Shōyō Hinata (Japanese: 日向翔陽,Hinata Shōyō) is the main protagonist of the Haikyū!! series by Haruichi Furudate. Hinata was motivated to begin playing volleyball when he witnessed a Karasuno High volleyball player nicknamed the Little Giant scoring points against opponents far bigger than him. After losing his first and only official volleyball match in middle school against Tobio Kageyama, the "King of the Court", Hinata enrolled at Karasuno High, only to find that Kageyama had also chosen to come to Karasuno. For the majority of the series, Hinata was a first-year student at Karasuno and one of the volleyball team's middle blockers. After graduating from high school, he traveled to Brazil to train using beach volleyball for two years. Upon returning to Japan, he became a member of the MSBY Black Jackals, a Division 1 team in the V-League.
Upon entering the first year of high school, Hinata stood at 162.8 cm and grew to 164.2 cm halfway through the school year. He is the second shortest person on his team, next to Nishinoya (although this height is fairly average for a male Japanese High School student). He has unruly, orange hair and brown eyes. His relatively thin build and short stature often lead him to be mistaken for a junior high (or in some cases even grade school) student. Hinata typically dresses in his Karasuno school uniform with a black jacket and black pants. Beneath his jacket is a beige or tan sweatshirt. In the first episode, he wore the green volleyball uniform from his junior high.
During matches, Hinata wears his volleyball uniform—a black jersey and corresponding shorts with white and orange stripes on the sides. On the back of his jersey is his position number 10 (coincidentally, the same number that was worn by the Small Giant) and his school's name written in kanji. On the court, he wears kneepads and white volleyball shoes with red stripes.
Personality
Hinata has a cheerful and energetic personality. He is easily excited and can be quite loud, a trait second only to Nishinoya and Tanaka. For the most part, Hinata is very simple-minded which sometimes causes him to make rash decisions. However, he is also shown to be quite observant. He is capable of reading social cues and be incredibly empathetic toward others' struggles. As such, he often says just what others need to hear to push themselves in the right direction. He is also noted to be a natural schmoozer, a quality that his teammates occasionally use to win someone over (Nishinoya, for example). His friendly and straightforward personality allows him to befriend even the quietest of people effortlessly, such as Kenma from Nekoma High and Aone from Date Tech High.
However, despite his generally bubbly exterior, Hinata is also shown to have a serious attitude, particularly when it comes to volleyball. His intense love for the sport is demonstrated through his impressive display of tenacity stemming from his constant desire to improve his abilities. As stated by Sugawara, Hinata plays with great fortitude in the face of adversity and thus doesn't give up easily during a match.[1] Hinata can also exhibit a very intimidating expression when people underestimate him. Still, Hinata gets scared easily, especially by larger and stronger opponents. This prompts him to develop the habit of hiding behind his nearest teammate. However, he recovers quickly before confidently challenging their opponents.
In the beginning, Hinata is easily agitated before a match due to his lack of experience. He becomes so nervous that he would have an upset stomach or need to go to the toilet constantly. He also becomes clumsy as he would mess up his spikes or receives. Before Karasuno's first practice match against Aobajohsai High, Hinata is so affected that he mistook Daichi and Kiyoko's attempt to comfort him as more pressure and shortcircuited.[2] He only recovers after royally messing up and driving a serve into the back of Kageyama's head. Over time, Hinata becomes more apt at handling the pressure. Although still faint-hearted, Hinata has a considerably less severe reaction and can perform well during matches regardless.
Hinata, like Kageyama, does poorly in school since he, too, is preoccupied with volleyball. He once told Sugawara that ever since he'd entered high school, he had never scored in the double digits on any of his tests.[3]
Background
Hinata gets overwhelmed when he watches the Small Giant play.
A young Hinata passed by an electronics store while riding his bike. He stopped upon hearing the name "Small Giant" from the big screen TV at the storefront [4]. On display was Karasuno High's volleyball match during the Spring Interhigh. Like Hinata, the Small Giant lacked height, yet he prevailed against blockers 20cm taller than him. Hinata was memorized by this figure clad in Karasuno's black uniform and is inspired to do the same. He joined the volleyball club upon entering Yukigaoka Junior High but found himself to be the only member. However, Hinata refused to give up and would practice by himself at the corner of the gymnasium, off to one side of the sports ground, or in the hallways.
In his third year, three first-years joined the volleyball club. Despite having new members, Hinata still lacked enough players to form a team so he asked his friends Izumi and Kōji, who were from the basketball and soccer club respectively, to help out. They joined Hinata's team and soon attended their first volleyball tournament. It turned out that Yukigaoka's first opponent would be Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High, the tournament favorite. While everyone thought that Yukigaoka would lose, Hinata remained convinced otherwise.
Upon seeing their opponent, Hinata grew nervous right before the match and ran to the bathroom. Afterward, he overheard some second years from Kitagawa Daiichi insulting his team. He defiantly talked back only to be ridiculed for his size. Just then, Tobio Kageyama, Kitagawa’s “King of the Court”, appeared to berate his teammates for looking down on their opponents. His tirades didn't end there as he turned to Hinata. Kageyama insulted Hinata's lack of height and his foolish determination to win despite it. In response, Hinata proclaimed he can jump and will win every match.
Hinata announces that he will defeat Kageyama one day.
When the match started, Hinata jumped high for a spike but found his spike easily blocked by Kitagawa Daiichi blockers. He remained positive, but it soon became clear that Kitagawa Daiichi was one-sidedly dominating the match. Faced with an impossible situation, Hinata still refused to give up to the point of risking injury just to chase down a ball. When asked about it, he simply said it's because they haven't lost yet. In the following play, Izumi made a missed toss but Hinata stunned everybody when he still managed to hit it across. The spike, unfortunately, landed out of bounds and cost them the match. However, Kageyama has noticed Hinata's incredible stamina, jumping power, and pure determination to win. He gained a little more respect for Hinata but, at the same time, was also outright disapproving of Hinata wasting his potentials.
The number of sets Hinata's team won was 0 and the match only lasted 31 minutes. Hinata remembered Kageyama's name and his title as the "King of the Court". After the match, Hinata approached Kageyama and announced that he will overthrow the setter from his title. Kageyama accepted his challenge but told him to grow stronger first. Afterward, Hinata trained rigorously by jogging, practicing with the girls’ volleyball team, and joining the neighborhood mothers' team. Soon, he graduated and entered his dream school, Karasuno High.
Since Hinata currently lives in Yukigaoka with his mother and sister, he travels to Karasuno each morning by a 30-minute bike ride through the mountains[5]. Coach Ukai has noted it would be a 40-minute ride normally, but Hinata has grown used to traveling over mountains ever since junior high.
Plot
Karasuno High Team Formation Arc
Entering Karasuno
Hinata finds Kageyama in the gym.
Hinata races through the hallway in Karasuno High School to the gym, excited to start practicing and determined to get revenge on his opponent from junior high, Kageyama; However, as soon as he enters the gym, he finds that Kageyama is already there. The setter insults Hinata as soon as he recognizes him but before a full-scale fight can start, the Karasuno third years enter the gym. Tanaka recognizes Hinata as “that number 1 shorty” and compliments him. Hinata exclaims that he will become Karasuno’s ace, causing Kageyama to insult him again, leading to an argument. The vice-principal enters the gym to check out the ruckus and despite Tanaka’s efforts to get the first years to stop, they start their 1-on-1 match against each other. Kageyama serves to Hinata but it flies past the latter’s face. The second time, to Kageyama’s shock, Hinata manages to receive the ball but it bounces off him and hits the vice-principal across the face, causing his wig to fly off his head and onto Daichi's. The vice-principal then takes Daichi outside to talk and after coming back, Daichi tells the two first years of Karasuno’s past and his desire to get the team to nationals. However, he can’t accept anyone who can cause trouble for the team, no matter how skilled or determined they are. To the first years’ shock, Daichi then throws them out of the gym, saying that until they view each other as teammates, they are not allowed to participate in club activities[6].
Hinata and Kageyama are kicked out of the gym.
Out of desperation, Hinata starts begging but nothing works until Kageyama decides to challenge the third years to a 2-on-2 match. Hinata disagrees with the idea at first but after Kageyama reminds him of his past, Hinata starts to change his mind. He tells Kageyama that he has to get into the club because if he wants to beat Kageyama one day, he needs to practice.
3-on-3 First Years Match
Later on in the evening, as the Karasuno members are cleaning up, Hinata and Kageyama ask the third years for a match. However, Daichi changes it to a 3-on-3 match against the other first years and has Tanaka play with Hinata and Kageyama. The conditions are that if the two first years lose, Kageyama will not be allowed to play as a setter as long as the third years are still around. Hinata tries catching the captain’s attention, feeling left out since he didn't receive a punishment, but fails. The two first years eventually agree to the terms and leave. As he's walking away, Hinata tells Kageyama happily that it's okay if he isn’t the setter because he will still be able to become a regular and wing spikers are cooler than setters anyway; this angers Kageyama and leads to an argument about whether setters or spikers are cooler. As they're talking, Kageyama thinks about how they're going to practice and Tanaka catches their attention from inside the gym. He discreetly tells them that the gym will be opened before 7 am the next day, and the two first years decide to come at 5 am.
The next day, Hinata and Kageyama arrive at the gym only to find it locked. At that very moment, Tanaka arrives with the key and to their delight, decides to help them practice. Hinata enters the gym excitedly, remembering how the Small Giant had once practiced there. He thinks happily that compared to junior high, he now has a net to use and a setter to play with, no matter what kind of personality the latter has.
They start practicing but can’t seem to sync at all and soon end up fighting. Suddenly, they're interrupted by Sugawara’s arrival, but the third year agrees to keep their secret and helps them practice as well. Sugawara ends up helping Hinata with his receives while Kageyama practices with Tanaka, but Hinata isn’t satisfied. Hinata decides to approach Kageyama and asks him to toss to him but Kageyama flat out refuses, stating that Hinata's too slow. To Hinata’s anger, Kageyama tells him that all Hinata should do on Saturday is to try his best not to drag the team down. Hinata asks him whether he will toss to him if he can receive the ball in a way that satisfies Kageyama, and Kageyama replies that he will toss to Hinata only if it's necessary; however, he doesn’t think Hinata's necessary to help him win[7].
Later on, during a break in class, Hinata goes outside to practice with Sugawara. As they're talking, Hinata reveals to Sugawara that during junior high, he didn’t have a setter and had to ask his friends to toss to him. However, he didn’t give up and practiced with the mothers club and the girls’ club’s setters, but he could never consider them as teammates. When he went to high school, he was excited to see what kind of setter he would have, but it turned out to be Kageyama. Sugawara tells Hinata that he will set to him from now on, but Hinata replies sullenly that it will feel like he lost to Kageyama. Sugawara asks Hinata if he came to Karasuno just so he could defeat Kageyama, and Hinata replies that he wants to become as strong as someone who can beat Kageyama; this will allow him to play against other strong opponents on equal footing. He doesn’t want to lose anymore. Sugawara states that even though Hinata views Kageyama as the strongest player and enemy, he is currently Hinata’s strongest ally.
A few days later, Kageyama starts practicing with Hinata for real. One day, Kageyama pushes Hinata to his limits, but the latter refuses to give up, stating that the ball hasn’t fallen yet. Kageyama spikes a ball too hard and it flies to the back of the gym, but Hinata chases after it with all his might. This inspires Kageyama to finally toss to Hinata and despite being at his limits, Hinata spikes it happily. Kageyama then approaches him and says that they will win on Saturday, showing his acceptance of Hinata as a teammate. Hinata tries to reply but throws up instead.
Hinata and Kageyama meet Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.
A while later, Kageyama and Hinata are practicing outside and Hinata contemplates happily how he finally got Kageyama to toss to him[8]. Kageyama suddenly hits the ball up the tree and Hinata has to get it down. Angrily, Hinata calls Kageyama a “damn King”, annoying the latter, but Hinata doesn’t understand why because he views “King” as a cool nickname. The two continue practicing into the night until they're interrupted by Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Tsukishima teases Hinata, angering him. Hinata exclaims that he won’t lose to Tsukishima in the match. The taller boy then asks Hinata if he wants him to just throw the game. He soon turns his attention to Kageyama and teases him about his nickname and past. Hinata watches on, confused as to why Kageyama isn’t reiterating. He then decides to take things into his own hands when Kageyama starts walking away. As Tsukishima throws the volleyball into the air, Hinata jumps up from behind him and grabs it, exclaiming that he's going to hit the ball above Tsukishima’s head in the game. Tsukishima soon leaves and Hinata angrily tells Kageyama that they're going to beat up Tsukishima, but Kageyama brushes him off coolly.
The next day, the match starts with Hinata, Tanaka, and Kageyama vs Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Daichi. Hinata is shocked at first because Daichi's on the other team, but he quickly gets over it. Right after the match starts, Kageyama tosses to Hinata and he spikes it, his high jump shocking everyone in the gym, but it's immediately blocked by Tsukishima. Hinata reassures himself that even if the opponent is huge, he’s only one person. Hinata can get it through next time. However, Tsukishima keeps blocking his spikes.
Tsukishima teases Kageyama about his past, and Kageyama replies sullenly that tossing the ball only for no one to be there frightens him. Hinata interrupts him, stating nonchalantly that that situation was back in junior high. Kageyama tossed the ball properly to Hinata, so the latter doesn’t care about the setter’s past.
The next move, Kageyama was going to toss to Tanaka but Hinata suddenly appears behind him, asking for a toss. He barely hits the ball past the net. He then turns to Kageyama, yelling that he is here now. No matter what happened in junior high, Hinata wants to hit Kageyama’s tosses. He will jump anywhere and hit any kind of ball, so Kageyama has to keep tossing to Hinata.
Tanaka approaches the two first years, asking if they know how to do quick sets. Hinata replies that he doesn’t know how to and only hits whatever tosses he can get and Kageyama adds that they aren’t in sync so a quick strike is still impossible, angering Hinata. Tsukishima adds that Hinata’s reckless playstyle isn’t a good mindset, and Hinata sullenly explains that no matter how high he jumped, he was always stopped by a blocker and could never fill the overwhelming gap in height. However, the Small Giant didn’t let that stop him, so Hinata wants to be like him. Disadvantages and inability don’t bother Hinata because of that. With this body, he wants to win and keep winning. Tsukishima continues berating Hinata though, but Kageyama steps in, stating that clearing the wall in front of a spiker is what the spiker is for. He then turns to Hinata, stating that he needs to use all of his physical ability and reflexes to hit his toss. While Tanaka's worried that Hinata doesn’t understand Kageyama, Hinata wants to try Kageyama’s idea anyway. Hinata excitedly rushes onto the court and tries to spike Kageyama’s toss but misses, surprised at how quick it is. Hinata then fails several times and Kageyama starts arguing with him. Sugawara interrupts the two, reminding Kageyama of his past in Kitagawa Daiichi. Sugawara explains that Hinata lacks technique and experience but he has the determination, and Hinata blushes at the compliment. Sugawara continues, saying that Kageyama should try to utilize Hinata’s ability. Kageyama thinks over Sugawara’s words and turns to Hinata, exclaiming that he's jealous of Hinata’s physical ability and hates how Hinata has skills but is horrible at volleyball. Kageyama announces that because of that, he has to help Hinata, confusing the latter. Kageyama then tells Hinata to move as fast and jump as high as he can and Kageyama will get the ball to him. Kageyama explains that Hinata doesn’t have to see the toss and Hinata doubts the idea because he doesn’t think he can hit without looking. However, Kageyama convinces him to try the idea anyway.
Kageyama tries out a quick strike with Hinata.
In the next move, Hinata jumps and spikes successfully. Hinata excitedly celebrates, but the other players are shocked because Hinata’s eyes were closed. As Hinata rambles to Kageyama, the latter asks him angrily why his eyes were closed and Hinata replies simply that if his eyes are opened, he can’t stop watching the ball. Hinata’s utter trust in Kageyama confuses the latter, but Kageyama tells Hinata to believe in him and jump for the next toss anyway.
However, they fail the second time and Hinata ends up getting hit in the face. As he's walking away, he looks down at his hand, remembering the amazing feeling of the ball hitting it. In the end, Kageyama and Hinata succeed with most of their quicks and win the game.
