Hoshiumi, having gained another chance to Spike, jumped even higher this time than he did last time. Hoshiumi's contact point was higher than Hinata's, his hang time was not much different either. Given the Inarizaki Block's standard jumping state, they wouldn't be able to touch this ball if they wanted to Block him.
It also means that to limit his Spike, Inarizaki must abandon their usual downward-pressing Block and instead switch to a more vertical blocking style.
But likewise, once this choice is made, it means actively giving the opponent a chance to use tooling the block.
Although Hirugami's ball wasn't a direct set, it didn't seem to have much room for adjustment in its hang time, the one performing the spike was Hoshiumi—someone who could be considered the strongest in the realm of pure technical balls in all of high school.
The countless experiences of facing Hinata during practice clearly told Tokura that if he made such an adjustment, he would be handing points to Hoshiumi.
But continuing to press forward meant being hit by a Hoshiumi spike from behind the block; regardless of the outcome, it was unacceptable for him as an Inarizaki blocker.
At a time like this..
The moment Hoshiumi spiked, Tokura, who had already adjusted himself to an almost vertical position, suddenly clenched his fist and pulled his hand back.
The ball flew over his hands, soaring into Inarizaki's court at a very high angle, but given the initial angle of this ball intended to be a tooling the block, there was an eighty percent chance it would go out of bounds.
And in the very moment Tokura descended, he saw Hoshiumi on the other side of the net flash a smile.
—He had guessed it.
He didn't hit the ball straight; instead, he added some backspin to ensure that even a high-angle ball wouldn't go out of bounds.
The closer the ball got to Inarizaki's back line, the lower its height became.
Unabara Uta, whose muscle memory was already being conditioned by Hinata's backspin spike, turned and lunged, performing a beautiful diving receive to save the ball.
The ball flew straight up, Miya Atsumu also moved two steps to get behind the ball.
Meanwhile, Hinata had already taken a running start from the outside of the court toward the net, leaping up on one foot near Position 3.
Miya Osamu coordinated with his rhythm, jumping for a Quick Attack from Position 4 almost in perfect synchronization.
Facing the nearly unsolvable Double Quick, Karasuno had no great countermeasures; they could only position themselves between the two players, ensuring they could cover both of their Sharp Crosses while leaving the lines on both sides for the back row players to handle.
And in that very instant, Miya Atsumu, positioned near the baseline, raised his hand to set the ball, but his target was not the two players on the left wing at all.
As Hinata's spike missed, the ball went to Inarizaki's front row Position 2.
Ginjima, who had prepared himself long ago, moved forward with the ball, took a running start, jumped, spiked the ball with all his might.
Hakuma reached out to try and receive the ball on a line, but he wasn't very confident. Hirugami, diving in at top speed, touched the ball with his fingers, but Ginjima's power was too great, the ball was knocked straight away.
Norikura Isao lunged to chase it, kicking his leg over the railing to kick the ball back onto the court.
Great save!!
Cover! Cover!
The stands on Karasuno's side erupted in an instant, Bessho, sitting at the Coach's bench, clenched his fists and stood up abruptly.
Asahina estimated the ball's position to adjust his footing, stepping laterally and lowering his center of gravity, then raising his hands to meet the ball.
He moved against the direction of the ball; if he were even slightly careless, he would be called for a double touch.
But he couldn't worry about that much anymore; if he couldn't provide a good enough set, neither Hoshiumi nor Hirugami would have any room to play effectively.
The moment his fingers touched the ball, Asahina tensed his body, forcefully stopping the ball's momentum and redirecting it in the opposite direction.
The Head Referee did not react; Asahina's movement was very clean, with no suspicion of a double touch.
Tokura and Ginjima followed Hoshiumi toward Karasuno's Position 4.
However, Asahina's ball path was shorter than they had anticipated; right near Position 3, it experienced a momentary pause due to that slight amount of spin.
Hirugami raised his hand without the slightest hesitation to spike the ball, perfectly coordinating with the play as he reduced some of his jumping momentum.
The ball grazed Tokura's body as he adjusted and flew past, landing directly in the defensive gap between Miya Osamu and Unabara Uta.
The whistle blew, Karasuno scored.
Beautiful!
That was so cool!
Consecutive scores! We've taken the lead in one go!
Hoshiumi and Hirugami Asahina high-fived one after another, then shared a hug with Norikura Isao, who had just returned.
If he only lets Miya Atsumu score two points, then the match is still very much alive.
Tokura's growth is quite surprising. During the Interhigh and National Sports Festival, Inarizaki's imperfect Block was a weakness they could exploit, but now they can no longer break through easily.
“If it wasn't Sakusa-senpai, it would feel a lot better. I'll keep adjusting.” Tokura shook his hands. Sakusa's spin serve was practically cheating; compared to that, Hoshiumi and the others were quite gentle.
I was a little deceived by them, but I'll keep adjusting.
Hinata said to him, "Sorry, I forgot to give you a warning just now."
He had actually realized just now that Hoshiumi was a decoy, but it was already too late to speak up.
Miya Osamu said, "It's just one point, don't worry about it."
Saying this, he turned back to look at Miya Atsumu.
It was clearly because this guy's boastful serve was caught by the opponent that it was so frustrating; otherwise, why would it be this difficult?
Miya Atsumu averted his gaze, though he felt a bit guilty, it wasn't much; instead, he acted as if nothing had happened at all.
"Tsk." Miya Osamu was very unhappy.
Chapter 531: The Five Hundred and Thirty-First Fox
"Serve a good one!" Hoshiumi placed both hands behind his head, providing cover for Asahina's serve.
