He couldn't be impatient; he didn't actually need to do much, as long as he ensured he fulfilled his responsibilities properly, that would be enough.
Nishizawa Hokuto's gaze passed over Hinata in front of him, casting toward the faces of the Karasuno players on the opposite side.
Come on, he is ready.
He has been looking forward to this match for hundreds of days and nights.
Let Hinata's seniors see his true strength, let him become the foundation that sends the opponent flying!
What a great serve!
Miya Atsumu lightly rotated the volleyball in his hands, his gaze calmly sweeping across the entire court to land on Takahashi.
Takahashi looked solemn, staring intently at Miya Atsumu on the opposite side, prepared to withstand the impact at any moment.
The distance between Atsumu and the baseline could be estimated with the naked eye, that distance undoubtedly meant he was preparing a Jump Float Serve. However, there was no guarantee that Miya Atsumu wouldn't pull a trick at this moment, so he didn't dare move his position forward at all.
Besides, Atsumu's proficiency with the Jump Float Serve is quite high, so it is entirely possible for him to hit a Jump Float Serve that drops sharply near the baseline.
With two seconds left until the Service Turn, Miya Atsumu raised his hand to toss the ball, moving forward in sync with the toss.
Takahashi bit his lip hard.
A float serve, a technique Miya Atsumu rarely uses, indicating that he wasn't aiming for power or speed, but rather looking to increase the accuracy of his serve.
What is he going to do? What is Miya Atsumu going to do?
The answer was delivered right in front of him in the next instant.
Miya Atsumu's Jump Float Serve had an extremely high trajectory, clearly intended to land near the baseline, but the erratic movement of the ball left Takahashi uncertain of its exact position.
If it were to his left, it should be Norikura Isao's responsibility to receive, otherwise, it would be his.
Staring up at the ball's trajectory, Takahashi could not be certain that his current state would allow him to keep up with the ball through reaction speed alone, so he ultimately chose to anticipate its path.
Miya Atsumu's goal was either to slip past him or to disrupt the setter, so eighty percent of the serves were to his right.
But unfortunately, Miya Atsumu's choice was the remaining twenty percent.
Watching the ball drop toward his side near the baseline, Norikura Isao instinctively raised his hands, but because he wasn't particularly skilled at receiving spikes, he failed to accurately judge the ball's position under the interference of the lights.
The ball grazed his hand and dropped down along the side of his body.
Takahashi, who had already dived in the opposite direction, was struck with alarm, while a triumphant smile played on Miya Atsumu's lips as he slowed his forward momentum upon landing.
But in that very instant, he heard a sound that was distinctly different from the sound of a volleyball hitting the floor.
Takahashi's voice had already rang out: "Feet! Feet! Save—the—ball!"
He screamed, wishing he could grow six legs just so he could rush over to save the ball.
But he was powerless to do anything more, able only to pray that the others could reach it in time.
Hirugami, in the front row, provided a sufficient response, diving with a standard diving movement to save the ball with one hand.
Hirugami's save wasn't quite perfect, but fortunately, it stayed in front of the net, making it a ball Hoshiumi could spike.
Creating distance from the net, Hoshiumi stepped forward quickly, lowering his center of gravity to jump and chase after the ball.
Hinata and Suna from the opposing side rushed over at the same time, the two of them blocking in front of Hoshiumi to restrict his ball path.
Hoshiumi also knew very clearly that in this situation, there would be no opportunity to execute his play freely, so from the very start of his jump, he was aiming to seize the opportunity by tooling the block.
His jump was slightly delayed compared to before, causing Hinata and the other to jump too early.
Staring intently at Hinata's fingers, Hoshiumi-senpai spiked the ball down forcefully.
Hinata's reaction was too slow, so he simply chose to reach out and touch the ball flatly, trying his best to avoid hitting the ball directly and causing an injury.
But Hoshiumi's serve had a lot of power; even though Hinata had tried his best to touch the ball, it still went quite high.
"Nishizawa Hokuto!" Hinata shouted without even looking back.
The person being called had already rushed out long ago.
The corners of Nishizawa Hokuto's mouth curled slightly, his face showed clear excitement as he rushed toward the ball.
Down on the sidelines, Unabara Uta silently raised a hand to cover his face; he could completely sense what Nishizawa Hokuto was thinking right now.
But it was true; for someone like Nishizawa Hokuto, who was both a Hinata fanatic and deeply interested in volleyball, the feeling of saving a ball on the court and being trusted by Hinata must have been incredibly exhilarating.
Great, looks like someone will be suffering alongside him from now on.
Just as the ball was about to fly past the boundary, Nishizawa successfully chased it down, taking advantage of his ability to predict the play a step ahead.
He jumped with his back to the court and sent the ball back into play with a set, his placement extremely precise.
“Beautiful!!” Miya Atsumu's praise this time was much more sincere.
Having already adjusted his position, Hinata stepped forward quickly, leaping lightly with an arm extension, preparing to spike.
He watched Miya Atsumu's direction out of the corner of his eye, while simultaneously observing the movement of the opposing Block.
This ball is coming, he knows.
As for Karasuno's Block, he was a target clear enough that he knew a three-man Block would likely be formed against him very soon.
But he wouldn't be afraid.
Because.. Hoshiumi-senpai taught him that no block can ever be a wall without gaps; as long as he is patient enough, he will definitely, definitely be able to find a breakthrough point.
