Yuki Tetsuya stepped into the Batter's Box.
The supporters of the Seido High School Baseball Team instantly erupted with excitement.
Cheers thundered through the stadium as countless voices shouted for him to swing without hesitation and blast the baseball away.
The players of the Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team looked around in surprise.
"Is Yuki-senpai really this popular too?"
If they remembered correctly, this kind of overwhelming atmosphere usually only appeared when Zhou Hao stepped up to bat.
So why were the fans acting this crazy now that Yuki was at the plate?
It almost felt as though everyone genuinely believed he could send the ball flying out of the stadium.
"Well, he is Seido's cleanup hitter."
Someone quietly explained from the side.
From an outsider's perspective, the scene actually wasn't difficult to understand.
The supporters weren't doing anything unreasonable.
They simply trusted this player wholeheartedly.
They believed he really could hit the ball out.
"Seido is the number one powerhouse in the country. Of course they can't rely only on Zhou Hao."
"Besides Chris and Miyuki, Yuki is probably the most famous player on the team."
"Even though his personality is cold and he rarely speaks, his ability is first-class."
"And as the captain of a national powerhouse, he's naturally become a star player too."
"Even if Zhou Hao failed to get a Hit, Seido's supporters still believe Yuki can do it."
"That's why they're so fired up."
After hearing the explanation, the players of Inashiro finally understood.
The logic behind it really was that simple.
But because of preconceived notions, they had never realized before just how much influence Yuki possessed.
Meanwhile, crouching behind home plate, Harada narrowed his eyes further.
Compared to the fans in the stands, his feelings were much more complicated.
He stared silently at the figure standing in the Batter's Box.
Both of them were star sluggers of West Tokyo.
Yet even Harada himself couldn't deny the feeling in his heart.
Yuki's ability stood above theirs.
"Don't think everything is over just because we shut down Zhou Hao."
"The real problem now is the man standing in front of us."
Narumiya Mei, standing on the mound, clearly understood this as well.
His eyes sharpened as he stared toward the Batter's Box.
The overwhelming cheers from the crowd already proved how dangerous the opponent before him truly was.
Besides Zhou Hao, Yuki Tetsuya was another Batter who had managed to get a Hit off him before.
"Yuki-senpai... I'm sorry."
"One coincidence was already more than enough."
"But no matter what, I absolutely won't let it happen a second time."
As he muttered those words, Narumiya Mei unleashed the baseball from his hand.
BOOM!
A thunderous roar exploded across the field.
The spectators instinctively held their breath.
Even from the stands, they could feel the terrifying pressure radiating from Inashiro Industrial's Ace pitcher.
The baseball flying out of Narumiya Mei's hand was enough to make the overwhelming majority of players despair.
They couldn't touch it.
And even if they did, they couldn't hit it cleanly.
Just as everyone was thinking that—
The baseball tore across the plate.
Yuki Tetsuya watched the approaching Fastball calmly without swinging.
He simply let the ball pass before his eyes.
Pop!
The baseball slammed heavily into the mitt.
The Home Plate Umpire immediately raised his hand.
"Strike!"
The supporters of Seido couldn't help gasping.
Even as spectators, they could feel how terrifying that pitch had been.
At that moment, the giant electronic screen flashed brightly.
152 km/h.
Even after witnessing Zhou Hao's monstrous velocity earlier, the crowd still felt their scalps tingle when they saw that number.
"That's way too fast!"
"With that kind of movement and control, the power of his pitch isn't much weaker than Zhou Hao's."
"No wonder people say he's the only pitcher who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhou Hao."
People may give the wrong names sometimes—
But nicknames rarely lie.
After all, names are decided before birth, while titles are earned through performance.
And the fact that Narumiya Mei was called a pitcher capable of rivaling Zhou Hao said everything about his strength.
The Ace of Inashiro Industrial was terrifyingly powerful.
Back in Seido's dugout, the players couldn't help feeling numb after seeing Narumiya Mei's pitch.
With a pitcher like that on the mound, it was difficult to imagine themselves getting Hits or scoring runs against him.
"Even Yuki-senpai didn't swing?"
Hearing the doubtful murmurs from the younger players, Isashiki Jun immediately flared up.
"How is that possible?!"
"Tetsu's batting ability isn't afraid of a challenge like this!"
"Then why didn't he swing?"
Facing the questioning looks from the first and second years, Isashiki Jun answered firmly:
"Tetsuya is just waiting for the right pitch to hit."
Was that really true?
The underclassmen looked uncertain.
It wasn't that they didn't want to trust their senior.
It was simply that the scene unfolding before them made it difficult not to feel nervous.
Still—
If what Isashiki Jun said was true...
Then maybe, just maybe, they would soon witness Yuki-senpai blasting the ball away.
The moment that thought surfaced, the expressions of Seido's players relaxed considerably.
Anticipation began filling their eyes.
Isashiki Jun naturally noticed it.
But he said nothing more.
Instead, his gaze locked tightly onto Yuki Tetsuya.
Captain...
Please don't let us down.
Today, their opponents had done something no previous team had managed to accomplish.
They had shut down Zhou Hao on the mound.
And not only had Narumiya Mei done it—
He had made it look easy.
That fact dealt an enormous blow to Seido's batting lineup.
A blow that was difficult to recover from.
And if even Yuki failed...
Then the blow dealt to the Seido High School Baseball Team wouldn't merely be heavy.
It would be devastating.
No one wanted to witness such a scene.
Everyone hoped for a turning point.
The supporters of Seido stared anxiously toward the Batter's Box.
Standing at the plate, Yuki Tetsuya felt his body overflowing with fighting spirit.
