae, who had just rushed over to this side to save the ball but failed completely, felt his lips twitch. "Why a 'nest'?"
Taking advantage of the chaos on the court, Shoyo looked across the net at Miya Atsumu, who had just rushed over.
He reached out his hand to him: "Atsumu-senpai.. are you satisfied with what you saw?"
Miya Atsumu looked at his hand, lifting his chin slightly and hesitating for two seconds before giving him a high-five across the net.
“Of course I'm satisfied, but..”
Shoyo-kun practices the Jump Serve with other setters every day in secret, he doesn't even tell his favorite Atsumu-senpai.. It's truly heartbreaking—
As he spoke, Miya Atsumu raised his hand to wipe away non-existent tears.
Aran added coldly, "How disgusting."
Hinata puffed out his cheeks, deciding not to lower himself to the level of the stingy "Atsumu-senpai."
In this match, they are enemies! He is going to target Miya Atsumu relentlessly!
Anyway, he didn't have much confidence in scoring against Heiwajima-senpai under a full strong attack, so he might as well turn his attention to the tactical core, Miya Atsumu.
Hinata turned his head and made two hand signals to Kageyama, Kageyama nodded in response.
To be honest, he thought he had messed up that pass just now.
Forcing it when there was no certainty would indeed lead to that kind of result; the fact that the ball could be saved only shows that Shoyo's reaction speed was fast enough.
The next ball.. he won't miss again.
“What a great serve!”
Under the strict defense of both teams' Liberos, no points were scored from serves in several consecutive exchanges.
After Sakusa moved to the front row, Kageyama simultaneously coordinated Hinata and Sakusa, the effectiveness of their offense was clearly visible to the naked eye.
Neither of them were power-type players, but that variety of spike routes was actually something Heiwajima struggled to deal with.
After all, Shwaiden Adler had always used power-type Aces, so they focused more on defending against strong spikes during their daily training.
Miya Atsumu curled his lip. "That's truly disgusting."
Although Kageyama's play isn't quite good enough yet, both Hinata and Sakusa are the kind of Spikers who proactively accommodate their Setter, so there haven't been any major errors in their overall coordination.
But if it were him.. he would definitely, definitely be able to use Hinata much better.
Miya Atsumu's face was full of dissatisfaction as he actively mobilized Ushijima Wakatoshi, letting him use his absolute strength advantage to suppress Suna and the others' block.
Suna and the others could only passively choose to touch the ball, transferring the pressure to the Libero in the back row and the rest of the players for the subsequent attack.
The score continued to climb with Miya Atsumu's side holding a slight lead, the Service Right passed to Sakusa after Suna scored with a spike.
Sakusa rotated the volleyball in his hands slightly inward, then raised his hand to toss the ball seven seconds into his serve.
His purpose for the serve was very clear: to target those who were not good at receiving, while completely avoiding Heiwajima.
And that person in the opposing lineup was Bokuto.
He had faced Bokuto many times; from junior high to high school, the schools they attended had met in countless matches, both large and small.
But it was completely different from his time at Fukurodani; the functional scope Bokuto was responsible for before and after was not the same.
When he was acting as the absolute Ace at Fukurodani, everyone would provide him with sufficient protection and cover.
Bokuto is not the absolute Ace of Central Physical Education University; he must learn to protect himself, which means.. he must take on the heavy responsibility of the First Receive.
However, it was obvious that Bokuto had not yet been able to fully master this.
In this situation, if he were to proactively deliver a side spin serve that the opponent couldn't easily handle..
Two consecutive thuds rang out as the ball hit Bokuto's arm and flew out of the court almost parallel to the ground, immediately crashing into the side net.
The whistle blew, the Head Referee Sakusa scored with a Serve.
Hayami clenched her fists slightly. "We won!"
The first service point belongs to Sakusa-senpai! He guessed it right!
Chikatani raised a hand and scratched his head. "Are you serious.."
But honestly, if he were on the court, he probably wouldn't be able to tell where Sakusa's serve was actually going.
This treacherous ball path.. it's terrifying.
Hayami spread her hands helplessly. "In any case, the essence of whether a serve scores or not is a contest between the Liberos. Mr. Heiwajima and Komori-senpai are both very formidable. Under these circumstances, Sakusa-senpai, who can control the ball freely and keep it from entering the Libero's defensive coverage, actually has the advantage."
Chikatani looked at Sakusa on the court and said helplessly, "You're basically just working backward from the answer."
Suna also tried to hit a buzzer-beater with his subsequent serve, but Heiwajima, who had been thoroughly worn down by Hirugami during daily practice, had no fear of buzzer-beaters and easily neutralized Suna's serve.
Hirugami's jump serve is terrifying because it is built upon his own incredibly powerful jump serve, so Suna's standing serve poses zero threat.
After exchanging with Komori-senpai and heading toward the waiting area, Suna lowered his eyes and thought seriously for a moment.
In Inarizaki's current system, the Serve is actually a very important component. Especially since the Ace is not skilled at serving, the service turns of the others naturally become incredibly precious.
When facing Karasuno previously, his serve was already difficult to score from. After all, Hirugami Yukio could also replicate that style of timing the serve to target the opponent's mindset, so he must have undergone specialized training against Takahashi.
If he wants to pursue dominance in his serve.. perhaps he should take another step forward.
Being selected for the Junior National Team training camp this time—setting aside the impact of Inarizaki's status as two-time champions—it at least meant the National Team coaches recognized his potential to continue developing.