Shiratori felt that his brain was still somewhat insufficient at this stage.
He was only familiar with an Ace-centric system combined with a bit of Middle Blocker tactics; if Hinata and the others arrived in the future, his ability to facilitate would likely be completely insufficient.
To avoid this, he must further improve his theoretical knowledge and his ability to adapt to changing situations on the court.
It's decided; he will write his graduation thesis on the subject of the setter's multi-point attack on the court.
—Even though, as a sophomore, he is still a long way off from that.
On the court, Yamaguchi tried once again to tip the ball toward the Inarizaki side, but this time Suna was prepared, raising his hands to touch the ball with his fingertips.
Compared to Kageyama, Yamaguchi's jumping ability was not as strong, his contact point was lower, making him relatively within Suna's range of response.
"Touch!" Suna shouted.
Unabara Uta took a step forward and raised his hands to set the ball.
Great, the height and position of this ball are both excellent; Miya Atsumu has the conditions to set the ball.
Kageyama frowned slightly, silently noting the height of Suna's block in this set to further calibrate his data.
Among all the players on Inarizaki, Suna is the type with low stamina; his condition even fluctuates between sets, becoming more obvious as the match drags on.
Moreover, once the pace of the match slows down, or it enters a long, "boring" rally, Suna easily runs low on energy and starts slacking off.
From his observation, even though Suna can still suppress Yamaguchi's offense from above, his block height has decreased compared to the previous set.
This meant he only needed to slightly adjust his setting height..
Having made up his mind, Kageyama pursed his lips.
On the other side, Miya Atsumu had already completed the set, under Hinata's cover, Rishia Heisuke took the ball and slammed it down with a heavy spike from a high point at Position 4.
Yamaguchi and Enoshita restricted the path of Rishia's spike, so Rishia chose to hit a line shot through the gap between Enoshita and the antenna.
The spike Rishia sent over was steady, accurate, fierce, smashing toward Karasuno's sideline at an extremely high speed.
As Kageyama stepped back, Nishinoya lunged from the side, performing a diving save to keep the ball alive.
Kinoshita, waiting in the sidelines, shouted loudly, "One more time!"
Kageyama quickly followed up, but while his body arched backward, he used one hand at the last moment to set the ball toward the area near Position 3.5.
Meanwhile, Tanaka, who had already rushed over under the cover of Yamaguchi and Narita, extended his arms fully and slammed the ball down with a heavy spike.
Hinata and Suna, who were a bit slow to follow up, were caught off guard by Tanaka; the heavy spike zipped between the two of them and slammed into Inarizaki's back row.
Unabara Uta took a step forward and lowered his center of gravity, successfully stabilizing his body with his sufficiently solid physique.
The pass was a bit off, but it still managed to reach the front of the net.
Hinata shouted for the ball: "Give me the ball!!"
Miya Atsumu did not hesitate, sending the ball toward him instead.
There was no time to make any more adjustments to this ball; Miya Atsumu could only ensure that it had enough airtime to allow Hinata to adjust.
He didn't look over there again either.
Hinata doesn't pick up the ball; he will definitely, definitely do his absolute best to find a way to send the ball over the net.
But this ball really wasn't good enough; it was only natural that it would be blocked by a touch.
Hinata stared at Yamaguchi charging toward him, after a brief moment of thought, decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.
He instantly reduced the force in his spiking hand, his palm brushing against the volleyball to give it backspin, sending the ball dropping toward Karasuno's court.
Nishinoya Yu from Karasuno's back row rushed over quickly, making a diving save to keep the ball alive.
Miya Atsumu couldn't help but laugh.
Don't you love attacking from multiple angles at once? Why don't you try another one now?
Kageyama stepped forward two paces, his gaze toward the ball incredibly calm.
Let's give it a try.
Even without a Libero, they still have four attacking points, he can still coordinate his positioning during a multi-point attack in the front row, can even leave Nishinoya to ensure subsequent counterattacks.
In short, Karasuno wouldn't be at a disadvantage during this attack.
Kageyama raised his hands to send the ball toward Yamaguchi, who had spread out toward Position 2 for a wide attack; Yamaguchi successfully exploited the gap on Hinata's side this time, once again successfully tipping the ball into Inarizaki's court.
Unabara Uta quickly dove to the side and saved the ball.
Komori, watching from the stands, looked intently at the match: "Both sides have very tight defense."
Compared to before, Unabara Uta was clearly playing more freely. Given that the opponent's spiking ability was not particularly outstanding, his performance in defense was like a fish in water.
As for Karasuno, their Block and Libero coordination was quite beautiful; even if placed in the context of the entire Haruko, they would be among the very best.
Sakusa's voice was very calm: "Actually.. compared to this time last year, Inarizaki has become even stronger."
The Miya Twins, now in their third year, Suna have become more mature, compared to last year's Haruko, Inarizaki even possesses two 1.9m Middle Blockers to anchor the court, they also have more excellent replacement options to use for the Libero position.
