Kageyama, hit a good serve!
The members of the Karasuno waiting area cheered loudly for Kageyama, while the sounds of Karasuno's support also echoed continuously from the stands.
Leading the group was a middle-aged man with a round build, perfectly fitting the image of a "Dean of Students" in Hinata's mind.
Watching them cheer so boisterously, Hinata was somewhat amazed.
Compared to that, the Inarizaki Dean of Students was like a smiling tiger; although he also liked the players of the Volleyball Club, he wouldn't even dare to imagine such a cheering scene.
The whistle for the serve sounded in everyone's ears, Kageyama stood at the service position, lightly spinning the volleyball in his hands in preparation for the serve.
Karasuno's opponents, who had studied them long ago, were now on high alert; having watched Karasuno's match footage, they naturally knew how terrifying Kageyama's serve was.
And they themselves were not a team skilled at the First Receive, so.. if they didn't handle it well, it would cause major problems.
The moment the serve time reached four seconds, Kageyama raised his hand and tossed the ball.
His gaze looked toward the upper diagonal, estimating the ball's position and where he should jump.
Unlike the Sendai gymnasium in his memory, the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium was larger, with the edges of his field of vision stretching much further. Furthermore, because the court they were using was located at the very edge, his field of vision was currently weighted toward one side.
The moment he jumped, he felt that something was wrong.
They used the other side of the court during their warm-up serves, but after winning the toss to serve first, they chose the side they were more familiar with, near their own cheering section.
As it turned out, that decision was likely a mistake.
It's okay, there's still a chance to save it..
Considering there was a high probability that the ball would go out of bounds due to the tossing issue, Kageyama decisively abandoned his original plan to create a heavy spin, prioritizing ensuring the ball landed in-bounds instead.
But things didn't go as planned; the ball Kageyama hit landed near the baseline.
The opposing Libero confirmed the result and decisively raised his hand, signaling: "Out!"
The whistle blew, the linesman signaled that Kageyama's serve was out.
Miya Atsumu laughed unceremoniously, "Pfft, I knew it."
When Hinata looked over, he waved his hand and said, "Karasuno's coach lacks experience; in this kind of warm-up, they should keep the opponents busy practicing serves, hitting both sides of the court."
Actually, Aobajohsai made this kind of mistake when they came to Haruko last year as well, but Oikawa-senpai's serve control is extremely strong. Although he didn't score any spectacular aces right at the start, he didn't directly give any points to the opponent either.
Miya Atsumu shrugged his shoulders. "The opposing coach is intentionally bullying Coach Ukai."
But you really couldn't blame either of the coaches; after all, the warm-up time before the first round was too short. If they had extended the time for serves, there wouldn't have been enough time to practice spiking and receiving.
For a team like Karasuno, who were essentially like rookies, this first match of the first day could be described as a very bad draw.
But it didn't matter; he believed Karasuno would quickly find their rhythm again.
Miya Atsumu's guess was correct; Karasuno, unable to fully warm up and not in peak form, lost the First Set with a score of 19:25 against their opponent's steady response.
But in the final few points, they were clearly in much better form than at the start. Even with a large score deficit, Coach Ukai took a bold gamble and substituted in a Server to adapt to the game during the crucial points.
In the Second Set, Tsukishima, who had warmed up, cooperated with Kageyama to execute a Back Quick Attack right from the opening to score a point, successfully reclaiming the initiative.
And Kageyama also demonstrated his own Serve.
A clean and decisive two-point play made Hinata, who was standing by the sidelines, gasp in amazement.
So fast.
Miya Atsumu watched the match on the court quietly: "He's entered the zone."
The last set was so boring I almost fell asleep, but the start of this set was quite good.
Karasuno successfully seized the opportunity, winning the set by a large score, then carried that momentum into the Third Set, completely breaking the opponent's Ace's morale.
The moment the long whistle blew, the Ace on the other side of the net collapsed completely.
“No, this isn't right—"
He stared blankly at the ceiling above him, his voice choking up. "I.. in this set.. only scored two points!"
Miya Atsumu turned his head to look at Hinata. "How does it feel?"
Hinata rubbed his chin. "Nishinoya-senpai is amazing, Tsukishima's blocking is indeed very difficult to deal with. If we only attack from a single point like the opposition does.. then that would indeed be the result."
With the block suppressed, the spike couldn't score. Given the opponent's extremely strong defensive capabilities, even if the Ace uses technical balls, there isn't enough space to maneuver.
"We don't need to worry; we can definitely have either me or Osamu-senpai split their blocking." Under Miya Atsumu's guidance, Hinata analyzed seriously.
If you observe closely, you can see that Karasuno's blocking level is actually inconsistent. Tsukishima's blocking is particularly strong. If I could just offset my position from Tsukishima's, I'd say we could take eighty percent of those points.
Or rather, I could go directly against Tsukishima. If I hold him down, it would free up everyone else.
Hmm.. Karasuno's offense should actually be taken into consideration, but their overall hitting point isn't very high. With our blocking height, we should be able to handle their technical balls quite easily.
“As for the Quick Attack.. hmm.. if it really comes to that, we can just have Yukihito handle the one-on-one Block.”
