Hinata didn't pay it much mind, instead giving a chuckle before taking his position.
Akari.. he's looking more and more like a reliable Captain.
Hearing the whistle blow in his ears, Hinata licked his lower lip with great excitement.
As the next Captain personally selected by Atsumu, he wouldn't lose either!
“I've got it!” Akakura lunged forward to receive the ball, barely sending it toward the front row attack line.
Moving with the ball's position, Shirabu pursed his lips.
He is very angry right now.
As a setter, it is his duty to follow the Ace's decisions and satisfy the Ace's needs; he should not question the other's choices.
But as a senpai, he did not approve of Goshiki's extremely irrational decision, yet he was ultimately powerless to do anything about it.
But in truth, he was a little relieved.
He was gratified that the other could exercise his rights as the Ace freely, rather than being held back as before.
But.. I was still a bit more angry after all.
Goshiki Tsutomu jumped to attack from Position 2, Shirabu's back set momentarily threw off Rishia, before he sent the ball to Kawanishi in Position 3.
Kawanishi Taichi coordinated with his back quick to score, breaking Inarizaki's momentum.
Goshiki Tsutomu praised loudly, "Nice shot, Senpai!"
Shirabu's sharp gaze swept toward him almost instantly, he gave him a fierce glare.
Hinata's shout also came from the opposite side: "Shirabu-senpai's feint! Isn't that a great play!"
Hearing that voice, an even more irritated Shirabu turned his head to glare at Hinata.
Sensing a dangerous aura, Hinata instantly ducked behind Suna, feeling quite bewildered.
Shirabu turned and walked toward his position, leaving only his back to Hinata and Goshiki.
Kawanishi, who had rotated to the back row to prepare for his serve, blinked as he saw the slight upward curve at the corner of Shirabu's mouth beneath his frowning expression, he helplessly spread his hands toward Shirabu.
Seeing him like this, Shirabu felt a surge of irritation.
From the very first day he took office, this guy hasn't done anything a Captain should do; he relies on Goshiki for external matters and relies on him for internal matters.
If he had known Coach Washijo would choose Kawanishi as Captain, he would have rather done it himself, then just handed the position to Goshiki once he retired.
Kawanishi raised his hand and made a zipping motion in front of his mouth, standing straight and refusing to make eye contact with Shirabu.
For some reason, he always felt that crossing Shirabu right now would likely lead to a disastrous outcome.
Watching Miya Osamu's service turn be broken in one fell swoop by Shiratorizawa's offense, Coach Kurosu couldn't help but rub his chin.
The Old man.. feels like he's changed a lot.
Coach Omimi also looked Coach Washijo over, feeling a bit puzzled: "Is that so?"
He thought seriously for a while, then suddenly felt that Coach Kurosu made a good point: "It seems there is some; Coach Washijo is clearly giving more authority to the players."
If it had been before, giving the ball to the Middle Blocker on a crucial point like that, Shirabu might have already received a sharp glare from Coach Washijo.
And Goshiki Tsutomu's previous indecisiveness would surely have earned him a harsh scolding.
While there were certainly aspects of that high-pressure policy worth referencing, suppressing the players' right to grow freely.. they had never approved of such a thing.
And this is also the reason why, despite having coached many talented players across the country throughout his many years as a coach, Washijo is not collectively referred to as a "famous coach" like Nekota, Ukai, or Kusubashi, but is instead always mentioned separately.
But it cannot be denied that, for the Shiratorizawa volleyball players, Washijo is indeed a good teacher.
And now, this visible change in Washijo truly made them feel a bit unsettled.
Coach Kurosu gave a chuckle, his expression full of pride. "The knot that has troubled the Old man for decades has finally been untied, hasn't it?"
The fact that he's finally come to realize that any kind of player has potential and is worth training.. our Shoyo is the one who deserves the credit for that.
Thinking about this made him feel refreshed in both body and mind.
Coach Omimi nodded. "Indeed, Coach Washijo has also been actively scouting different types of talent lately. It seems Kanegawa was promoted from the Second String, right?"
Seeing Coach Kurosu laugh again, Coach Omimi was a bit puzzled: "What is it?"
Coach Kurosu tapped the clipboard in his hands. "I'm feeling sympathetic toward Irihatsu and the others."
With Shiratorizawa's coaching staff, if the Old man truly wanted to scout all kinds of talent, he probably wouldn't leave them any scraps.
A typical example would be Kageyama; the Old man didn't want him before because he felt his personality and playstyle weren't worth the effort to train, but now he has chosen Yura, whose personality is completely different from the previous Shiratorizawa starting Setter.
Coach Omimi nodded. "That's true."
Thinking about it that way, Shiratorizawa is going to become more and more terrifying..
Coach Kurosu let out a long sigh. "I'm looking forward to the future more and more."
Hinata scored with a spike, the Service Right passed to Suna.
After receiving the ball from the opposing side, Suna glanced over at Coach Kurosu.
Coach Kurosu raised his hand and gave him an OK gesture, Suna nodded as he walked toward the service position at the back.
Watching Suna walk to a position a full seven steps away from the baseline, a string of question marks flew over Akakura's head.
