Glancing over at Inarizaki's block and back row defense configuration, Izumi Nozomi jumped, preparing to set the ball.
He stared at Kageyama by the sidelines, momentarily dazed.
Izumi Nozomi's movement was incredibly beautiful. In such a vertical state, it was impossible to judge his setting target through observation alone, meaning the blockers could only choose to react to the play.
Suna didn't panic either; he simply waited quietly in the middle of the net for Izumi Nozomi's set.
Hinata and Miya Osamu on both sides did not move closer either; with Suna's block in place, all they had to do was wait for Suna's instructions and move up for the follow-up block.
Izumi Nozomi passed the ball to Sasaki, who was in the center for a quick attack, Suna also reacted quickly to follow up from behind.
Fortunately, although Suna's height didn't give him an absolute advantage over Izumi Nozomi, he was still able to hold his own against the opponent after jumping in this situation, together with the approaching Hinata, he restricted the opponent's spiking line toward Inarizaki's Position 5.
As he jumped, Hinata's eyes widened when he saw Sasaki's movement.
Sasaki's gaze swept toward the fingers of the two of them, appearing as if he were preparing to use tooling the block, but his movements showed no sign of the motion used to tip the ball over the block.
So.. it was a pure feint, intended to trick them into pulling back their hands so he could perform a spike over the block into the Line.
He's very familiar with this!
Nishizawa, who was in the back, also indicated that he was very familiar with it. Positioned at the side of the block, he adjusted his body slightly, appearing as if he were preparing to move behind the block.
Seeing his movement, Sasaki, who was preparing to spike, froze for a moment.
Wait, the block hasn't been fooled by him yet, but the opposing Libero was fooled into adjusting his position first? Is he really being allowed to play freely in such a large open space near Position 1?
Sasaki stopped thinking for a moment, but soon, remembering Nishizawa's status as a first-year player, he felt that the opponent had simply made a mistake.
Hayami, who was following up with a counterattack from the back row, had a sudden, inexplicable feeling that something was about to go wrong.
And the next second, Sasaki, who had originally prepared to clash head-on with Suna and Hinata, spiked the ball with a sharp cross toward Position 1 on Inarizaki's side.
But he didn't spike it directly into the corner; instead, relying on his relatively high contact point, he worked to aim the ball's landing toward the front row.
Nishizawa, who had originally seemed to be moving toward the center, twisted his ankle, using the momentum to adjust his entire body's direction. He took a single step forward, positioning himself directly under the ball's landing spot, received it with his forearm.
With a loud thud, the ball landed steadily right above Miya Atsumu's head, delivered with absolute perfection.
Behind them, Hayami's face was filled with shock, his gaze toward the back of Sasaki's head was as sharp as a knife.
That idiot Sasaki-senpai! He wasted such a great offensive opportunity!
Miya Atsumu, having received a good ball, did not let Nishizawa Hokuto's pass go to waste; he demonstrated a hidden setting ability even greater than Izumi Nozomi's, using Hinata's cover from Position 4 to set the ball toward Suna in the center.
Although the speed of the Star First block was already very fast, when dealing with a ball in the center, the presence of the back row receivers on both sides would be weakened because the block was centered.
Although Suna couldn't handle a perfect three-man block, he was also capable of performing a dump.
The ball grazed the back of the block and fell toward Star First's court. Hayami stepped forward and used his hands to pop the ball up.
Izumi-senpai! One more time!
In fact, Izumi Nozomi, who wasn't quite sure what had just happened, noticed that Sasaki didn't take the initiative to attack again, so she sent the ball to Arashiyama at Position 4.
Arashiyama's physique and strength were the strongest in Star First. Facing the block of Miya Osamu and Suna, he decisively chose a Line spike, intending to smash the ball down through the gap between Miya Osamu and the marker.
Miya Osamu's expression remained calm. At the moment Arashiyama spiked, he adjusted his blocking posture, turning his body to intercept the ball's path with his arms.
With a loud thud, Miya Osamu smashed the ball back onto Star First's court.
Arashiyama, having landed, looked up at the Head Referee above, then looked at Miya Osamu on the opposite side.
The next second, the Head Referee blew his whistle and made the call.
Inarizaki's Miya Osamu touched the ball on the block, resulting in a score for Star First.
Sasaki pumped his fist and cheered, "Yes! That's one point!"
Miya Atsumu turned his head toward Miya Osamu, his face full of shock. "Osamu! What are you doing!"
Miya Osamu glanced at his own fingers: "Tsk."
Was I getting a bit too hot-blooded? He actually shouldn't have blocked that last ball; Nishizawa would have definitely been able to keep up from the back row.
But the opponent's movement was so obvious that he felt he would be failing his duties as a flag bearer if he didn't attempt a block.
Hinata loudly complained to Miya Osamu, "Osamu-senpai! Nishizawa Hokuto was right behind you just now!"
Nishizawa followed Hinata's lead in accusing him, "Senpai! Have some trust in me!"
Miya Osamu felt like his head was splitting; not only was he being made a laughingstock by Miya Atsumu, but he was also being accused by the juniors.