After the match ends, Hinata approaches Tsukishima and tries to make peace with him by offering a handshake but Tsukishima rejects it. Determined, Hinata forces it anyway. Kageyama and Hinata then approach Daichi and hands him their application forms which Daichi accepts.
As the team's resting, Kiyoko arrives with the new jackets, and Hinata excitedly receives his, modeling it to Tanaka and Sugawara. Kageyama asks Hinata to practice their quick strike and the two begin talking about a practice match against another school. They are soon interrupted by Takeda’s arrival and the announcement of a practice match. Kageyama and Hinata grin in excitement when they find out that the opponent is one of the prefecture’s best four schools; Hinata notes to himself happily that since coming to Karasuno, the Aobajohsai game will be his first official match with all the necessary players.
Aobajohsai Practice Match
The next day, the positions are handed out[2], and Hinata's shocked when he receives the middle blocker position because it’s usually for tall players. Kageyama announces loudly that Hinata will be the absolute strongest decoy. Initially, Hinata's overjoyed, but he quickly becomes disheartened because it isn’t a cool title. Kageyama then points out the good points of being a decoy but adds a weakness that Hinata has to look out for. This worries him and he begins to freak out, despite Daichi’s efforts to calm him.
Hinata got so anxious that he threw up on Tanaka's lap.
Hinata can’t calm down though and on the way to Aobajohsai, his anxiety reaches its peak and he throws up on Tanaka’s lap. That still doesn’t help and even when he arrives in Aobajohsai, he's still worried about messing up, getting benched, and many other things. He ends up going to the bathroom to cool down and bumps into Kindaichi and Yahaba there. Hinata and Kindaichi instantly recognize each other from junior high, and Kindaichi asks Hinata jokingly if Kageyama's still the same. Hinata replies firmly that Kageyama's even worse and then goes on with Kindaichi to complain about Kageyama to Yahaba. However, the two reach a disagreement on Kageyama’s tosses; Hinata thinks the tosses are amazing while Kindaichi thinks the opposite. Kindaichi quickly shoots down Hinata though, stating that even though he’s a setter, Kageyama still fails to do his job–to enable the spiker to hit the toss. He needs game pieces that move according to his own will, so whatever isn’t needed for him to win is thrown away. Tanaka then interrupts the first years and reassures them that Kageyama has changed but Hinata's doubtful, having been unnerved by Kindaichi’s words.
Hinata soon goes back to his teammates and the game begins. However, Hinata makes a bunch of mistakes right away, such as taking a receive that was meant for Daichi, knocking Tanaka over, and finally hitting the back of Kageyama’s head with his serve.
Kageyama hits the back of his head to emphasize his words as he terrifies Hinata.
The point scored over the missed serve allows Aobajohsai to win the first set, and Kageyama's livid. He slowly approaches a terrified Hinata, backing him into the wall. Kageyama then asks Hinata why he's so afraid and starts hitting the back of his head to emphasize his words. Just as Hinata thinks Kageyama's going to deliver the final blow, Kageyama yells at him to get back to normal, surprising the latter because he realizes that Kindaichi’s words about Kageyama throwing away unnecessary things are false.
After Kageyama backs away, Tanaka approaches Hinata, scaring the latter as he thinks he's going to get blamed for the team’s loss, but Tanaka only encourages Hinata to get his head back into the game.
Hinata then recovers and the second set starts. Kageyama and Hinata try to perform a quick but fail, causing Kindaichi to mock them. However, the second time's a success and the entire gym's shocked at the speed. During a break, Hinata stares down at his hands in awe and Daichi asks him what's wrong. Hinata replies that back in junior high, he thought that he had to handle everything by himself because his team was a complete mess but now, he is surrounded by players who are much better than he is. All he can do is trust in them and jump.
Just as the third set begins, Hinata and Tanaka suddenly hear a lot of girls cheering, and the two look over to see Oikawa enter the gym. Kageyama introduces him as his senpai in junior high, and Hinata immediately nicknames him as the “Grand King”. The game then resumes but Oikawa doesn’t play yet, and Karasuno's soon at its match point.
Oikawa's then switched in as a pinch server and soon scores several points off Tsukishima. Hinata watches his teammate and thinks of how he doesn’t like his personality, but he’s still his teammate. Hinata then starts calling for Oikawa to serve at him instead so he can take the attention off Tsukishima. However, Tsukishima only insults him for it.
After several tries, Tsukishima finally manages to receive the serve but it's sent back as a free ball to Aobajohsai’s side. Kindaichi spikes it, but Hinata touches the ball and can send it to Kageyama for another quick. Hinata spikes the ball right past Oikawa’s face, scoring the last point for the game (Karasuno’s victory).
The Karasuno team gets off the court and goes to Takeda to thanks him. Takeda states that he feels like something incredible is happening, like a chemical reaction, and the team will become even stronger than ever before. Hinata doesn’t understand the speech though, partly because he isn’t paying attention and is thinking of food[9].
Hinata is intrigued by the "Guardian Deity".
Karasuno begins to leave the school but is stopped by Oikawa at the entrance. Tanaka and Hinata approach him hostilely, asking him if he wants to fight, but Oikawa compliments Hinata on his skills instead. Although, he adds that Hinata and Tsukishima need to improve their serves, and Hinata's reminded that if Oikawa had been playing from the start, Karasuno would’ve had a lot more trouble. Daichi then announces that Karasuno’s “Guardian Deity” is returning soon, so they don’t have to worry. Hinata becomes interested in that person and is in awe over the nickname because it sounds so “cool”.
Asahi and Nishinoya’s Return
The Karasuno team heads back to the school where the members then go off on their separate ways. Hinata, Kageyama, Tanaka, and the third years are walking home together when Tanaka asks Kageyama why he's in Karasuno. Hinata asks Kageyama excitedly if it's because he admired the Small Giant as well. However, Kageyama replies that it's because of the famous Coach Ukai. The players then start talking about their current team and their weaknesses, and Kageyama states that they lacked a libero and an ace. Hinata exclaims that he could be the ace but to his disappointment, Kageyama interrupts by stating that Hinata's already the decoy. He then asks about the “Guardian Deity” and Tanaka replies that he has been under one week of house arrest and a month’s ban on club activities but isn’t a delinquent; he just gets overexcited easily. This intrigues Hinata and he wonders what type of person he is.
The next day[10], Kageyama's practicing his serve when Hinata runs in front of it and tries to receive it. This causes the ball to fly off to the top of the gym and Hinata has to go up to bring it down. As Hinata's getting the ball, Kageyama serves again but this time, it's interrupted by someone else. Hinata watches the stranger, thinking to himself that the sound of the receive is different from his. The third years and Tanaka then arrive, greeting the stranger excitedly. Daichi introduces the first years to Nishinoya and Hinata stutters in shock that Nishinoya's shorter than he is, which annoys the latter.
Nishinoya gets angry after Hinata points out his height.
As Nishinoya's catching up with the members, he asks if Asahi came back and when the answer's no, he insults Asahi. Tanaka yells back at him to not talk about the ace that way, surprising Hinata. He thinks to himself in awe that there is a proper ace on this team after all.
Nishinoya angrily announces that if Asahi isn’t coming back, neither is he, and he leaves the gym. Hinata follows after him and asks Nishinoya if he can teach him how to do receives because he’s a libero. Nishinoya asks coldly if Hinata thinks that because he’s short, and Hinata replies that he only thinks that way because Nishinoya is good at receives. Hinata states that he's still clumsy at receives so he needs help and remembering Daichi’s words, calls Nishinoya “senpai” which quickly wins the libero over.
Later on in the evening, Nishinoya explains receives to the first years, but none of them except for Kageyama understands him. Hinata then asks Nishinoya about Asahi and states determinedly that he wants to become an ace because he's inspired by the Small Giant. While Kageyama berates Hinata for thinking that way, Nishinoya compliments him, stating excitedly that it’s an awesome idea. He then asks Hinata what his position is, and Hinata replies sullenly that he’s a decoy. Nishinoya tries to cheer him up by pointing out the good points of being a decoy, but Hinata’s composition still doesn’t change.
The next day, Hinata and Kageyama go to the third year hallway to look for Asahi. Just as they're fighting over who goes inside the third year classroom first, Asahi suddenly walks out, and almost instantly, Hinata hides behind Kageyama. Sugawara comes out as well and introduces the first years to Asahi but to the first years’ surprise, Asahi tells them to do their best instead of indicating that he will be playing with them. Hinata tells him that he wants to play with Asahi because he wants to be an ace so seeing a real ace in action would help him. Asahi's surprised but replies that he isn’t an ace before walking away. Sugawara revealed to the first years that Asahi has come to hate volleyball because of a crushing defeat. Hinata doesn’t understand because he doesn’t think it's such a big deal to end up hating volleyball. The two then leave for practice and Hinata wonders if Asahi does hate volleyball, and Kageyama replies that he doesn’t think Asahi hates it.
Inside the gym, Nishinoya shows off his “Rolling Thunder”, impressing Hinata. Takeda suddenly bursts into the gym, announcing a training camp and practice match against Nekoma High, Karasuno’s destined rival. Hinata's excited at first but begins to worry, wondering what he can do to bring Asahi back so the team won’t have such a strained atmosphere.
Hinata tells Asahi how with Kageyama's help, he can evade even the tallest blockers now.
The next day, during lunch break, Hinata and Kageyama approach Asahi again. Hinata exclaims loudly that if Asahi won’t come back to the team, the senpais will be sad. Asahi only replies that the image of getting blocked is still fresh in his mind so he can’t bring himself to play volleyball anymore. Hinata understands Asahi though and responds that his spikes had always been blocked but now, he has Kageyama. He can evade even the tallest blockers and finally see everything on the other side of the net. Before Hinata can say anything else, the bell rings and he has to get to class, but he leaves an impression on Asahi.
Sometime later[11], Ukai joins the team as a temporary coach and sets up a practice match against the Neighborhood Association Team. As the players are warming up, Hinata notices Asahi outside and announces it to the team. Ukai pulls Asahi into the game and it becomes a faceoff of Kageyama and Hinata against the ace. Hinata's placed with Kageyama, Ennoshita, Tsukishima, Tanaka, and Daichi.
Right as the game starts, Hinata and Kageyama perform a quick, shocking everyone due to the speed. Asahi then attacks back with a spike and Hinata gets awed by the strength of it. However, as the match progressed, Hinata begins to get jealous of Asahi’s incredible power which distracts him from the game, leading to him getting hit in the face by Asahi’s spike.
The game's paused for Hinata to recover, and Hinata reassures his teammates that he's fine and just doesn’t react fast enough. However, Kageyama sees right through him and points out how Hinata let his jealousy of Asahi get to him. Hinata angrily replies that someone tall like Kageyama won’t be able to understand him at all, but quickly regrets it. He thinks guiltily that it's his fault the game is paused but he still yelled at Kageyama.
The match soon resumes and right off, to Hinata’ surprise, Kageyama announces that he will toss to him. He commands Hinata to move according to his toss and Hinata spikes it past everyone. As soon as he lands, Kageyama yells angrily that with that speed, jump, and his toss, Hinata can evade any blocker. The point scored by the ace and the point scored by a decoy are of equal value, and it’s also because of the decoy that the ace and other spikers can break through. Kageyama asks Hinata if he still thinks that being a decoy's lame, and Hinata replies almost tearfully that he doesn’t think that at all[12].
In the end, the Karasuno Neighborhood Association Team wins. After the Neighborhood Association leaves, Hinata approaches Asahi and after some hesitation, tells him that he’s not an ace but he’ll become the strongest decoy and create a pathway in front of the ace. Hinata begins to run out of things to say though and gets flustered and Asahi cuts in, stating that the person the opponents are scared off is the coolest, reassuring Hinata of his importance.
Nekoma Practice Match
On the day before the training camp begins[13], Hinata rides his bike to school excitedly as he thinks of the match against Nekoma. That evening, after practice, the team goes to the training camp facilities. Hinata explores the entire building, exclaiming that he has never been to a training camp before.
Later at night, Hinata's standing near the baths, looking terrified. Tanaka comes over and Hinata explains that there's a child in the building with them, scaring Tanaka because only the Karasuno team is supposed to be there. Suddenly, someone appears behind them, and Hinata starts screaming that it's the person he saw. It turns out to be Nishinoya who had his hair flattened, thus changing his appearance.
Hinata meets Kenma on the streets after getting lost.
The next day, the team goes jogging in the morning and while trying to outrace Kageyama, Hinata gets lost. As he's wandering around, he finds a boy around his age in a red jersey and approaches him. Hinata tries speaking to him at first but the boy doesn’t seem interested until Hinata notices his volleyball shoes. Hinata then introduces himself and finds out that the boy’s name is Kenma Kozume. The two of them start discussing volleyball, though Kenma was a bit reluctant initially. Hinata asks sheepishly if Kenma thinks it's weird that a short person like him was a middle blocker, and Kenma replies that it isn’t because he's in the same situation as a setter. Hinata asks Kenma excitedly if his school's strong and surprisingly, Kenma replies firmly that he thinks it’s strong. Before Hinata can ask Kenma what school he goes to, Kenma’s teammate comes over. As Kenma's leaving, he says that he'll see Hinata later, to the latter’s confusion.
The next day, during practice, Hinata and Kageyama overhear Ennoshita saying that he once ran away from practice and decides to question him about it later in the evening. Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita reveal that during the period Coach Ukai returned to the team, they’d quit the team but regretted it afterward. However, by the time they decided to return, Ukai was already gone. Ennoshita states sadly that he, Narita, and Kinoshita are disgraceful second years but since returning, they've decided to work hard so they won’t lose to the first years.
After the second years leave the room, Hinata starts thinking of how everyone on the team intends to get on the court at some point, the second years’ speech having affected him. Hinata states that, as frustrating as it is to admit, he's only on the court because of Kageyama’s toss.
The next day, the uniforms are handed out, with Kageyama receiving the number 9 and Hinata receiving 10. Immediately, Hinata points out disappointedly that Kageyama has a higher number than him. To reassure Hinata, Sugawara and Daichi tell him that the number 10 was also the Small Giant’s number back when he was in Karasuno and Hinata’s entire outlook on his uniform changes.
The practice match against Nekoma soon arrives[14] and the members line up to greet each other. To Hinata’s surprise, he finds Kenma on the team. After greetings, he approaches Kenma and complains light-heartedly that Kenma could’ve told him he's from Nekoma back when they first met each other. They can’t talk much though because Taketora then interrupts them.
The teams soon go inside the gym, and the match begins. Right off, Kageyama and Hinata perform their quick strike, shocking everyone. As the match progresses, Karasuno's able to give Nekoma some trouble, but Hinata starts noticing that Inuoka's slowly catching up to him. Suddenly, Inuoka was able to completely block him. However, to everyone’s surprise, Hinata smiles due to the challenge and doesn’t give up.
Hinata smiles excitedly despite being blocked.
He faces off against Inuoka again and decides to try opening his eyes to spike, though he has trouble at first. Ukai calls for a timeout and tells Kageyama to try a new toss with Hinata. Kageyama agrees, but Hinata can’t grasp the new toss at first and keeps messing up. However, his concentration never wavers and after some time, he's finally able to spike with his eyes open, though his ball goes out.
In the end, just when the Karasuno team thinks they won, Kenma suddenly saves a ball and sends it back over. Nishinoya and Hinata chase after it but neither makes it in time, and Nekoma wins. As the players are recovering, Hinata shoots up, asking for a rematch. Two more games are played but even though Karasuno loses all of them, Hinata continues asking for more matches. Nekomata calmly tells Hinata that they'll play again at Nationals, and Hinata agrees excitedly.
Hinata exclaims to Kenma that he will beat him next time.
The teams start cleaning up, and Hinata and Inuoka compliment each other happily. Hinata then approaches Kenma and asks him if, after this game, he enjoys volleyball more. Kenma replies that he doesn’t feel anything, and Hinata exclaims determinedly that he will win next time and get Kenma to feel frustrated.
Karasuno leaves, determined to win next time.
The teams soon part ways[15] and as Karasuno's walking back, Kageyama states that if today's a regular game, they would have been disqualified already, reminding Hinata of his junior high match against Kitagawa Daiichi.