At this point, Hinata suddenly realized that Miya Atsumu hadn't said a word from beginning to end, merely listening to him in silence.
Looking up in confusion, he met Miya Atsumu's gentle gaze.
The other man looked at him, his eyes carrying a hint of relief, but more so, admiration.
Hinata instinctively called out, "Atsumu-ge?"
Miya Atsumu encouraged him: "Your analysis is great, keep going."
Only then did Hinata feel relieved, continuing his analysis of Karasuno's overall formation and playstyle: "There's also the issue of the Libero; when spiking, it's best to avoid Nishinoya-senpai's defensive range."
“The setter is actually quite difficult to control, after all, Karasuno plays a four-two..”
Listening to Hinata's well-reasoned analysis, Miya Atsumu's heart relaxed bit by bit.
Before coming here this time, Coach Kurosu had already spoken with Kumagai and confirmed that he would not be taking over any position in the Volleyball Club next year.
Regarding the selection of Captain and Vice-Captain, Kumagai has always been Coach Kurosu's number one choice.
Whether it is his identity as a setter, his clever mind, or his sufficiently stable personality, he possesses all the essential qualities of a Captain.
Moreover, regarding tactical planning, Kumagai has been working in parallel with Miya Atsumu, so it will be even more convenient when he takes over later.
But Kumagai himself still has to consider his studies, so the Volleyball Club cannot put too much pressure on him.
In terms of suitability, the second choice is Unabara Uta, one step further back, Ogata could be chosen.
But the former is a Libero, currently, Liberos are not supported in holding important positions within the team. As for Ogata, his volleyball skill is quite limited; he lacks the ability to command respect like Kita Shinsuke, nor can he act as a firefighter on the court during critical moments.
In the end, the position of Captain will ultimately fall to Hinata.
After all, the most important task of a Captain is to command, no one will question Hinata on this point.
As for the remaining aspects.. Ogata handles the tactical analysis to assist him, Rishia manages the overall logistics, so Hinata doesn't need to act like a superhero and handle everything himself. Besides, Kumagai may not hold a specific position, but he is still part of the team.
But even so, it wouldn't do for Hinata, as Captain, to be unable to do anything.
In the past, Kita Shinsuke had tried to cultivate Hinata's logistical and theoretical abilities, having personally trained him for two years, he could now feel at ease knowing that Hinata's ability to analyze things independently was fully up to standard.
Next year, he won't be at Inarizaki anymore, he doesn't want Hinata to feel uncomfortable because of things like this.
As for if anyone wanted to "create" trouble for Hinata..
Osaka isn't actually that far from Amagasaki; he could make several round trips in a single day.
Chapter 487: The 487th Fox
After finishing the post-match greetings, the Karasuno team left, as today's matches were on a tight schedule and they needed to make room for the teams following them.
Karasuno was the last team to finish their match in this round, so they couldn't delay any longer.
Miya Atsumu looked down at the completely unprepared Hinata and asked, "By the way, it seems like you've never asked Tobio-kun for an autograph?"
Hinata froze for a moment, then shook his head like a rattle: "Who would ask him for an autograph? That would be way too weird!"
Even if he were killed, he wouldn't ask Kageyama for an autograph!
And Tsukishima will definitely mock him!
Atsumu curled his lips into a slight smirk. "Yeah, exactly."
Inarizaki's first match was the first match on the morning of the second day, opening the second day of competition as the number one seed.
Their opponents were the second representatives from Hokkaido, their strength could be said to be at the bottom of the entire Haruko. They were quite lucky on the first day of competition, as some of their opponents were in poor form, which allowed them to seize the opportunity.
Hokkaido itself doesn't have that many people; their two slots are based on the foundation of having a sufficiently large land area.
Hinata played the First Set to confirm the opponents' skill level, winning the match with a score of 25:15.
After ensuring that the opponent's skill level was not at a level where they might suddenly transform into a dark horse, Coach Kurosu substituted Ginjima into the game for the second set.
In the end, Inarizaki also won 2:0 without any surprises, advancing to the next round.
Star First, who was playing their second round of matches on this court, also secured a 2-0 victory and advanced to the top sixteen.
After stretching, Hinata went to watch the Star First match, this time he did not miss it.
Moreover, the winner of this match will be their opponents tomorrow, so they must come over to observe them.
Seeing Hayami and the cheering crowd wave and then seeing her walk over after having a meeting at the Coach's bench, Hinata jumped up and waved to greet her.
Hayami! Congratulations on the win!
Hayami raised her arm and high-fived Hinata: "I look forward to playing you tomorrow morning."
He had been looking forward to this match since the start of Haruko.
Even though he had already faced Hinata during Youth Training, he was still looking forward to his team's head-on clash with Inarizaki.
Hinata patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, I'll make sure you'll never forget it, Hayami!"
How unforgettable? Like, the kind where my Libero ends up scrubbing the floor until he loses consciousness?
Sasaki, the Vice-Captain of Star First, stood behind Hayami, looking as if he was afraid the two from Inarizaki would bury her.
Hinata was a bit uncertain: "Probably?"
Hayami's expression remained unchanged.
As someone who had already watched all of Inarizaki's match footage, he was incredibly familiar with Inarizaki's playing style.
As for floor-diving.. I've actually experienced it several times already.