Masaru Haseda nodded heavily: "Yes! No problem at all!"
Coach Kurosu, standing by the sidelines, also kept nodding.
Under Haseda's direction, his jump serve was currently being practiced alongside Rishia Heisuke. Before Haseda had fully mastered his own personal style, Rishia Heisuke's style of serving was the best way to maximize Haseda's advantage in strength at this stage.
And right now, Masaru Haseda still has the advantage in stamina, so it makes perfect sense that he could achieve such an effect.
However, Karasuno's adjustment speed was also very fast. They didn't give Haseda another chance on the second ball; even though the quality of Haseda's second ball was actually higher than the first, Karasuno's first receive was stable, Asahina also provided an extremely high-quality set.
Hoshiumi seized the opportunity and executed a dump toward the front of Inarizaki. Masaru Haseda rushed forward to save the ball, Miya Atsumu set the ball to Suna.
Suna wanted to adjust the ball's trajectory to spike it, but after a long period of facing him, Hirugami had basically figured out Suna's spiking logic. He precisely positioned himself in the ball's path and blocked it back down.
The whistle blew, Karasuno scored, the score was tied once again.
Masaru Haseda left the court to swap positions with Tokura Ria.
Watching him return, Coach Kurosu nodded to him: "Well done, keep it up."
Understanding that the Coach was telling him there were still opportunities ahead, Masaru Haseda's expression became even more excited: "Yes! I will!"
Miya Atsumu's gaze swept across the opponents, he frowned slightly.
Karuno's momentum currently seems fierce, but in reality, they are just barely holding on; if there is even the slightest flaw, their entire formation will collapse.
Now that the setter they were originally targeting has started to slack off, it is time for them to shift their focus to a target that is easier to gain an advantage against.
As expected.. it's better to start with that guy who isn't very bright.
Karasuno guarded strictly against Miya Atsumu's subsequent Service Turn, not giving Inarizaki another opportunity to score consecutive points.
Miya Atsumu slightly relaxed his pressure on Asahina; currently, Asahina's physical condition was actually no longer capable of fully supporting the team's high-intensity offense, continuing like this could potentially affect Karasuno's blocking and defense.
But the former was what mattered most; if he kept pressing relentlessly, the opponent might decisively give up on Asahina, just like last time, bring on a substitute.
That situation would actually be harder to handle; after all, Tokura's performance at the net is actually stronger than Asahina's, it's just that her positioning is much worse.
If Karasuno were to go all-in and completely change their style, it would ultimately be more loss than gain.
It would be best if they could maintain their current state, allowing the opponents to play, but not as well as they did before.
But as for certain troublesome guys.. it's definitely better to take them down directly.
Iizuna, in the stands, rubbed his chin: "Actually, for Inarizaki, the hardest person to deal with is Hakuma Mebuki after all."
Even though Suna can handle Hakuma's spike, I recall.. Suna's stamina is quite poor, isn't it?
Besides, relying on touches isn't a long-term solution. Inarizaki doesn't have any usable Middle Blocker substitutes, so if Suna is worn down first, Inarizaki will be put in a completely disadvantageous position.
Komori turned his head and replied, "Inarizaki won't be ignorant of that, besides, Suna knows exactly where he stands in this regard."
Upon hearing this, Iizuna fell silent, while on the other side, Amatori let out a muffled laugh.
Komori made a very valid point.
Considering Suna's ultimate energy-saving mode, if Suna can't do it anymore, the first one to react and start slacking off will definitely be Suna himself.
Karasuno clearly realized this as well; once Inarizaki's suppression of Asahina relaxed even slightly, they decisively shifted the focus of their offense back to Hoshiumi.
And Inarizaki would press Asahina back down at this exact moment; the back-and-forth exchange between the two sides left Oikawa Tooru at the commentary desk feeling utterly speechless.
He adjusted his headset and pointed out the problem quite sharply: "Inarizaki has fallen into Karasuno's rhythm."
【Their setter is very clever, using his initial regression to introduce a variable, prompting Inarizaki to make changes, then actively controlling the situation to adjust between the two states.】
Oikawa Tooru said mercilessly, "This is the goal of controlling Inarizaki, thereby manipulating the opponent to move exactly where they want. If it were me, I would inject a powerful stimulus to directly break the balance."
Kito glanced sideways and gave a subtle, trace-less smile.
He quietly watched Miya Osamu, who had taken a step back from the court to prepare to move forward and support the offense, then followed Oikawa Tooru's words, thinking, [However, there is no value in doing that this set.]
[Karasuno has already taken the lead; even if Inarizaki plays aggressively to seek a breakthrough, it's impossible for them to reach a level where they can score two or three consecutive points to take the lead back.]
From a tactical standpoint, they could certainly try to drag out the match to continue exhausting Karasuno's momentum.
Watching the Inarizaki members' slowed pace as they returned to the court after the time-out at 16 points, Yamamoto was stunned for a moment: [Inarizaki must be planning the same thing.]
Miya Atsumu set the ball to Miya Osamu, after a light leap, Miya Osamu tapped the volleyball, sending it directly over the block with a dump.
Miya Osamu's intention was very clear: he wanted to force the back row players to dive for the ball.
Hoshiumi Hikari couldn't help but click his tongue. "That's so disgusting."
Hakuma looked at Hoshiumi, whose expression was terrible. "I feel like you've said that many times today."
Even the usually calm Asahina couldn't help but say, "Because it really is disgusting."