He understood the expectations placed upon him by both the fans and his teammates.
And he had no intention of disappointing them.
He had already decided his approach beforehand.
He wouldn't swing at the first two pitches.
Even if he waited until the third pitch, he would only swing after confirming the baseball had entered the Strike Zone.
Otherwise, he would continue observing the opponent while forcing Narumiya Mei to throw more pitches.
In today's game, Narumiya Mei's condition was clearly unusual.
He had no intention of conserving stamina.
Everything about his pitching screamed one thing—
He wanted to end the battle as quickly as possible.
Fastballs came one after another without hesitation.
Compared to the caution he displayed last autumn, he seemed like a completely different person.
And for Seido, that wasn't a bad thing at all.
If anything, it was an extremely valuable opportunity.
"Since you're willing to pitch like this..."
"Then bring it on."
BOOM!
Narumiya Mei fired his second pitch.
The speed remained just as terrifying as before.
The baseball reached the plate in the blink of an eye.
Yet Yuki Tetsuya remained completely unmoved.
He calmly watched the baseball pass through the Strike Zone and bury itself into Harada's mitt.
Pop!
"Strike!"
Two strikes. No balls.
The Batter had been cornered.
Ordinarily, this would have been the ideal situation for the pitcher.
And yet—
Neither the players nor the supporters of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team could feel relieved.
Even while backed into a corner, Yuki still gave off the overwhelming pressure of a dominant cleanup hitter.
Just standing there made people feel uneasy.
Behind the plate, Harada took a deep breath.
If even the spectators could sense that pressure, how could he not notice it himself?
The truth was, he had felt it from the very beginning.
And because he had already experienced similar situations countless times during the Spring Koshien qualifiers, Harada wasn't surprised anymore.
Whenever they faced true monsters, this kind of pressure was unavoidable.
Taking another breath, Harada flashed the sign toward the mound.
At this point, all they needed to do was endure the pressure and finish the Batter with the final pitch.
Narumiya Mei clearly shared the same thought.
After giving an almost imperceptible nod, he set himself and unleashed the baseball decisively.
BOOM!
The pitch exploded forward even faster than before.
Watching the approaching Fastball, Yuki Tetsuya finally moved.
This time, he no longer remained passive.
The instant the baseball neared him, he suddenly unleashed his swing.
WHOOSH!
The violent sound of the bat slicing through the air startled Harada behind the plate.
Harada subconsciously widened his eyes.
For a moment, his mind went blank.
How could the swing be that fast?!
Before he could even process the thought—
The bat had already connected with the baseball.
CLANG!
The baseball rocketed away like a cannon shot.
Even the players of Inashiro Industrial reacted instinctively when they saw the sudden line drive.
Then—
The baseball landed and bounced sharply.
Pop!
The fans in the stands were just about to explode into cheers when the side umpire suddenly signaled.
"Foul!"
The baseball had missed the baseline by barely the width of a ball.
Had it landed fair, it would've become an extra-base hit without question.
There had been no fielder behind first base.
Even if the ball hadn't traveled particularly far, Yuki could have easily advanced safely to second.
After falling behind with two strikes, Yuki had still managed to foul off a 150+ km/h pitch.
At that moment, Narumiya Mei's terrifying velocity no longer seemed invincible.
The supporters of Seido immediately erupted into even louder cheers.
They fully understood Yuki's strategy now.
And because they understood it, they became even more excited.
On the surface, Narumiya Mei looked like he was dominating Seido's lineup.
But in reality—
Who exactly was hunting whom?
No one could say for certain.
Only the final result of this duel would reveal the answer.
"Blast it away in one shot!"
"They're already cornered!"
"Even if he uses a Breaking Ball now, it won't matter!"
Inside Seido's dugout, the players stared at the field with blazing eyes.
At this moment, no one wanted Inashiro Industrial to collapse more than they did.
Their expressions made it obvious—
They desperately wanted to crush this deadly rival.
In contrast, the atmosphere in Inashiro's dugout was incredibly heavy.
Their cleanup hitters had been helpless against Zhou Hao's pitching.
Meanwhile, Seido's cleanup hitter was steadily pressuring their Ace.
What did that mean?
Every player on Inashiro Industrial understood perfectly.
Could it be—
That today's game was slipping away from them again?
Just as that thought began spreading among the players and supporters of Inashiro—
The unexpected happened without warning.
Narumiya Mei stood on the mound, took a deep breath, and suddenly released the baseball.
Whoosh!
The pitch looked overwhelmingly powerful.
Yet the moment Yuki saw it, he forcibly suppressed the urge to swing.
Something felt wrong.
He couldn't explain exactly what it was.
It was merely instinct.
But he felt that the baseball seemed slower than before.
And the truth was exactly that.
Even though Yuki reacted a beat late, the baseball still hadn't crossed the plate.
"It's a Changeup!"
The instant he recognized the pitch, Yuki Tetsuya tightened both hands around the bat.
A sharp light burst from his eyes.
If he could square up this pitch cleanly—
He could absolutely blast it into the stands.
He wouldn't even need help from the rest of the lineup.
This swing alone could give Seido its first run of the game.
Calculating the timing carefully, Yuki decisively swung when the baseball approached him.
BOOM!
The bat tore through the air.
And just as everyone believed Yuki was about to connect—
The baseball suddenly dropped.
Without the slightest warning.
Yuki Tetsuya couldn't react in time.
The sinking baseball slipped beneath the bat and drilled directly into Harada's waiting mitt.
Pop!
"Strike!"
"Strikeout!!!"
One out.
Bases empty.
The instant they saw the result, the players of Seido High felt their scalps go numb.