The sound of the approach for the follow-up set echoed in Hinata's ears, the moment the sound of the hit occurred, Hinata lowered the hands he had held by his sides and made a gesture toward Miya Atsumu with both hands behind his back.
Miya Atsumu saw it, but he acted as if he hadn't.
Hinata wanted to perform a Back Flight, but Miya Atsumu had other ideas.
"I've got it!" Nishinoya Yu shouted.
After judging where the ball would likely land, he stepped forward and spread his legs wide. Keeping his center of gravity low, he raised his hands to make contact.
After training as a setter under Kageyama for nearly two years, his overhead sets might not be described as exceptionally strong, but they are decent enough; at the very least, they won't become a weakness that opponents can exploit.
As for his ability to judge a Jump Float Serve, as long as he could grasp the general landing spot, he could provide a sufficiently stable First Receive.
As it happened, Miya Atsumu was intentionally targeting him at this moment.
Kita Shinsuke stared silently at Miya Atsumu on the court, his hands resting on his knees, as he exhaled a soft breath.
Miya Atsumu's habit of targeting the Libero is truly unrepentant. He can understand bullying a Libero of mediocre skill, especially since it is quite effective, but being so reckless against a Libero like Nishinoya is a bit too blind.
There isn't much video footage of Karasuno available for reference; the schedule for the Regional Qualifiers isn't dense enough and the intensity isn't high enough, so it can't be used at all to estimate their physical condition.
Based on their current state, given that the morning matches were relatively easy, it was obvious that Karasuno's overall condition was quite good.
If it were him, he would never gamble on Karasuno's Libero's stamina.
What if.. he's another stamina monster just like Hinata?
How many teams had been tricked by this before, Itachiyama was the most prominent example.
But since this was the judgment and strategy provided by Miya Atsumu as the Captain, he had no right to question it, he did not believe that Inarizaki would lose the match because of this single error in judgment.
It's just that.. Miya Atsumu must also understand exactly what the price of being willful is.
Observing Kita Shinsuke's expression, Oori Ren gave a soft laugh. "Trust Atsumu; he has the ability to pay the price for whether his judgment is correct or not, and.. his luck has actually always been quite good."
Akagi added, "Of course, excluding the lottery."
It must be because all his luck was used up elsewhere that Miya Atsumu's luck with the draw is this terrible!
On the court, Karasuno had already organized a beautiful quick attack. Tsukishima's spike maintained his usual tricky trajectory, perfectly exploiting a slight flaw in Inarizaki's block, spiking the ball right over the head of Hinata, who had jumped a bit too late for the follow-up quick.
As they fell, Hinata and Tsukishima locked eyes.
For some reason, he felt as if he had been struck by an arrow all over again.
What was with that look that said, "You're too short, so blocking is pointless"!
He just couldn't keep up with the Quick Attack! Normally, his blocking is just as early as Suna and the others!
Fortunately, Unabara Uta in the back row was reliable enough; he lunged forward with one hand to receive the ball, rolling sideways to dissipate the impact.
Watching the ball fly toward the front row, Miya Atsumu, who was adjusting his position, quickly shot a glance toward Hinata.
Suna and Miya Osamu, who were close to him, had already been briefed by him in a low voice, but Hinata's jump and landing were both late, so he could only use this method to coordinate them now.
Receiving the signal, Hinata was dissatisfied that his movement wasn't being used for coordination, but he still quickly turned and moved back to create distance for his approach, preparing for the subsequent attack.
Hinata used a four-step approach, a running style that allowed him to jump and exert power more effectively, though the downside was that the approach might be too long and not fast enough.
Coach Kurosu smiled by the sidelines.
But.. this flaw could certainly be overlooked when it came to Hinata.
When he first saw Hinata, the thing that caught his eye was that acceleration speed he had never seen before.
In this regard, having short legs is actually an advantage.
However, aside from Hinata, it is rare for a short player to possess an Achilles tendon capable of supporting such extreme subsequent jumps.
Tsukishima naturally noticed Hinata's movements, but he didn't follow him, because at this very moment.. he had a full three options laid out before him.
Almost at the same time as Hinata, Miya Osamu from Position 2 had already taken three steps forward and jumped, preparing to execute a flat ball quick attack.
Suna played a very standard Position 3 Quick Attack; although the tempo might have been a bit slower than Hinata and Miya Osamu's, it was essentially a Quick Attack, something a Back Attack could not keep up with.
Tsukishima, right in front of Suna, was putting everything he had into suppressing his lower body, which was constantly trying to move; it was precisely at times like these that he couldn't afford to rush.
As long as there is just a single moment.. he will be able to keep up.
He absolutely cannot rush!
The moment the ball touched Miya Atsumu's fingers, he caught the movement of the opponent's fingers preparing for a jump float serve.
Suna's expression was determined and his movements were decisive, he was positioned right in the path of the jump float serve.
Tsukishima made his judgment instantly, calling out loudly for Enoshita Chikara and Tokita to come to the center for a block.
It is usually easy to judge Suna when he is acting as a decoy, not through his movements, but through his expression or the intensity of his spike.
And with this ball's trajectory and Suna's performance.. it was obvious that Hinata was the decoy.
