The moment Suna attempted to change the ball's trajectory, Hirugami simultaneously adjusted his blocking path. Fortunately, the change in Suna's ball was significant enough that it grazed Hirugami's arm and crashed into Karasuno's court.
Norikura Isao dove forward, using one hand to dig the ball.
"Nice!" Asahina quickly followed up, sending a ball forward without hesitation.
Hoshiumi and Hakuma were both launching attacks over there, so the trajectory of that set did indeed look deceptive on the surface.
But Suna's experience was sufficient; by judging the distance between the ball and the net, he realized the ball was intended for Hakuma in a back-row attack.
The moment Miya Atsumu and Suna lunged forward, Hakuma had already jumped to the hitting point.
Hoshiumi said that he should find gaps in the opponent's block as much as possible—either in the center or at the edges.
Hakuma's gaze locked onto Miya Atsumu's advancing arm and the space between him and the side marker.
Miya Atsumu reached out to block, but he couldn't suppress such a heavy back-row spike with just one hand.
Considering the survival of his fingers, Miya Atsumu ultimately resorted to using the side of his arm to deflect the ball.
But this touch was barely anything, Miya Osamu, positioned in the back, lowered his center of gravity to attempt a receive.
The ball hit his arm, but because of the spin caused by Miya Atsumu's block, it became even more difficult to control. The ball flew out of bounds, Karasuno scored a point from the spike.
“We tied it up!!” Takahashi stood up, bursting with excitement.
This was the first time Karasuno had tied the score in these two sets. If they kept playing in this state.. they might even win this set!
Miya Atsumu frowned, looking toward Karasuno with an incredibly foul expression: "This is going to be trouble.."
He made a gesture toward the Coach's bench behind him, Coach Kurosu gave a light cough in response after seeing it.
If it had been before, it would have been fine; even with a strong attack, they should have had enough countermeasures in place. But Hakuma's spikes in these two sets have mostly been technical balls. Although Asahina has given him some balls with extreme height, overall, his movement hasn't been frequent, his stamina should be relatively abundant.
——Even at this level, Inarizaki's block has no way to completely handle such a heavy spike.
Hoshiumi really wasn't in sync with him at all; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him his number one rival.
It would have been better to just let that 2m big dummy keep acting like a fool. The result they worked so hard to set up was ruined by Hoshiumi..
An inexplicable sense of restlessness rose within Miya Atsumu's heart.
He heard the sound of the approach during the serve very clearly, he had overseen the entire process of defense and offense. Therefore, he knew very well that Miya Osamu's stamina was reaching its limit, there was a high probability that he would have to sit out and rest in the next set.
If Miya Osamu were to be replaced, it would usually be Rishia Heisuke; after all, as a setter, his stamina is only average, Kumagai needs to be ready at any time to deal with unexpected situations in his place, so he cannot be moved easily.
If we lose this set.. we'll be in real trouble.
Hakuma's touch was hot, as if he had truly gained wisdom as Hoshiumi said, precisely targeting the space between the Inarizaki blockers.
This type of spike became exceptionally nasty under Hakuma's power suppression. Even though Tokura Yukihito and Ginjima teamed up to try and block it, Hoshiumi's counterattack reaction speed meant the ball ultimately wasn't completely blocked dead.
After Hinata moved to the front row, he felt even more powerless against Hakuma's 2m spike, so he decisively chose not to participate in the block and instead focused on receiving the ball on the other side.
Unfortunately, Hakuma didn't give him even a single glance, focusing only on spiking that line shot at him.
Hinata felt a bit angry.
Hoshiumi also felt a bit frustrated.
He felt that the Inarizaki players should be tired by now; even if Hinata was a physical monster, the others shouldn't be.
Especially this Second Year Middle Blocker, who can actually keep up with their rhythm at this stage. Relying on his fingers, which had been wrapped in tape long ago, he was still trying to touch Hakuma's ball.
Inarizaki can do nothing about their offense, but they can do nothing about Inarizaki's offense either.
Fortunately, they survived Miya Atsumu's Service Turn, temporarily maintaining the one-point advantage they had built through the offense of Hakuma and himself.
Regardless, they were definitely, definitely going to win this set.
On Inarizaki's side, Hinata scored by tooling the block to tie the score, the Service Turn passed to Tokura.
The sound of a substitution also rang out at this moment, as Inarizaki's Kumagai Kuniharu was replaced by Tokura Yukihito.
Hoshiumi was very displeased: "Can't you hold it in any longer?"
Karuno's one-point lead was well-maintained. He thought that after failing to score during Miya Atsumu's Service Turn, Inarizaki would have been unable to wait to substitute in a key Server to break their rhythm, but he hadn't expected them to drag it out until now.
Everyone at Inarizaki was very surprised to see Kumagai come up.
Standing at the edge of the court, Hinata raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his face. He did not look at Kumagai, but instead looked toward Rishia Heisuke, who was still at the Coach's bench.
As they had previously agreed, Rishia was responsible for replacing Tokura, Kumagai did not need to enter the game unless absolutely necessary. The substitute setter had to remain on the bench as a stabilizing force for when they were needed.
Miya Atsumu's current situation was indeed quite good, but there was at least one more set left in this match, so it couldn't be entirely guaranteed that no accidents would occur..