The volleyball flew in and stalled precisely at his hitting point, the maximized hang time giving him enough room to play his part.
Hinata's gaze instantly focused, locking onto Hoshiumi's hands in his field of vision.
Feeling his gaze, the incredibly fast-reacting Hoshiumi prepared to pull back his hand. But at that exact moment, Hinata suddenly made a move.
It wasn't tooling the block; he didn't even spike.
The moment the volleyball passed its highest point, Hinata's entire body twisted slightly, his hitting arm driving his body around, his right hand sent the ball toward the side sideline of the Karasuno court, even though his entire body was facing away from the net.
Hoshiumi's eyes widened as he decisively threw his balance aside, reaching out with one hand in an attempt to dig the ball.
But Hinata didn't go for a tip, but a spike; the ball was moving so fast that he had no chance to save it at all.
The ball rolled onto the floor, followed immediately by the whistle, signaling that Inarizaki scores.
Bokuto sprang to his feet: "It's a—back attack!"
Natsume! It was a back attack! That was so cool!!
Shiratori hurriedly reached out to grab him: "Sit down, sit down, don't disturb the others while they're watching the match.."
Bokuto was still talking non-stop: "That was so cool! But that kind of back spike is super hard to hit; personally, I'm still better at doing a back attack.."
No way, when Shoyo comes over later, I'm going to have a serious talk with him about this!
Hinata raised his hand and rushed over to high-five Nishizawa Hokuto: "Alright! Next ball!"
Nishizawa Hokuto, being held in a celebratory embrace by Hinata, watched Hinata go to high-five Miya Atsumu, only then realizing what had happened.
He looked at his palms, then raised his hands high and cheered, "Ohhh—That was amazing!!"
Hoshiumi raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at Nishizawa Hokuto with a hint of confusion in his eyes.
This guy.. why is he suddenly acting like he's on steroids?
Nishizawa Hokuto bounced on the spot a few times, clenching his fists tightly in an attempt to suppress the excitement in his heart.
Very good, very good.
His hands were slowly warming up; he would definitely be able to perform his receiving duties even better from now on!
He wants to become the guardian behind his seniors; he absolutely cannot let them down!
Miya Atsumu's Service Turn failed to score the next point, because he tried to attempt a Power Serve while maintaining space for a four-step approach, but he failed to judge the distance correctly and committed a foot fault.
Atsumu subconsciously shrugged his shoulders, but realizing that Kita Shinsuke was not on the court, he quickly relaxed again.
Miya Osamu patted him and pointed toward the location of the Inarizaki cheering area on the opposite side.
Aran and Kita Shinsuke were staring at Miya Atsumu.
Atsumu closed his eyes and turned his head away to avoid eye contact with that side.
He looked at Nishizawa Hokuto as if nothing had happened. "Hokuto, make sure to receive Hoshiumi's serve steadily."
Nishizawa Hokuto stood at attention, still in a state of excitement, he replied loudly, "No problem!"
Hoshiumi's serve quality also began to decline slightly, but it was still difficult to handle.
Knowing that Nishizawa Hokuto's First Receive was quite good, Hoshiumi deliberately avoided him and chose to target Miya Osamu on the other side.
But Inarizaki's positioning of the two middle blockers and the setter was specifically designed to give the Libero maximum room to maneuver; Miya Osamu stepped aside, Nishizawa Hokuto dove to receive the ball.
The ball landed steadily at the position of the front row Attack Line, Miya Atsumu moved up, preparing to set.
Looking at the scoreboard by the court, Amatori asked Komori again, "How do you feel about him now?"
Komori thought seriously for a moment. ".. He's incredible."
Unlike the previous evaluation, this judgment was much more certain and significantly higher.
He's more confident compared to his previous matches, his coordination is much more decisive. More importantly.. I feel his level is even higher than what he has shown before.
He rubbed his chin and muttered, "An unexpectedly slow-starter of a player."
Bokuto's slow start is literal; once his hands are warmed up, his performance only gets better.
The players of Inarizaki.. it feels like they are learning on the fly, making temporary adjustments based on the opponents' performance once they are on the court, even adjusting their positions bit by bit according to the Setter's tactical style in the current set.
The mistake of blocking the back row player's approach path at the beginning of the match is no longer being made.
Coach Kurosu on the Coach's bench gave a light laugh: "For a player of Nishizawa Hokuto's type.. the theoretical foundation is already there; what he needs next is to learn while playing on the court."
Unabara nodded. "He learns things very quickly, but he hasn't reached the point of being able to integrate everything yet; he still needs to gain more match experience."
Hearing him say that, Coach Kurosu looked at him. "Unabara, are you interested in developing your skills as a setter a bit? Like the way Aobajohsai's Libero sets from the back row?"
“I have ideas for two different playing styles, Atsumu does too. We can make large-scale substitutions based on different opponents; the most extreme version of a multi-point attack style is having the Libero perform the setting.”
In a long-duration tournament like Haruko, we can frequently rotate players to ensure everyone's physical condition is maintained.
Unabara froze for a moment, then nodded after a brief thought. "I can."
He considered his setting skills to be quite good, but as for setting.. he could ask Kumagai for advice.
In the next second, Coach Kurosu sentenced Unabara Uta to the eighteenth level of hell: "I'll have Atsumu teach you later."