"Don't underestimate him."
"Maybe this pitcher has a special talent we're not aware of."
Someone in Seido's dugout quietly reminded the others.
Everyone agreed.
No matter what type of pitch a pitcher used, it was ultimately just a weapon.
Whether that weapon was powerful or not depended on the person wielding it.
Just how strong was Mishimen High's hidden Ace?
They would only find out once they saw more of his pitches.
In the batter's box, Kuramochi narrowed his eyes.
His thoughts mirrored those of his teammates.
The only way to judge the pitcher's ability was to face his pitches directly.
This hidden Ace was clearly no ordinary player.
On the surface, his pitches looked like standard submarine deliveries.
Nothing seemed particularly remarkable.
Yet Kuramochi instinctively felt that something wasn't right.
Because of that feeling, he had already watched two pitches pass by.
Pop!
"Strike!"
Pop!
"Strike two!"
Two strikes.
Kuramochi had quickly been driven into a corner.
The result surprised everyone.
"Why hasn't he swung?"
The spectators couldn't understand.
But Kuramochi had no intention of explaining.
His eyes remained locked on the pitcher.
Bat held high, he assumed a stance that showed he was preparing for a serious confrontation.
Seeing this, Mishimen's substitute Ace narrowed his eyes.
Then he delivered another pitch without hesitation.
Whoosh!
The motion looked identical to before.
Yet something about the pitch felt different.
Unfortunately, Kuramochi had no time to analyze it.
The moment the ball entered his hitting zone, he swung.
Clang!
The bat made solid contact.
The baseball shot forward.
But instead of becoming a clean hit, it traveled only a few meters before slamming into the ground.
The Mishimen infielder reacted instantly.
Rushing forward, he fielded the ball cleanly and fired it to first base.
Pop!
"Out!"
Kuramochi's greatest weapon—his incredible speed—never even had a chance to come into play.
He could only watch helplessly as he was retired.
One out.
Bases empty.
The Seido supporters were stunned.
"Is he really that good?"
Originally, most of them had assumed Mishimen would be little more than a warm-up opponent.
A team Seido would steamroll without difficulty.
Yet the reality unfolding before them was very different.
Not only were Mishimen refusing to back down—
They were actually holding their own.
"Second batter, Number 4, second baseman, Kominato Ryosuke!"
The next batter was Seido's infamous "Devil Batter."
The moment Kominato Ryosuke stepped up, excitement swept through the stands.
Everyone believed he would be different.
They trusted him completely.
Sure enough, Ryosuke patiently battled through several pitches.
Then, after finding an opportunity he liked, he committed to his swing.
At that exact moment—
The Mishimen Ace threw a different pitch.
A breaking ball.
As a submarine pitcher, his release point was already extremely unusual.
The ball seemed to rise from below before suddenly changing direction.
Even Ryosuke was caught off guard.
Instinctively, he adjusted his swing.
Clang!
The result was a high fly ball.
The baseball climbed into the air before dropping back toward the infield.
Mishimen's first baseman took only a few steps forward before settling underneath it.
Pop!
"Out!"
Two outs.
Bases empty.
Seido's first two batters had been retired with surprising ease.
The entire stadium buzzed with disbelief.
Kuramochi Yoichi.
Kominato Ryosuke.
Both were famous players known throughout Japan.
Yet they had been shut down so cleanly.
If the opposing pitcher belonged to another national powerhouse, people might have accepted it.
But this was Mishimen High School.
The contrast made the scene difficult to believe.
"Am I seeing things?"
"Did Seido's first and second batters really get taken out that easily?"
"No, you're seeing it correctly."
"This pitcher from Mishimen has never appeared in an official game before."
"And yet he's this good?"
"Doesn't that mean today's game could be difficult for Seido?"
Hearing that question, both the person asking and the person answering laughed.
"Not likely."
Mishimen had certainly prepared some tricks.
And those tricks had already caused Seido a bit of trouble.
But that was probably the limit.
At most, they could hold on for another inning or two.
Based on everyone's understanding of Seido, the team would adjust very quickly.
And once Seido adapted—
The game would change completely.
Just as everyone expected, Seido's next batter approached the plate with a noticeably different attitude.
He looked determined to put the ball in play no matter what.
"Third batter, Number 1, outfielder, Zhou Hao!"
The moment Zhou Hao stepped into the batter's box, the atmosphere throughout the stadium changed.
The Seido supporters instantly came alive.
Their eyes sparkled with anticipation.
They weren't merely hopeful.
They were convinced.
"Hit it out!"
"If it's you, you can definitely do it!"
As long as Zhou Hao stood at the plate, every impossible scenario suddenly seemed possible.
That was the level of trust the fans had in him.
No—
Trust wasn't even the right word anymore.
It had become faith.
On the mound, Mishimen's hidden Ace felt the pressure immediately.
The cheers.
The attention.
The expectations of thousands of spectators.
Everything seemed to converge onto the man standing in the batter's box.
His breathing became slightly uneven.
His fingers tightened around the baseball.
A single thought surfaced in his mind.
So...
This is Zhou Hao?
The strongest high school player in the nation.
The monster who had dominated Japanese baseball for an entire year.
And now—
He was standing only eighteen meters away.
The pitcher carefully studied the figure standing in the batter's box.
Even though they hadn't actually faced each other yet, he already had a clear feeling.
If he challenged Zhou Hao head-on...
He would most likely be taught a painful lesson.
Whoosh!
The hidden Ace of Mishimen High School seemed to make up his mind.
