Previously, no matter what kind of ball it was, as long as it was high enough, Miya Atsumu would usually praise the first receive, there were rarely situations where he remained silent like this.
Miya Atsumu, who had already rushed to the front row, raised his contact point with one hand, delivering the ball via the shortest possible path into the hands of Hinata, who had already spread out to Position 2.
Hinata seized the opportunity, spiking the ball straight down the line, scoring the point in the most unadorned manner.
The whistle blew, the Head Referee signaled that Inarizaki scores.
Unabara Uta cheered loudly for Hinata: "Great job, Shoyo!"
Meanwhile, Miya Atsumu, who had landed on the ground, silently turned his head to look at him, his gaze filled with danger, as if asking him why he was still alive and still breathing on the court.
Unabara Uta felt a tingling sensation in his neck, as if his head were about to leave his body and fly away.
He high-fived Miya Atsumu and Hinata, not noticing that Miya Atsumu was staring at him.
Seeing Unabara Uta wrap an arm around Hinata's shoulder to whisper about their future plays, Miya Atsumu's voice drifted over faintly: "Unabara, if you keep receiving balls like that, you're going to roll right off the court; Nishizawa Hokuto has been ready to kick you off long ago."
Unabara Uta pulled back his hand and stood at attention, not even daring to breathe.
Did he just offend Miya Atsumu-senpai somehow? His set's height and speed were clearly excellent; considering it was a Jump Float Serve, he had even proactively adjusted the angle just so Miya Atsumu could spike more comfortably.
Miya Osamu silently answered Unabara's question: "Unabara, number 9's serve was out."
Unabara Uta knelt down gently and slowly.
He was wrong, please don't drive him off the court; he still wants to play the match.
Considering that Tokita's serve was indeed quite tricky and difficult to handle, Miya Atsumu still went easy on Unabara, limiting his threat to mere words.
After Inarizaki scored, the Service Right passed to Hinata, while Miya Atsumu moved to the Front row.
Standing at the service position holding the volleyball, Hinata licked his lips.
Karasuno's playstyle is certainly interesting; Inarizaki absolutely cannot fall behind either.
As the whistle blew, Hinata briefly adjusted his touch before decisively tossing the ball upward, then lunged forward, jumping from behind the baseline to deliver a spike.
Hinata's spike accurately hit near Karasuno's Position 1 in the back row, maintaining his consistent playstyle of pressuring the setter.
Unfortunately, Karasuno's starting Setter is Kageyama, a Setter who, much like Miya Atsumu, isn't easily affected by poorly positioned first receives.
However, after all, the back row Setter is Tokita, so he can still take advantage of a first-year Setter.
Tokita looked up at the ball, adjusting his position in preparation to set.
When reviewing the morning match against Inarizaki, Tsukishima-senpai had mentioned this point; Inarizaki's number 10's serve was always targeting the opponent's Position 1 in the back row, now he was experiencing that feeling of being targeted as well.
Under Kageyama's feint, Tokita successfully sent the ball to Yamaguchi, who was positioned wide at Position 2.
Tanaka had already drawn away Inarizaki's two blockers over at Position 2, so Yamaguchi only had to deal with Miya Atsumu.
Although Yamaguchi's height and jumping ability weren't exceptionally outstanding, he still had more than enough to handle Miya Atsumu alone.
However, the spike he sent over was saved by Unabara Uta, who dove from the Inarizaki back row to keep it alive.
After receiving that death threat just now, Unabara Uta's small universe exploded, he kept up with the ball at an incredible speed.
Having regained possession of the ball, Miya Atsumu glanced sideways at Yamaguchi on the opposing side. As Yamaguchi and Kageyama swapped positions to return to the Middle Blocker position, he used one hand to lightly push the volleyball, sending it directly over the net in a tip.
His movement was extremely fast, leaving no room for the Karasuno block to react.
Nishinoya had actually anticipated Miya Atsumu's Second Attack, but unfortunately, he was still just a little bit too late.
Inarizaki scores consecutively.
Hinata raised his head triumphantly and made a three-finger gesture toward Kageyama, indicating that they now had a three-point advantage and were still in a position of complete victory.
Kageyama curled his lip and turned his head to make a gesture toward Tokita.
Yamaguchi, who had made slight mistakes on two consecutive balls, pursed his lips, his expression serious yet tinged with a hint of frustration.
On the sidelines, Tsukishima made two gestures toward him, signaling him to stay calm.
Inarizaki's advantage remained stable. Although Karasuno managed to score consecutive points through a setter dump, Inarizaki quickly caught up.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the Service Right passed to Yamaguchi, Tsukishima also moved back to the Front row.
Glancing at Hinata, who was still in the back row center, Tsukishima slowly withdrew his gaze.
With the Karasuno Libero not on the court during the service turn, even with Enoshita-senpai in the front row, the burden of defense rested almost entirely on the Block.
Whether he can prevent Inarizaki from scoring will be the key to whether this exchange yields results.
It wasn't a big problem; he had already recalibrated during his time off the court just now.
Yamaguchi's Jump Float Serve was extremely mature; under this kind of high pressure, he still delivered an almost perfect performance.
This ball landed precisely in the space between the retreating Hinata and Rishia, attempting to interfere with the movement of an Inarizaki back row Spiker.
Moreover, neither Hinata nor Rishia's ability to receive a Jump Float Serve was that outstanding, so there was a high possibility he could score directly from his Serve.
However, Rishia, who had also undergone hellish training, did not fear this ball; instead, she quickly adjusted her position and performed a diving save to ensure the ball was sent up in a stable manner.
The ball's position was slightly biased toward the net at Position 2 in the front row; under normal circumstances, the Setter would have almost no way to reach it for a set.
