Compared to their back row block, Karasuno's block had a bit more grit; Hirugami's judgment was among the very best among high school-level Middle Blockers, he had no way to replicate it.
But.. when it comes to intuition, he still has a bit of an edge!
Right here!
Sasaki led the Block and rushed toward Hinata at Position 4 along with Hatta. Seeing them follow so decisively, Hinata was momentarily stunned.
Because.. Miya Atsumu's ball wasn't meant for him.
Even at such close range, Suna was a bit stunned when he faced this empty net after the spike.
Not for any other reason, but simply because after the block completely missed, a massive gap appeared in Star First's defense.
This was a massive blunder for Star First, Hayami, who was responsible for the back row defense, clearly had a look of shock and confusion on her face.
Suna's spike bypassed the coverage of Star First's back row defense, scoring the point with maximum speed.
This play didn't receive much applause from the stands, the Inarizaki side was even more blunt, openly mocking Sasaki.
What is Star First's block even doing?
Are they not awake? What are they blocking?
Akagi in the stands also looked shocked: "Aren't they supposed to be doing a back-row block? Why did they switch to a read block?"
You have to understand that when Miya Atsumu himself can fully control the offensive rhythm, Inarizaki employs a Double Quick style, a read block is a major taboo when dealing with them.
Oori calmly deduced, "No.. it seems Sasaki judged that Miya Atsumu was preparing a straight set, but failed to notice Suna."
Shiratori commented, "The coordination was disconnected and the judgment was flawed; this block was executed quite absurdly."
They were probably trying to adjust to mimic Karasuno's style of heavy suppression with a three-person block, but the poor judgment made it look like a cheap imitation.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Amatori, who had time during the break to watch the excitement, raised a hand to shield her face, looking at the court through the gaps between her fingers. "Star First is finished; haven't they just completely let themselves go?"
If Kirishima were to see Star First's match right now.. he might black out and then have a very "friendly" chat with Coach Mikumo.
But he certainly came at the right time today, to be able to witness such a farce.
“Not necessarily.”
Hearing Akagi's complaining voice, Shiratori, who also knew Kirishima, let out a light chuckle.
Fukuda General and Star First are in similar regions, because they are both strong schools, they have contact through practice matches on a regular basis. Although half of Star First's starters didn't start last year, he knows all of them.
Based on what he knows about Arashiyama, Sasaki, the others..
Perhaps it's just because they want to take advantage of the fact that they're still here and Hayami is in good form, intending to make him play a little more happily.
In terms of how much they dote on their juniors, Shiratori felt that no one was more excessive than Arashiyama and Sasaki; at least he never doted on Matsuda and the others like that.
Shiratori shrugged his shoulders: "—Even though it was a total mess."
Hayami, on the court, was having a breakdown: "Sasaki-senpai! Didn't you say you were going to be the Scale God? What was that!"
Are you trying to imitate Tendo-senpai? But no one has ever successfully imitated Tendo-senpai's style!
Sasaki felt he was in the wrong and worked hard to turn his brain to think about where the problem lay: "Stop shouting, stop shouting, I'm thinking."
He felt like he should grow two more pairs of eyes right now, so he could keep a better eye on more people.
Hayami covered her face with her hands: "Senpai.. stop making things even more chaotic."
Their defense was already struggling to cope with Inarizaki's offense, now they were doing nothing more than handing points to Inarizaki..
Sasaki pursed his lips. "I'll try my best."
And Hinata's mind was blank at this moment.
For some reason, he suddenly felt that the opposing Block had become clumsy.
Does this mean.. he can start fishing now?!
How exciting!
Chapter 498: The Four Hundred and Ninety-Eighth Fox
After thinking it over seriously for a while, Sasaki gave up on thinking.
He felt that his movements were likely too fast, allowing Miya Atsumu to spot a weakness, so he had temporarily held back some of his strength.
For a set to the same side, it is indeed possible to make temporary adjustments.
How did Hirugami and the others perform their Block? It was something like this.
.. Probably.
Hoshiumi turned his head toward Hirugami by the sidelines. "Did you hear that? They said they're imitating some kind of Scale God."
Hirugami, who had been trying hard to ignore it, felt his smile stiffen slightly before finally speaking, "Isn't it Tenri?"
Hoshiumi pointed at Sasaki in the court, a mischievous grin on his face as he said, "Isn't that the failed version? He's just a Scale God of incompetence."
Hirugami stood with his hands on his hips, letting out a helpless, bitter smile. "Give me a break."
Hirugami sounded like some kind of immobile turtle; isn't that Scale God just a powerless turtle?
Hoshiumi laughed heartily, his mood incredibly light, slipped his hands into his jacket pockets.
There was actually nothing left to doubt about the outcome of this match.
Facing a team like Star First, which has a certain level of foundation but lacks stability and undergoes many roster changes, Inarizaki still faces a certain probability of an upset.
However, after Star First handed Inarizaki a point right at the start of the Second Set, it would be difficult for Star First to regain the initiative.
Yamaguchi, who had just been about to take some notes, didn't know what to say anymore.