Hakuma scratched his head, thought seriously for a moment, suddenly felt that his legs were very sore.
He nodded seriously in agreement: "Indeed, it's super disgusting."
Hirugami, standing by the sidelines, asked Hoshiumi, "Do you want to make a substitution? Kenma can replace Meisei."
Hoshiumi shook his head. "No, Kenma's offensive intensity is limited. He's fine for holding the floor, but what we need right now is an absolute advantage."
The score difference is only two points. Rather than exhausting themselves, Inarizaki would certainly prefer to win the set directly. Don't give them the chance.
Hirugami nodded, "Okay."
After half a rotation, when Asahina returned to the back row, a notification suddenly rang out; Karasuno requested a change of server, with Tokura Ria replacing Asahina.
Miya Atsumu let out a displeased click of his tongue. "Tsk."
This makes it difficult to continue developing their playstyle. As the end of the set approaches, Karasuno's setter will generally not rotate back to the front row. If the back-row setter needs to handle pressure, substituting in the fresher Tokura Ria won't make much of a difference.
Hinata's understanding of the situation was unexpectedly fast; after Asahina left the court, his gaze locked onto Hakuma Mebuki almost instantly.
Miya Osamu glanced at him, a hint of surprise flickering in his eyes.
But soon, he realized that Hinata's simple act of staring at someone held no other meaning.
He took the initiative to speak to Hinata: "What are the different ways to deceive people?"
Hinata froze for a moment, pausing before saying, "Dumps, tooling the block, or aiming for places where the opponent can't, can't move to receive?"
I suppose.. he's not wrong.
He uses it quite smoothly when he's playing himself, but if he were forced to put it into words..
Hmm.. I'm not quite sure how to put it into words.
Miya Osamu nodded in satisfaction.
Mm, it looks like his brain hasn't completely stopped working yet.
He pointed at Hakuma on the opposite side. "Good, after that, keep messing with him."
Hinata nodded; he was just about to do exactly that..
Wait.
Hinata's eyes widened slightly as he finally understood what Miya Osamu meant, he protested indignantly, "Osamu-senpai! I'm not stupid!"
Atsumu-ge said I was very smart!!
Miya Osamu hurriedly waved his hands in surrender, "Smart, you're so smart."
The victorious Hinata gave a small smirk, continuing to focus his attention on Hakuma.
Hakuma stared Hinata down without yielding, sparks flying between the two of them.
Miya Atsumu praised Unabara Uta's first receive: "Nice receive!"
Glancing at Karasuno's block formation, Hinata quickly stepped forward and rushed toward the other end, approaching the area near Position 2 in front of the net.
Hakuma, who had just been in a standoff with Hinata, rushed forward without hesitation.
Not for any other reason, but currently, Hinata is the only one among the Inarizaki front row who can move easily; although he has to consider the possibility of a back-row attack, that is not his responsibility.
But.. does locking onto a target guarantee a block?
Glancing at Hakuma's tense calf muscles, Hinata braked abruptly while leaning his body and moved a step in the opposite direction.
While the highly focused Hakuma moved along with his movements, Hinata Atsumu abruptly pulled back from that step.
Hakuma's body moved faster than his brain; his subconscious attempt to keep up failed to take his own physical condition into account.
His lack of physical flexibility directly caused Hakuma's legs to tangle.
By the time he came to his senses, his vision was spinning, he fell flat on the ground.
Meanwhile, over at Position 4, Hinata had already completed his jump, spiking the ball straight down into Karasuno's court. The extremely high speed of the ball meant that Takahashi, whose reaction speed had dropped significantly, couldn't keep up at all.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scored consecutive points to tie the score.
Watching Hakuma lie on his back contemplating life, Hoshiumi felt his vision go dark: "This idiot, he's let his passion get the better of him."
He sighed, walked up to Hakuma, reached out a hand to him: "Can you still stand up?"
Hakuma froze for a moment, instinctively grabbing Hoshiumi's hand.
Hoshiumi Hikari, who had only intended to use him for a bit of leverage, never expected that Hakuma was actually planning to pull him up; with his lower body unstable, he was dragged straight to the ground by the over one hundred kilograms of Hakuma.
The two of them tumbled into a heap, startling Hakuma.
".." Standing on the sidelines, Hirugami raised his hand to cover his face, feeling utterly exhausted.
Hoshiumi lay on his back, staring at the sky, began to contemplate life.
What kind of karma did he accumulate in his previous life to end up being teammates with this guy for three years..
Hinata crouched down and silently shuffled under the net, asking with concern, "Hikari-kun, Hakuma-senpai, are you guys okay?"
Looking at the culprit's innocent face, Hoshiumi's anger flared up uncontrollably.
Miya Atsumu leaned over with a beaming smile and said cheekily, "Don't get angry, getting angry isn't good."
Hoshiumi did sit-ups, then lunged at Hinata with a grin.
Hinata was startled, in his sudden rush to stand up, he forgot he was crouching directly beneath the net, causing him to get caught on the net.
Miya Atsumu reached out to rescue Hinata's head from the net, protesting Hoshiumi's behavior: "Scaring people just because you can't win, how pathetic."
Hoshiumi sprang up with a thud. "I'll show you whether I can beat you or not!"
Hakuma slowly climbed up, hopping on one leg a few times to adjust the condition of his leg.
The fall itself wasn't actually a big deal; it was mainly that he felt like his legs weren't obeying him.