That is the truth.
If someone had to take the blame.. it would probably be Miya Osamu.
If Miya Osamu had gone for it, he might have had a chance, but Hinata had already started moving, so Miya Osamu didn't move to avoid a collision.
As a result.. this guy actually failed to save that ball when he should have been prepared!
Hinata had no idea what Miya Atsumu was thinking; he simply conducted a quick self-reflection.
—After all, he shouldn't have gone for that ball.
His physical condition was disadvantageous; Miya Osamu had actually already reacted, he only needed to focus on the subsequent defense.
It was just a inexplicable sense of frustration that drove him to make the wrong choice.
So.. it wasn't just Hakuma who was affected by this match, but him too?
Stay calm.
Atsumu-ge said that only a sufficiently calm mind can make the right decisions.
You must never let emotions drive you in a field you are not skilled in. The purpose of a team is to complement each other's weaknesses; it is impossible for any single person to handle every single responsibility.
Hinata silently raised his hand and gave his face a sharp slap.
A loud slap rang out, startling Hakuma, who was on the other side of the net preparing to serve.
Hinata looked at Hakuma with an even more burning gaze: "Alright! I'm ready! Bring it on!"
Feeling a bit bewildered, Hakuma replied instinctively, "Huh? Ah."
Hmm? Hinata isn't in the back row, so no matter what, his serve won't be able to reach Hinata!
No, no, no, Hikari-kun said that this little.. this Little One has also become quite cunning since following Miya Atsumu and the others; he might have just been trying to lure him into hitting a net ball just now.
He wouldn't fall for that!!
Hakuma silently cast his gaze toward the middle of Inarizaki's back row.
Well, to be honest, he actually couldn't play a net touch at all.
Unabara Uta tilted his head in confusion.
And the whistle blew in the next second, leaving Unabara Uta to silently maintain his tilted head position, attempting to observe Hakuma's movements through his slanted field of vision.
Hakuma's physique was large enough and his movements weren't concealed enough; no matter what, Karasuno's front row wouldn't be able to block him.
The moment Hakuma hit the ball, Unabara Uta, who had watched his movement in its entirety, had already made his judgment.
He moved a step toward his left rear and used an underhand pass to pop the ball up.
“What a first receive!!” Miya Atsumu praised.
Watching the rally unfold in the court once again, Amatori, sitting in the stands, suddenly realized something felt off. "That's strange. Karasuno has scored consecutive points, yet Inarizaki didn't switch the server during the last service turn to change the momentum?"
Komori thought about it from the perspective of Karasuno's Libero for a moment before replying seriously, "Hmm.. from my personal standpoint, Karasuno is very wary of Fukami, so now isn't the best time."
Inarizaki has at least three servers available, enough to substitute for two middle blockers and Hinata, so there's no rush to use them.
A smirk curled at the corner of Iizuna's mouth as he spoke words that sounded almost demonic: "If I were the coach of Inarizaki, I would definitely wait until Karasuno had been run ragged before subbing in a key server to turn the tide of the game all at once."
Amatori felt a little sympathy for Karasuno: "Hoshiumi is going to be driven crazy."
He felt that Inarizaki's Coach Kurosu must be thinking the same.
Iizuna nodded, "Probably."
But this was a point that couldn't be countered; after all, having a deep bench was a form of capital that allowed one to do whatever they wanted.
Hakuma's service turn was broken in one go by Inarizaki, the service turn subsequently passed to Hinata.
Hinata glanced sideways at Fukami, Kumagai, Rishia sitting in a row on the Coach's bench. Seeing the three of them give him a thumbs-up simultaneously, but none of them were preparing to stand up, he nodded and walked to his serving position while holding the ball.
If the Coach doesn't plan on substituting him, then he will continue to pressure the Setter using his previous playstyle.
Watching the three of them move in perfect unison, Takahashi felt his vision go dark: "This is terrifying."
Even if the Ace Hinata moved to the back row, they couldn't afford to relax for even a single moment.
After all, Hinata is not a Middle Blocker; even in the back row, he remains just as active, still capable of pulling off terrifying Double Quick attacks.
In a sense, the Double Quick with depth is even more terrifying than the one with lateral movement.
Chapter 537: The 537th Fox
Seeing the score remain deadlocked, Coach Kurosu gave a slight signal to Fukami beside him.
Inarizaki's main spikers had moved to the back row, they had no way to quickly break the deadlock, while the momentum on Karasuno's side was gradually heating up.
Standing beside Coach Aran, Tokura Ria stared at Hakuma and said, "Isn't this a bit too fast?"
Hakuma's slow start was common knowledge; generally, it took until halfway through a three-set match to find his rhythm, in a five-set match, this period could be even longer.
But he felt that Hakuma was already getting into the zone. If they couldn't win this set, this unexpected increase in physical exertion would likely affect the match.