Hakuma rotated to the front row; this would be the rotation where Karasuno had the best chance to pull ahead and take the lead.
—Let's score consecutive points and take the lead in one breath.
As usual, Asahina's serve was stable, precisely sending the ball toward the area between Miya Osamu and Unabara Uta in the Inarizaki back row.
Inarizaki adopted a formation with two main receivers and one first receive; Unabara Uta was responsible for covering Miya Atsumu, so Miya Osamu's defensive range had to be a little wider than Unabara Uta's.
However, when it comes to handling balls on the center line, Inarizaki still follows the principle of limiting the Libero's range.
"I've got it!" Unabara Uta shouted immediately, signaling that he would take the receive.
He took a lateral step, lowered his stance, used a forearm pass to receive the ball.
Having been tormented by so many powerful serves.. Asahina's serve was no longer a threat to him.
The ball flew very steadily toward the position where the Libero had dropped into the back row to support the Setter; it had neutralized the spin and controlled the power, ensuring it had enough height while being delivered perfectly into position. It was a First Receive that could be described as having no flaws whatsoever.
Miya Atsumu praised the first receive as usual, his voice flat, lacking any of the excitement he had shown when praising Nishizawa yesterday.
Unabara Uta expressed that he was very unwilling to accept it.
But there was nothing he could do about it; if he couldn't even receive this kind of serve, he might as well just pack his things and get out of the Volleyball Club.
After all.. a little brat has been eyeing his position for a long time.
Hirugami and Hoshiumi were positioned near Inarizaki's Position 4, while Hakuma, who had longer legs and better mobility at the Net, was near Position 2; the three of them were watching Miya Atsumu's movement closely.
In this situation, all of Inarizaki's Spikers are on the same side, which significantly reduces the pressure on their defense; they only need to focus on one side..
The moment Hirugami's peripheral vision swept across the side, Hinata had already flown through his entire field of vision, rushing from in front of Miya Atsumu toward Position 2.
Hirugami's expression changed abruptly.
Is Hinata planning to play a wide spread?
Regardless of what tactics Inarizaki was planning to use, the two Spikers spreading out to their maximum distance forced them to make corresponding split adjustments during their Block.
Hinata's movement was incredibly fast; while Hirugami moved one step toward the center, he had already leaped on one foot toward the Position 2 marker in the blink of an eye.
Miya Atsumu's set arrived at the same time, coordinating with Hinata's movement, fast and clean.
Hakuma followed up with a jump, Hirugami, who had dived in from the side, only managed to reach him just in time, but there was still enough space between the two for Hinata to spike the ball through.
Miya Atsumu's set paused for a moment at the point of Hinata's spike, Hinata seized this opportunity, spiking the ball directly off Hakuma's arm and into Karasuno's court.
Hoshiumi, who was positioned in the back row and had not followed up to block, reacted immediately, diving to receive the ball.
Feeling the solid contact on the back of his hand, Hoshiumi breathed a sigh of relief and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Follow it!"
Hearing Hoshiumi's voice right next to him, Hirugami landed on one foot and took two hops backward to avoid stepping on Hoshiumi's hand.
The ball landed a bit off-target. Asahina rushed toward the edge of the court, as he jumped, he executed a back set, delivering the ball to Hakuma Mebuki at the closest possible range.
Ginjima and Tokura rushed over at the same time. Facing a spike from a player of Hakuma's build, Ginjima wouldn't be able to reach the blocking height no matter how high he jumped.
Tokura could reach Hakuma's spike thanks to his long arms, but this caused his and Ginjima's blocking heights to be inconsistent.
Seeing Hakuma prepare to spike the ball directly over Ginjima, Tokura decisively shifted his center of gravity and reached out with one hand in an attempt to touch the ball.
A heavy thud rang out. Unabara Uta, who had just prepared to step forward to receive the ball, quickly retreated, diving toward the back of the court to chase after the volleyball that Tokura had popped up.
As he dove forward, he reached out with both hands to intercept the ball in mid-air, doing his best to send it back toward the net once again.
Miya Atsumu took a step toward the ball, but someone was faster than him.
Miya Osamu, who was already closer to the ball, took two steps to chase it down; as he jumped, he touched the ball to direct it forward, sending it toward the area near Inarizaki's Position 5.
Ginjima had already jumped over there, but his position didn't match the timing of this ball.
And just as Hakuma's brain was working hard to process the situation, Miya Atsumu, who had appeared to be preparing to step forward to set, suddenly jumped in place behind the Three-meter Line.
Hirugami stepped forward and leaped into the air above the net, but Miya Atsumu, who was just about to touch the ball, had already used the momentum to land, failing to make contact with it.
The ball flew past him, clipping the space between the net and the Position 2 marker before dropping.
The expressions on Hoshiumi and Hirugami's faces clearly contorted for a moment.
Hakuma, who hadn't been able to keep up with the ball at all, was still standing frozen in place, but the sound of the ball hitting the net was so clear that his body's instincts provided feedback before his brain could even react.
He extended his foot and placed it under the ball.
The ball flew up once again, although its height wasn't great, it still reached just above the net.
"Nice one, Meisei!!" As Hoshiumi shouted his praise for Hakuma, he couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion; Hakuma had actually saved that ball.. He forgave Hakuma for standing there dazed just a moment ago.
As the ball approached, Hirugami and Tokura jumped simultaneously to contest it. Relying on his long reach, Tokura managed to touch the ball first while jumping off one foot, but at that same moment, Hou Shou Hirugami transitioned from contesting the ball to a Block, placing himself directly in the ball's path and slamming it back into Inarizaki's court.
Unabara Uta dove from the back row, his hands making precise contact with the ball: "Atsumu-senpai!"