In the adjacent Gymnasium No. 3, Coach Omimi was conducting basic training for everyone, starting from the most fundamental bumping.
Actually, many of the new students selected for the second team had not had much contact with volleyball before, but they possessed extremely fast adaptation and learning abilities.
Take Hinata, for example; he is clearly an unrefined player, which is why he needs his fundamentals broken down and rebuilt from the ground up.
Coach Omimi caught the falling volleyball and said to everyone, "That's all for now. Next, we will proceed with training in pairs. If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask your seniors."
YES!!
Everyone dispersed to begin their individual training, Kumagai immediately approached Hinata: "Shoyo, let's.."
Before he could even finish speaking, a voice interrupted the two of them: "Shoyo-kun, are you interested in practicing with me?"
The two turned around and saw Miya Atsumu with a smile on his face.
"Hello, Miya Atsumu-senpai," Hinata greeted him.
Miya Atsumu waved his hand, his gaze fixed steadily on Hinata, without giving Kumagai even a glance: "Just call me Atsumu-senpai."
"Practice with me?" Miya Atsumu extended the invitation to Hinata once again.
Hinata's gaze swept across the entire court; after yesterday's match, everyone was already familiar with each other, most had basically finished forming their teams.
So he declined Miya Atsumu, saying, "There's no need to trouble you, Atsumu-senpai, with this kind of training; Akuma and I can handle it."
Miya Atsumu's smile froze on his face.
A sneer came from not far away. He turned around and found it was Miya Osamu and Suna, who had come to watch the spectacle.
Author's Note:
Coming, coming, coming.
As for the extra updates, they should be released after the V, with regular daily updates before the V, following the usual routine ().
Chapter 7: The Seventh Fox
Bad news, he was seen.
The good news is, Suna's phone is still in the lounge.
But the even worse news was that the two of them knew, soon everyone would know as well.
Miya Atsumu's lifelong reputation is about to be ruined.
Miya Osamu, having completely seen through what this guy was thinking, remained expressionless.
No, Miya Atsumu's image had been ruined long ago.
Has Miya Atsumu not yet realized that every time those two fight, they attract a huge crowd of people coming to watch the spectacle?
This guy.. he has such high self-esteem.
Under Miya Atsumu's resentful gaze, Hinata and Kumagai began practicing receiving serves.
The absolute basics—it also looks quite boring to watch.
—But that was only true for Miya Atsumu.
Hinata himself actually quite liked this feeling.
Unlike the momentary thrill and excitement of a spike, this feeling of searching for tiny differences in every ball during a rally and attempting to adjust was not bad at all.
More importantly, this was a kind of "teaching" he had never experienced before.
Is normal volleyball supposed to start from here?
At the entrance of Gym 3, a gaze was cast toward the three second-year students.
They turned around and saw Kita Shinsuke raise his hand to signal to them.
A chill surged from beneath their feet and swept through their entire bodies, they didn't even have time to worry about Hinata, hurriedly running back to continue their training.
Watching the three of them scurry away, Kumagai spoke up, "Actually, you don't need to mind me; that was a rare opportunity just now."
Hinata really liked having a setter toss to him, Miya Atsumu was undoubtedly Inarizaki's strongest setter.
If he could gain the other's recognition and recommendation, he might even get the chance to receive a team uniform ahead of schedule.
No matter how you thought about it, such a refusal seemed somewhat unreasonable.
Hinata said without any hesitation, "Because my volleyball is terrible, Atsumu-senpai doesn't like playing with people who aren't good at it."
"No, you.." Kumagai ultimately didn't continue.
Indeed, Hinata really wasn't very good at volleyball.
"Most of my volleyball skills were taught by Heisuke, but I can't keep troubling him forever. Having the chance to learn everything from scratch now.. it's simply a wonderful opportunity!" A wide smile spread across Hinata's face, showing that he wasn't unhappy at all because of the situation with Miya Atsumu.
Although he doesn't particularly like receiving, it's all part of volleyball.
An ace who can both attack and defend, just like Aran-senpai, is simply so cool!
Kumagai smiled. "Let's continue."
Yeah!
The first day of training could be described as quite simple; the training for the second and third strings was not as busy as the starters, extra practice was entirely voluntary.