Unabara Uta's physical condition is not as good as Akagi's, especially regarding physical conditioning management, but since he no longer has those concerns, he can naturally play more freely.
Seeing that Inarizaki had already taken a two-point lead and held the advantage, Komori turned his head and asked Sakusa, "What kind of lineup do you think Inarizaki will use to play against us tomorrow?"
Sakusa replied without a second thought, "A first-year Libero, I assume. Unabara is being saved to deal with Karasuno's Block.. of course, that's assuming they can actually beat us."
Komori smiled. "I think so too."
Therefore, this set didn't have much reference value for them, but it was certainly a rather novel experience.
Because.. Inarizaki was clearly having a lot of fun and was very invested.
On the court, Unabara Uta performed a diving save to stop Narita's spike just before the three-meter line, sending the ball steadily up towards the attack line.
Miya Atsumu was very satisfied with Unabara Uta's performance today: "Nice play!"
After catching the ball, Rishia Heisuke spiked it right into Yamaguchi's hands on the opposite side, sending the ball bouncing out of the court.
Nishinoya rushed out immediately to chase down the ball, preventing it from flying past the guardrail.
Nice!
After offering his praise, Kageyama quickly organized the offense.
Back row rotation.
The moment he realized this, Hinata pulled back, increasing the distance between himself and the net.
With Suna and Rishia there, the block of this ball was not his responsibility; he only needed to consider the subsequent defense and offense.
The height of the set was insufficient, Tanaka's jump height hadn't reached his optimal state. Facing the direct Block from two Inarizaki players, he had no confidence in breaking through them head-on.
Scanning Inarizaki's defensive formation, Tanaka decisively hit the ball toward Position 1, intending to score with a Sharp Cross.
Miya Osamu, who had been waiting for this ball for a long time, stepped back, planted his feet firmly on the ground, passed the ball toward the front row.
Jumping from behind the three-meter line, Miya Atsumu twisted his body in mid-air, swinging his upper body in a semi-circle to smash the ball directly into Karasuno's court.
As Kageyama rushed under the ball to attempt a save, his positioning was quite good, but the situation was urgent; he couldn't stabilize his center of gravity at all, only managing to make the ball land as close to the net as possible.
Seeing the distance between the ball and the net constantly closing, Kageyama shouted loudly as he fell to the ground, "Spike it directly!"
Hinata, who was originally near Position 4, stepped up and moved across the entire net toward Inarizaki's Position 2.
The moment the ball flew just above the top of the net, he leaped without hesitation, touching the ball faster than Narita on the opposite side.
BANG!!
The whistle blew, the Head Referee signaled that Inarizaki scores.
Hinata made a peace sign toward the Karasuno members: "A huge victory!"
Quick Attacks within the three-meter line are fast.
He is invincible within five centimeters of the net!
Narita quickly bowed and apologized, "Sorry, it was mine!"
Kageyama also took the blame: "My bad."
Hinata's ability to read the ball's trajectory was undeniably strong. He shouldn't have given up a ball this close to the net; giving away a ball like that was no different from handing Hinata a point.
But he really hadn't expected Hinata to reach across the entire net to hit that ball.
That judgment.. or rather, that intuition, was a bit too terrifying.
Hinata turned and rushed toward Unabara Uta and Miya Osamu, high-fiving each of them—one in each hand: "You're so reliable, Unabara Uta! Osamu-senpai!"
Unabara Uta, who was on fire today, replied with a grin, "Of course."
Hinata gave Unabara Uta a thumbs up. "Tsukishima's Block is still very difficult to deal with. We'll have to rely on your Counterattack, Unabara Uta, in a moment."
Unabara Uta's high-frequency diving saves had a very low error rate, making Hinata feel quite restless watching him.
Hearing the Ace's praise, Unabara Uta stepped forward, striking his chest with one hand, his voice firm and powerful: "Don't worry! I've got this!"
As long as it is within his field of vision, he won't let a single counterattack through!
Hinata stood with his mouth agape, his eyes filled with excitement as he looked at Unabara Uta.
Today, Unabara.. is like a savior!
In this high-pressure environment, where rallies were being forced to drag on and the tension was suffocating, a stable and beautiful receiving movement was like a beam of light breaking through—
Hinata puffed out his chest. "I've already figured out the logic of last year's defense. Leave the rest to me; I'll be the one to score!"
He felt that Unabara should be tired too, it was time for him to step up, take over the role of the team's light, lead the team to final victory!
Hinata turned his head toward Miya Atsumu: "Atsumu-ge, Atsumu-ge! Give me some super impressive plays!"
Miya Atsumu raised his hand to give an OK sign.
Seeing Hinata's eager expression, Unabara remained silent.
—Actually, he isn't tired yet.
Chapter 511: The 511th Fox
After taking the advantage, Inarizaki did not switch to a completely conservative playstyle like they did in the previous set; instead, they felt rebellious due to the high pressure exerted by Karasuno, their overall offensive intensity was incredibly fierce.