"It's out!"
Seido's side of the stands exploded. A wave of cheers rolled through the stadium as fans jumped and shouted. For a moment, it felt like Seido had already secured the win.
"So cool, Azuma!"
"As expected of Tokyo's strongest hitter!"
"Home run!"
"Musashi High daring to challenge us… what a joke."
Seido's supporters had their pride. In their eyes, Seido had only two real rivals in West Tokyo: the rising Inashiro Industrial and Ichidai Third. Everyone else was a side character at best.
Seido's results had looked mediocre these past few years, yet there was a dangerous truth hidden in the records. Other than Inashiro and Ichidai, only one school had managed to beat Seido.
Ordinary teams simply did not have the right to provoke a powerhouse.
Musashi High was no exception. Among all opponents Seido faced, Musashi was neither the strongest nor the luckiest. They were just an average team. They might cause a minor stumble, but the ending would never change.
And the next moments proved it.
"Buzz!"
The sound was like thunder rumbling in their ears. Before the Musashi catcher even understood what happened, Kuriyama Minami's pitch was smashed cleanly.
The ball tore across the sky, nearly one hundred meters, before dropping into the left field stands.
"Again!"
"Yuuki, amazing!"
"That's Yuuki Tetsuya, Seido's fifth batter!"
Azuma was the unquestioned leader of Seido's fearsome lineup. But the next most dangerous hitter was Yuuki. Even though it was still the era of the third-years, Yuuki and his peers had already begun to make their names known.
Seido's Yuuki. Ichidai's Omae. Inashiro's Harada. These names were already circulating in small baseball circles.
In Seido's dugout, several third-years whistled in admiration.
"That kid's improving too fast. He's already our second-strongest hitter after Azuma."
"At this rate, Kiyokuni might have to move over."
"Haha, that brat still has a long road ahead."
Azuma Kiyokuni did not mind. He was confident in both his strength and the bat in his hands.
Two back-to-back home runs pushed the score to 7 to 2. A five run lead.
But that wasn't what scared Musashi the most. The real terror was that they still had not recorded a single out this inning.
Seido's offense was rolling, and it looked like it would not stop anytime soon.
"Sixth batter, shortstop, Zhang Han."
The moment Zhang Han stepped into the box, every eye shifted to him.
Seido's lineup had been brilliant all game, but the most surprising player was undeniably Zhang Han. Before the tournament, no one paid the first year much attention. Sure, someone promoted early by Seido wouldn't be ordinary, but most assumed he was a reserve player brought up for experience.
Maybe he was strong among freshmen. But at the first-string level? Probably not enough.
Yet once he entered the batter's box, he became a completely different person.
Off the field, Zhang Han was strikingly handsome. Even a plain tracksuit looked tailored on him. He looked nothing like a threat.
But on the diamond, his presence transformed. He radiated intensity. And his previous performances were enough to intimidate anyone. In his last two plate appearances, he had a timely hit and a walk.
Two appearances. Two times on base.
Musashi's pitcher-catcher duo could no longer treat him like a rookie.
They had studied him carefully. And they found something. Zhang Han only swung at straight fastballs.
In their last match-up, he didn't even react to a curveball on a full count. Unless he was dead set on hitting straight pitches, his behavior made no sense.
So they developed a plan.
They had already surrendered three runs in the inning, but at least the bases were empty now. With no runners on, they could test Zhang Han freely.
"Whoosh!"
The first pitch was a curveball.
As expected, Zhang Han did not move. The Musashi catcher nearly grinned. They were right. This first-year was committed to straight pitches.
Easy. Just tie him up with curves.
Kuriyama nodded on the mound and let it fly.
"Whoosh!"
The ball spun in. This time, Zhang Han stepped forward sharply, turned his body, and unleashed his swing.
"Ping!"
The bat smashed into the ball, and it launched upward in a clean arc.
A home run.
"Three!"
"Three straight home runs!"
"Seido's lineup has gone insane!"
Zhang Han dropped his bat and started his run. At the corner of his vision, he saw the Musashi catcher frozen.
What was he thinking? Zhang Han could guess.
To be honest, they were half right. Compared to fastballs, he really wasn't great at hitting breaking balls. But that did not mean he couldn't hit them.
"Just because I prefer Fastballs," he thought, "doesn't mean I can't hit a curve when I know it's coming."
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