But just as Enoshita Chikara moved a step to his left, Miya Atsumu's fingers flicked the ball, delivering an incredibly fast Flat Ball.
Hinata's expression, caught in his peripheral vision, was clearly one of surprise, but more than that, it was pure exhilaration.
Regardless of what specific instructions Miya Atsumu gave, he firmly believed that he was the one meant to spike.
—Even though most of the time, Miya Atsumu treats him as a decoy.
The ball flashed through his field of vision, Suna's eyes widened slightly.
Wait? Was that what was just said?
Having already received the ball, Hinata raised his hand and spiked without hesitation, completing this Line at maximum speed.
With a loud thud, the ball slammed against the floor. Inarizaki scores.
At the same time Hinata landed, he raised his hands and cheered, "Score!"
Meanwhile, Suna, standing beside them, silently turned his head toward Miya Atsumu, his eyes questioning him.
Miya Atsumu rejected Hinata's request to perform a Back Flight, instead telling him that they would perform a Triple Quick, that Hinata and Miya Osamu should act as decoys for him. Considering the magnitude of Hinata's sacrifice, he believed him.
But in the end.. the person acting as the decoy was still him!
Isn't this just playing with people from beginning to end!
Miya Atsumu and Hinata high-fived in celebration, while turning to meet Suna's resentful gaze, Miya Atsumu replied, "To deceive an opponent, you first have to deceive your own teammates."
“Look at that smart but not-so-smart glasses guy on the other side, being played like a fool—"
A vein throbbed on Tsukishima's temple.
Chapter 508: The Five Hundred and Eighth Fox
Suna looked at Miya Atsumu, then looked at Tsukishima Kei, whose face was turning pale with anger, silently gave Miya Atsumu a thumbs-up behind his back.
When it comes to holding a grudge, if our Inarizaki's Miya Atsumu claims to be second, no one would dare claim to be first.
Moreover, besides holding his own grudges, Miya Atsumu was now also helping Hinata hold his, his combat effectiveness having evolved to the point where he could take on two opponents at once.
Miya Atsumu, having successfully helped Hinata throw the mockery back, curled the corners of his mouth and turned his head, preparing to claim credit from Hinata.
But setting aside their successful coordination just now, Hinata still felt a surge of frustration in his heart.
He had actually planned to use a Back Flight to play a prank on Tsukishima, but Miya Atsumu actually wouldn't listen to him, even intending to use him as a decoy. Although Miya Atsumu ultimately gave him the ball, it couldn't make up for his wounded pride.
As the Ace, Hinata was very angry.
Miya Atsumu and Hinata stared at each other like that, in the end, Miya Atsumu finally gave in.
He looked toward Kageyama and Tsukishima, who were talking to each other on the opposite side, said without looking back, "I'll listen to you; next time, I'll definitely listen to you."
In the back row, Rishia turned his head to look at Unabara Uta beside him. "Atsumu-senpai wouldn't even dare to look at Shoyo; he was definitely just talking nonsense just now, he'll do it again next time."
Unabara Uta agreed without a second thought: "I agree."
Miya Atsumu's words are nothing but lies. He doesn't just deceive the opposition; he deceives his own teammates as well.
Look at Hinata, then look at Suna; they've both been victimized quite terribly.
Knowing this as well, Hinata became even angrier.
Fine, he admitted that Miya Atsumu's choice was indeed the better option, he didn't mean to say he didn't trust his ability in the air, but he didn't particularly like this feeling of being teased.
Because.. he wanted to be selfish just this once.
He simply wanted to crush Tsukishima in a direct confrontation.
Miya Atsumu reached out to pat Hinata, who wasn't looking at him, gently rubbed that head that felt quite good to the touch.
“Don't get ahead of yourself. I know what you want to do, but now isn't the time. Just watch my lead for this set.”
"Yeah." Hinata pursed his lips and looked toward Tsukishima on the opposite side, his gaze so sharp it seemed capable of killing.
He understands.
In this set, Inarizaki already held a significant advantage, so there was no need to adopt a high-risk strategy like a direct confrontation.
The correct approach is to win this set with minimal effort and composure, while avoiding giving Karasuno too many problems.
They are aiming to make it all the way to the Finals, so every single point you can get is precious.
Tsukishima only glanced sideways at Hinata, but he did not make eye contact with him.
Not yet.. it's not time yet.
Actually, he really hated playing against players like Hinata.
Of course, that includes an energetic graduate from Fukurodani.
Most of the time, their play is illogical and lacks any fixed patterns of thought. Because of this, the trajectories of their spikes are extremely difficult to predict.
In terms of observation alone, all he can do is try to guess the opponent's spiking position, but once he jumps, Hinata has too many options.
This is the benefit of mastering technical balls..
Setting aside Sakusa's special balls that rely on his wrist flexibility, Hinata could be considered one of the best in high school when it comes to technical balls.
Komori rubbed his chin, his gaze toward Hinata on the court filled with admiration.
Players who can hit a technical ball well will generally try every possible way to spike it effectively; as long as the blockers aren't particularly fast experts, the pressure on their own Libero for a counterattack is quite low.
Although Komori considered his counterattacks to be decent, it didn't mean that he liked playing them.