But Miya Atsumu's reaction speed was extremely fast; as he moved in, he used one hand to wedge himself between the ball and the net, attempting to set the ball.
Tsukishima Kei kept his center of gravity in the middle, not rushing to make any move.
He quietly watched Miya Atsumu's movement, while his peripheral vision on both sides kept an eye on the actions of the Inarizaki spikers.
When facing Inarizaki's offense, focusing only on the setter or only on the spiker would mean being led astray by Inarizaki; he must have a wide enough field of vision to grasp the entire situation, combined with a bit of thought..
The advantage of a one-handed set is that it is high enough, Rishia's first receive was indeed high enough; in this situation, Hinata, who had already jumped under Tokura's cover, was actually a very good option.
But.. the more obvious the target, the more it is a decoy.
If he were Miya Atsumu, he would definitely, definitely give the ball to the other side..
As Miya Atsumu sent the ball out, Tsukishima had already taken two steps forward, Kageyama moved in sync with him; the two of them lunged directly toward Miya Osamu, who had already jumped.
As if he had simulated and handled this kind of ball thousands of times before, Tsukishima pressed down with one hand the very moment Miya Osamu was about to change the ball's trajectory, precisely intercepting its path.
With a loud thud, the ball was slammed back onto Inarizaki's side of the court.
The moment the whistle sounded in his ears, Miya Atsumu blurted out a remark: "What the hell was that?"
They could actually keep up with that?
Was it an almost perfect double block?
Tsukishima's lips curled slightly. "As expected, the feeling of actually blocking a ball is much more satisfying than just acting like I did."
Miya Osamu's temple twitched.
Chapter 504: The Five Hundred and Fourth Fox
After saying this, Tsukishima turned his head and walked away directly, without looking at the expressions of the Inarizaki members again.
Miya Osamu frowned, staring at Tsukishima's back for a while before finally unable to help but let out a light click of his tongue.
He tilted his head toward Miya Atsumu and jerked his chin. "One more ball."
Miya Atsumu stood with one hand on his hip, sizing up Miya Osamu. "Are you even up for this? If you mess up like this again, I'm giving the ball to Shoyo."
Glancing at Hinata, who was already raising his hands to make his presence known, Miya Osamu felt a vein throb in his temple: "Shut up, just give me the toss."
Miya Atsumu reluctantly agreed to his twin brother's "plea": "I'll give you one last chance."
Tsukishima looked at Yamaguchi, who was behind him preparing to serve, said softly to him, "One more ball."
Yamaguchi nodded and replied with an extremely serious expression, "Okay."
Tsukishima turned around, facing the Inarizaki members who had already prepared their defense again, with his back to the Karasuno members.
Actually.. he had originally intended to use his defense against Inarizaki's quick attack against that even more annoying fellow, Hinata.
But unfortunately, while he was in the front row during the last round, Inarizaki didn't frequently use Hinata for quick attacks, they also truly needed time to adapt to Inarizaki's actual speed.
Turning to look at Sasaki, who had also come over to steal a seat near Inarizaki, Hayami complained, "Look at their Middle Blocker, senpai."
“Inarizaki's quick attack can even be blocked by people, Inarizaki wasn't even playing at full speed when we were playing, but you still couldn't keep up."
Sasaki raised his hand and slapped the back of his head. "Shut up."
After the morning matches ended, many teams that had lost and left the arena had already begun their return journeys, including their Star First.
After all, it might be manageable for just the volleyball club members, but the food and lodging for so many people in the cheering squad would be an unbearable expense for many schools.
With nearly half of the team's supporters missing, the Inarizaki cheering area had expanded accordingly.
After rearranging their positions, they also had a place to come and join in, moving from their original spot below the cheering area to a social group cheering area across the aisle.
Hayami was sitting in the seat Unai had previously occupied, right under the cheering area; it could be described as VIP treatment in the very center of the stands.
Sasaki stared at the back of Hayami's head for a while.
Even though they were both just here to snag a seat, the treatment Hayami received was worlds apart from theirs.
Fine, he admitted, they only had the chance to sit here because they had gotten along well with Hayami and the Inarizaki members; otherwise, they would have been forced to go to the rooftop restaurant or stand.
Of course, his opinion of Hayami had nothing to do with his own seat; rather, he felt that if Hayami just changed into an Inarizaki tracksuit right now, she could completely blend into the Inarizaki cheering squad.
He took off his jacket, who knew he was Star First.
And.. some little thing was just accusing him!
Sasaki, separated by an aisle, reached out his hand, using his long reach to extend past Shiratori and Bokuto, who were sitting on the steps of the front row aisle, reached to pinch Hayami's ear.
Don't tell me that Karasuno's block was just a fluke or something they could pull off just by studying it beforehand. I don't believe it.
Karasuno has definitely encountered this kind of Quick Attack before. If they could pull that off just by watching, then Karasuno's Middle Blocker with glasses would have already transcended humanity.
Shiratori, who insisted on sitting on the steps in the front row, nodded in agreement: "I see it the same way."
From my personal perspective, Karasuno's response speed to the Quick Attack is clearly the result of countless trials and errors. Considering that Kageyama-kun's setting skills are also very high, it is possible for them to replicate Inarizaki's tactics in advance.
Hayami turned her head to look at the two seniors beside her.
Actually, if they wanted seats, they could find some, but not in the first row. The first row in the Inarizaki cheering area had long been reserved for their die-hard fans, there were also players' relatives present.
In the end, the two of them still ended up sitting on the steps.
Bokuto frowned. "A replica? But Natsume, you said before that Inarizaki's quick attack is something that can only happen through cooperation between a Spiker and a Setter."