Interhigh Arc
The Karasuno team starts training for the Interhigh as soon as the practice match with Nekoma ends. One afternoon, after practice concludes, the players huddle over a volleyball magazine. Tanaka points out this year’s noteworthy aces, Ushiwaka from Shiratorizawa being one of them. To the senpais’ surprises, Hinata doesn’t know who Ushiwaka is because he only cares about the Small Giant. Tanaka points out that Ushiwaka is the number 1 ace in the Miyagi prefecture, and Hinata realizes that they will have to beat him to get to Nekoma. Ukai cuts in, stating that Shiratorizawa isn’t the only school they had to look out for; this year’s top schools, besides Shiratorizawa, are Aobajohsai, Wakutani South High, and Date Tech.
Hinata and Kageyama are excited to play against Aobajohsai and Date Tech.
The night before Interhigh, after practice, Takeda announces that Kiyoko has a surprise for the team. With Takeda’s help, Kiyoko unfolds an old Karasuno banner she’d found while cleaning and tells the team to do their best before running out. This increases the team’s morale by tenfold, and they are finally ready for the Interhigh.
The next day, Hinata's running to school, happy that he's going to get to the gym before Kageyama. However, Kageyama appears behind him suddenly and knocks Hinata over before rushing to the gym. As soon as he arrives, he stutters out breathlessly that he has 31 wins and 30 losses, but Hinata cuts in sadly that he's wrong and has 32 wins because Kitagawa Daiichi beat Yukigaoka last year around this time. Remembering everything from last year, Hinata gets up and tells Kageyama determinedly that he will overthrow him from his title of being the “King of the Court” and be the one who stands on the court the longest.
Karasuno soon heads for the stadium where the tournament's taking place[16]. As he's entering the gym, Hinata looks around excitedly until his team bumps into Date Tech. Hinata notices right away that Aone doesn’t have eyebrows and gets intimidated by his size, but recovers quickly and backs up Asahi when Aone challenges him. Aone's soon stopped by his captain and Date Tech walks away, but not before issuing a challenge to the entire Karasuno team.
Later, as Karasuno's preparing for their first match, Hinata's nervous and starts shaking and jumbling up his words. Sugawara asks Asahi what he usually does to calm himself, and Asahi replies that he'll think of something scary to distract himself. Hinata thinks over it and suddenly remembers Kageyama’s expression when he’d hit a ball into the back of his head during the Aobajohsai practice match. That calms Hinata down instantly.
Karasuno vs Tokonami
Karasuno soon heads to the stadium, and Hinata gushes excitedly over the huge arena. As the team's warming up, Hinata suddenly spots Kindaichi in the bleachers and points him out using his nickname “shallot-head”, confusing the spoken boy as he doesn’t realize who the name refers to. Oikawa then greets Hinata and Kageyama, and the two stare back hostilely.
The match begins shortly, but Karasuno doesn’t use Kageyama and Hinata’s quick-strike yet. Tanaka and Asahi score the first two points, and Hinata begins to fidget impatiently before Kageyama finally tosses to him. Jumping high above the net, Hinata slams the ball down and shows the entire stadium that Karasuno can no longer be called the “Flightless Crows” anymore.
Hinata watched Ikejiri leave, wondering what would've happened if he lost instead.
Karasuno beats Tokonami easily in the end. Hinata can barely believe that he’d gotten past the first match, his junior high days still fresh in his mind. He asks Kageyama if they have a match next, and Kageyama replies affirmatively. Hinata looks at his hands happily and cries out that they won and can keep playing again and again[17].
Karasuno vs Date Tech
Karasuno goes back to the hallways to rest before its next match. To Hinata’s joy, passing by players point him out and he states that nobody has ever said those things about him before. Kageyama tells him that it’s a good thing he’s getting noticed because the more Hinata stands out, the harder it’ll be for the opponents to notice the other players.
Hinata and Kageyama then go outside to warm up, and Kageyama reveals to Hinata that Date Tech's the team that defeated Karasuno devastatingly last year, causing Asahi to leave the team. Right afterward, Sugawara approaches the two and tells them he's counting on them for the Date Tech game because with the strongest decoy and Kageyama to clear the wall in front of the ace, Asahi can finally get his revenge. Hinata and Kageyama agree silently, determined to win the game for the senpais.
They go back inside for the match. As Hinata's entering the court, he nearly bumps into Aone, whose immense size terrifies him. The teams start warming up and Nishinoya exclaims that he will protect everyone’s backs, impressing Hinata.
The game soon starts and right off, Kageyama tosses to Hinata, but it's nearly blocked by Aone. Hinata manages to hit the ball to another side and get a point, but he's worried that Aone will succeed next time. Sure enough, Aone blocks Hinata on his second try. However, Hinata and Kageyama still have another technique to use.
They perform their quick-strike which flies past Date Tech, to everyone’s shock. The next few attacks are successful again, but Aone manages to catch up to Hinata and blocks him. However, this is Karasuno’s tactic to distract Date Tech from the other spikers, allowing Asahi to break through[18]. Hinata remarks that even though he doesn’t hit the spike, his spine's tingling with excitement.
Hinata and Aone shake hands after Karasuno wins the game.
With Hinata’s decoy skills, Asahi and the other spikers can get through and in the end, Karasuno wins. As the teams are leaving, Aone asks Hinata for a handshake, which the latter gladly accepts. He then walks over to Kageyama, pointing out that the opponents haven't noticed their signals for the quick strike yet.
Karasuno vs Aobajohsai
Karasuno goes back home to rest before their next match. As soon as they arrive, a teacher announces that they're on TV and the entire team goes inside the faculty office to watch[19]. However, the program skims right over Karasuno’s match against Date Tech to show Oikawa instead. When asked what he thinks of Karasuno, he replies that it's a good team and he would like to destroy it, angering the entire team. They then silently walk back to their gym to hold a meeting.
After going over the tactics they're going to use against Aobajohsai, the team heads home. Kageyama appears worried over the game so Hinata quickly reassures him that they will win; Kageyama agrees determinedly.
The next day, the match begins and both teams are intent on beating each other, their last practice game has affected them greatly. Both teams were doing well initially, Hinata and Kageyama’s quick strikes succeeding each time. However, halfway through, Oikawa figures out the signals Kageyama and Hinata use for their quick strike, thus rendering it useless. Kageyama begins to lose his composure as Aobajohsai pulls ahead of Karasuno.
The ultimate decoy.
Hinata watches his teammates, especially Tanaka, worriedly after the team gets disordered. He wonders if he should say something to Tanaka since the second year's always cheering him up whenever he's depressed, but Tanaka recovers before Hinata can do anything. He slaps himself to clear his thoughts and exclaims that he's going to succeed next time, impressing Hinata and Nishinoya.
Even though Tanaka's able to get his head back into the game, Kageyama's still unfocused. Soon, Kageyama's switched out[20] with Sugawara taking his place so that the first year can cool his head, and he gets off reluctantly. To cheer him up, Hinata reminds Kageyama loudly that he'll be the one that’ll defeat him so he can’t lose here.
With Sugawara’s help, Karasuno takes back some points but Aobajohsai wins the first set. Hinata asks Kageyama if he's depressed and he angrily replies that Hinata should worry about himself instead; but Kageyama adds, to Hinata’s happiness, that when he gets back into the game, he's going to make Hinata hit spikes like crazy.
Before long, Kageyama's switched back in and as he's walking onto the court, he suddenly smiles–a rare sight that sends Hinata scurrying away fearfully. Hinata then asks Kageyama if Sugawara told him about the hand signals he came up with and Kageyama nods as he holds his fist up, silently telling Hinata that he's confident they can win.
Hinata yells for a toss as he runs across the court.
The break helps Kageyama cool down and he's able to set up two successful spikes, both performed by Hinata. Right after the second spike, Hinata asks Kageyama for a high five, showing his acceptance of the setter as a teammate. Karasuno soon turns the game over in their favor and wins the second set; Aobajohsai isn’t letting up though. Hinata's then switched out temporarily so Karasuno can try a different tactic.
As the game progresses though, he begins to get impatient; seeing Aobajōhsai’s incredible strength makes him want to play and he almost steps out of line. Before long, Hinata's switched back in. His pent up frustration from being out gives him a strength boost and helps him out-speed the opponents[21]. Hinata thinks to himself that if his speed slows down for even an instant, it will be all over. He runs to the ball and spikes with all his strength against two blockers. However, this is a fluke so Asahi can break through and Karasuno finally catches up to Aobajohsai, pushing Aobajohsai to call for a timeout.
As Karasuno's taking a break, the senpais compliment Hinata on his decoy skills, but Hinata isn’t satisfied yet. He isn’t letting down until Karasuno wins the game. Things take a turn for the worse though when suddenly, Aobajohsai's able to completely render the quick strike ineffective. With their new technique of leaving Hinata unguarded so that the libero can receive the spike, Hinata and Kageyama are finally stopped. Karasuno’s movements are thrown into disorder and in a last-minute attempt to gain back a point, the ball's given to Hinata. However, he's blocked completely.
To pull back ahead, Ukai switches in Yamaguchi for Hinata. As Hinata's getting off, he tells Yamaguchi to serve a nice one, but he isn’t going to lose to him. Yamaguchi fails though but this takes a lot of pressure off the other players, and everyone’s moods change.
Despite having his signature move stopped and his jumping power weakening, Hinata doesn’t give up and finds a new way to score, although he ends up smashing his face on the floor[22]. However, this allows Karasuno to turn the scores around and they are now at match point.
Hinata freezes and is unable to save the ball.
Aobajohsai quickly takes back their points and Kageyama appears worried, so Hinata cheers him up. Both teams are getting tired and making more mistakes now, but Kageyama's confident that his next toss will get through. He sends the ball to Hinata who spikes eagerly; it is then blocked by Kindaichi and Hinata freezes and isn’t able to react in time to save it. Aobajohsai wins the game with that point[23].
Hinata stays on the floor in shock until Daichi comes over, and the former starts apologizing; Daichi stops him, stating that his spike wasn’t a mistake. The teams line up silently before getting off the court. Hinata tries to say something to Kageyama but is cut off by a team running onto the court.
Hinata and Kageyama get back up on their feet after their loss.
Hinata and Kageyama go outside to cool off. As they're washing their faces, Kageyama suddenly apologizes, angering Hinata. He grabs the setter and yells at him to not make it sound like he shouldn’t have tossed to him. As Hinata's holding Kageyama down on the grass, Takeda approaches them. Smiling gently, he states that the two first years did an incredible job today, but Hinata responds sullenly that they still lost. Takeda replies that it's true, but the defeat will help them move forward because it's like a trial to overcome. Only the weak will remain on their knees like Hinata and Kageyama are right now; this inspires the two to get back up on their feet.
Loss and Decisions
The Karasuno team cries after the loss to Aobajohsai.
The Karasuno team soon leaves the gym and goes out to eat. Ukai tells the team to eat up so they can recover and get stronger. Hinata starts eating and slowly, his emotions overcome him, and he cries.
His loss still affects Hinata greatly the next day[24]. He can’t pay attention in class and as soon as lunchtime comes, he runs out of his classroom without eating and heads for the gym. By the time he arrives, Kageyama's already inside, spiking angrily at the wall. Hinata doesn’t say anything and just stands there, but Kageyama understands him instantly. He passes a ball to Hinata and they pass it back and forth silently. Eventually, Hinata messes up and Kageyama states expressionlessly that Hinata’s balance is off. Hinata doesn’t reply and instead, points out that the final match's starting soon. All of a sudden, everything that happened during the Interhigh comes to him and in a fit of frustration, Hinata starts jumping all over the gym, Kageyama joining him shortly.
Hinata can't concentrate in class, the Interhigh still fresh in his mind.
The two eventually stop when they run out of breath, and Hinata says angrily that he wants to win. Kageyama replies that he won’t apologize anymore because he has to throw the sort of toss that he won’t have to apologize for. Hinata agrees, adding that there was no time to waste and they have to continue training.
At that moment, Kiyoko comes in, lightly scolding the two for being too loud. Hinata asks her anxiously if the third years are staying in the club to go on to the Spring High and his happiness, Kiyoko replies affirmatively.
Hinata then goes back to his classroom to eat lunch with his friend. The two discuss their losses and Hinata's friend brings up the fact that the third years on his team are retiring because the teachers won’t let them play. This shocks Hinata and he slams his hands down on the table loudly, shouting that he still has a lot to learn from the third years so he still wants to play volleyball with them.
He then runs off to the faculty office to find Takeda. Anxiously, Hinata exclaims that he wants to keep playing with the third years, but Takeda replies calmly that the third years need to choose a path that they won’t end up regretting. Hinata adds that he would regret never being able to play volleyball again more than anything else, but that's only for him. Takeda suddenly receives a phone call so Hinata excuses himself and leaves.
In the hallways, Hinata's walking back to his class when Sugawara comes up behind him. Hinata gets scared as he thinks over what to say to Sugawara because simply asking him to stay in the club is too selfish a request. Before Hinata can say anything though, Takeda calls Sugawara away.
The first and second years celebrate when the third years announce that they're staying in the club.
Later, the second and first years go to the gym, despite there not being any practice, and waits for the third years to come. Just as they are all about to give up hope, the third years arrive and announce, to everyone’s happiness, that they are going to the Spring High.
Ukai soon arrives in the gym as well and holds a meeting. He tells Karasuno that they lost in a match of strength to Aobajohsai but Shiratorizawa is the overall winner, shocking Hinata, and Kageyama. Daichi announces that Karasuno has only gone to Nationals once, so he intends to get the team back on that court. Hinata's overwhelmed by what he hears; he thinks of how the Spring High will be the third years’ final matches and if he goes, he'll be standing on the same court the Small Giant had once stood on. However, he acknowledges that his team won’t be able to win in its current state.
Suddenly, Takeda bursts in and immediately announce that they're going to Tokyo.
Tokyo Expedition Arc
Hinata excitedly asks Takeda if, by Tokyo, he means Nekoma, and Takeda confirms that they have another practice match against that school, but Nekoma isn’t going to be the only team there[3]. The entire Fukurōdani Academy Group, composed of Nekoma and several other schools in Kanto, often holds joint practice matches; this time, thanks to Nekomata, Karasuno will be able to join the Group.
Remembering how Inuoka and Yaku stopped his quick-strike during the practice match, Hinata gets super excited and yells that this time, he will slam the ball past Nekoma. Takeda asks Karasuno what they think of the match, and everyone answers enthusiastically that they're going.
The next day, Hinata's in class when he hears the students in the hallways talking about someone. He pokes his head out to see and finds Kiyoko in his hallway. She asks him if he knows any first years who aren’t in any clubs, confusing him.
Hinata's dreams of going to Tokyo are shattered when he remembers the exams.
That evening, in a team meeting, Takeda announces the training schedule for Karasuno before the summer camp begins. The players are excited until Takeda reminds them of the final exams that are coming up soon. If the players can’t pass, they have to take supplementary lessons and will not be able to go on the Tokyo trip. Suddenly remembering the tests, Hinata begins to shake in terror. He desperately asks if they can just beg the vice-principal to let them go but Takeda replies forlornly that no matter what they do, supplementary lessons are higher priorities. Hinata, Kageyama, Nishinoya, and Tanaka begin freaking out but Daichi quickly cuts in, stating that they still have time before exams begin.
Daichi rounds up the “four idiots” that night to lecture them on how to study. Hinata whispers to Kageyama if he wants to ask Tsukishima to tutor them, but Kageyama automatically refuses. Hinata retorts that they don’t have a choice because if they fail, they won’t be able to go to Tokyo.
The two then run after Tsukishima and requests for him to teach them[25]. Tsukishima initially refused but Hinata continues asking him; Tsukishima then interrupts him, pointing out that Kageyama isn’t doing anything and is making Hinata do all the asking. Annoyedly, Kageyama bows and requests loudly for Tsukishima to teach them.
A while later, Kiyoko returns to Hinata’s hallway to look for recruits, and Hinata gives her a list of first years that aren’t in any clubs. As she thanks him, Hinata asks curiously if the manager job's that difficult that Kiyoko has to recruit another one. Kiyoko replies that the third years won’t be here anymore after the Spring High ends, so she needs to prepare for her retirement by finding a replacement for herself as soon as possible. Hinata volunteers eagerly to help her but she kindly rejects him, stating that he has to focus on his studies and training because everyone has high hopes for the strongest decoy.