Inamura also froze in the stands, his hand pointing toward the court trembling uncontrollably. What did he see? Had Suna, whose serves were already incredibly disgusting, come up with something new again?
On the other side, Amatori, who was on break and watching the excitement, took off the sunglasses he used to act cool and grabbed Iizuna's shoulders, shaking him vigorously. "Did you see that?! Is Inarizaki going to fly to the heavens?!"
You could hide that for two whole matches?!
Inaramoto, in the front row, cried out in shock, "Wait? Suna-senpai has been practicing jump serves??"
Chapter 415: The 415th Fox
Akakura looked at Suna, then looked at his own positioning, hurriedly adjusted himself a bit toward the back.
With a Jump Serve, the ball speed is faster, so the landing point is relatively further back; if it is a Jump Serve, he must create distance in advance.
But the key issue was that he wasn't sure which type of serve Suna specialized in. In previous matches, Suna had used standing jump float serves, so it wasn't impossible that instead of practicing power serves, he had chosen to practice jump float serves.
And with Suna's tricky personality, he is indeed very well-suited for playing a Jump Float Serve..
A vast number of thoughts flashed through Akakura's mind, he tried to use rational thinking to counter the absurd sensation.
But it was clear that, under this sudden surprise attack, his thoughts had become entirely meaningless.
What he needs to do now is find a way to receive Suna's completely unpredictable serve.
The whistle sounded in his ears, startling the already nervous Akakura.
And in that very second, Suna tossed the ball and immediately moved forward, completing the steps of jumping and spiking at maximum speed.
The sharp sound of the spike rang in his ears, Akakura hadn't even reacted yet.
This wasn't a toss, but a straightforward Power Serve.
The ball smashed down the moment it cleared the net, Akakura instinctively reached out his hand.
Fortunately, Suna himself had limited strength, the speed of his serve wasn't very fast; his reaction speed was decent enough that he managed to barely receive the ball.
The height of this ball was very low; after Shirabu followed up, he had no way to set it with his hands, so he ultimately chose to use a bump set.
Watching the ball fly toward him, Goshiki Tsutomu jumped near Position 2, timing his leap with the height of the ball, spiked it toward the sideline of the Inarizaki court within his field of vision.
At this moment, Inarizaki's libero is off the court, making it the perfect time to score with a spike.
Tokura's reaction speed was very fast; he reached out a hand to make a touch, successfully making contact with the ball.
Miya Osamu, who was responsible for the receiving movement, shouted, "Nice!"
Suna remained stationary in the back row, while in the front row, Rishia Heisuke and Hinata had already spread out to both sides of the net and jumped, their movements almost perfectly synchronized.
—A simultaneous Flat Quick Attack from both wing Spikers.
Yuunohama did not make a predictive move immediately; instead, he followed up a split second later, diving toward Rishia Heisuke the very moment Miya Atsumu sent the toss out.
But Rishia Heisuke showed not a shred of fear or hesitation, staring through the gap between Yuunohama and Goshiki in his field of vision as he spiked the ball down.
In order to pursue a high speed for the cover-up attack after a block, his jumping position was not at the extreme edge of the court, but rather a little further back.
Although he couldn't hit a line shot.. as long as he could exploit the gap in the block, he was one hundred percent certain he could score with a powerful spike.
The sound of a heavy spike rang out, the volleyball crashed precisely through that gap, landing in the Shiratorizawa court almost parallel to the sideline.
Kanegawa quickly moved in to receive the ball, but Rishia's power was stronger than he had imagined. He had chosen to take the hit head-on under the circumstances, but he failed to control the force, causing the ball to fly out of control.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scores.
Akakura and Kanegawa looked at each other in silence, both of them collapsing to their knees.
—Where did that consecutive jump serve come from at the buzzer!
—Since when did Rishia Heisuke's spike become this powerful!
In his memory, Rishia Heisuke was still stuck in last year's training camp; this year, Rishia was not present for every single session in Inarizaki's lineup, since it had been a long time since the Interhigh, they had no video footage to use as a reference.
So the power lost from Hinata and Suna's absence as primary Spikers.. was recovered through the defensive coverage provided by Miya Osamu and Rishia Heisuke?!
Rishia turned his head toward Hinata and reached out a hand to him: "Did you see that? My line shot."
Hinata nodded frantically. "So cool! That was an incredibly amazing, invincible line shot!!"
Goshiki Tsutomu, who had been broken through by Rishia Heisuke on the other side of the net, lowered his head slightly, the shadow cast by his bangs making his gaze look extremely dangerous.
Hinata didn't notice, still cheering while pulling at Rishia: "That was so cool—and it seemed even more accurate than before?"
Rishia pulled his gaze away from the other side of the net and looked at Hinata in front of him: "Yeah, my touch feels great today."
Suna had already walked toward the back of the court to prepare for the next serve, Akakura hurriedly scrambled up from the ground to stand in his proper position.
Forget about how that last point was lost.. he has to defend this one.
Don't be afraid!
Suna's serve lacked power! He could have received it!
Looking at Akakura's expression, Komori smiled helplessly from the stands. "I can understand that feeling of suddenly being faced with an impossible question, but.. he really is too nervous."