I know, I know, it was my fault.
On the other side, Hayami was also complaining to Sasaki: "Senpai, what were you doing just now? You saw the opposing Libero's obvious feinting movement and just pretended not to see it? How could you be so foolish as to take the bait?"
We haven't been practicing enough during our usual training, have we? Is it because you and I haven't been on opposite sides of the net enough?
Sasaki still hadn't processed it. "Is it obvious? I didn't think so."
Hayami pointed at Nishizawa on the opposite side, his face filled with frustration. "Is that not obvious?!"
The opponents are practically writing "temptation" all over their faces!
He was usually the one doing things like that, yet his own senior had actually been tricked by the opponents.
At this thought, Hayami Subaru's movements paused for a moment.
Wait.. the opposing Libero's subtle movement just now seemed quite similar to his own, appearing to be the footwork-first plan he and Hinata had discussed earlier.
Hinata had indeed asked him about this before, at the time, he thought Hinata was just asking on behalf of Unabara Uta without thinking much of it, but looking at it now.. it seems he was asking on behalf of this Little One Libero.
During the National Sports Festival, this guy was nervous at first and focused on saving balls in the back row, but clearly lacked a solid foundation, so he didn't show much.
And this time, the opponent has actually started to take the initiative in setting up their play.
Could the Inarizaki players spare a bit of their cunning for Sasaki?
Hayami's brow furrowed, he shot a rather unfriendly look at Nishizawa, who was whispering closely with Hinata.
So.. where did this guy come from?
Sasaki hadn't caught up with the rhythm yet: "Huh? What?"
Yamaguchi, standing by the sidelines, raised his hand and scratched his head. "I didn't.. understand that at all."
The clash just now was completed in an instant; his attention was entirely on the block, he didn't notice anything else.
He still hadn't figured out why the spiker had changed his spiking strategy.
Kageyama lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, then gave his answer: "It was a feint."
Nekoma used to like playing that too, it's just that one was a Setter and the other was a Libero.
Shiratori shrugged his shoulders, answering Unai Aman's question.
Unai Aman's focus, however, was misplaced: "Eh? Shiratori-kun, have you seen Nekoma's matches?"
Shiratori replied, "Yeah, I watched the match between them and Inarizaki at the Spring High last year."
After saying that, he paused before adding, "This summer, I was also dragged by Bokuto-senpai to watch the practice match between Nekoma and Fukurodani."
He had a deep impression of Nekoma's setter; you could say he was the complete opposite of him.
Although he also studied some tactics, his essence was still biased towards a simple and violent style, he would take matters into his own hands to score directly when necessary.
But Nekoma's setter is the type who completely lays out his strategy from the shadows.
That was precisely why he felt watching a Nekoma match was quite exhausting.
The person who had insisted on dragging him along to watch couldn't see any of these nuances from outside the court; at most, he would feel suffocated on behalf of Saru because of Nekoma's tenacious defense.
In the end, he was the only one who felt a headache coming on.
Unai froze, suddenly realizing something.
He looked at Shiratori, who was curled up on the steps: "Ah, speaking of which.. didn't you walk with Bokuto today?"
Shiratori's expression froze: "No, Bokuto is with the Fukurodani people, Akaashi is there.. he'll be fine, he definitely won't cause any trouble."
“Probably.”
Where is Natsume?
Have you seen Natsume?
Just someone very tall, with white hair and green eyes, wearing a green.. no, a blue jacket.
Akaashi stood by the Fukurodani cheering area with a stoic expression, while Bokuto was busy pestering everyone in the Fukurodani cheering squad.
He tried to reach out and grab Bokuto, but Bokuto was jumping around so fast that he couldn't catch him.
And Bokuto, having asked around, felt as if the sky were falling.
He rushed back to Akaashi's side with a face full of panic, delivering his "deduction."
It's bad, Akaashi! Natsume is missing!!
Was he kidnapped! We have to go save him!
Akaashi patted Bokuto's arm, keenly sensing a loophole: "Bokuto-senpai, did Shiratori-senpai tell you that he had an appointment at the Fukurodani cheering area?"
Bokuto recalled seriously, "I don't think so."
After thinking it through carefully, Akaashi guessed the truth: "He should be over at Inarizaki, let's go find him."
This is an Inarizaki match; he might be waiting for you.
Bokuto believed him in just a second: "So that's it! I was wondering why I couldn't find him."
That's true, Inarizaki's matches should be watched in the Inarizaki cheering area!
Alright! Akaashi, let's go!!
Watching Bokuto's energetic back as he rushed off, Akaashi apologized to Shiratori-senpai in his heart.
I'm sorry, Shiratori-senpai.
Although he could be understanding of Shiratori-senpai, Fukurodani's match was in the next round, they still had a pre-match meeting to attend.
To avoid any trouble from Bokuto-senpai, or to avoid him harassing the elderly people in the cheering area, so..
Good work, Shiratori-senpai.
Shiratori, in the Inarizaki cheering area, was still grinning foolishly because of Hinata's beautiful Quick Attack score, but he suddenly felt a strange chill on the back of his neck.
Who's thinking about me..