The next day, during practice, Kiyoko suddenly comes in and introduces Yachi, the new manager. Hinata happily greets her before continuing with the practice. The following day, Hinata and Kageyama try to ask Tsukishima to tutor them during a break, but he refuses. Yamaguchi then tells them to ask Yachi instead since she’s also in a college prep class. The duo finds Yachi in her classroom and introduces themselves before asking her to teach them. Yachi agrees and goes over the problems with the two, Hinata complimenting her on her notes now and then. Yachi asks Hinata if he likes studying, and Hinata replies sheepishly that it’s tough for him to sit still for a long time. Because he wants to play against Tokyo’s champions, he has to do everything he can to pass the exams and go on the trip. Yachi asks him if he's a manager because he’s short, and Hinata exclaims that he’s a regular player. He adds proudly that he’s short but he can jump. His opponents are always so tall and strong, but the fact that he can still fight against guys like those sends shivers down his spine.
After practice one day, Hinata suddenly smacks himself. A shocked Yachi looks at him and he responds that he won’t lose. Yachi then asks him curiously why he's working so hard to go on a trip to play in matches that aren’t even official and why he wants to win. Hinata responds calmly, “Do you need a reason to not want to lose?” His aura when he says that intimidates Yachi for a moment.
Hinata decides to help Yachi out by bringing her to her mother and convincing her to say her thoughts.
A few days later, Yachi tells him about what her mother said to her about being a manager, and Hinata asks her if she's bothered by it. Hinata tries to reassure her by bringing up his past mistakes, but Yachi remains worried. Hinata then decides to help Yachi out by bringing her to her mother and convincing her to say her thoughts. Yachi, inspired by Hinata’s words, yells out to her mother that villager B can fight too and announces her goals. As soon as she's done, Yachi turns to Hinata who gives her a huge grin and a thumb up.
With this, Yachi's finally convinced to become the manager of the club. The next day, during practice, she's given her team jacket and the entire team poses as they welcome Yachi. Daichi announces to the team that they don’t have a lot of time left before the training camp begins. All that was left were the exams. Hinata quickly turned to Yachi nervously and she reassured him that it would be fine, though she did invite Hinata and Kageyama to study at her house the next morning.
The next day, the three finished studying early and as they were leaving, Kageyama states that Yachi lives near Shiratorizawa. Hinata asks him if, by Shiratorizawa, he means Ushiwaka and coincidentally, Ushijima's just passing by when Hinata mentions him. He stops and asks the duo if they have some business with him, surprising the two[26]. Hinata and Kageyama don’t answer Ushijima at first, so he starts leaving.
Reacting quickly, Kageyama introduces himself and Hinata and asks Ushijima to allow them to watch Shiratorizawa practice. Ushijima recognizes Karasuno as the team that uses a strange quick strike before agreeing to Kageyama’s request; he states that no matter how strong the two are, they will see that Shiratorizawa never weakens. Kageyama and Hinata reply nonchalantly that they're going to beat Shiratorizawa anyway, so they may as well see what their opponents will be like.
The three starts running together and Hinata jumps around in excitement, surprising Ushijima who notes that Hinata's able to catch up with him. The minute the three arrive in Shiratorizawa, Hinata runs all over the school, looking around at the huge size and other features it has. The duo soon gets lost and stumbles around before finding the gym. The two look inside to check out the team and are surprised to find that Shiratorizawa’s practice match opponents are college students.
Ushijima then comes by, stating that it took the two long enough to find him. Kageyama reintroduces himself and Ushijima recognizes him from Kitagawa Daiichi. After Kageyama adds that he tried to get into Shiratorizawa but failed, Ushijima replies that his team doesn’t need a setter that can’t devote himself to the ace. Hinata cuts in, laughing at his teammate because it's true that Kageyama doesn’t seem like that type of person. Hinata adds that Oikawa's the same yet he’s the strongest setter in the prefecture. Ushijima remarks that Oikawa is an excellent player and should’ve gone to Shiratorizawa and Kageyama asks him if Oikawa will be devoted to the ace. Ushijima replies that Oikawa is a setter that draws out the maximum potential of whatever team he’s on; however, his team's too weak for him and can’t utilize all of his abilities. Hinata thinks of the players in Aobajohsai and responds calmly, with an intimidating aura, that if Aobajohsai's barren land, then Karasuno would be concrete.
Hinata announces that he'll take Ushijima down.
A stray ball suddenly comes at the three and Ushijima reaches for it; Hinata jumps up in front of him and grabs the ball, exclaiming that he sprouts from that concrete and will take Ushijima down to get to nationals. Before any of them can say anything, a teacher walks by and kicks Hinata and Kageyama out of the school. As the two are leaving, Kageyama states that they weren’t able to defeat Aobajohsai so they have to do that first before reaching Shiratorizawa. Hinata replies determinedly that if they defeat both schools, there won’t be any trouble. They have to go to Tokyo to get stronger.
Kageyama and Hinata confront Ushijima.
A few days later, test results come out. Hinata and Kageyama fail, despite all the studying they did. However, they're still planning on going, even if they have to bike there. Tanaka then approaches the two with a solution; his sister Saeko will drive them to Tokyo once they finish lessons.
Like Tanaka's proposal, as soon as the lessons ends, Kageyama and Hinata bolt out of Karasuno and runs outside. Saeko's waiting for them there and they soon start driving to Tokyo. In the car, Hinata glares at the road ahead and Saeko pinches his cheeks, telling him to relax. She asks him why he's playing volleyball and before he can finish his sentence, Saeko interrupts and asks if it's because he saw the Small Giant. Hinata excitedly asks her if she knows him and she answers that he's her former classmate. She adds that she once watched one of Karasuno’s practice matches and the Small Giant wasn’t doing so well during that game. He was switched out midway and started trashing the hallway around before turning to Saeko with an intense look. It felt like his entire body gave off a sense of sheer pride and confidence from being the team’s ace. Hinata thought of Ushijima, comparing his aura to the Small Giant’s.
The two soon arrive in Tokyo and enter the gym[27], where their team's waiting for them. For the rest of the day, Karasuno plays several practice matches; each time, the opponents are perplexed by Hinata and Kageyama’s quick strike. As Karasuno's taking a break, Hinata looks over at Nekoma and notices that Inuoka's benched but there's a new player that seems to have a whip-like spike.
After practice ends, Hinata walks around with Kenma and Inuoka who reveals to him the new guy’s name–Lev Haiba, a half-Russian, half-Japanese. They discussed his skills and Kenma stated that Lev just started volleyball in high school so his basic skills are terrible, even worse than Hinata’s.
Hinata jumps high to challenge Lev.
Hinata then leaves to go to the bathroom and just as he enters[28], he nearly bumps into Lev. Hinata’s shocked that Lev knows Japanese and quickly introduces himself before asking Lev’s height. Lev points out how Hinata’s even shorter up close, angering the latter, but quickly adds that he means if Hinata jumped, he won’t be able to reach as high as Lev can. Hinata decides to prove him wrong by jumping up, though he ends up hitting his head on the ceiling. After recovering, he exclaims confidently that he will jump even higher than the Russian can to beat him. Although, Hinata does admit that Lev’s spikes are incredible because they blow right past the blockers. Lev replies with a confident smile that he’s Nekoma’s ace, after all. Hinata counters that Lev’s a middle blocker so he can’t be the ace, but Lev replies that position has nothing to do with it. An ace is the one that makes off with the most points. This affects Hinata’s way of thinking, and he looks down at his hand as he thinks of all the points he usually scores for his team.
The next day, during a timeout in his practice match, Hinata looks over at Nekoma’s game again. He watches Lev’s successful spikes, remembering his words on being the ace.
A while later, Karasuno and Nekoma play against each other, and right from the start, Hinata surprises Lev with a quick strike. However, Lev quickly blocks his next attacks and challenges Hinata to try to beat him.
As the game progresses, Hinata slowly gets distracted by Nekoma’s strength and starts thinking of Ushijima and the Small Giant. In the next move, Hinata’s so absorbed in his thoughts that he spikes the ball spontaneously, not realizing it’s meant for Asahi. As a result, the two crash into each other. Hinata apologizes frantically right afterward.
Hinata gets back into the game but gets a new idea. He approaches Kageyama and tells him he’s going to stop closing his eyes during the quick strikes, shocking his teammates. Hinata explains that he can’t have Kageyama enabling him to hit that quick all the time, but Kageyama rejects him and walks away, stating that he has no intention of tossing to someone who he knows will miss.
The game continues but the tension from Hinata and Asahi’s collision is still there among the players. By the end of the day, Hinata hasn’t given up his decision to start spiking with his eyes open. He asks Kageyama again, with Sugawara backing him up this time, but Kageyama won’t change his mind. Hinata explains that he wants to fight on his own in the air and reminds Kageyama of their loss to Aobajohsai. Kageyama replies that the quick strike is Hinata’s greatest weapon, but there is no need for him to think on his own in it. He then walks away. Sugawara tells Hinata that he agrees with Kageyama now that he has heard his viewpoint and before Hinata can reply, Ukai comes out and says the same thing.
Ukai looks into the Hinata's eyes and realizes he’s serious.
Hinata responds quietly that when he’s in good form[29], he can see everything on the other side of the net. At first, Ukai assumes Hinata only thinks he sees everything until he looks into the latter’s eyes and realizes he’s serious. Before Ukai can react, Hinata walks away, but Ukai seems to have a change of heart. As soon as they all enter the gym, Ukai approaches Hinata and tells him that he’s right; the quick strike can still evolve, and he wants Hinata to try.
After practice, Hinata tells Kageyama to toss to him. The two and Yachi use an empty gym to practice with Hinata’s idea, but they keep failing. In the end, Kageyama gets angry and yells at Hinata that there are a ton of things he should be fixing instead of wasting his time on an attack he can’t do. Hinata argues back that he has to get better and Kageyama shoves him, shouting that he will destroy the team’s balance with his selfishness. Hinata loses it and grabs Kageyama who throws him over. The two continue fighting until Yachi calls Tanaka in to stop it.
A bandaged Hinata ends up walking home with Yachi. Hinata apologizes to Yachi for earlier and tells her his past with Kageyama. Hinata says that he knew he and Kageyama wouldn’t be friends at first, but they could be partners.
The next day, Hinata approaches Ukai and asks him for tips on how to practice. Instead, Ukai decides to take him to someone else: the original Coach Ikkei Ukai. Hinata asks Ikkei to teach him to fight on his own and jokingly, the coach points out his height. However, Hinata says that he wants to fight on his own because of his height. Ikkei says that he’s right in thinking that way because, in a quick strike, the spiker is the definite moving force. To better explain that notion, Ikkei tells Hinata to try blocking his students’ spikes.
Hinata's intimidated by the former Coach Ukai.
Ikkei sets up a few different tempos[30] that Hinata stops easily until the First Tempo. Ikkei asks him about the differences between the tempos and Hinata replies that timing’s different. The coach adds that the run-up for the quick begins before the setter’s toss, so the setter has to match the toss to the spiker. In other words, the quick strike is an attack led by the spiker. Ikkei’s words seem to affect Ukai who runs off suddenly, leaving Hinata alone with Ikkei.
Hinata, while gripping a volleyball, tells Ikkei that all this time, he has been moving on his own until he got to the top. The older man asks if from now on, Hinata wants to fight even at the top but to do that, Kageyama will have to improve too. Hinata states that Kageyama is already incredible so he’ll probably be fine, but Hinata needs to learn how to fight at the top so he won’t fall behind.
The following Tuesday, Hinata apologizes to Tanaka before practice begins. Ukai arranges for the players to have a practice match between themselves, with Hinata on the opposite team to Kageyama’s. Yachi approaches Hinata and asks him if things between him and Kageyama are ok. Hinata replies with a calm smile that they’re fine.
For the next few weeks, Hinata visits Ikkei several times to practice until the summer training camp resumes. Karasuno goes back to Tokyo[31]. The first practice match is against Fukurōdani and Kageyama and Hinata try their quick-strike again, but Kageyama’s toss is too short and it fails. Hinata seems surprised but doesn’t say anything initially.
The second time almost fails, but Hinata manages to switch hands midair. As he lands, he stares at Kageyama silently, nothing to himself that Kageyama has changed.
That night, Hinata’s walking by when he hears Bokuto ask Tsukishima to train with him. After Tsukishima rejects the Fukurōdani ace, Hinata bombards Tsukishima with questions, but the latter ignores them. Irritated, Hinata complains to Yamaguchi who is shocked that Tsukishima would reject a champion school’s ace like that. Yamaguchi then interrupts Hinata’s rant to ask him what he would say to Tsukishima the way he is now. Hinata replies that he wouldn’t say anything because he doesn’t even know if Tsukishima even wants to play volleyball. Yamaguchi replies sadly that Tsukishima probably likes volleyball because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have come to Karasuno. Hinata, noticing Yamaguchi’s worry for his friend, asks him what he would say[32].
Yamaguchi, inspired by Hinata’s words, then leaves and runs to Tsukishima, surprising Yachi who comes in to ask Hinata about it. Hinata states wistfully that Tsukishima would never do anything uncool so he thinks he’ll be fine because if one compares being good at volleyball to being bad, it’s obvious which one’s cooler.
Sometime later, Yamaguchi comes back into the gym and Hinata asks him what happened to Tsukishima. After Yamaguchi replies that Tsukishima went to train with Kuroo and Bokuto, Hinata gets jealous. Yamaguchi then asks him if he sees Tsukishima as a rival. Hinata replies affirmatively, stating that Tsukishima is also a middle blocker and has all the things Hinata doesn’t, but he definitely won’t lose to him.
As the summer passes by, Kageyama and Hinata’s quick-strike barely improves. In a practice match against Nekoma, Karasuno gets worn out and begins to make mistakes. Irritated by his blunders, Hinata starts to lose his temper and stresses about how everyone, even Tsukishima, is improving tremendously. So far, Hinata’s the only person that hasn’t shown any real progress.
He finally snaps when Kageyama makes a mistake with his toss[33]. While everyone commends Hinata for his quick recovery, Hinata turns on Kageyama and yells at him for doing a bad job, angering the setter. Kageyama threatens the spiker, but Hinata replies that the toss just now wasn’t their usual falling toss. Before Hinata can say anymore, Tanaka drags him away.
After practice, Kageyama tells Hinata that he won’t be practicing with him anymore because he keeps screwing up the toss. Hinata is stunned because Kageyama is being considerate for once and questions him, to which Kageyama replies angrily. Yachi then interrupts and says that she wants to see the new quick-strike, motivating the duo to start practicing right away. Hinata rushes outside and forces Kenma to practice with him, though he only manages to get five tosses out of the setter before he runs away.
Hinata practices on Team Owl with Bokuto and Akaashi.
Afterward, Hinata hurries to one of the gyms where Tsukishima, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kuroo are. Just as he asks if he could join their practice, Lev arrives next to him and asks the same thing. With enough people there now, Kuroo proposes a 3-on-3. To his excitement, Hinata ends up on Team Owls with Bokuto and Akaashi. However, just as the game reaches the second set, Bokuto pauses it for dinner.
A while later, the game is restarted. Bokuto performs a “tipping into the block” which amazes Hinata. After asking the third year about it, Bokuto explains the steps and tells Hinata spiking isn’t just about slamming the ball to the floor. If he keeps his cool, he would be able to see what actions to take. Hinata stares as the ace’s back in deep thought.
Taking into account what Bokuto proposed, Hinata then aims for the tip of Lev’s finger when he and the other two blockers gang up on Hinata. The ball bounces off Lev’s finger and goes out, scoring a point for the Owls. Although, Hinata does confess afterward that his success was just a fluke. Bokuto gets excited and rubs Hinata’s head while complimenting him and offers to teach him a special finishing move (a type of feint), thrilling the first year. The next day, Karasuno goes against Fukurōdani for the last time this summer camp. Before the game starts, Daichi tells his team about the secret BBQ the coaches planned, boosting all of their morales.
Just as the game begins, Bokuto performs a perfect blockout. Hinata watches him and tries to think of a way to retaliate before remembering the special move Bokuto taught him. He successfully pulls off the feint, shocking his teammates and opponents. As the opponents are scrambling to save the ball, Hinata thinks back to Bokuto’s words on how the feeling he gets from a successful feint is the best.
