"He hit it again?"
"It doesn't look like the first time was luck. This guy can really catch Hidezawa-senpai's pitching!"
"This is incredible…"
"How could hitting a home run be luck?"
A lucky swing might result in a single, that happens even in professional baseball. If you swing blindly, sometimes even a random connection produces a hit. A blind cat will occasionally stumble upon a dead mouse. As long as your luck isn't abysmal, you can get on base with a poor swing.
But a home run? A ball that must be sent flying over a hundred meters, completely clearing the field?
No one could attribute that to luck.
The second and third-year players of Seidō High School Baseball Team fully understood that Zhang Han's earlier home run wasn't a fluke. But because the one he hit off of was Hidezawa, the pride of their team, they still found it difficult to accept emotionally. Even though they had witnessed it with their own eyes, their minds refused to believe it.
Their Ace's signature pitch — crushed by a newcomer.
Now, watching Zhang Han make clean contact again — even if the ball didn't fly fair this time — the sound, the rebound, and the sheer force behind the hit made everyone shiver.
The ball's trajectory was high, the rebound powerful.If the timing had been perfectly centered…Nobody doubted it could have become another home run. Even if one was luck, two…?
Luck becomes skill when it repeats.
"He's a tough one, alright…"
On the mound, Hidezawa felt his blood boiling hotter with each breath. Zhang Han's swing was not just a hit — it was a direct, unspoken challenge. As the Ace of Seidō, how could he not answer it? If he backed down, how could he face anyone afterwards?
"Should I use a changeup?" Miyauchi signaled.
But Hidezawa shook his head immediately.
He could throw a changeup, but it wasn't his pride pitch. It was mediocre, serviceable for bluffing, not something to rely on in a decisive moment. If he gambled on his changeup here, he might lose without even knowing how it happened.
No tricks. No shortcuts.
A head-on showdown with his strongest fastball. And honestly, the situation favored him greatly.
One strike.
One foul. Two pitches, and Zhang Han was already behind in the count.
With two strikes, all Hidezawa had to do was pitch close enough to the zone, and Zhang Han would be forced to swing.
"The situation is perfect — don't waste it!"
A loud voice came from the spectator section.
Azuma Kiyokuni, the First-string Vice-Captain, had come with several First-string regulars to watch the game. They all assumed the freshmen would be crushed by the senior players.
Instead, the senior players were the ones struggling. The others kept quiet, but Azuma hot-tempered as always couldn't stand it.
"Don't screw this up! You've got him cornered!"
"You fatso, shut up!" Hidezawa snapped back.
The words were genuinely meant as encouragement, but his delivery made it sound like an insult only an idiot like Azuma would accept.
Still, Hidezawa appreciated the sentiment. He was already fired up, but with Azuma shouting behind him, he felt like someone had poured lighter fluid onto an open flame.
His eyes gleamed sharply, and the aggressive aura around him surged. Zhang Han felt that killing intent clearly.
"Phew…"
He exhaled slowly, adjusting his focus.
Considering how his previous hit had come off the bat slightly off-center, the rebound too high he knew hitting Hidezawa's pitches out of the field wouldn't be that easy. Judging the ball's direction was only half the battle. The real challenge was aligning perfectly with the ball's center.
Meanwhile, he also had to read the pitcher's intent.
This was far different from the freshman tryouts.Back then, the pitchers were inexperienced, and Zhang Han could handle everything calmly.
But now? This was Hidezawa the Ace of Seidō, one of Tokyo's renowned pitchers. Even if his pitches lacked perfect stability, his quality and raw power were on a different level. Dealing with him was a hundred times harder.
Fortunately, in the freshman tryouts, Zhang Han had not shown his full strength.And in the short time since joining the team, his growth had been dramatic.
That was the only reason he wasn't being dominated completely right now.
"Whoosh!"
"Clang!"
"Foul ball!!"
Just like before, the moment the pitch came flying, Zhang Han swung decisively. The bat connected again, sending the ball screaming out of bounds.
"He did it again!"
"This guy's strength is a bit terrifying…"
Continuously hitting Hidezawa's pitches even if only fouls was no simple feat. Among the upperclassmen, only a handful of First-string players could do it consistently.
But this newcomer, who they had dismissed earlier, was doing it again and again with calm precision and overwhelming strength. It was simply unreal.
Even Zhang Han himself felt a strange sense of disbelief.
Watching other freshmen get eaten alive by Hidezawa's pitches, he could tell the Ace's velocity and power were tremendous. Even Miyuki struggled to handle them cleanly.
But for him… it felt different.
The pitch felt heavy, and his palm stung slightly, but that was all. As long as he hit the center, Zhang Han felt he could send the ball flying.
Even without a formal test, he could feel it clearly in terms of raw strength, he had an overwhelming advantage.
This fifteen-year-old boy finally realized something shocking - he was, in fact, a miniature powerhouse. For a baseball player, that was undoubtedly a blessing.
But Zhang Han couldn't bring himself to feel happy. Because the mental image of himself as a bulky "strongman" from certain sports comics kept flashing in his mind.
The idea of appearing before others with that kind of visual…
Zhang Han wanted to crawl into a hole.
"Whoosh!"
Another pitch came roaring in. Still irritated by his ridiculous mental image, Zhang Han tightened his grip, raised his bat, aimed slightly above the fastball's path, and swung with full force.
"Clang!"
This time, the hit was crisp, clean, and square. The baseball was launched sharply forward.
Again? For the spectators, both freshmen and upperclassmen, this scene was unbelievable.
The swing, the sound, the ball's trajectory—Everything looked almost exactly like the home run Zhang Han hit earlier.
Not again… right?
If Zhang Han hit two consecutive home runs off their Ace. Seidō High School Baseball Club would erupt.
And not in a peaceful way.
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