"This brat is still smiling; he's definitely plotting something mischievous again."
From the sidelines, Azuma Kiyokuni couldn't help but complain when he saw the smile on Kanzaki Ryou's face.
"Haha, Senior Azuma, you know Kanzaki very well," Kuramochi laughed loudly.
Azuma Kiyokuni snorted, "I only know that once this brat shows that villainous smile, it means someone is going to be unlucky."
"Hmm? Villainous?" Miyuki muttered softly. It really seemed that way. For the schools defeated by Seidou, Seidou was probably the villain in their eyes, and the one they hated most in Seidou was undoubtedly this guy who gave no chances to opponents on the pitcher's mound.
"I think Kanzaki's smile is quite gentle," Kominato Ryosuke said, stroking his chin.
Everyone turned to look at Kominato Ryosuke. You smile like that yourself, so of course you think so.
Kominato Ryosuke chuckled, ignoring the strange looks from everyone.
On the field, Matsumoto Takumi also felt a lot of pressure looking at Kanzaki Ryou. This person not only had the power to hit home runs but also seemed to be very good at picking and choosing pitches.
In reality, what Matsumoto Takumi didn't know was that Kanzaki Ryou's ability to pick pitches was even slightly worse than Miyuki's. The reason he could accurately follow the ball was entirely due to his abnormal dynamic vision.
Harada Masatoshi took a deep breath and quickly gave the signal. To deal with a batter like Kanzaki Ryou, who could hit home runs, it was equally necessary to keep the pitch low.
Receiving the signal, Matsumoto Takumi pursed his lips slightly, then threw the baseball towards home plate.
As soon as the baseball left his hand, a sharp glint flashed in Kanzaki Ryou's eyes.
Thwack!
The baseball entered the mitt, and Kanzaki Ryou looked back at the landing spot of the ball. It was a very low pitch!
Heh, it started with a ball to tempt him to swing. Luckily, his vision was good enough to clearly track the pitch, otherwise he almost fell for it.
"Ball!"
Sure enough, Harada Masatoshi frowned and threw the ball back. Kanzaki Ryou's pitch selection ability was very strong. Although this pitch was a ball, it was only just outside the strike zone. If he couldn't deceive the opponent into swinging with a pitch like that, he couldn't throw any more balls next.
They could only face him head-on!
Harada Masatoshi gave Matsumoto Takumi a look, and the latter nodded. This was what he wanted too.
Soon, Matsumoto Takumi threw the second pitch, which was a high-speed slider.
Kanzaki Ryou moved the moment the baseball left his hand, pushing off with his feet, his body driving the bat to swing out fiercely.
Whoosh!
The bat swung out with great force, meeting the baseball in front of home plate, the tip of the bat almost grazing the ball.
Thwack!
"Strike!"
Phew~
Harada Masatoshi let out a long breath. He was almost hit, by less than half a ball's distance.
"Niceball!"
Throwing the ball back, Harada Masatoshi squatted down and then looked up at Kanzaki Ryou again. After seeing an outside high-speed slider, it should theoretically be effective to follow up with an inside Fast Forkball.
However, Harada Masatoshi was truly unsure. What if the opponent thought in reverse and guessed it? 'I predicted your prediction'?
As soon as such a thought appeared, Harada Masatoshi quickly pinched his own leg hard.
He couldn't overthink it. The more critical the moment, the calmer he needed to be.
What he needed to do at this moment was to trust his Ace!
At this time, Kanzaki Ryou was also guessing Harada Masatoshi's pitch selection. The first pitch was a ball, the second was an outside high-speed slider. So what would the third pitch be?
Normally, most catchers would probably call for an inside pitch, but if this catcher was Harada Masatoshi, it wasn't certain. He was also a very bold and skilled catcher. To guess his thoughts, he had to be even bolder than him!
But it seemed unnecessary, Kanzaki Ryou thought. Matsumoto Takumi's decisive pitch was the Fast Forkball, and besides that, he had a high-speed slider. The trajectories of these two pitches were completely different, at most just the difference between inside and outside. And this point was very easy for him to catch with his vision. He could completely wait for the ball to leave the hand, clearly judge the trajectory, and then swing.
Matsumoto Takumi was stunned for a moment when he saw the signal from Harada Masatoshi. It was still outside? But it was a Fast Forkball.
Completely different trajectory, same landing spot. Matsumoto Takumi nodded and quickly threw the ball.
Whoosh!
Kanzaki Ryou locked onto the trajectory and swung the bat. This outside Fast Forkball had a very tricky trajectory, almost hugging the edge of the strike zone.
Bang!
The bat and baseball collided, making a sound, and the baseball instantly flew out, going foul toward the first base line.
"Foull Ball!"
Two strikes, one ball.
The count was in the pitcher's favor, and Kanzaki Ryou pulled back his bat and rested it on his shoulder.
Although he saw Matsumoto Takumi's pitches very clearly, being able to see and being able to hit were two completely different things. This guy was also in very good form today, and his pitches were very sharp. It would be difficult to hit well without seizing the right timing.
Slowly taking a breath, Kanzaki Ryou focused intently on Matsumoto Takumi's mitt—watching the ball, watching the ball, until the very end when the bat hit the baseball, he had to keep watching the ball!
Harada Masatoshi quickly gave the signal here. It was an inside Fast Forkball. Having seen two outside pitches, the batter's impression must be very strong at this point. As long as this Fast Forkball could be thrown well and the trajectory kept low, Harada Masatoshi believed that even Kanzaki Ryou would find it very difficult to hit a home run, and a long hit was also unlikely.
Whoosh!
The small white ball was thrown by Matsumoto Takumi, aimed at the inside corner.
In Kanzaki Ryou's eyes, this baseball was locked by his gaze the moment it left the hand. Yes, he saw it very clearly. Kanzaki Ryou stared closely at the baseball, and the bat in his hand swung out quickly, aiming for the lowest part of the inside strike zone.
Bang!
The moment the bat hit the baseball, Kanzaki Ryou clearly knew where this ball would likely fly.
The small white ball flew over the shortstop's head and slammed hard onto the ground. Seizing this opportunity, Kanzaki Ryou successfully reached first base.
"Oh oh~!"
"Kanzaki!"
"Not bad, someone from Seidou is on base again!"
The spectators cheered and applauded.
In Seidou's dugout, Azuma Kiyokuni frowned, "This brat actually didn't play any tricks."
Miyuki, who was beside him, smiled wryly, "Senior Azuma, what kind of image does Kanzaki have in your eyes?"
"He's an annoying brat!" Azuma Kiyokuni said.
At this moment, Coach Kataoka was also looking at Kanzaki Ryou on first base. From the pitches just now, he had originally thought that Kanzaki Ryou was very likely to be retired, but he didn't expect him to successfully get on base in the end.
Especially that last pitch—Kataoka turned to look at the speed display:
147!
This speed had already broken Matsumoto Takumi's personal highest speed. It could be said that the opponent threw that pitch very well—
An extraordinary performance.