Daichi states that this trip has been one loss after another but at the very least, they should snatch a win from Fukurōdani, the strongest among the training camp’s members, before leaving. Motivated, the players get ready for a comeback.
However, the score continues to be in Fukurōdani’s favor and Karasuno doesn’t show any improvement until Hinata initiates the new quick with Kageyama by starting his run-up early. The ball flies past Akaashi and hits the floor, stunning everyone. Hinata and Kageyama look at each other knowingly before celebrating loudly. Hinata’s so overjoyed, he exclaims that Kageyama is incredible before excitedly calling for another try. Kageyama doesn’t know what to make of that and ends up stuttering out his thanks.
Hinata and Kageyama are congratulated by Yachi for their successful quick strike.
The second time fails though, but the duo isn’t worried at all. Bokuto ends up slowly making more mistakes until he finally snaps. Depressed, he tells Akaashi to not send the ball to him anymore and Karasuno takes advantage of the ace’s dilemma. Karasuno slowly gains back their points in the meantime, each member showing off his new skills. However, at the last minute, Bokuto makes a sudden comeback, and Fukurōdani wins[34]. Asahi apologizes to the team but Ukai replies that it’s good he realized his fault on his own. In his situation, it’s understandable that Asahi would get scared. Even though the team lost today, their attacks got through against a nationals level opponent. Takeda adds that right now, the players can’t beat the other teams in serves or combination moves because they’ve been at it longer than the players have. That doesn’t mean they should stop there though. When colors mix, they become muddy and messy but when they all blend, the final result is the color that wins against all others: black. To finish his speech off, Takeda asks the players to become a team of black like the crows they represent.
After penalties, Kageyama states to Hinata that if their quicks were more successful, they probably could’ve taken a set from Fukurōdani. However, with their quick, they can fight now. Even if the opponents read what they’re going to do and chase after them, they can still fight.
At the BBQ, Hinata exclaims to Bokuto that he won’t lose in a real match and Bokuto agrees to the challenge. As they begin eating, Bokuto brags loudly that he’s one of the top five aces in the country, but Kuroo points out how Ushiwaka is one of the top three. Lev asks who the other two are and Kuroo reveals their names: Kyushu’s “Kiryū” and Kanto’s “Sakusa”. However, this year, Sakusa’s school is the favorite to win the championships. Lev and Hinata simultaneously ask if they beat Sakusa, they’ll be the top in Japan. Kuroo points out how those two are saying this despite being the top two in crappiness.
As Karasuno finally heads home[35], Hinata says to Kageyama that he doesn’t like being weak but the fact that there are a lot of people who are “above” it makes him happy, puzzling the setter.
Spring High Preliminary Arc
Now back in Karasuno High, the members are busy preparing for the upcoming Spring High. Hinata and Kageyama practice into the night with the former Coach Ukai, who advises them to take a break since their quick hasn’t been succeeding. However, as soon as he says that, Kageyama and Hinata finally pull it off, surprising Ukai and everyone else near the court.
August 11, the first day of the Spring High begins. In the hallway[36], passersby are surprised by Hinata’s haggard appearance. He reveals that he feels a lot better now since he threw up on the bus; this memory adds to the other members’ anxiety and causes them to get sick as well. Tanaka congratulates Hinata for managing to hold in his puke until after the bus stopped instead of hurling in anyone’s lap, embarrassing the first year.
Hinata apologizes frantically for bumping into Towada.
Hinata then heads to the bathroom and bumps into someone. The stranger yells at him and Hinata apologizes hastily. He stops when he notices that the guy’s from Ohgiminami High, the school he’s going up against. Before Hinata can say anything though, the guy pats his head and apologizes for shouting at him, assuming that he’s the younger brother of a player. Hinata quickly shouts that he’s a first-year at Karasuno and announces that he’ll win and go to nationals. Seemingly annoyed, the guy coldly states that Hinata shouldn’t talk about winning the nationals so easily. He’s initially unnerved by the confident gaze Hinata gives him but says that in the end, everyone will lose to Shiratorizawa.
Karasuno vs Ohgiminami
Karasuno enters the stadium and warms up. The match begins and before long, Karasuno is leading by five points and is nearing the 20s of the first set. Since the Ohgiminami players don’t put much effort into their play, Karasuno’s able to clinch the first set easily with Hinata and Kageyama’s infamous quick scoring the final point.
Karasuno accepts Ohgiminami's challenge.
As the members are celebrating, they hear one of their opponents announce that he’ll take down Karasuno and beat Shiratorizawa. Confidently, they accept their opponent’s challenge. The second set begins and Karasuno dominates its way to the 20s again. The now motivated Ohgiminami players try to save the ball, but Karasuno wins the match with a quick strike from Hinata and Kageyama (2-0/ 25:16, 25:13).
Done with their match, the Karasuno members celebrate and head off the court. As they’re walking by, they see a match between Nishita and Kakugawa, their next opponent. Hinata appears unnerved by the 2m tall player in Kakugawa and notes that he has to beat him or he won’t be able to advance to the representative battle.
Karasuno vs Kakugawa
As Daichi is encouraging the team for its next match, Hinata turns around to see the 2m player towering over him. When Yamaguchi compares their heights, Hinata gets offended and yells that he’s 163 cm if they round up. Tsukishima comments that Hinata and the player have a 40cm height difference, and Yachi tries to defend Hinata by adding that Kitty-chan is also 40cm so it’s not such a big difference. This leads to a conversation about the types of things that can be placed on Hinata’s head so he can match the player in height. Hinata states that he wants to combine with a Lucifer Dogfish because he’ll then be 2m tall. Kageyama hears this and blatantly asks if Hinata’s scared.
The match between Kakugawa and Karasuno soon begins. Hinata’s shown hiding behind Tanaka as he eyes the two-meter player–Hyakuzawa. Tsukishima serves first, but it’s received easily by Kakugawa. The ball’s then sent to Hyakuzawa, who spikes right over Hinata’s head.
Counterattacking, Hinata and Kageyama try their infamous quick. While spiking, Hinata notices that he’ll be blocked at that angle, so he quickly switches to a feint. However, Hyakuzawa easily moves his arms over and completely blocks the ball[37]. This continues until Kakugawa is leading by three points, and Hinata begins to get frustrated. Even his diagonal jumps aren’t working in throwing Hyakuzawa off. On the other hand, Kageyama seems unaffected, even unusually optimistic. He suddenly asks to use the new quick-strike, to Hinata’s surprise, but this boosts the middle blocker’s morale immediately.
In the next move, Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata at the perfect angle and Hinata spikes it down so quickly that none of the opponents, including Hyakuzawa, can react. The quick strikes continue succeeding until Karasuno is nearing its set point. Hinata and Kageyama then use a minus tempo to score, taking the first set for Karasuno.
Hinata and Kageyama try a minus tempo attack.
The second set begins and Karasuno uses a first tempo synchronized attack right off the bat. The members score easily, and the score gap increases gradually until Karasuno is at its match point. Despite this, Hinata is wary of Hyakuzawa, knowing that if he lets his guard down, the opponent will reach him in no time. To counter Hyakuzawa’s height, Daichi tells Hinata and Tanaka to give up trying to block the opponent completely and instead look for a different technique. When Hyakuzawa spikes again, Daichi, Tanaka, and Hinata use a soft block to decrease the momentum of the ball so it can be received easily. The ball is sent towards Hinata, who suddenly remembers his time in Tokyo, and performs a Blockout off Hyakuzawa’s fingers. The ball then goes out and Karasuno wins the match (2-0/ 25-22, 25-19).
Hinata closes his hand, proud of himself for scoring a point with something other than a quick. The Karasuno members praise him, with Asahi holding Hinata up to the team. With this match, Karasuno has passed through the Miyagi Prefecture’s first Spring High Preliminary and will advance to the Representative Playoffs[38].
Karasuno vs Johzenji
The Karasuno members soon head home. Kiyoko goes back to the gym to check for forgotten items and the team goes ahead. Hinata remarks that with this match, they’re finally going to be in the same arena as Oikawa and Ushijima. Suddenly, he remembers his lunchbox that he forgot in the stadium. As he heads back to get it, he sees two guys harassing Kiyoko for her number. Despite being afraid of their intimidating appearances, Hinata jumps in between them and Kiyoko and tries to get the manager away. However, the guys easily brush Hinata aside and continue with their advances. Hinata gets between them again, jumping high over one of the guys, who notices Hinata’s Karasuno shirt. He recognizes Hinata as a member of the team which had defeated the “2m team”. He then states frivolously that he wanted to have some fun against that team too, surprising Hinata. The first year asks the guy if he made it through the preliminary and the guy reveals that his team was in the top four in the Interhigh Preliminaries. He then starts to leave and pats Hinata’s head, stating that if they face off in the representative playoffs, they should get some fun out of it.
Hinata jumps over Terushima's head to distract him from Kiyoko.
A confused Hinata watches the guys walk away as he thinks of how the stranger had called volleyball fun. Kiyoko then gives him his lunchbox and comments on the cute cat wrapping, embarrassing Hinata who quickly asserts that it’s his sister’s.
A few days later, Karasuno goes to Tokyo again to practice with Fukurōdani and Nekoma. Hinata and Kageyama practice their new quick strike, but the success rate is only around 70%. As the days pass, the duo practices rigorously and improves the quick strike to 90%.
One night, as Hinata and Kenma are cleaning up, Kenma tells the former that he had been thinking lately of having a real match against Karasuno. He wants a match where it’s an instant game over if one loses. Hinata confidently agrees[39].
October 25th comes around soon. Karasuno goes to Sendai City Gymnasium again for the Representative Playoffs. Remembering his loss against Aobajohsai, Hinata states that they are going to have their revenge. He then runs inside and bumps into the guy who was harassing Kiyoko–Yūji Terushima. Hinata finds out that he’s from Johzenji before Terushima pushes him away and waves to Kiyoko. This enrages Tanaka and Nishinoya, who rush at Terushima, but Johzenji’s manager intercepts and apologizes. Terushima ignores the two and walks away after saying that he’ll see Karasuno in the first round.
After Johzenji leaves, Hinata notes that all the teams are in this stadium right now. Motivated, he and Kageyama run down the hallway, exclaiming that they’ll beat everyone. After the team’s settled in, Hinata goes to the bathroom. With a grave expression, he faces the door and remembers all the times he’d bumped into “dangerous types” there. As he’s telling himself to be careful, Oikawa and Iwaizumi approach him. Iwaizumi tries to compliment Hinata for defeating the 2m guy, but the latter’s unnerved and ends up replying incoherently. Oikawa teasingly threatens to bury the middle blocker and Hinata quickly escapes. However, he ends up crashing into Ushijima who instantly recognizes him. Ushijima then greets Oikawa and Iwaizumi and wishes them luck for their last high school tournament, unknowingly insulting them due to his implication that they won’t get into nationals. Hinata tries to interrupt, exclaiming that Karasuno will triumph, but gets cut off by menacing glares from the other three. As he’s backing away fearfully, he bumps into Aone. Ushijima then leaves after stating that Shiratorizawa will accept all challenges. Relieved now that the tension’s gone, Hinata goes inside the bathroom while reaffirming that it is indeed a scary place.
Hinata finds himself in the middle of an argument between Ushijima and Oikawa and Iwaizumi.
Afterward, he goes back to the court and watches the other teams set up. Sugawara points out that the “Queens” are on Court C. He introduces them as Niiyama Joshi, the team which had been representing the girls’ side for years. Unnerved, Hinata remarks that they look strong. Tanaka suddenly calls out to someone on the team but stops when all the girls glare at him. As they walk away, Hinata excitedly asks Tanaka about it and Tanaka replies proudly that he raised Niiyama Joshi’s up-and-coming ace. Sugawara and Daichi quickly respond that Tanaka was just on the same junior sports team as that person.
Soon, it’s time for Karasuno to go against Johzenji for their first round. Karasuno serves first and Johzenji has trouble receiving it. However, Karasuno’s soon surprised when Terushima spikes the ball back while jumping and turning around midair. Johzenji’s wild, random playing style throws Karasuno off. A ball suddenly goes towards the bleachers and Hinata jumps after it, catches it midair, turns, and propels himself off the wall and back onto the court. Nishinoya swipes the ball over the net back to Johzenji’s side, demonstrating that Karasuno can be just as unpredictable.
Hinata and Kageyama bring out their infamous quick for the first time in this match, shocking everyone in the stadium. Johzenji’s unable to stop the next few quicks until Kageyama gets hit in the face with a ball. With a nosebleed, he’s forcibly taken off the court. Hinata reassures him that the team will take care of everything while he’s gone. Hinata is then switched out as well because, without Kageyama, he knows there’s no purpose for him to be on the court. However, Hinata remains optimistic.
The game continues with neither side yielding. Before long, Kageyama comes back. Karasuno wins the first set due to a mistake Johzenji made. The duo is switched back into the game for the second set[40]. Hinata’s greeted by Terushima who teasingly remarks that things are dull without Hinata there and announces that he’s going to win this set. Hinata yells back that he can’t beat him one-on-one yet, but his team as a whole will beat Johzenji.
The duo messes up, but Daichi manages to save the ball.
Kageyama and Hinata try a quick strike, but Hinata’s excitement causes him to miss his spike. However, Daichi hits the ball just as it was about to strike the ground. Terushima spikes it back over but Daichi sends it to Kageyama and Hinata, who scores. The duo apologizes to the captain for their mistake, but Daichi simply replies that he was already prepared for it since he knew they would let their overexcitement get to them.
Karasuno soon has a five-point advantage over Johzenji. However, after a pep talk from its manager, Johzenji devises a new tactic to counter Hinata’s quick-strike by leaving him open and falling back so they can receive it easily. This infuriates Hinata, who notes that even though he hates getting blocked, it’s even more annoying when blockers ignore him. He asks for another quick to intimidate Johzenji and succeeds when he spikes the ball to the very corner of the opposing court.
Karasuno wins when Johzenji’s ball goes out (2-0/ 25-21, 25-20). The players celebrate happily and leave the court. As he’s pushing the volleyball trolley out, Hinata sees Aone looming over him. He states that tomorrow, he’ll beat Hinata. Eagerly, the latter accepts the challenge and starts shouting in excitement.
Karasuno vs Wakutani South
Karasuno goes to Court B to see who its next opponent would be. Wakutani South had just won its match and Kageyama reminds Hinata that Ukai had warned them about this team before the Interhigh. Hinata exclaims that before they can get to Date Tech, they have to beat these guys.
The team soon goes back to Karasuno High to prepare for the next match tomorrow. Ukai explains Wakutani’s prowess and techniques and warns the members to not get impatient, especially Hinata, Kageyama, Tanaka, and Nishinoya. Daichi reassures everyone that he and the defensive specialists of the team would back up the wing spikers. The team then huddles and vows to win tomorrow.
The next day, the teams gather up at the Sendai City Gymnasium again. As he’s warming up on the court, Hinata sees the Nakashima family cheering for Takeru and gets jealous. The game soon begins and Hinata scores the first point right away with a quick[41]. To motivate Hinata, Daichi points out that Wakutani South is studying him carefully after noticing how on guard it is against the middle blocker; this works effectively.
The game flows smoothly until Takeru tries to spike against three blockers–Hinata, Tanaka, and Daichi. Takeru chooses to perform a blockout off Hinata’s hand. This playing style instantly reminds Hinata of the Small Giant’s.
Hinata, Sugawara, Ennoshita, and Yamaguchi watch in shock as Daichi collapse after his crash with Tanaka.
Both sides are neck to neck until Tsukishima blocks a spike and Asahi spikes through the blockers. Karasuno begins leading by two points. However, this is cut short when Daichi collides into Tanaka as they were both trying to receive the same ball. He’s taken off the court to recover and Ennoshita replaces him. Karasuno has a little trouble adapting at first, but gets back on its feet before long and wins the first set.
Without Daichi, Karasuno ends up losing the second set to Wakutani. In the break, Hinata asks Ukai about Takeru’s playing style to confirm if it’s really like the Small Giant’s. Ukai replies that it’s the closest in the prefecture, causing Hinata to get jealous of Takeru. Kageyama tells Hinata to not try to compete since the other team’s mid-air techniques are way better than his, annoying the middle blocker.