However, they were not given time for self-imposed extra training today; instead, under Coach Omimi's leadership, they went collectively to the adjacent basketball gym.
"Before we dismiss, we'll do a vertical jump test for everyone. Once you're finished, you can pack up and leave," Coach Omimi said.
YES!!
Miya Osamu, who had come to help, narrowed his eyes. "Ah.. a vertical jump test.."
Just as he was about to say more, his peripheral vision caught sight of the inexplicably excited Miya Atsumu.
After struggling with it for less than a second, he ultimately asked the question that Miya Atsumu most wanted someone to ask: "That little guy, how high do you think his vertical reach is?"
Miya Atsumu said without hesitation, "I haven't tested it myself yet, but by eye, it's over 330."
Hearing this answer, even Miya Osamu was stunned for a moment: "Are you serious?"
Aran also expressed disbelief: "That little guy is only a bit over 1.6 meters tall, you think he can touch something as high as himself?"
Although they could all reach 330, their average height was well over 1.8 meters.
Even if the shorter players might not face as much pressure when jumping, this is just too ridiculous..
Miya Osamu asked, "How tall was that person from Karasuno?"
"One meter sixty-eight? Probably." Miya Atsumu recalled Hoshiumi Hikari from his memory.
That hairstyle of his is practically cheating; his height must definitely drop once it's pressed down..
Looking at Hinata, who was already eager to give it a try, Miya Atsumu fell into silence.
Hinata's hairstyle is also a cheat; do all these people who lack height all have the same hairstyle?
The data for the previous few people was all more or less the same, mostly within the 310-330 range. After all, those who had already submitted their results were all elites who had achieved success during junior high school, so it was not surprising at all that they had reached this level.
"Next, Hinata Shoyo." Coach Omimi called out to Hinata.
"Present!" Hinata raised his hand, then walked to the starting position after getting a bit of chalk on his hands.
This time, the measurements were all for the touch height after a running start; the data for the standing vertical jump will be measured later.
"You're ready to run once you're prepared," Kita said from beside him.
Hinata took a deep breath.
Height is extremely important for volleyball. Since he already lacks an advantage in height and arm span, his vertical jump is even more of a top priority.
Currently, the highest record on the board belongs to Rishia Heisuke, so his goal is..
In the end, Hinata's gaze landed on that finger mark.
Taking a half-step back, Hinata immediately took a running start forward.
He came to a halt beneath the backboard, his center of gravity shifting slightly downward, as he began to swing both arms upward from behind his back.
The momentum from his approach was transformed at this moment into wings-like arms, lifting him so that he could defy gravity and leap high into the air.
The floor,
Help him take flight!
In an instant, his field of vision soared, Hinata's fingertips drew closer and closer to the mark left behind by Rishia Heisuke.
Finally—surpass it.
Bang!
Accompanied by the sound of a hand slapping against the backboard, Hinata also landed on the ground shortly after.
The new high point covered the original handprint, leaving a clear mark of Hinata's small hand upon it.
A collective gasp rose from the queue behind him, with Ginjima's assistance, Suna measured Hinata's final result.
“333。”
After finishing the test, Kumagai, who had stayed to watch the excitement, was filled with shock. "My god, 333?"
No wonder he could still jump back up after trying for so long yesterday; it turns out he had underestimated Hinata too much.
Now that's what I call a real spring.
333? That's taller than both of them!
While everyone was whispering, Miya Osamu looked at Miya Atsumu beside him. "You guessed wrong."
Miya Atsumu's eyes widened, his gaze toward Hinata was filled with undisguised, naked admiration: "No, he can go even higher."
He had already said yesterday that Hinata's jumping habit was incorrect, as he was always putting all his weight on one foot.
This jumping style can indeed minimize takeoff time, making the entire process faster, but at the same time, it will cause the height to decrease; therefore, it is more commonly used by middle blockers who are responsible for quick attacks.
And yet, Hinata is able to reach this level even with such an unstandardized jumping form.. For quick attack tactics, this is undoubtedly an excellent breakthrough point.
If he could make adjustments, his high tosses would be even more terrifying.
Miya Atsumu asked, "By the way, didn't the Kita team just say they have a practice match against Karasuno in a few days?"