On the pitcher's mound, Kameshima lifted his head and stared at the sky for a moment before finally refocusing on the strike zone.
It felt deliberate. As if he were silently telling the Seido High School Baseball Team that he was about to change gears.
In Seido's dugout, Kataoka frowned. An uneasy feeling quietly crept into his heart.
Could it be…
Was Kameshima hiding a new breaking ball?
It wasn't impossible.
Up to now, every breaking pitch Kameshima had thrown was something Seido had seen before. From last year's Autumn Tournament until now, nearly a full year had passed. Yet Kameshima had never revealed a new breaking pitch.
For a star pitcher in Tokyo, someone with even a bit of national recognition, that was strange. It was far more reasonable to assume he had developed something new. Unfortunately, if that were true, it was terrible news for Seido.
As if responding directly to Kataoka's thoughts, Murphy's Law struck again.
Facing Hidezawa at the plate, the rotund Kameshima adopted an awkward, unfamiliar posture and released the ball.
The moment he threw it, the entire field froze.
Zhang Han's pupils shrank.
Back when he had first started learning baseball, he'd watched countless videos. One of them had been a special on the "Top Ten Magic Pitches of the 20th Century."
Among those pitches was one eerily similar to what Kameshima had just thrown.
"What is that…?" someone muttered.
"Gyroball!!!"
Miyuki blurted it out instinctively.
Several teammates around him looked confused. Clearly, they had no real understanding of what a Gyroball was. Zhang Han, however, had studied those so-called magic pitches out of pure interest.
He knew their origins, how they rose to fame, how many pitchers became legends because of them, and why they eventually faded away.
As they spoke in hushed tones, the white ball cut through more than ten meters of space like a sharp arrow, charging straight toward the batter.
When it came to understanding Kameshima, no one on Seido could compare to his former partner, Hidezawa.
Hidezawa knew him too well.
With no outs and a runner on first, Kameshima should have avoided risks.
At least, that was how the Kameshima from three years ago would have pitched.
Unfortunately, Hidezawa was wrong.
The Kameshima he remembered was no longer the same person.
The current Kameshima, captain of Ichidai Third High School, was far stronger.
Even without a new decisive pitch, he would still confront batters head-on, using pressure and presence to crush them.
Now that he did have a decisive pitch, there was no reason for mercy.
The catcher kept signaling, urging him to conserve strength for tougher opponents.
Hidezawa was no weak batter.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been called one of Seido's "Three Horses" alongside Tanaka and Azuma Kiyokuni.
Ichidai's players knew this as well.
But comparison mattered.
Compared to the heart of Seido's lineup, Hidezawa's threat level was still lower.
A trump card should be saved for the right moment. Kameshima disagreed. He believed that revealing this pitch early would shake Seido's confidence and benefit Ichidai more.
With Director Tahara's approval, he didn't hesitate.
The Gyroball was unleashed.
In the batter's box, Hidezawa watched the ball rush toward him, his heart churning violently.
Just moments earlier, his pitching had gone smoothly.
For a brief instant, he had even felt that he no longer needed to look up to Kameshima—the pitcher he once admired.
They were standing on the same stage now. That illusion shattered instantly. The person he once chased had taken another step forward.
Hidezawa refused to accept it. His eyes reddened. Gritting his teeth, he swung without caring what kind of pitch it was.
"Ping!"
The instant the bat made contact, Hidezawa felt as if his hand were about to break.
Too heavy.
Like colliding with a runaway truck that had no brakes.
The ball barely trickled forward.
Second base.
First base.
"Out!"
"Out!!"
One Gyroball.
Two outs.
At the start of the game, Seido High School Baseball Team had performed brilliantly, using pure strength to crush outside doubts.
Before this, many media outlets claimed Seido's victories came only against weaker opponents, implying their success lacked real substance.
But against Ichidai Third High School, Seido had clearly torn that label apart.
…
Just as everyone expected Seido to continue pressing forward, Ichidai's Ace revealed his trump card.
Before Seido's offense could even create a ripple, it was completely smothered.
0:0.
Neither side scored.
Two lineups ranked among the best in Tokyo and even nationally had unexpectedly opened the game with a pitcher's duel.
No one had anticipated this.
What hurt Seido the most was Kameshima's newly mastered Gyroball.
His overall strength had risen dramatically. Under these conditions, scoring became far more difficult for Seido.
Meanwhile, Ichidai seized the opportunity. Hidezawa, shaken by that pitch, became momentarily unstable.
Ichidai's fourth batter capitalized immediately.
The batters behind Kameshima were no pushovers either.
The moment Hidezawa faltered, they pounced, executing a squeeze play to score the first run.
1:0.
Although Hidezawa quickly regained his composure, it was already too late.
In a game like this, falling behind even once was devastating.
Especially with Kameshima now wielding a Gyroball.
1:0.
The game moved into the bottom of the second inning.
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