When the game resumes, Hinata attempts a blockout but fails. He’s unnerved by the smug look Takeru gives him afterward. However, when Takeru tries a Blockout off Hinata and Tanaka, Hinata runs after the ball, hits it back up into the air, and easily flips over with technique he perfected from doing so many flying falls during the summer[42]. He and Kageyama counter with a quick strike before crashing into each other.
Hinata’s soon up against three blockers, but he isn’t discouraged. As he assesses them, he realizes that he’ll get blocked and with quick thinking, he bounces the ball off their hands so Karasuno could try another attack.
The third set goes by quickly, but the exhausted players on both sides are starting to make more mistakes. Soon, Karasuno’s at match point. Takeru goes to spike against Hinata and Kageyama and Hinata moves his hand in an attempt to stop the ball. However, it bounces off him instead and flies towards the back. Acting quickly, Ennoshita jumps and hits it back towards Kageyama, who performs another quick with Hinata. The ball goes towards Shunki, but he fails to receive it properly and it ends up going out. Karasuno wins the match (2-1/ 25-20, 20-25, 25-23)[43].
Karasuno celebrates its victory.
Despite his victory, Hinata feels insecure about his ability in comparison with Takeru’s. He states to Kageyama that he wasn’t able to win a head-to-head battle against the third year and admits that Takeru was more of a “Small Giant” than he is. Kageyama simply responds that Hinata’s just too young.
Now that the match has ended, both teams exit the court. Hinata goes upstairs with the first years, confident about his next match. Suddenly, Yamaguchi runs to the bathroom, and Hinata comments on how fired up the former is about it. Kageyama wonders if Yamaguchi’s going to shit and Hinata calls him out for using vulgar language.
Karasuno vs Aobajohsai
The team heads to the bleachers to watch Aobajohsai’s current match with Date Tech. Hinata’s impressed by the “over-sized setter” Koganegawa. Aobajohsai soon wins and Karasuno heads down. On the way, Hinata passes by Aone, and both silently vow to beat each other next time.
Hinata and Aone silently vow to beat each other.
The warmups are filled with tension as each member remembers the loss in Interhigh. Hinata casually asks Kageyama if he’s nervous and instead of the usual indignant response, Kageyama admits that he is because Oikawa’s strong. He remembers something Iwaizumi once said during junior high about how with a full team, the strong will get even stronger. He states that he didn’t understand it back then but with Karasuno, he realizes the true meaning. It’s not a matter of adding up the players’ abilities, but rather multiplying them. Oikawa will draw out more of the spikers’ power than Kageyama can, no matter what team the third year is on. Hinata replies that Karasuno’s an exception then, surprising Kageyama.
As the team finally heads onto the court, Hinata remarks that they’re going to get their revenge this time. The match begins and Karasuno shows off its improvements from the summer training camp. While the other players have utilized all their new techniques, Hinata still hasn’t hit the ball yet and he starts to get jittery. His desire to hit a quick stems from when his spike was blocked at the match point in the Interhigh match against Aobajohsai.
Hinata's blocked completely by Kindaichi.
However, when he finally hits a quick, it’s blocked by Kindaichi. The ball’s saved by Tsukishima, but Kageyama worries about Hinata’s ability to play due to his overexcitement. To calm down the middle blocker, Kageyama kicks him hard in the butt, annoying the latter. Hinata tries the new quick again, thinking back to his fight with Kageyama during the summer. It succeeds[44], slamming right past Kindaichi.
Aobajohsai switches in Kyōtani, who steals Kindaichi’s ball right off the bat. Karasuno’s shocked by the new player’s attitude and Hinata wonders who he is while he’s impressed by the wing spiker’s “Mad Dog” nickname. Kyōtani then spikes right across the court, scoring a point easily. Karasuno can’t stop Kyōtani initially because of his brute strength and Oikawa’s tactics. Despite being overwhelmed, Hinata exclaims that Kyōtani’s spikes are cool.
The new quick strike succeeds.
To mitigate the score gap, Kageyama tries a back attack with Hinata, but it gets completely blocked by Oikawa. The third-year reveals that he had been expecting that. With the score gap increasing steadily every second and the players in chaos against Kyōtani’s reckless playing style, Ukai sends in Sugawara to change the match dynamics. Sugawara uses a synchronized attack with Kageyama spiking to gain back a point. However, Aobajohsai still has a huge advantage over Karasuno. With no other choice, Ukai sends in Yamaguchi. Hinata tells Yamaguchi to score ten points and cheers him on with Nishinoya, Sugawara, and Ennoshita.
Yamaguchi pulls off two jump float serves[45] before getting stopped by Hanamaki. His success boosts Karasuno’s morale tenfold and helps the team take back a few points. On the side, Hinata cheers on his teammates.
Aobajohsai soon wins the second set. Yamaguchi comments on how amazing Oikawa’s serve is and Hinata assures him that his jump float is just as great. Despite this, Yamaguchi remains unsure of himself until Tanaka comes over.
The third set begins, but there is noticeable tension on both sides because this will be the last match for the teams with these members. Karasuno plays fiercely to pull itself ahead and Oikawa begins to make mistakes with his serves. However, Aobajohsai easily catches up but due to problems with Kyōtani, Coach Irihata switches him out. Karasuno uses this opportunity to take a few points until Kyōtani comes back.
Both teams are keeping up by now, but Hinata can see Kageyama getting distressed over his and Oikawa’s differences in setting style. To reassure his setter, Hinata blatantly remarks that Oikawa is strong but with Hinata here, Kageyama is invincible. His words impress both his team and Aobajohsai[46].
Hinata accidentally jumps too far.
The duo performs a quick but this time, Hinata accidentally jumps too far. Despite Hinata being too close to the net, Kageyama still sets to him and inadvertently creates a new version of the quick strike. When Hinata slams the ball down, no one can receive it. He and Kageyama celebrate excitedly afterward.
Despite being at a crucial moment of the match, Hinata's concentration doesn't waver.
Despite some members showing clear exhaustion, Hinata remains active and continues running across the court or performing risky moves that send him flying backward. Soon Aobajohsai is at set point and Sugawara is switched in. Hinata’s eyes are glazed over now, his concentration fully on the game. When Kyōtani spikes, the middle blocker crashes into Kageyama to create a two-man block, successfully stopping the second year. Hinata apologizes uneasily for it, afraid of retaliation from the setter.
The tides have turned so that Karasuno is at match point. Both teams are playing vigorously, with each player taking dangerous risks to ensure that the ball doesn’t drop. Kageyama tosses to Hinata, who slams the ball past Kindaichi’s hand. Oikawa fails to receive it properly and Karasuno wins the match (2-1/ 25-23, 26-28, 26-24).
Hinata remembers Karasuno's loss to Aobajohsai in the Interhigh.
Hinata stares down at his fist as he remembers his blocked quick during Interhigh. The team huddles in happiness before exiting the court.
Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa
On his way to the bus, Hinata remembers Ushijima’s words about Aobajohsai being barren land. He tells Kageyama that they will show Ushijima the strength they grew from the concrete.
When they get back to Karasuno High, they celebrate loudly and Daichi announces that their goal is to win nationals. Ukai then gathers the players around him to discuss their next opponent–Shiratorizawa.
Hinata and Kageyama resolve to win against Shiratorizawa.
The next day, the team goes back to the Sendai City Gymnasium for their finals[47]. Someone calls Hinata and he turns to see Izumi and Kōji. Excitedly, he introduces the two to Tanaka until Kōji suddenly notices Kageyama. Hinata explains teasingly that Kageyama’s different now and the latter yells at him for being slow. Hinata runs back to his team after bidding his friends goodbye.
As the members enter the court, they’re overwhelmed by the number of people in the bleachers and Hinata clutches his stomach as he heads to the bathroom again. When he comes back, the team warms up. Hinata and Kageyama use the new near-the-net quick, shocking the spectators. At some point, Hinata sends a ball over to Shiratorizawa by accident and runs over to get it from one of the players. When he takes it, he’s surprised by the player’s resemblance to Benkei.
The match begins and the players line up. Hinata’s so nervous that he forgets to bow to Shiratorizawa. The rest of the team is just as anxious, allowing Shiratorizawa to gain two points over them. Hinata can’t block the opponents completely and Nishinoya has trouble receiving Ushijima’s spikes. A huge eight-point score gap is soon established. However, after a few moves, Nishinoya can adapt to Ushijima’s left-handed spikes and finally receives a ball. An excited Hinata cheers on his teammate.
When Hinata’s switched in, he has trouble blocking Shiratorizawa because of his opponents’ techniques. Up to this point, Ushijima hasn’t received at all and instead, leaves it to his teammates. Hinata thinks back to the challenge he gave to the ace the first time they met and slams the ball down, forcing Ushijima to finally receive. The latter retaliates with a spike, which Hinata tries to block. It slams off his hands and Hinata immediately shakes them around to alleviate the pain.
With overwhelming power, Shiratorizawa soon takes the first set[48]. Hinata’s completely motivated now to beat Ushijima but has trouble against Tendou as well. He blocks Hinata several times, but it angers Kageyama more. The next move, the setter gets revenge by hiding his movements so Tendou can’t guess who he’ll be tossing to. Kageyama then shoots the ball to Hinata, who slams it straight down before anyone in Shiratorizawa can react.
Karasuno has gotten used to Shiratorizawa’s tactics by now and can keep up, even if the players can’t stop Ushijima. The players are switched out multiple times to try attacks that may be able to mitigate the score gap, but none provide very successful results. On his way back to the court, Hinata notices Sugawara encouraging him. The first year holds his thumb up before crashing into Tsukishima. The blond tells him a new strategy and Hinata tries it the next move. He can one-touch Tendou’s spike, allowing Kageyama to pull off a dump shot. Hinata runs to Tsukishima to give him a high five, but the latter evades him.
Hinata soon appears to perform a feint, but it’s only a ruse to distract the blockers from Tanaka. This pulls Karasuno to match point, but Shiratorizawa keeps up. Ushijima spikes the ball off Tsukishima’s hand and Hinata runs after it. He jumps off the borders used to separate the court and manages to keep the ball in the air.
The second set’s going to the thirties and neither side is giving in. Shirabu makes a mistake in his set to Ushijima, allowing Tsukishima to block the ace. This allows Karasuno to finally win the second set[49]. Hinata congratulates Tsukishima and tells him that one point is just as good as a hundred. Tsukishima responds with a condescending thanks, annoying Hinata.
Shiratorizawa takes back the third set and the court changes. As Hinata passes by Ushijima, the latter tells him that he’d thought the first year would be more skilled. However, Hinata’s skills are actually at an infantile level. This shocks and infuriates the middle blocker. When the first year goes back to his team, Kageyama criticizes him for walking slowly and Hinata comments on his similarity with Ushijima. Oblivious to the true meaning of that, Kageyama agrees and states that he’ll eventually be able to hit the same spikes as the ace. Depressed, Hinata falls and mutters that Kageyama misunderstood.
Before the next set starts, Hinata approaches Ukai and asks him for blocking tips. Ukai remarks that since Hinata lacks height, he’ll have to rely on timing. The coach tells Hinata to immediately switch to soft blocking if he messes up his timing.
The fourth set begins, with both sides taking dangerous risks to ensure their victory. The players are starting to get irritated, especially Hinata who yearns to defeat Ushijima after his earlier insult. Hinata thinks angrily that he’s jealous of tall people as he runs to the net. He swings his arms back as if he’s attacking before jumping high up. He blocks Ushijima completely and smiles in a thrill. As he falls back, he crashes into Tanaka. The second time he tries blocking, he ends up crashing into the net.
Now that Karasuno’s keeping pace with Shiratorizawa, Ukai switches Hinata out so he can rest. Once he’s better, Hinata’s switched back in and heads to Kageyama[50]. He tells him that he’ll hit any toss, even if it’s crappy, and Kageyama angrily retaliates that he never sets crappy tosses.
Right away, Hinata and Kageyama attempt a quick. It gets blocked but ends up going out, giving Karasuno the point. The next move, Kageyama’s toss is short but Hinata, thinking back to something Ukai said, switches to his left hand and slams the ball down. Karasuno wins the fourth set. Excitedly, Hinata runs around Kageyama until the setter grabs him. He stutters out a compliment and Hinata shows his happiness at being able to play another set.
Shiratorizawa establishes a three-point score gap in the fifth set. Tsukishima suddenly gets injured and has to be taken off the court. Hinata exclaims to the blond that they’ll win nationals by the time he gets back so he doesn’t have to worry. The match continues, with Karasuno playing more vigorously to pull itself ahead. When Asahi gets blocked, Hinata uses his cheek to save the ball. He claims afterward that he did so because he didn’t have time to use his hands and didn’t want to injure his nose. If his nose had started bleeding, he would be taken off the court. His words impress his teammates and unsettle his opponents, especially Ushijima[51], who glares at Hinata. The first year notices and jumps backward with caution.
When Kageyama’s switched back in, he and Hinata perform their near-the-net quick strike. Hinata’s surprised at the huge risk Kageyama took in that move. Hinata’s concentration starts to improve now that the game’s nearing the end. When Ushijima spikes, the middle blocker’s able to calculate the path of the ball and jump back away from the net to catch it. He sends it flying back over to Shiratorizawa’s side and scores.
Shiratorizawa soon reaches the match point at the same time as Tsukishima returns to the court. The middle blocker sits down on the bench and Hinata tells him that he and Yamaguchi bought him time. Tsukishima thanks Hinata genuinely.
With one of its main blockers back in play, Karasuno’s able to get ahead and reach match point. Hinata is quieter than usual by now and doesn’t make any usual exclaims, his concentration fully on the game. However, his fatigue begins to show when he fails to jump high enough to block Goshiki. Angrily, Hinata punches his legs. Despite this, he continues to push himself. Kageyama sends him the ball and using his remaining strength, Hinata slams it down. Hayato fails to receive it properly and it goes out. Karasuno wins the finals (3-2/ 16-25, 31-29, 20-25, 29-27, 21-19)[52].
The players hug one another and even burst into tears. Hinata feels the strain on his legs and has to be helped by Nishinoya and Kageyama to stand up. Karasuno heads off the court to rest and Hinata’s congratulated by Izumi and Kōji. Ushijima then comes and interrupts them with a vow to defeat Hinata next time. The first year loudly proclaims that he’ll make it to the same stage as Ushijima again.
Aftermath
Karasuno heads back to the restaurant it went to when it lost to Aobajohsai in the Interhigh. The players are exhausted and many, including Hinata, have fallen asleep on the table.
A few days later, in school, Hinata’s thrilled to hear his classmates compliment his team and excitedly talks about the upcoming nationals. He gets annoyed when his classmates reveal that they think he’s only an errand boy on the team.
At the end of the day, he heads to the club room and asks the upperclassmen about the Spring High in Tokyo. Tanaka reveals that Nekoma and Fukurōdani have made it to the top four and will be battling it out shortly. Hinata loudly proclaims that Karasuno will defeat Nekoma.
A few hours after Nekoma's match ends, Kenma texts Hinata, announcing his team's advance to nationals[53]. As soon as Natsu notifies Hinata about this, he runs to his phone and cheers loudly. Excited, he goes out for a run to train for his long-anticipated match against Nekoma.
Tokyo Nationals Arc
Preparation for Nationals
It's mid-November now and Karasuno is preparing for nationals[54]. Hinata walks with his friends before morning practice and one of them comments on how much Hinata has changed volleyball-wise. He reminisces on when they had to practice together in the middle of corridors. They're interrupted by Kiyoko who calls Hinata to take measurements for a pamphlet they're making. Kageyama suddenly appears behind Hinata and challenges him to a vertical reach competition. Hinata turns it into a bet where the loser has to buy three curry buns.
The team goes inside the gym to retake measurements. Hinata announces dramatically that he has grown 1.4 cm, but then freaks out when he finds out his teammates grew more than he did. The members then take the vertical reach test. Surrounding students comment on Hinata's lack of height and watch him, expecting him to fail. He ends up surpassing their expectations and reaching 333 cm. However, Kageyama ends up beating Hinata in all of the challenges, and Hinata angrily challenges him to more.
Just then, Takeda comes in and pauses all activity to make an announcement: Kageyama has been invited to an All-Japan Youth intensive training camp, shocking the entire team. Hinata stares at his teammate wordlessly. Tsukishima, surprisingly, also gets invited to an alternative training camp which is held by Shiratorizawa's coach. Hinata gets overwhelmed and slightly jealous of the fact that he was not invited to any of the training camps. To his dismay, both Kageyama and Tsukishima seem to be moving forward as better volleyball players.
