Mishima Yuta aimed his swing slightly beneath where he expected the fastball to pass.
However, the baseball continued straight ahead without dropping.
Clang!
The ball clipped the top edge of his bat and shot toward the area near first base behind home plate.
It was clearly heading foul, but Ito ripped off his mask and sprinted after it without hesitation.
He lunged desperately, stretching his glove as far as possible.
The baseball barely grazed the tip of his glove before falling to the ground.
"Foul ball!"
"Damn it…"
Mishima clenched his teeth.
"These guys are giving us no room to breathe. Even a routine foul ball nearly turned into an out. Unless I square one up and hit it hard, breaking through Hakuryu's defensive wall is almost impossible."
Frustration welled up inside him.
First, he had failed to capitalize on a good hitting opportunity and exposed his intentions. Second, even at this stage of the game, Hakuryu High School's players were still fighting with everything they had, refusing to give him even the slightest opening.
Are we really going to lose here?
As the thought crossed his mind, memories of his entire baseball career flashed before his eyes.
When he first started playing baseball, everything had gone smoothly.
No matter where he played, he was the ace.
The cleanup hitter.
The strongest player on the team.
Back then, he was full of confidence. Whether pitching or batting, he believed he could beat anyone his age.
Then everything changed.
He met Todoroki Raizo and Todoroki Raichi.
The first time he saw Raichi swing a bat, he experienced true defeat.
For the first time, he realized how small he really was.
Like a frog at the bottom of a well.
Arrogant.
Ignorant.
Yet that defeat also ignited something inside him.
Under Todoroki Raizo's guidance, he trained relentlessly every single day, hoping to one day surpass Raichi as a hitter.
To achieve that goal, he even turned down invitations from prestigious baseball schools and chose Yakushi High School instead.
Although he could never catch up to Raichi's monstrous batting talent, he still believed in one thing.
His pitching.
He was convinced that no one his age could surpass him on the mound.
Then Kitamura Kou appeared.
And shattered that confidence completely.
The longer they played together, the more Mishima realized the truth.
Kitamura Kou was an even greater monster than Todoroki Raichi.
His overwhelming ability left no room for comparison.
The gap seemed impossible to overcome.
For a time, Mishima was consumed by frustration and helplessness.
But Mishima Yuta was never someone who accepted defeat.
After a period of discouragement, he threw himself back into training.
On top of his already grueling schedule, he secretly added five hundred extra swings every single day.
He believed that if he worked hard enough, the gap between himself and those monsters would eventually shrink.
Maybe one day, he would even surpass them.
In terms of pure ability, Mishima's current strength wasn't dramatically different from that of the original timeline. Talent alone could not be overcome through effort.
But nearly a year of extra training had not been wasted.
His foundation had become stronger.
His skills more refined.
He had already reached the edge of a breakthrough.
All he lacked was an opportunity.
And now, standing in this batter's box, that opportunity had finally arrived.
A powerful sense of unwillingness.
A stubborn refusal to lose.
Years of accumulated effort.
Everything combined into a single moment.
The shackles that had bound him for so long finally shattered.
Boom!
An aura erupted from Mishima's body.
It wasn't as overwhelming as Raichi's, but it was powerful nonetheless, spreading across the field without restraint.
The expressions of Inoue Mamoru and Ito immediately stiffened.
This was becoming troublesome.
Mishima had already been a difficult batter to handle.
Now he had taken another step forward.
No one knew how strong he had become.
"Hesitation and fear aren't the Hakuryu way," Inoue said calmly.
"The best option is to settle this matchup right now."
As expected of a veteran third-year player, he quickly assessed the situation.
Seeing his resolve, Ito immediately nodded.
After exchanging signs, he set his target.
Inoue stared coldly at Mishima.
His gaze was so sharp it seemed capable of freezing his opponent in place.
Whoosh!
The baseball flew toward home plate.
This time, Inoue refused to challenge Mishima with a fastball or forkball.
The previous foul ball had already revealed Mishima's intentions.
Naturally, he wasn't about to give the batter what he wanted.
Instead, he chose a vertical curveball.
Surprisingly, Mishima remained calm.
He didn't swing immediately.
He patiently waited.
Only when the ball began descending from its highest point did he unleash his swing.
Buzz!
The bat cut through the air with explosive speed.
Ping!
The contact wasn't clean.
But the sheer force behind Mishima's swing launched the baseball into play.
The moment the ball left the bat, Mishima threw the bat aside and exploded toward first base.
The baseball shot low between shortstop and third base.
Traveling at considerable speed, it slipped past both fielders' gloves and pierced through the infield defense.
However, it didn't travel far enough.
Miyao charged in from left field and quickly cut it off.
Without hesitation, he fired the ball toward first base.
The students of Yakushi High School held their breath.
"Run, Mishima!"
"Faster!"
"Go!!!"
The ball and runner raced toward first base.
Smack!
"Safe!"
"Safe at first!"
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Mishima threw his head back and roared toward the sky.
All the frustration he had accumulated throughout the tournament erupted in that single shout.
The moment he stepped safely onto first base, the Yakushi bench exploded.
Cheers erupted from every corner.
It had been too difficult.
This was already the eighth inning, and only Yakushi's second hit of the game.
When had they ever been pushed this hard?
Now they finally had a chance to fight back.
With one out and a runner on first, Hakuryu High School faced a difficult decision.
Should they challenge Akaishi Osamu and risk creating a first-and-second situation?
Or should they intentionally walk him and face Nakanishi Daiki instead?
Both options carried significant risks.
If they pitched to Akaishi, they would be surrendering the initiative. Everything would depend on whether Akaishi chose to force a run or swing away normally.
Walking him wasn't much safer either.
That could easily create a dangerous situation with multiple runners on base while also damaging the team's morale.
However, if they could successfully retire Nakanishi Daiki afterward, the initiative would remain firmly in Hakuryu High School's hands.
The choice before them was anything but easy.