Thinking of this, Tokura silently straightened his chest and looked straight ahead under Kumagai's scrutiny, his whole being ignited with a fierce fighting spirit.
He decided, no matter what, he could not make any big mistakes in today's match!
After reclaiming the volleyball, Miyazaki Sho returned to the baseline to prepare for his Serve.
To better observe his Serve, Oikawa Tooru had quietly moved closer to the Rakusan side of the court.
Among the Japanese professional volleyball players he has encountered so far, none are particularly skilled at the Banana Ball; it is a relatively niche serving technique.
However, there were quite a few similar ones. Looking back to his high school days, Ushijima Wakatoshi was actually quite skilled at this kind of high-arc serve, Sakusa was also an expert at playing with spin.
Inarizaki had certainly experienced facing people like them, but the essence of Miyazaki Sho's Serve was fundamentally different from theirs.
A very obvious point was that his side spin wasn't achieved through wrist movement or adjusting the contact point, but rather by using the power of his entire body through arm extension to strike the ball forcefully.
In terms of the final performance effect, it basically means the ball is heavier and the spin is even more difficult to control.
In this regard, it could be said that he balanced the power that Sakusa lacks with the spin and arc adjustment that Ushijima lacks.
When it came to side spin serves, Oikawa Tooru had never seen anyone stronger than him.
But Coach Blanco had told him before that Argentina had plenty of players skilled at handling this kind of serve, so he also had to figure out exactly how to deal with it.
The whistle blew, Miyazaki Sho pressed his knuckles against the ball, making it spin on his fingertips.
His touch is incredible today..
Let's take today's second point just like this!
As the countdown for the service time was about to reach zero, Miyazaki Sho tossed the ball into a High Toss.
Under normal circumstances, to ensure the quality of the volleyball's spin, the Server tends to prefer a float serve to make it easier to adjust the ball's landing point, aiming it at a specific person or a more targeted area.
But he doesn't need it.
What he wants is absolute, overwhelming power, something that will allow him to transfer the total kinetic energy of his body to the ball itself with almost no loss.
Score.
He is going to score.
Thud!!
A heavy thud exploded in his ears again, followed immediately by Unabara Uta's voice.
“I've got it!!”
In the next second, Unabara Uta took a step forward to lower her center of gravity while simultaneously raising her hand toward the ball.
Even with his shoulder raised as much as possible, he still couldn't complete the entire process of de-spinning the ball with a downward stroke.
In that case.. then I'll be even bolder.
Thud!
A heavy thud followed immediately, the ball flew up into Hinata's field of vision, landing in front of the net near Position 4 in the front row.
Although it wasn't near Miya Atsumu, the angle of the ball was high enough to give him plenty of time to adjust.
Considering the difficulty of receiving this ball itself, Oikawa Tooru, standing by the sidelines, gave praise without hesitation: "A perfect first receive."
Miya Atsumu was too busy rushing forward to set the ball to find time to offer praise.
The position of this ball actually doesn't have much impact on the setter, but it occupies the space where a spiker would spike from Position 4, meaning neither Miya Osamu nor Suna could successfully take that spot.
Harukawa's gaze swept across the Inarizaki members, calculating in his mind the possible choices Miya Atsumu might make.
For the front row, it's nothing more than having Suna and Miya Osamu move collectively from Positions 3 and 4 to Positions 2 and 3, or they might adjust their cross-court attacks, having Suna perform a pipe attack.
Although Suna wasn't particularly skilled at the flat quick tactic, that was only true when it came to Hinata and Miya Osamu; he was still capable of carrying out basic strategic deployments.
As for the back row.. Hinata has no space left to spike forward.
Considering that Rakusan's blocking level is quite decent, Rishia will likely stay back to handle eighty percent of the balls for a counterattack, so the focus should simply be on Miya Osamu.
Miya Atsumu, who had already rushed under the ball, jumped, his entire body leaning backward with the momentum, creating a beautiful back arch in preparation for the set.
After glancing at the angle of Miya Atsumu's backward lean and Miya Osamu's current position, Harukawa, positioned in the center of the net, slowly lowered his center of gravity.
But at the exact moment he lowered his center of gravity, his vision swept past the already leaping Miya Atsumu, catching a glimpse of orange peeking out from behind the opponent's broad shoulders.
It was very close, almost at the net..
Wait, what?!
Harukawa was shocked and quickly signaled Aoba Haruka to chase toward Inarizaki's Position 4.
But it was already too late; Hinata, having jumped diagonally from behind the Three-meter Line, had already touched the ball sent by Miya Atsumu at its closest point.
With a heavy thud, the two of them cooperated perfectly to complete this Back Quick.
The block failed to connect completely, hitting nothing but air. Miyazaki, who had moved up immediately after his Serve, was positioned a bit too far forward; by the time he turned to lunge for it, it was already too late.
The ball slammed down near the baseline, Inarizaki scores.
"What happened? How was that spike hit? There was absolutely no room for arm extension at that position.." Iori Miwa stopped mid-sentence.
He seemed to have guessed why.
He might not have height, but that doesn't mean Hinata doesn't have it.
Unai Aman laughed happily in the stands: "Back when I was in high school, I often used this kind of visual deception to fool my opponents."
