Amatori, from the back row, squeezed between Ushijima and Komori, complained, "Anyone would get nervous in this situation, it's so scary, it could even knock someone's head off!"
Ushijima responded seriously, "Actually, not having a head is a bit scarier."
Iizuna pursed his lips, suppressing the corners of his mouth that were about to fly up.
Today, Nippon Sport Science University and Tokai University have practice matches. They just arrived after finishing their matches, but as a result, they just missed Itachiyama's match.
On the way, they also ran into Ushijima, who had followed the navigation to the stalls on the first floor to buy T-shirts for Goshiki and the others. Iizuna-senpai took the opportunity to ask Komori and the others if they needed anything, so Ushijima, who arrived a step behind in line, conveniently brought some food along.
Sakusa, who was in a quite good mood, pulled at the mask on his face and said softly, "Suna's approach run is very long, which means his jump serve is not proficient."
Inaramura, who hadn't actually been paying attention to Suna's approach distance, turned his head and asked, "Is that so?"
Amatori reached out and tapped his head: "Yeah, that's how it is."
Withdrawing her hand, Amatori guessed, "It feels more like they were just intimidated by Inarizaki.."
He raised his eyes and looked at Ushijima, who was standing next to Komori, "By the way, Ushijima, why are you over here? Aren't you going to go cheer on your juniors?"
Ushijima shook his head. "I didn't say I was coming; appearing suddenly would put a lot of pressure on them."
Hearing this, Inamoto looked up and scanned the group of seniors behind him.
Iizuna-senpai and the others would be fine; if they suddenly appeared, he would only feel moved.
If it were Sakusa-senpai, who is graduating next year, suddenly appearing.. especially in a match where their win rate is almost zero..
Wow, that would be a total nightmare.
But it shouldn't be that bad.
As a former pillar of Shiratorizawa, is Ushijima-senpai's position actually more like Komori-senpai's?
While the members of Itachiyama were lost in thought, the whistle had already echoed throughout the entire arena.
The quarterfinals for both men's and women's volleyball were being held simultaneously, with the court on the other side hosting the match between Kinranin and Yuyu's women's team.
The scale of the cheering squad over there was also terrifying, by a stroke of luck, Suna's serve was almost perfectly synchronized with the women's court.
The two whistles that sounded simultaneously were even more piercing than before, making Akakura's heart leap violently.
Thinking back to the torment caused by Miya Atsumu's serve during the opening, he instinctively prepared to react to a buzzer-beater.
But in the end, he managed to control his body successfully, because.. Suna didn't toss the ball.
That was a last-second Serve, Suna's signature move.
The eight seconds felt incredibly long; for a moment, Akakura felt as if the countdown in his mind had sped up slightly.
Just at the moment he felt Suna's serve had timed out, the ball flew up within his field of vision.
In the next second, accompanied by the sound of the hit, the ball smashed directly toward the net.
However.. the overall trajectory of the ball was a bit too low.
To prevent being targeted by subsequent attacks, because he needed to provide cover for the serve, Miya Atsumu's positioning was quite far forward, almost one step behind the space between Tokura and Rishia.
And in that very instant, he felt a gust of wind strike him from behind his head.
Immediately after, with a loud bang, the ball struck the net right past his head.
The whistle blew immediately after; Suna's serve hit the net, Shiratorizawa scored.
Pfft.
Someone in the stands couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing immediately.
The Inarizaki cheering area was filled with laughter, jeers directed at Suna erupted simultaneously.
Rintaro, what kind of serve was that!
I thought it was a super-evolved surprise, but it turns out it's just a shock from Atsumu?
Atsumu, is your back of your head okay?! Rintaro's strength is much greater than Shoyo's!
You missed!
Rintaro, your accuracy is terrible! You're not even as good as Shoyo!
Startled, Hinata, who had just been about to comfort Miya Atsumu, looked up in shock toward the cheering area.
What does that have to do with him! Do those old stories absolutely have to be dug up!
Is his dark past really going to be etched upon a pillar of shame!
Hinata wanted to cry but had no tears.
Hikari-kun, you're spreading memes of Atsumu-ge, but why did you keep part of his face!
The whole world knows he used a Serve to smash at Atsumu-ge! Are those uncles going to drag him out and tease him about it!
Miya Atsumu turned around with a stiff body, looking at Suna, who had just landed and averted his gaze, unable to look at him.
“Rintaro, what are you doing?! Do you really dislike me that much?! Do you have to try to kill me on the court?!”
He wasn't in the front row, nor did he raise his hands to protect the back of his head.
Suna's strength is much greater than Hinata's back then; if he gets hit by that, he's dead!
And these aren't even the most important things.
That guy Suna.. Is it because he was caught in that thing with Hoshiumi that he's not just taking embarrassing photos of him anymore, but has decided to become the protagonist himself!
Isn't he clearly just providing material for Hoshiumi!
He was just thinking that his one-handed back set could be added to his personal highlight reel, then Suna gave him such a huge surprise!