That night, Hinata goes to Sakanoshita Shop and buys a toothbrush. A few days later, to everyone’s surprise, Hinata shows up at the First Year Selective Intensive Training Camp with Tsukishima, who quickly pulls him aside.
As Tsukishima’s admonishing Hinata for his audacious decision, Coach Anabara takes him into the office to speak with Ukai and Takeda. Hinata gets yelled at and he apologizes, but he sticks to his initial reasoning for coming to the camp; Hinata remarks that he wants to get stronger like the players who were invited.
Coach Washijō then comes in and takes the phone from Hinata. He states that he doesn’t mind if Hinata becomes a ball boy. After a quick discussion with Ukai and Takeda, he turns to Hinata and notes that without Kageyama, Hinata has no value as a player. If Hinata doesn’t like being a ball boy, he can just go home.
Hinata thinks over this for only a few seconds before running after Washijō. He faces the other players and apologizes for interruption. Loudly, he then announces that he’ll be a ball boy, surprising everyone.
Hinata has no trouble adapting to his position and does his best with the tasks, though he gets distracted by the games sometimes. Despite his situation and Washijō’s open hostility, Hinata remains optimistic and stays after all the other players are gone to work on his skills. He notices that this is the first time he was a ball boy; other sports teams always allowed him to join in on their practices. Still, he can’t afford to let this bring him down. He has to keep moving forward.
The next day, Hinata goes to Sakanoshita Shop during his lunch break to talk with Ukai[55]. Ukai asks if Hinata was expecting Washijō to just let him join if he’d crashed practice like that. Hinata doesn’t say anything and Ukai proceeds to lecture him before reminding Hinata that this is still an opportunity for him. To Hinata’s surprise, Ukai warns him to make the best of his position and learn as much as he can from it.
Sometime later, Hinata returns to the camp. He has trouble saving the balls but doesn’t get discouraged. Suddenly, the Shiratorizawa upperclassmen enter the gym, and Hinata’s surprised to see Ushijima. Tendō spots him and challenges him to a match, but Hinata’s called away by someone to fill up the water bottles, confusing Tendō and Ushijima. Tendō later asks Hinata why he’s not playing and Hinata reveals that he wasn’t invited. Ushijima overhears and asks Hinata why he’s simply standing there. Hinata doesn’t have a reply for that.
During a break, Hinata goes to the storage room. Angrily, he stuffs his head under the mats and asks himself what he’s doing here. He thinks back to all the advice and insults he’d heard from Tsukishima, Tanaka, Washijō, Goshiki, and Ukai and tells himself to think hard and find the thing that will help him grow stronger.
After realizing what he’s looking for, Hinata returns to the gym with a determined gaze on his face, intimidating Tendō and Ushijima. Hinata thinks to himself that he isn’t anybody in this camp, but he can’t just go with his tasks like a robot. He has to see things from a different perspective. He then goes to hang the bibs he washed on the upper balcony, giving him a good view of the practice. As he watches the players, he notices their smaller movements and forms.
Reminded of an instance where he played tennis with a friend, Hinata tries to remember the fundamental steps his friend taught him. As he thinks of this, his body moves on its own, right into the path of the ball that the libero missed. To everyone’s surprise, Hinata catches the ball perfectly. Motivated, Hinata looks around him, noticing all the movements and different form styles. All this time, he’d only been focused on chasing the ball around. Now, with a vision of the entire court, he can see and learn from all the different details that go into volleyball.
After practice, Hinata goes to help the others clean up and asks one of the Shiratorizawa first years what he thinks of as he’s doing his job as a ball boy. The latter replies that he just thinks of the coach yelling at him and Hinata enthusiastically goes along with that mindset, humoring the other two ball boys.
As he’s cleaning up, Hinata overhears Koganegawa and Kindaichi speaking about practicing more. Hinata asks to join in and turns to Goshiki, asking him if he wants to play as well. Goshiki rejects him initially but after hearing Hinata fuss over his straight spikes, he agrees.
The match begins and Hinata gets into position at the back. He watches the other players, wondering to himself how quickly he can reach the point where the ball hits the floor. He has trouble initially but improves steadily.
After the match, Hinata goes home. He realizes that he’s hungry and wonders what the food at Shiratorizawa is like and if Tsukishima is eating properly. He notes that he should eat the proper food for his muscles and strength, but he’s never thought of what to eat. Making up his mind, Hinata calls Ukai to ask for advice, but both parties realize that Hinata already knows exactly what to do.
The next day, Hinata shows tremendous improvement in his movement. He notices that he’s moving a lot less than he usually does in training sessions, but thinking and analyzing so much is hard as well. During a break, Kindaichi approaches Hinata and asks why he’s so amped up about everything he does. Hinata replies that he wants to defeat Kageyama, and Kindaichi asks him if Kageyama is the only thing he sees. Kindaichi remarks that Kageyama could be having trouble at his training camp, shocking Hinata, who had never thought of that.
Sometime later, Hinata’s cleaning up after practice when Tsukishima approaches him and asks him to accompany him somewhere[56]. Shocked, Hinata does a double-take and Tsukishima coldly explains that he wants to do blocking practice. Since it’s free practice, Hinata should be able to join. Happily, Hinata goes over to the others and announces that Tsukishima will be joining them.
The practice begins and Hinata scores right away, impressing those who’ve never seen him play before and intimidating those he’d played against. Kindaichi suddenly enters himself into the game, reasoning that he wants to shut down Hinata. Koganegawa joins as well, bringing the blockers against Hinata up to three. Hinata then asks Tsukishima if he wanted to do the match because he thought Hinata wanted to practice. However, Tsukishima lies and blatantly shoots him down.
Despite not being directly involved in the practices, Hinata makes friends easily with other members. During a break, Hyakuzawa sits down and admits randomly to Hinata that he should’ve been the one who was invited. Hinata simply denies it and reassures Hyakuzawa that his height is an ability on its own; anyone can work on their serves or attacks, but he can’t change his height. Hyakuzawa then asks why Hinata’s helping him so much and Hinata replies that he wants to defeat his opponents at their best.
Suddenly, Hinata tells Hyakuzawa about something he noticed and asks if Hyakuzawa could test it out. Hyakuzawa is hesitant initially, but Hinata convinces him to try. As Hyakuzawa goes back into practice, Hinata yells at him from the side to calm down, helping the former take better control of his playing. Motivated, Hyakuzawa gives Hinata a high-five.
On the last day of practice, the players play a match against Shiratorizawa’s third years. Hinata notices Ushijima and goes to him, asking for advice. Hinata then goes back to his position in the back as the ball boy, giving tips to the players and practicing his movements.
In the end, as the players are leaving, Hinata’s approached by Kindaichi. Kindaichi stares at him before changing his mind and attempting to walk away. Hinata yells at him and Kindaichi turns back around, asking how Kageyama’s doing. Hinata replies that Kageyama is fine, but is confused as to why Kindaichi’s asking. Hinata realizes Kindaichi’s still affected by what happened in junior high and adds that it’s normal for teammates to hate each other. Kindaichi doesn’t understand initially, so Hinata explains that there’s nothing wrong with being stubborn and sticking to one’s belief, which is why Kageyama is doing fine.
December 10th, Hinata and Kageyama reunite after both training camps are over[57]. Kageyama asks what Hinata’s been doing while he was gone and Hinata replies that he was a ball boy, but Kageyama understands right away that Hinata had been more than that.
Since neither of them has the keys to the club room, they practice tossing outside. As they move around, they discuss the players they encountered at the training camps. Kageyama tells Hinata about Hoshiumi, remarking that Hinata’s going to jump higher now, but Hinata doesn’t understand his meaning.
The other members soon arrive and practice begins. Kageyama goes to serve and it goes out, but Hinata moves quickly right into its trajectory, surprising everyone. After practice, Hinata goes to Kageyama and asks what he meant when he said Hinata was going to jump higher. Kageyama points out that Hinata’s jumps don’t have enough impact; he needs to find another position to start his jump.
The two practice several times and Hinata thinks to himself that he has to focus on the balls of his feet for the momentum. As he finally gets the right move, Daichi interrupts and yells at the two to go home.
Sometime later, Karasuno and Date Tech hold a practice match with each other. Hinata arrives and greets Koganegawa excitedly before bowing to Aone. The match begins and right away, Karasuno realizes Date Tech has improved drastically. To make things worse, Kageyama seems to be troubled by something and finally snaps at Nishinoya and Asahi.
After Karasuno loses the first set, Kageyama yells that he will always bring good tosses so his teammates have to be more decisive. Immediately after, he realizes how much like his junior high self he acted and apologizes, but Hinata cuts him off. Hinata asks why the nickname “King” is a bad thing and no matter what reason, he doesn’t care. If he doesn’t like Kageyama’s words, he’ll just tune him out. The other members agree and Hinata adds that it doesn’t matter what kind of reputation is associated with Kageyama.
After Kageyama gets back into the game, Hinata tells him that no matter how much Kageyama pretends to be a goody-two-shoes, he’ll still be a King to Hinata. With this said, Hinata takes his towel and folds it into a crown before setting it on Kageyama’s head. He announces that with this, the new King of the Court is born. Kageyama smiles, having finally gotten over what had happened during junior high[58]. In the end, Karasuno and Date Tech tie with four sets each.
Nationals
Nationals finally come and Karasuno heads to Tokyo[59]. After practicing during the day, the members go back to the hotel. Hinata and Kageyama try to go for a run, but Ennoshita stops them and forces Tsukishima to go accompany the two.
The day of Nationals arrives and Hinata lines up among the other players. Hinata’s greeted by Bokuto, who excitedly exclaims that he won’t show any mercy if they play against each other. As the tournament begins, Karasuno heads towards its court. However, after it arrives, Hinata realizes that he took the wrong bag when they stopped at the bathrooms.
Hinata is often described as clumsy, yet incredibly athletic. When he first entered Karasuno, he didn't know much about volleyball and focused only on spiking. However, with the help of his new teammates, he soon learned the fundamentals and basic techniques. Despite his inexperience, Hinata constantly tries to figure out what he can do to help out during a match. He is not afraid of experimenting with new things and can easily improvise when things don't go according to plan. He is an incredibly fast learner who can improve his skills merely by watching others to copy their movements (although most of the time he fails on the first try). Hinata is also one of the few players with the ability to see the entire width of the court when he reaches the apex of his jump. He has said that when he's jumping to spike, he can see the movements his opponents make and even the individual expressions on their faces.
Since the Tokyo Expedition Arc, Hinata’s overall skills have improved greatly. His coordination and mobility have increased with his mastery of flying receives, allowing him to make some near-impossible saves. Also, Hinata can now fight in mid-air battle using block-outs and feints.
Hinata isn't known as a powerful player, but rather as one who utilizes speed and stamina to his advantage. Above all else, Hinata’s main assets are his fortitude and determination to win.
Height and reach, as of mid-November:
Fingertip Height: 210 cm
Jumping Reach : 333 cm (spike) / 310 cm (no run-up block)
Skills
Stamina and Speed: Hinata is known as the fastest player on his team and has incredible reflexes and mobility. He also has seemingly unlimited stamina, which he builds up by riding his bike thirty minutes through the mountains to commute to school. Hinata can easily go from the left to the right side of the court before his opponents can even react. However, his speed can be a problem if he goes overboard since too much momentum can cause him to crash into the net or another player.
Jumping: Hinata has incredible jumping power to compensate for his lack of physical height. He has a vertical jump of 1.23m, or almost 50 inches (48.4). Combined with his mobility, he is capable of jumping diagonally to dodge blockers. He can also add a run-up to increase his blocking height. Because of his impressive jumps, his movements are often described as flying according to bystanders. With advice from Kageyama after the Training Camp Arc[57], and seeing the new "Little Giant" - Kōrai Hoshiumi; Hinata has now learned a new jumping technique. By focusing the momentum of his run-up into the balls of his feet, he makes a much high jump with increased mid-air stability. It is notably called the "BAM" jump due to it making an audible sound when he takes off from the ground.[60]
Decoy: Hinata is dubbed as the "Ultimate Decoy" for his ability to attract opponents' attention to himself, thus allowing the other spikers to score much easier. Kuroo has stated that the reason Hinata is seen as a great threat is due to his unpredictability. Most recently, Hinata has added the blend-and-distract tactics to his repertoire. He can now adjust his tempo either to match the rest for an all-in synchronized attack or charge forward for a minus-tempo quick. [61]
Minus-Tempo Quick Strike:This is Hinata and Kageyama's signature attack. It involves Kageyama sending a toss to the exact location of Hinata's spike point. Initially, Hinata spikes with his eyes closed due to his lack of skills. Since then, the quick has undergone plenty of changes and give rise to new attacks. Kageyama now uses a toss that stops near Hinata's spike point. Hinata, now spiking with his eyes open, gains control over mid-air battle, allowing him to avoid blockers either through feints or block outs. The duo also developed a vertical spike off of the quick strike, in which Kageyama provides a toss close to the net, and Hinata spiking it straight down.[62]
Block Out: In a mini-match against Lev, Tsukishima, and Kuroo, Hinata accidentally learned how to "block out" by himself when he spiked the ball off the tip of Lev’s fingers.[63] Since then, he has attempted to use this technique to spike through two or three blockers. However, he occasionally still has trouble accurately targeting the blockers' hands.
Feint:Fukurōdani Academy's ace Bokuto also taught Hinata how to feint—a useful tactic for surprising blockers. He manages to utilize this against both Johzenji High and Aobajohsai High, something both teams didn't expect him to be able to do.
Hinata's first feint
Back Attack: Hinata and Kageyama rarely use this attack except in crucial situations when they need the point. Although Hinata's first back attack failed during the match against Aobajohsai High, he can perfectly execute the attack during the match against Shiratorizawa. Sugawara eventually dubbed this attack as "Back Minus". [64]
Receive: Hinata is initially weak at receives, but he has shown drastic improvements to the point of being complimented by other teams.[65] He has mastered flying receives during the Tokyo Expedition, giving him the coordination to make a save and quickly runs back for a counter. During the Miyagi First-Year Intensive Training Camp, Hinata masters the split step and learns to predict the spiking course. He can now react and positions himself to perfectly receive a powerful spike. Also, Hinata can use a close receive, a variation of a soft block located 2-4 feet behind the net. [66]
Open Spike: With an improved jump, Hinata is more capable of hitting an open spike from a high toss. He almost misses the spike point on his first attempt[67], but his more recent attempts have proven to be quite formidable when he pulled off a block out against a three-man block.[68]
Setting: In the manga, Hinata was shown to be able to perfectly set to a spiker during his practices with his teammate in Brazil.
Jump Serve: Hinata is shown performing a jump serve in the Black Jackals and Schweiden Adlers match, but the ball lands outside of the court.
Relationships
Karasuno High
Tobio Kageyama: Hinata and Kageyama have a frenemy-like relationship. Though they are on the same team and have different positions, they compete with each other often, even over trivial things such as who gets to the gym first; they also keep a tally of their wins (Kageyama-32 wins, Hinata-30 wins). They argue with each other often and sometimes have full-blown fights, but they see each other as teammates. Whenever someone brings up Kageyama’s past, Hinata would stand up for Kageyama; whenever Hinata feels down about his height and role as a decoy, Kageyama would encourage him and remind Hinata of his importance to the team. Out of everyone in the club, Kageyama and Hinata seem to understand each other the most and are often called the “freak duo”. They are usually, if not always, with each other when it comes to volleyball-related activities but outside of those, they don’t interact much; Hinata eats lunch with his friends. They first met when their junior high schools competed against each other in the first round of a volleyball tournament, but their relationship started badly. Kageyama viewed Hinata as an overly idealistic and weak player while Hinata saw him as an arrogant jerk. However, after seeing Hinata’s incredible stamina, jumping power, and sheer determination during the match, Kageyama seemed to respect him a bit more. In the end, Kitagawa Daiichi won, but Hinata vowed to one day defeat Kageyama. When they saw each other again in Karasuno’s gym, they started fighting immediately and ended up getting kicked out of the club until they viewed each other as teammates. After several failed attempts to get back into the club, Kageyama and Hinata grew desperate and asked for a match to prove that they could work together. They were given a week to practice but Kageyama refused to work with Hinata; this changed when one day, Kageyama pushed Hinata to his limits and spiked an impossible ball, but the latter wouldn’t give up and chased after the ball. This inspired Kageyama to finally accept Hinata and toss to him. During the match, they didn’t do well at first but when Tsukishima insulted Kageyama and brought up his past, Hinata stood up for the setter, exclaiming that Kageyama had him now. Kageyama then decided to try adapting his toss to fit Hinata’s skills, and their now-famous quick-set was created. Hinata, who despised Kageyama before, trusted him completely and closed his eyes when he spiked; Kageyama had become his strongest ally and vice versa. However, during the Tokyo Expedition Arc, their relationship became strained due to their conflicting ideas. Hinata didn’t want Kageyama doing everything for him anymore so he announced that he would start opening his eyes when he spiked. However, Kageyama was completely against it. After many complaints, he reluctantly decided to give Hinata's idea a try, but Hinata couldn’t hit any of Kageyama’s tosses with his eyes opened. Despite his failures, Hinata refused to back down and they started fighting, causing Yachi to be frightened by their hostility and calling Tanaka to come over. Afterward, they wouldn’t talk to each other for the majority of the summer until they finally decided on a toss that they both liked. Since then, they have reconciled and even strengthened their relationship.