The jumping space for an attack from the back row is inherently larger, since Hinata itself jumps at an angle, combined with the momentum of Miya Atsumu's movement toward the outside, it is possible to artificially create some space during the final spike.
But the most important thing.. was that Hinata was indeed small enough to complete such an "incredible" spike under these circumstances.
"Incredible, just like a little flea." On his other side, Gojo Satoru clapped vigorously, offering Hinata praise at the same time.
And he and that blondie have great chemistry; if there had been even the slightest mistake just now, they could have collided and gotten injured.
After a two-second silence regarding the evaluation of that flea, Unai Aman turned and said, "Hinata and Miya Atsumu are indeed a very good duo."
Hinata turned his head and reached out his hand toward Miya Atsumu, the two of them high-fiving: "Nice play! The plan was a huge success!"
Originally, the subsequent offensive sequence Miya Atsumu had planned before Miyazaki Sho's serve was to run a combination with Suna, but after seeing the placement of this ball, Miya Atsumu chased after it while signaling to him to spike directly into Position 4.
The rest was completed entirely through sheer chemistry and trust.
Miya Atsumu also laughed joyfully, "Nice play, Shoyo."
Hinata raised his chin proudly. "Of course! I'm the Ace!"
Aoba Haruka, who had been toyed with by the opponent, frowned slightly.
Miyazaki Sho's Service Turn only yielded one point. In the next Service Turn, Miya Atsumu and his teammates must keep the points lost to one or fewer, otherwise.. they would essentially lose this set.
Coach Natsume shouted loudly from the sidelines, "Steady!"
After apologizing for his misjudgment, Harukawa turned his gaze back toward the Inarizaki members on the opposite side.
He had already memorized it; he wouldn't let Inarizaki use that trick a second time.
Miya Atsumu gave him a smile.
It was just a sudden whim; there's no way he would do it a second time.
Taking the volleyball tossed from the opposing side, Miya Atsumu stepped toward the service position.
Uehara's first receive is far inferior to Unabara Uta's current level, so as for his serve target.. I'll set it at five points for now.
As if sensing that Miya Atsumu was thinking about something unrealistic, Miya Osamu turned his head to look at him: "Don't hit me in the back of the head."
Miya Atsumu's attempt to show off with a flashy spin was interrupted, he looked at Miya Osamu in frustration. "What are you talking about?! Just you wait, I'm going to hit you in a bit!"
Coach Kurosu glared at Miya Atsumu. "Ahem."
The Miya Twins stood in their proper places obediently, no longer fooling around.
As the whistle blew, Miya Atsumu raised his hand to signal the Inarizaki supporters behind him to stop, plunging the entire gym into absolute silence.
Unlike previous times when other matches were held simultaneously, this Semifinals only had one match taking place on the Center Court, so the silence was truly profound; there wasn't even a whisper to be heard throughout the entire Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium.
Spinning the volleyball in his hands, Miya Atsumu slightly raised his eyes to glance across at the people on the opposite side.
He admitted that Miyazaki Sho's serve was cool and strong, but.. compared to his, it was still far behind.
Miya Atsumu tossed the ball high with one hand while simultaneously stepping forward quickly.
Less than three centimeters from the baseline, Miya Atsumu leaped up violently, after an arm extension to his absolute limit, his hand slammed heavily onto the ball, imparting a side spin.
Although it wasn't a Banana Ball, the spin was just as intense and tricky.
The volleyball traced an arc, its target aimed precisely at Miyazaki Sho in the back row of Rakusan.
Thud!!
Thud!
Two heavy thuds occurred in succession. The volleyball that Miyazaki tried to receive was touched by Uehara on the other side, but neither of them could control the ball.
The ball flew out of bounds, Miya Atsumu scored with a Serve.
By the sidelines, Oikawa Tooru's mouth twitched. "This guy really does hold a grudge over having the spotlight stolen from him."
Kito didn't understand what Oikawa Tooru was saying for a moment. "What?"
Oikawa Tooru pointed expressionlessly toward Miya Atsumu, who was in the middle of the court with his arms outstretched, welcoming the cheers of the entire crowd. "That guy usually aims his serves at the Libero, but just now, Miyazaki Sho's serve scored, it was quite stylish. That's why Miya Atsumu wants to target him directly and take back the spotlight."
Observing Miya Atsumu, Kito nodded. "True, but.."
He paused, looking at his cheap junior with a hint of teasing in his eyes. "You're quite well-informed, aren't you?"
Although he couldn't be there in person for the V League Finals at the beginning of the year or the Black Eagle Flag due to his rehabilitation, he never missed a single live stream.
He was well aware of Oikawa's behavior of using a serve to build momentum, he had also seen Oikawa Tooru's gestures for receiving applause, which were exactly the same as Miya Atsumu's current ones.
Yeah, exactly the same.
When it comes to "wanting to show off," Kito felt that Oikawa and Miya Atsumu were actually two of a kind.
Oikawa Tooru took a step back silently, his expression filled with disgust. "Senpai, it seems like you're thinking about something really disgusting."
“Get out of your head, stop thinking about it!”
Noticing Oikawa Tooru by the sidelines, Miya Atsumu gave him a slight nod.
Oikawa Tooru clicked his tongue lightly. "His side spin is truly terrible; how can he have the nerve to use it.."