Then he decisively delivered the pitch.
The Seido players immediately widened their eyes.
They watched as the baseball sailed nowhere near the strike zone.
Unless Zhou Hao's arms could magically grow longer, there was no way he could reach that pitch.
"Ball!"
"Ball!"
"Ball!"
"Ball!"
"Four balls! Take your base!"
The stadium fell silent for a moment.
No one had expected Mishimen's hidden Ace to be this decisive.
He hadn't even attempted to challenge Zhou Hao.
Instead, he had intentionally walked him without hesitation.
Even Seido's players and supporters were caught off guard.
Before the game, nobody would have imagined their opponent would choose such a straightforward approach.
"This guy is something else..."
Many couldn't help muttering in surprise.
Just then, Seido's cleanup hitter stepped up to the plate.
Yuki Tetsuya.
Two outs.
Runner on first.
The moment Mishimen's pitcher saw Yuki enter the batter's box, he made another immediate decision.
Four pitches.
Four balls.
"Walk!"
"Take your base!"
The situation instantly became two outs with runners on first and second.
Back-to-back intentional walks.
The crowd was stunned.
"Is Mishimen's Ace completely refusing to face Zhou Hao and Yuki Tetsuya?"
It was difficult for Seido's players to accept.
Yet at the same time, they had to admit it.
The strategy was extremely effective.
Seido's lineup was powerful from top to bottom, but there were still differences in danger levels.
Zhou Hao and Yuki were the team's offensive engines.
Remove them from the equation, and Seido's offensive threat instantly dropped by more than half.
Clearly, Mishimen had identified that weakness and chosen to attack it directly.
"Fifth batter, Number 8, center fielder, Isashiki Jun!"
The mustachioed slugger stepped into the batter's box.
Unfortunately for Mishimen, Isashiki Jun was not known for his patience.
Nor was he known for having a good temper.
The opposing pitcher had practically announced that he didn't consider Isashiki a threat.
How could Jun tolerate that?
"Looking down on me, huh?!"
Bat raised high, he glared at the mound.
The instant the pitch arrived, he unleashed a ferocious swing.
Clang!
The ball was struck hard.
Unfortunately, it smashed directly into the ground.
The Mishimen infielder calmly fielded it.
Pop!
"Out!"
Three outs!
Side retired!
The top of the first inning ended with Seido producing nothing more than two walks.
Technically speaking, putting two runners on base wasn't meaningless.
But considering the circumstances, Seido had clearly lost that exchange.
They had played completely according to Mishimen's rhythm.
The hidden Ace wasn't exactly controlling Seido like puppets on strings.
But he had successfully made Seido feel uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
The kind of uncomfortable feeling that came from knowing your opponent wasn't stronger than you—
Yet still finding them incredibly troublesome to deal with.
Bottom of the first inning.
Mishimen High School came to bat.
In the dugout, Coach Chiba's eyes practically glowed.
"That's it!"
"Keep this momentum!"
"So what if they're a national powerhouse?"
"Look at them now—they're already rattled!"
From his perspective, Seido's players were clearly affected.
Mishimen's performance had exceeded their expectations.
That surprise alone had given Mishimen an advantage.
Meanwhile, the morale in Mishimen's dugout was soaring.
"Their starting pitcher is just a first-year rookie."
"They clearly don't take us seriously."
The more Coach Chiba spoke, the more excited he became.
"This is our chance!"
"While Zhou Hao isn't on the mound, score as many runs as possible!"
Although not every player fully believed their coach's confidence, nobody objected.
After all, their opponent was Seido.
If they couldn't stay optimistic, how were they supposed to keep fighting?
The gap between the two teams was enormous.
Everyone had understood that from the moment the matchup was announced.
Yet now, confidence filled their dugout.
Their coach had correctly predicted Seido's pitching rotation.
For whatever reason, Seido had not started Zhou Hao.
Something that would have been nearly unimaginable in the past.
Not only that—
Coach Chiba had even predicted the exact replacement.
Furuya Satoru.
The explosive first-year phenom.
Given Furuya's outstanding performances throughout the season, it was only natural for Coach Kataoka to trust him with the start.
Sure, Furuya was talented.
But he was still a first-year.
Both Coach Chiba and the Mishimen players believed they could find a way to deal with a rookie.
"Wait for your chance."
"And attack decisively."
Coach Chiba spoke confidently.
His confidence spread throughout the team.
He's just a first-year.
Maybe they couldn't handle Zhou Hao.
But could they really not handle a rookie?
From Mishimen's perspective, their reasoning seemed perfectly sound.
Then Furuya moved.
BOOM!
Before throwing the pitch, Furuya merely looked like a talented young pitcher.
The moment he released the ball, however, the atmosphere changed completely.
A thunderous roar echoed across the field.
The baseball exploded out of his hand.
The first batter from Mishimen froze.
The ball had already passed him before he could even react.
Pop!
The baseball slammed violently into Miyuki Kazuya's glove.
"Strike!"
The batter stood motionless.
His eyes were full of disbelief.
Too fast.
It was simply too fast.
By the time his brain processed what had happened, the pitch was already over.
The stadium immediately erupted.
"As expected of Seido!"
"That first-year can throw that hard?!"
"One hundred fifty-four kilometers per hour!"
"The fourth-fastest pitch in the nation!"
At that moment, every trace of confidence Mishimen had built up moments earlier began to crack.
Because they suddenly realized something terrifying.
Even Seido's backup option...
Was a monster.