Haikyuu - I Am A Different Hinata!

After 30 minutes, their quarter-finals opponent was decided and, unsurprisingly, it was Kitagawa Daiichi.

The Yukigaoka players went to warm up before the game and then formed a circle.

"Finally, we'll have our long-awaited revenge!" said Sekimukai.

"Yeah, we're not the same as we were months ago. We've trained hard and beaten strong teams, we can do this!" added Izumi.

"It's good to see everyone excited, but don't forget - cool head and warm heart!" said Hinata while pointing to his head.

Kitagawa Daiichi's Perspective: "I didn't expect these guys to make it this far. They were so weak at the tournament we played months ago," said Kunimi.

"Yeah, could they have gotten lucky with weaker opponents?" pondered Kindaichi.

"Nobody gets this far by luck, you idiot!" said Kageyama, slightly irritated.

"It makes sense to think they've improved, but we know the only real threat on that team is Shoyo Hinata, especially when it comes to his serve. We need to stop him if we want an easy match," said Hashikami.

The game started with Yukigaoka serving, and they once again opted for the strategy of starting with Hinata's serve to try to gain an early advantage and boost morale.

"Here he comes," thought Kageyama as he watched the orange-haired boy jump and deliver a powerful hit to the ball that came his way, but it ended up hitting his arms and going out.

1-0 Yukigaoka

Hinata tries his best to score in the next serves, and this time he gets three in a row, with the fourth flying to the back of the court but landing outside the boundary area.

3-1 Yukigaoka

Now it was Kitagawa Daiichi's turn, and Kunimi served, which was easily received by Suzuki who directed the ball to Izumi. He decided the first attack would go to Daisuke, who was beside him at the center of the net. The boy jumps and manages to score through the opponent's double block.

4-0 Yukigaoka

"These guys really seem stronger than before," observed Kindaichi.

"Yeah, we'll have to take this seriously from the start," said Kunimi.

The atmosphere in the stadium became excited when they saw that Yukigaoka was managing to take the lead over Kitagawa Daiichi, who was seen as the extreme favorite for this match.

However, Yukigaoka's strong start didn't last. Kitagawa Daiichi managed to execute powerful attacks against Yukigaoka's defense, which couldn't hold against Kageyama's efforts along with the rest of the team.

10-7 Kitagawa Daiichi

In the next attack, Kageyama made a powerful serve that went toward Hinata, who struggled to receive it and immediately prepared to jump from the back of the court, making his classic play with Izumi, who set the ball for him. The boy made a powerful jump and easily overcame Kitagawa Daiichi's triple block.

10-8 Kitagawa Daiichi

However, the flow of the game continued in the same way, with Yukigaoka's team depending only on Hinata to score while the rest of the team wasn't managing to get the better of Kitagawa Daiichi's defense or get past their block, resulting in their victory in the first set: 25-17

Hinata - 12 points Daisuke - 5 points

"This isn't cool at all. Besides Hinata, we can't score!" said Sekimukai.

"What can we do?" asked Izumi.

"We have to be more aggressive with our blocks, especially when Daisuke and I are near the net. We have to get their setter who's making our game difficult. Can you do that, Daisuke?" commented Hinata.

"I'll try," said the boy.

The second set began with Hashikami serving and Suzuki receiving, followed by Izumi moving toward the ball and setting it for Sekimukai, who gets startled seeing a triple block in front of him.

"Damn, let's try this," thought Sekimukai as he attempted a dink shot over the opposing team's block. However, the opposing libero managed to anticipate and jump to prevent Yukigaoka from scoring, sending the ball toward Kageyama, who immediately tried a quick set to Kindaichi. Kindaichi struggles to reach it, but what he didn't expect was that Hinata and Daisuke had already read the play and were ready with their arms positioned, managing to block the opponent's attack.

1-0 Yukigaoka

"NICE!" said Hinata while patting Daisuke's back, who just ignored him.

"Damn! Those guys read the play and still managed to keep up with the quick attack," thought Kageyama.

Now Izumi serves the ball, which was easily received by the opposing team who passed to Kageyama, who tried another quick attack to Kindaichi, but this time the set was too fast for him to reach, and the ball just went out.

2-0 Yukigaoka

"Hey, why didn't you jump and reach it!" complained Kageyama.

"How do you expect me to do that? I'm not The Flash! Stop sending these extremely fast balls and go back to the ones that work!" contested Kindaichi.

"You still don't get it? Those guys are already reading our plays. We won't score with normal balls," said Kageyama.

"Hey, King, just do what he's asking and stop being difficult," said Kunimi.

"TSK," grunted Kageyama, admitting defeat.

Again Izumi served, and it was received by Kitagawa Daiichi's defense. Again Kageyama tried to set for Kindaichi, but this time at normal speed, and again Hinata and Daisuke managed to read the play and anticipate the block, causing Kindaichi to hit the ball against Hinata's hands and have it return to their own court.

3-0 Yukigaoka

"It's working!" said Sekimukai happily.

"For now, but Daisuke and I won't stay at the net forever," warned Hinata.

"I told you, we won't win like this!" complained Kageyama.

"Those two won't be at the net to block forever, and when they're not, we'll take advantage to score," said Hashikami.

After a sequence of points by Yukigaoka through Daisuke and Hinata's blocks, Kitagawa Daiichi counterattacked when the block was weakened, and when the score was 15-14 for Yukigaoka, Hinata went to serve again.

"I need to widen the score gap with my serves," said Hinata as he made a sequence of serves, but this time only secured two points for his team before serving out.

17-14 Yukigaoka

In the next attack, middle blocker Kindaichi served toward Sekimukai, who manages to receive it.

"Nice receive," said Hinata while running to position four in the attack zone to receive a pass from Izumi and make a cross-court spike over the opponent's block.

18-14 Yukigaoka

Again the game continued with the same pattern, Yukigaoka getting the upper hand in blocks when Hinata and Daisuke were at the net and focusing most balls on Hinata in attack, and this way they managed to secure victory in the second set 25-22

Hinata - 14 points Daisuke - 7 points Sekimukai - 3 points Kawashima - 1 point

"Let's go! Now we're tied," celebrated Sekimukai.

"We can win!" said Izumi.

"Yes, we just need to win one more game," said Hinata while squeezing his knees as he felt the pain increasing due to having to exert himself so much, considering he hadn't stopped jumping throughout the entire game.