Ignoring the laughter and jeers from the entire crowd, Suna looked at Miya Atsumu, shook his hand, said honestly, "My hand slipped."
The reason why his Jump Serve was used in this match was certainly not because it was so powerful that it should be used as a trump card.
If it were truly powerful, he should have saved it for the Finals, rather than revealing all his trump cards during this mediocre period.
Coach Kurosu's purpose in having him use it at this time was actually to let him, who had never performed a Jump Serve in an official match, get some practice in.
—If he doesn't practice now, he won't get the chance to practice later.
Mistakes are naturally normal; in fact, to avoid stepping on the line, he increased his approach distance by a step more than usual.
Suna's movement faltered slightly.
No, was it because of this very step that the ball's trajectory changed, causing it to hit the net instead of going over?
Watching Suna and Unabara Uta switch positions and return to the waiting area, Coach Kurosu couldn't help but let out a laugh.
Coach Omimi patted his chest, looking completely relieved. "It's a good thing we tested it out now."
If he were to get hit in the back of the head like that during the Semifinals or Finals.. it would be game over.
And Unai Aman felt the exact same way.
Beside him, Kita Shinsuke offered words of comfort: "It's fine, Kuniharu can play too."
Aran couldn't help but complain, "Is it because the back of his head is hard?"
Author's Note:
Inarizaki's three god-tier treasures: Yuyu's hands, Hoshiumi's legs, Aran's mouth, Akuma's back of the head.
(Don't worry about why there are four [doge])
Chapter 416: The 416th Fox
Shiratorizawa's offense was aggressive, but it failed to produce any significant results.
While Inarizaki maintained the same intensity in their offense, the back row defense was also well-organized under Unabara Uta's management.
The combination of the block and the back-row support left Goshiki Tsutomu feeling as if there was nowhere to spike.
After struggling to break Miya Atsumu's service turn, it was already the end of the set, the service turned once again to Shirabu.
After being tormented by Suna and Miya Osamu for a long time, Shiratorizawa finally saw their Ace return to the front row.
Goshiki Tsutomu was not incapable of a back-row attack; in fact, one could even say he played it very well.
But back-row attacks are easier to predict than front-row attacks. Even though Kanegawa was doing his best to provide cover for Goshiki in stages, his offensive power wasn't strong enough to serve as an effective decoy; instead, Goshiki was completely shut down by Inarizaki's block.
Shirabu's serve failed to score directly. During Inarizaki's counterattack, Miya Atsumu delivered a highly deceptive fake that caused Kawanishi's first step to be misplaced. Seizing the opportunity, Hinata, who moved a step faster than the block, spiked the ball toward the empty space behind the setter's field of vision, causing the ball to hit the top of the net. Akakura performed a diving save to reach the ball, barely managing to pop it up.
Having guessed wrong, Kawanishi called for the ball, wanting to counterattack: "Nice! Give me the ball!"
Shirabu ignored him, adjusted his position, sent the ball toward Shiratorizawa's Position 4.
With the Ace having sufficient offensive conditions, all he had to do was set the ball steadily; he could leave the rest to the Ace to handle.
Inarizaki's duo followed up, jumping to block at Goshiki Tsutomu's position.
Observing the positioning of the opponents, Goshiki Tsutomu quickly ran through the possibilities of various options in his mind.
Suna and Miya Osamu's reaction times are very fast, their blocking techniques are mature enough that forcing a breakthrough is not advisable.
Regarding this point.. he had already figured it out through the entire service turn of their confrontation.
After making his decision, Goshiki Tsutomu swung his arm to spike, but he pulled back his strength at the moment of contact, tipping the ball toward the front court near Miya Atsumu.
The moment he sensed the movement, Hinata, who had chosen not to follow up with a block and instead opted to receive the ball in the front area on the other side, immediately dove toward it.
Seeing that Hinata might not make it in time, Miya Atsumu, who was positioned further forward, also took a step forward, lowering his center of gravity and preparing to move into position to receive the ball at any moment.
But as long as Hinata had even a slight chance of catching the ball, he wouldn't reach out; after all, as a setter, he had to prioritize ensuring he had a chance to set.
Hinata's sufficiently fast reaction speed allowed him to successfully reach the ball.
But Goshiki Tsutomu didn't use much strength, in that diving position, Hinata couldn't manage to send the ball high enough.
The ball flew erratically toward the area behind the Three-meter Line, because of the momentum from his diving, Hinata's upper body crossed the center line of the court.
“Foot over the line! Foot over the line!”
Coach Omimi shouted from the sidelines, partly to inform the referee and partly to remind Miya Atsumu and the others that Hinata had not committed a violation and could proceed with the offensive play.
Seeing that the ball's height was insufficient, Miya Atsumu, who was already in a half-squat, decisively leaned backward, reaching out to touch the ball as his whole body fell toward the ground.
Under Miya Atsumu's brief touch, the ball changed direction, flying accurately toward Miya Osamu's position.