Rishia gave Hinata a small smile and made a gesture between the two of them.
Hinata nodded and withdrew his gaze.
Forget it, he hadn't mastered tactical depth yet. While he was fine at individual ball distribution, he was still far from having the ability to oversee the entire game.
Coach Kurosu must have his reasons for doing so. As for the specifics.. he doesn't know, nor is there any need for him to know. As a spiker, all he needs to do is follow the commander's orders, that is all.
Perhaps Miya Atsumu would know; he could ask him later.
Atsumu said he didn't know either.
Watching Kumagai and Tokura Yukihito exchange number cards and enter the court, Miya Atsumu's face was full of disbelief.
He did indeed ask the Coach to change the server during this Service Turn for Tokura, but the person he wanted to switch in was Rishia!
Rishia's Power Serve is extremely strong. Playing against Takahashi at this stage, he could be said to have a complete advantage, might even have the chance to score consecutive points..
Thinking of this, Miya Atsumu paused for a moment.
No, in terms of power serves alone, Kumagai is not weak either; he even has an unreasonable quality, much like Hakuma.
Moreover, even if something were to happen to him, Miya Osamu could still hold the line, so squeezing out one last round from him wouldn't be a problem.
In the current situation.. wouldn't Kumagai be more useful?
As expected of a coach, his extensive life experience truly provides him with a different perspective.
Coach Kurosu rubbed his chin by the sidelines.
No, he actually didn't do anything; the one who made the suggestion was Rishia Heisuke.
He was just.. moved by a single sentence from the opponent.
Chapter 540: The 540th Fox
Hoshiumi is good at receiving movement, Inarizaki's overall first receive handles jump float serves well, so Kumagai did not choose to hit a jump float serve, but instead decisively delivered a power serve.
His control over the technique of a Power Serve is mediocre, but relying on his immense strength, he is still quite formidable.
Takahashi was very clear about Kumagai Kuniharu's serve style, also knew that Kumagai Kuniharu was different from Miya Atsumu, as he was not the type who liked to target the Libero.
But Hoshiumi's receiving movement was better than his, so in this situation, Kumagai had no choice but to target him.
The moment the ball flew toward the corner, Takahashi quickly adjusted his position.
At the same time he touched the ball, Takahashi felt a moment of panic; the force of this ball was greater than he had anticipated..
He fell backward, but fortunately, the ball only had pure power and lacked any uncontrollable spin.
Even if the positioning was poor, it wouldn't have flown straight out of the court.
Hoshiumi, positioned near the back row, actively called out as he chased after the ball: "I've got it!"
Near the baseline, Hoshiumi, the setter, gave the ball to Hakuma.
Hakuma's jumping position for the attack was not near the Net, but slightly pulled back to allow for better power.
A heavy thud rang out as Suna successfully touched the ball.
The ball flew diagonally toward the sidelines, but Hinata, positioned right at the edge, sprinted after it, using his rapid acceleration to slap it with one hand just before the ball cleared the railing.
“Opportunity Ball!” Takahashi shouted.
Hinata crashed into the soft barrier, hitting two billboards. But he stood up without any hesitation and rushed back onto the court once again.
Under Hakuma's cover, Hoshiumi got the chance to spike. With a precise tooling the block, Karasuno took the point, breaking Kumagai's Service Turn.
"Tsk." Miya Atsumu glared at Kumagai as if he were still on the court, thinking about how he would subject Kumagai to hellish serve training when he returned.
Karasuno's offense was even more intense than before, showing an unyielding pursuit of victory in this set.
They couldn't accept continuing the match if Inarizaki were to reach three set points; they had to stop it here.
Hoshiumi scores with a dump, Inarizaki 22:24 Karasuno, Karasuno scores consecutively to reach set point.
Hakuma's serve.
His serve was unadorned, nothing more than pure, brute force. But similarly, as long as one mastered the technique of absorbing the power, such a ball was actually quite easy to receive.
Since Takahashi could master this technique, Unabara Uta naturally could as well.
Moreover, his physique was even more stable than Takahashi's, his receiving movement was even more composed.
The ball was sent to the front row Attack Line, while at the same time, Hinata had already completed a long-distance lateral switch with Miya Osamu.
Suna, in the center, drew away the opponent's Block, the ball was delivered by Miya Atsumu with precision and stability to a high point at Position 4.
This wasn't a flat ball, but a Quick Attack at the maximum height in Position 4.
Hinata rushed into position and took his final step, his entire body rising at maximum speed.
This would likely be Hinata's last chance in the front row for this set; if he couldn't win this point, it would be all over.
Therefore.. Miya Atsumu didn't give another thought to the pressure on Hinata's body at this moment, decisively delivering an absurd and incredible ball.
The opposing Bessho and Norikura Isao both lunged forward in a desperate attempt to save the ball, but neither could manage to save it.
In a state of complete overextension, Hinata locked his spike's target at a position three meters in front of Hakuma.
Before Norikura Isao could lunge forward, Hinata had already completed the spike.
With a heavy thud, the ball slammed into the floor.
Inarizaki 23:24 Karasuno.
Hinata turned away from the net, his back to the net, walked toward the backline of the court, holding the ball with a very composed and calm demeanor.
It was as if.. at this very moment, the set point belonged to Inarizaki.