Kei Tsukishima: Tsukishima and Hinata respect each other as teammates but the former often picks on Hinata due to his lack of height, while Hinata felt Tsukishima is wasting his talent as the tallest player in the team because he never put in extra work. Throughout the 3-on-3 practice match, Tsukishima taunted Hinata but was annoyed by Hinata's determination to win. After Hinata's team won, Hinata tried to form a friendship with Tsukishima by forcefully shaking hands with him. Before the summer training camp, Hinata begged Tsukishima to tutor him and Kageyama but Tsukishima got annoyed because the two were too stupid. However, Tsukishima sees Hinata as the "sun" while he is just the "moon", showing that he thinks Hinata is superior to him when it comes to volleyball.
Tadashi Yamaguchi: Yamaguchi teases Hinata with Tsukishima, though not as much as Tsukishima does. Yamaguchi tends to be in the background, laughing at Tsukishima's jabs. However, as the story progresses, Yamaguchi started to respect Hinata and vice versa. When Yamaguchi failed his jump float serve during the Aobajousai match, Hinata comforted him. During the Tokyo Expedition Arc, Yamaguchi asked advice from Hinata regarding Tsukishima. Yamaguchi is always there to try to keep Hinata from getting in too much trouble.
Hitoka Yachi: Hinata was the first member of the Karasuno team, besides Kiyoko, to befriend Yachi. When she was first introduced, Hinata greeted her loudly, intimidating her. However, she soon got used to his extroverted personality and even started to enjoy being a temporary manager on the team. The only obstacle holding her back from officially becoming a member was her mother, but Hinata helped her overcome it by telling her about his experience as "Villager B" and encouraging her to confront the older woman. Inspired, Yachi did so and finally decided to become the official manager; this is also the first time she has ever been truly committed to something. Thanks to Hinata, she realizes that no matter how unimportant she feels, she isn't because "Townsperson B can fight too". During the finals, Yachi helped Hinata and Kageyama study for the exams by giving them her notes and inviting them over to her apartment during the weekends. When Hinata and Kageyama were fighting during the summer camp, Yachi started crying and became extremely worried about the usually inseparable pair.
Yū Nishinoya: When Hinata and Nishinoya first met, Hinata felt relieved that there is a person that's shorter than him, which annoyed Nishinoya. However, Nishinoya soon warmed up to Hinata due to the first year's good schmoozing skills. Hinata is one of the few people that understand what a true libero is–someone who is good at receives, not because of their short stature. Because of that, Nishinoya likes Hinata and agreed to teach him how to do receives. Hinata is the only person that gets excited about Nishinoya's "Rolling Thunder" and the "again version" and has asked Nishinoya many times to teach him. Nishinoya is one of the few people that call Hinata by his first name. In the anime English dub, he does refer to Hinata by last name.
Ryūnosuke Tanaka: Tanaka often teases Hinata but he always encourages Hinata whenever he gets intimidated by the opponents and gives him advice. Tanaka is the one that usually breaks up the fights between Hinata and Kageyama. During the 3-on-3 match, Tanaka secretly helped Hinata and Kageyama train. Tanaka also defended Hinata when Taketora picked on him during the Nekoma practice match.
Chikara Ennoshita: During Karasuno's match with Wakutani South High, Hinata felt panicky and didn't know what to do because Daichi was out. Ennoshita shouted at him to not panic and reminded him of what makes a good jumper.
Daichi Sawamura: Hinata greatly respects Daichi since he's the captain and a third-year but sometimes, he's scared of him, especially when Daichi's angry. Daichi believes in Hinata's volleyball abilities and often encourages Hinata. He also takes care of and tries to calm Hinata down whenever Hinata gets intimidated by the opponents.
Kōshi Sugawara: Hinata also greatly respects Sugawara since he's a third year. In the beginning, during the 3-on-3 match between the first years, Sugawara tossed to Hinata when Kageyama refused to. Sugawara also secretly helped Hinata and Kageyama train. Sugawara often encourages Hinata from the sidelines during matches. He always gives Hinata advice, such as how to block the opponents' spike, providing a list of hand signals for Hinata to learn and praising his efforts.
Asahi Azumane: Hinata looks up to Asahi because he's the ace of the club. Hinata is one of the people that convinced Asahi to rejoin the volleyball club. Asahi is surprised to see that Hinata can jump incredibly high and even stated that it's truly amazing to see Hinata up close. Initially, Hinata was jealous of Asahi due to his status as the ace and his incredible height and power. After the practice match against the Neighborhood Association Team, Asahi approached Hinata and encouraged him to accept his position as the decoy. Asahi often remembers what Hinata said about the "view" when there are no blockers and uses it as motivation. During the summer training camp, Hinata almost crashed into Asahi, intimidating the latter because it seemed like Hinata wanted to take the ace position. Because of Hinata's thirst to improve, Asahi was inspired to train harder.
Kiyoko Shimizu: Like everyone else, Hinata thinks that she's gorgeous and often gets flustered whenever she speaks to him. When Kiyoko was looking for a new manager, Hinata eagerly agreed to help her search.
Other Schools
Kenma Kozume: Hinata first met Kenma after getting lost in a neighborhood during a jog. Kenma was in the same situation so he was just sitting there, playing video games, and waiting for a teammate to come to get him. Curious, Hinata approached him and started talking to him about volleyball after noticing his volleyball shoes. Hinata was surprised when Kenma revealed that he didn't think him being a middle blocker was weird at all, especially with his height. However, Kenma soon left but said to Hinata that he would be seeing him soon. That confused Hinata at first until the match against Nekoma, where he found out that Kenma was Nekoma's setter. Their schools competed against each other, but Hinata's lost completely. After the practice match, he vowed to Kenma that he would beat him one day and make him say that volleyball's fun. Hinata calls Kenma by his first name and vice versa. Hinata also keeps in touch with Kenma and often texts him. During the summer training camp, Hinata asked Kenma to toss for him, but the latter ran away after five tosses; Kuroo noted that it's amazing Hinata was able to get Kenma to practice in the first place. Kenma has a lot of respect for Hinata and believes in his strength as a volleyball player. Kuroo has even pointed out that Kenma always gets excited whenever he watches one of Hinata's matches. However, Kenma has revealed that he wouldn't want to be on the same team as Hinata because of the latter's constant improvement; Kenma, someone who doesn't appear to take volleyball seriously, would not be able to keep up with the middle blocker.
Sō Inuoka: Inuoka is one of the few people that didn't underestimate Hinata for being a middle blocker. Coach Nekomata said that they are true rivals because of the way they helped each other improve; during the match, Hinata's speed pushed Inuoka to get faster. After the practice match, Inuoka and Hinata complimented each other using their language of gibberish and excitedly jumping up and down. Later, Hinata remarked that his spikes were blocked because "Inuoka is too awesome!". Inuoka is also one of the few people that call Hinata by his first name.
Lev Haiba: Their relationship is both competitive and playful, as the two have similar personalities. They first met during the summer training camp. Hinata was curious when he saw that Lev replaced Inuoka on the court and noticed his whip-like spike. He asked Kenma about him and was awed when he found out Lev's height and ethnicity. However, they didn't officially interact until one evening after practice, by the bathroom. Lev challenged Hinata to jump higher than him right away and the latter accepted, although he ended up hitting his head on the door frame. This surprised Lev, who began to see Hinata as a rival and vowed that he would stop Hinata's quick attack during the practice match between Karasuno and Nekoma. He did so easily the following day, an act that became the final catalyst in Hinata wanting to change the quick attack. The two also practiced with each other during the summer camp with Bokuto, Kuroo, Tsukishima, and Akaashi. During a practice match, Lev, Kuroo, and Tsukishima ganged up on Hinata, only for the latter to turn it around and pull off a blockout by aiming for Lev's fingers.
Takanobu Aone: Since the Date Tech vs Karasuno match in the Interhigh, Aone has formed an unlikely friendship and rivalry with Hinata. During the Spring High, Aone defended Hinata after his teammates criticized the latter, surprising his teammates because Aone never speaks. Aone also promised Hinata that he would face him after Date Tech High beat Aobajōsai High. However, that never happened because the former lost and would have to wait until next year's Interhigh to face off again.
Tōru Oikawa and Hajime Iwaizumi: During the practice match against Aobajōsai High, Hinata started calling Oikawa "Great King" because he's Kageyama's former upperclassman; Karasuno eventually adopted that nickname for Oikawa. After the practice match, Oikawa praised Hinata for his one-touch and broad attack. Oikawa also expressed that he can't help but feel uneasy whenever Hinata is in matches. During the Spring High, Hinata bumped into Oikawa and Iwaizumi in the bathroom, and the two teased him. Hinata respects Iwaizumi for Aobajōsai High's ace. When Ushijima said that Oikawa was wasting time in Aobajōsai High because of its weak volleyball team that couldn't bring out Oikawa's true potential, Hinata disagreed and thought that there are strong players in Aobajōsai besides Oikawa; one of them is Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi also once praised Hinata for being able to beat the 2m player, Yūdai Hyakuzawa from Kakugawa High. Iwaizumi occasionally defends Hinata whenever Oikawa teases him.
Kōtarō Bokuto: Bokuto and Hinata have similar personalities. Hinata greatly admires Bokuto because he's the ace of Tokyo's champion school and Bokuto respects Hinata's determination and playing style. Hinata also flatters Bokuto often, causing the latter to happily teach him all sorts of techniques. During the summer training camp, Hinata joined Bokuto's team in the 3-on-3 practice match against Kuroo, Tsukishima, and Lev. Bokuto gave Hinata advice on playing against tall players and avoiding getting blocked, inspiring the latter. When Kuroo, Lev, and Tsukishima ganged up on Hinata, Bokuto called them out but was greatly impressed after Hinata managed to score against the three blockers. He then decided to teach Hinata a new technique, the feint shot attack, which Hinata ended up using against Bokuto in Karasuno's match against Fukurōdani. After the match, Hinata announced to the third year that Karasuno was not going to lose in a real match, and Bokuto gladly accepted the challenge. Bokuto has called Hinata his number one disciple several times and Hinata has in turn called Bokuto his mentor.
Yukitaka Izumi and Kōji Sekimukai: When Hinata was still in Yukigaoka Junior High, he always asked Izumi and Kōji to help him practice by tossing the ball for him. During the match against Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High, Izumi and Kōji joined Hinata's team even though they were in different sports clubs. They played shakily, especially Izumi, who wasn't comfortable with setting and lost in the end. Afterward, Hinata thanked them, causing them to cry. In the final match of Spring High between Karasuno High and Shiratorizawa High, Izumi and Kōji came to cheer for Hinata. It was also hinted that Hinata's good footwork in playing was because of them.
Kōrai Hoshiumi: Hinata first meets Hoshiumi at the Spring Tournament. Almost right away, the two formed a rivalry. Hinata admires and respects Hoshiumi's skills as a volleyball player, at times learning several things from him as well. Despite being rivals, Hinata appears to be on somewhat friendly terms with Hoshiumi as they are shown to greet each other almost enthusiastically when they first meet again in the V-League.
Others
Ikkei Ukai: Hinata went to Ukai for help with his training. During the summer, Ukai taught Hinata how to use tempos in his attacks and helped develop Hinata and Kageyama's quick-strike by providing them with advice and a place to train. Hinata's height and desire to win with it remind Ukai of the Small Giant, who asked Ukai for help in the past with the same problems.
Quotes
“
Before my eyes, it blocks my path. A high, high wall; what sort of scene is on the other side? What will I be able to see there? "The View from the Top;" A scenery that I will never see on my own; but, if I'm not alone, then.....I might be able to see it.
You can't assume we'll lose, as long as we don't give up-...The six of us...The six of us can finally play volleyball on the court. The first game, second game...We'll win and keep winning. We're going to give it our all!
I thought it would be cool to be like that, but even if i get to the point where i could do more stuff later, if someone was going to give me a nickname, then the strongest decoy is a good one.
Hinata says at the start of the first three seasons: "目の前に立ちはだかる高い高い壁その向こうは、どんな眺めだろうか どんな風に見えるのだろうか頂の景色。決して自分だけじゃ見えない景色でもみんなが入れ決して見える景色かも。” ”Before my eyes, it blocks my path. A high, high wall; what sort of scene is on the other side? What will I be able to see there? "The View from the Top;" A scenery that I will never see on my own; but, if I'm not alone, then.....I might be able to see it.”
The famous opening was mysteriously absent from the fourth season.
Current Concern: He can't catch a ball one-handed.
Like Kageyama, since he was born on the cusp his star-sign isn't clear; if he was born before noon he is a Gemini, if he was born after, he is a Cancer.
Before the final exam in the Tokyo Expedition Arc, Hinata has stated that he has never had a double-digit score on any of his quizzes at school.
Hinata's worst subject is English. His voice actor Murase Ayumu, however, was born in America (Los Angeles) and can speak English fluently.
When Hinata feels scared or threatened, he instinctively hides behind the nearest person.
Hinata is the oldest first year on the team.
Contrastingly, Kageyama is the youngest first year.
His birthday overlaps with the summer solstice (June 21st, the longest day and shortest night of the year) which contrasts Kageyama's birthday which occurs in the winter solstice (December 22nd, the longest night and shortest day of the year).
In the first popularity poll, Hinata was ranked 2nd, after Kageyama with 6,058 votes. In the second popularity poll, he was ranked 1st with 12,720.
In a poll conducted by Charapedia, a Japanese anime and manga character database that asked people which anime characters they would choose as the basis for their children's name, Hinata came in 8th with 104 votes among female respondents.[69]
In Haikyū!!: One-Shot, Hinata's jersey number was 7, instead of 10.
In Haikyū!!: One-Shot, Hinata was not a first-year regular. Hinata and Kageyama had formed their "Oddball Combo" during a match against another school and not in a 3-on-3 against Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Daichi.
English media such as Crunchyroll (anime) and VIZ Media (manga) have his name written as 'Hinata Shoyo'.
Hinata's name has the character for "sun" and Tsukishima's name has the character for "moon". This is a reference to the fact that they are rivals despite being on the same team as well as the idea that Hinata is bright like the sun in both personality and publicity in contrast to Tsukishima's being aloof and low-profile.
Part of Hinata's first name and part of Kageyama's first name when combined will form the word "Hishō" (飛翔), which means "to soar" or "flight".
Additionally, the first character of Kageyama's first name 'Tobio' (飛), can also be read as 'hi', like Hinata.
In regards to Hinata's character, Furudate states that they are proud of the way Hinata turned out and claimed he was designed to have no similarities whatsoever with his creator.
All of Hinata's attacks fail on his first try.
His first spike, back attack, feint, wipe, etc. can be seen to do so.
Hinata's most hated blocking type is Matsukawa Issei's.
He failed in the English exam because he wrote the answers in the wrong place on the answer sheet. It is hinted that if he had placed them in the correct lines he may have received a perfect score; as Yachi has stated that all of his answers were correct.
Nekomata calls him a demon's kanabo (iron club).
Hinata can speak Portuguese and is also learning Spanish and English by watching Dragon Ball dub.