If it's a guess block.. it's easy to be countered by a negative-tempo Quick Attack. Although it's obvious Inarizaki didn't prepare to play high-frequency Quick Attacks in this match, making such a decision as a senior in Position 2 is indeed reckless.
Kageyama nodded. "Yeah, if it were Atsumu-senpai, he could adjust on the fly."
—However, that was definitely a misjudgment on the Block.
The two of them didn't understand what Star First meant, after all, Karasuno and Karasuno weren't well-acquainted; they weren't particularly clear on each other, aside from the fact that the other had won a national championship once and they had studied their overall tactics.
Rather than the name Hirugami, Kageyama and Yamaguchi were more familiar with his jersey number.
Moreover, judging from Sasaki's actions just now, there was absolutely no way to sense that the opponent was attempting to some extent to imitate Karasuno's tactics.
After all, Hirugami himself would never play such erratic, impulsive predictive blocking, he wouldn't even drag two other teammates down with him.
Most of the time, Karasuno does not aim for a full three-person block; instead, they first use a middle blocker combined with a player near the hitter to form a two-person block, with the final person jumping in from the back row to eventually complete a three-person block.
After thinking hard, Kageyama chose to give up on thinking.
I didn't understand it, I'll take another look.
Sensing that the opponents' block was about to change their tactics, Hinata rubbed his hands together and raised his hand toward Miya Atsumu to ask for the ball: "Give me the ball!"
Miya Atsumu did not hesitate either, turning and tossing the ball to Hinata.
Sasaki was much calmer this time, still choosing to follow up from the back row.
Hinata licked his lips, lowered his center of gravity, leaped high into the air.
Hayami was still holding his position behind the block, but this time Arashiyama chose a high-pressure block, attempting to smash the ball straight down through him.
Hinata did not panic, but instead looked past Arashiyama's hands toward Hayami behind the block.
The moment she locked eyes with Hinata, Hayami seemed to see through Hinata's intention; he wanted to.. perform a back-handed spike.
The moment she instinctively took a step toward that side, Hayami felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head.
No, the angle at which Hinata's hand pulled away from the ball was a feint.
In the next second, Hinata used his forehand to whip the ball, striking the side of it to create a lateral spin, sending it darting between Arashiyama's block and the antenna.
Hayami, who had already shifted her center of gravity to land on her left side, no longer had time to turn.
Hayami grit her teeth, instantly shifting her weight to her right leg and pushing off the ground to dive, attempting a diving receive for the ball.
But Hinata's spike was too fast, Hayami's movement was delayed by half a beat due to Hinata's feint, the ball ultimately grazed past her.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scores.
The moment she heard the sound of the ball hitting the floor, Hayami, who was lying on the ground, let out a slow breath.
Arashiyama in the front row was terrified when he turned his head, because Hayami had not performed a right-side turning movement for a very, very long time; because of this, Hayami's defensive position was actually stuck on the right side most of the time, in order to facilitate a diving receive on the left side.
Hinata chuckled, flashing a peace sign at Hayami on the ground. "Too bad, so close! I almost won."
Hayami got up and sat on the floor: "That was so cunning, Hinata."
After sitting for two seconds, Hayami reached out and took Arashiyama's outstretched hand, slowly rising to her feet, but she did not put much weight on Arashiyama's hand.
I'm fine, and.. I probably know to what extent I can manage.
In the stands, Amatori whispered to Iizuna, "It's obvious that Hayami isn't as smart as Inarizaki's Libero."
When it comes to responding to decoys and feints, Inarizaki handles it much more smoothly.
Iizuna smiled: "This can only mean that although Star First uses decoys during defense, the spikers' offense isn't good enough; the Libero doesn't have that much experience, after all, these two aspects are completely different."
And from this play onwards, once Hinata verified his idea, Inarizaki clearly began to shift away from their conventional tactics, Miya Osamu also started playing technical balls.
Although they weren't using a negative-tempo Double Quick, Inarizaki was playing their usual Double Quick.
Under normal circumstances, Star First should have abandoned this style of play at this moment and returned to his comfort zone once again to stabilize the situation.
However, Star First clearly had no such intention; instead, he was playing along with Inarizaki's rhythm to toy with his own Libero.
"I've got it!" Hayami lunged forward with great energy and managed to dig the ball with one hand.
Having received the ball, Izumi Nozomi sent a Second Attack over, but Nishizawa Hokuto received it.
From the back row, Hinata raised his hand again to ask Miya Atsumu for the ball: "Atsumu-ge!"
Miya Atsumu did not hesitate. Once Miya Osamu and Tokura had completed their job of cutting through the Star First's block, Miya Atsumu turned and sent the ball to Hinata, who was near the back row of Position 4.
Irie, who had jumped slightly early to defend against Miya Osamu, controlled his body to pull back and land, only to jump again the moment his feet touched the ground.
On the other side, Arashiyama rushed over, trying to join the three-man Block, but he was far too late, ultimately only able to slightly deflect the path of Hinata's Sharp Cross spike.
Hayami stared at Hinata's movements; she had already found a way to maximize the evasion of Hinata's spike.