As Suna Rintaro walked toward the service area while clutching the ball, the signal for a substitution sounded across the court.
Inarizaki's Fukami Subaru replaces Suna Rintaro.
Taking his number back from the opponent, Suna said softly, "Good luck."
"Leave it to me!" Fukami walked onto the court with a face full of confidence.
Takahashi felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy, his breathing rhythm unconsciously quickened.
He pinched his own thigh, forcing himself to calm down.
To make it easier for Fukami or Suna to play buzzer-beating shots, Miya Osamu's serves in both of these sets were all played at the very last second to slow down the pace of the game.
And playing at the buzzer was indeed something Fukami excelled at; he was certain the opponent would choose this style of play.
Fukami has many types of serves; looking at the toss only reveals a little bit of them..
But none of that mattered.
After the previous set, Takahashi had already realized the key to the game between him and his opponent!
—Luck!
Takahashi stared at Fukami's movements, ruling out two incorrect options the moment the opponent tossed the ball.
The toss was almost vertical, a underhand serve!
The moment the heavy thud echoed in his ears, the high schooler quickly took a step back.
Regardless, he guessed the ball would land in the back, but if it fell in the front, he would dive for it directly.
The ball gradually became clear in his field of vision. Under the piercing overhead lights, his eyes, which should have squinted uncontrollably under the intense glare, were wide open, the shadow of the ball was reflected in his slightly dilated pupils.
One step to the.. left.
Takahashi stepped one step toward his left, thrusting his hand forward with his forearm facing the ball.
A solid sensation surged through him, his prepared stance allowed him to smoothly neutralize the power of the ball.
He didn't have enough time to deal with the spin caused by gravity, but..
It's okay.
Great first receive!
Asahina's voice reached Takahashi's ears with absolute clarity, in the next second, Hoshiumi, who had already positioned himself on the wing, successfully received the ball.
Pushing through the block of Tokura and the other two, Hoshiumi spotted the gap in Inarizaki's back row defense where Suna couldn't keep up, smashed the ball straight down.
A heavy thud was followed by the sound of a whistle.
Hoshiumi scored with a spike, breaking Fukami's service turn.
Glancing at the scoreboard as the score jumped by one, Takahashi did not immediately step forward to celebrate with Hoshiumi and the others.
After a brief moment of daze, he suddenly looked down at his arms, which had already turned red after playing two sets.
Asahina called out to him, "Ai?"
The next second, Takahashi suddenly looked up at the dazzling ceiling light.
Hahahaha—I've realized it!!
He turned to look at Asahina, tears still clinging to the corners of his eyes from the sudden bright light. "Today.. I am undoubtedly the chosen one!"
Hoshiumi didn't know where to begin his critique for a moment: "You're only a First Year High Schooler, you haven't even reached Second Year High School yet."
He had intended to praise this junior, but instead, the other boy had started acting crazy first.
Takahashi walked toward Hoshiumi and reached out to touch his face. "Eh? Hoshiumi-senpai, why can't I see your face clearly? Your face is so pale."
Hoshiumi was so exasperated he laughed, while on the other side, Hirugami quickly spoke up to signal a time-out to the Head Referee.
Tokura Ria raised her hand and tossed a towel over Takahashi's face. "Who else does a Ceiling Serve like that? If you played beach volleyball, the sun would blind you."
Seeing Karasuno use a time-out, Fukami, who was still lamenting the loss of his service turn, looked a bit dazed. "What's wrong?"
Unabara replied, "A light spot must have stayed in your vision, right?"
Hinata understood immediately what Unabara Uta was saying: "Ah, that."
When he and Unabara Uta played beach volleyball before, they didn't quite realize the power of a high serve outdoors; on the day the stadium roof was opened, they were quite blinded by the glare, Coach Sanjo had to provide each of them with a pair of sunglasses on the spot.
Hinata turned to Fukami and said, "The ceiling lights in this gym aren't that bright, so it shouldn't be a big problem. Just close your eyes and rest for a while."
Rishia looked up at the rows of lights illuminating the entire arena, his face filled with shock: "This isn't bright?!"
Unabara Uta rubbed his chin. "Compared to the sun.. it really is much worse."
Takahashi quickly adjusted his condition. When the match resumed, his vision was essentially reduced to a faint blur of light, but it did not affect his subsequent performance.
The situation remained deadlocked, with both Takahashi and Hakuma in hot form, the rally lasted even longer than the previous one.
The fact that the crucial service turn was interrupted by a single point still affected Inarizaki's overall strategic deployment, causing them to miss the opportunity to pull ahead through serves; they would have to work twice as hard to make up those points elsewhere.
In the stands, Komori's eyes followed the ball as it moved back and forth between the two ends of the court.
Even though today's match had nothing to do with him, for some reason, he felt like his legs were aching.