"That brat… he actually mastered the Shootball to this level?!"
Inside Yakushi High School's dugout, Sanada stared at the field in excitement as he watched Ushijima Wakatoshi throw his Shootball.
"Sanada, look at that. Seidou's Shootball is even faster than yours," Coach Todoroki said.
Of course, he had noticed it as well.
Sanada's Shootball usually traveled at around 135 km/h, rarely reaching 140 km/h.
After all, his fastest Fastball was only around 140 km/h.
A Shootball was naturally slower than a Fastball.
"Yeah… Seidou's pitcher. His Shootball is definitely over 140."
"And look at that break. The ball is incredibly fast, and it slices straight toward the batter's chest."
"That guy's Shootball is even more refined than mine."
Sanada's excitement came from that very fact.
In modern high school baseball, fewer and fewer pitchers could throw a true Shootball.
Most pitchers relied on the standard combinations:
Four-Seam Fastball, Slider, and Curveball.
Top-tier pitchers usually used Four-Seam Fastballs paired with Slider, Forkball, or Changeup.
But the Shootball, once known as the "magic pitch" at the end of the last century, had slowly disappeared from the game.
At least in the current high school baseball scene, there were barely any pitchers who used it.
And among those who used the Shootball as a primary weapon, there were probably no more than three in the entire country.
Of those three…
Ushijima Wakatoshi and Sanada Shunpei were two of them.
"Is that Ushijima Wakatoshi's Shootball?"
"It's much sharper than I imagined."
"A pitch over 140 km/h, breaking straight toward the chest… how are we supposed to hit that?"
The players from Inashiro Industrial looked completely stunned.
"It feels even sharper than his Two-Seam," Shirakawa muttered quietly.
"Yeah. His Two-Seam only drifts a little, but this Shootball…"
"This pitch really cuts straight into the batter's body. The tailing movement is insane."
Masatoshi Harada wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He was honestly terrified by Ushijima Wakatoshi's pitching.
A 158 km/h Four-Seam Fastball.
A Cutter with both horizontal break and downward movement.
And now a Shootball that sliced violently toward the batter's chest.
The quality of those three pitches had far exceeded their expectations.
Even more frightening…
It was obvious that Ushijima Wakatoshi had improved drastically since the last time they saw him.
Narumiya Mei stood silently, staring at the pitcher on the mound.
Deep inside, he desperately wanted to step onto the field and face this guy himself.
Meanwhile…
An hour earlier.
Inside a shopping mall, several players from Ichidai Sankou High School, who had already been eliminated, were standing around a claw machine.
They looked completely lifeless.
"Ugh! The claw is so loose! Damn it!" Hirakawa complained angrily.
He had tried several times but still failed to grab the plush toy.
"Just give up already, Hirakawa!"
"No way! I'm getting that thing!" Hirakawa stubbornly replied.
Watching his teammates obsess over the claw machine, Ichidai Sankou's captain, Takahiro Ohmae, suddenly muttered to himself:
"What are we even doing here…?"
A teammate beside him sighed.
"We should've gone to watch the game…"
"We should go see how Yakushi—the team that beat us—does against Seidou."
"And we should also see how Seidou, the team that beat us, deals with Yakushi's lineup."
"Can Ushijima really suppress Yakushi's explosive offense?"
Even though they hated to admit defeat…
They still wanted to watch.
It was precisely because they refused to accept losing that they wanted to see this match.
An hour later.
The Ichidai Sankou players finally arrived at the stadium.
"What?! Yakushi gave up seven runs in the very first inning?!"
The moment they saw the scoreboard, they were completely stunned.
Hearing their shocked voices, Manaka Kaname, who had been quietly watching the game from the shadows, remained silent.
Standing beside him was Amahisa Kousei.
The two watched the game together without speaking.
"Manaka… Amahisa… you guys are here too?" Omae said as he approached them.
They had missed the first two innings.
The game was now in the third inning.
But the score was something none of them had expected.
"This… this score… how could it be so one-sided? Yakushi got crushed in the first inning."
Manaka replied calmly.
"Ushijima had an explosive start."
"I know he started strong, but—"
Before Omae could finish speaking, Amahisa interrupted him.
"Did you know?"
"Ushijima threw a 158 km/h fastball today."
The four late-arriving players froze instantly.
"A 158 km/h fastball?!" Hirakawa exclaimed, breaking into a cold sweat.
Manaka nodded lazily.
"The opening matchup was against Raichi Todoroki, Yakushi's first batter."
"The first pitch was 156 km/h."
"The second pitch was 157 km/h."
"The third pitch reached 158 km/h."
"Raichi struck out swinging on all three."
"He completely crushed Yakushi's aggressive batting strategy."
The Ichidai Sankou players stared at the field in disbelief.
"And those seven runs…" Hirakawa muttered.
"I missed the best part…"
Manaka continued explaining calmly.
"Seidou hit three home runs in the first inning."
"Kuramochi started the rally."
"Isashiki drove him in."
"Ushijima came up as the fifth batter and hit a three-run homer."
"Masuko followed with another home run."
"And Furuya, the first-year left fielder, hit a two-run homer."
"In the first inning alone, Seidou's lineup went through all nine batters."
"That forced Yakushi to bring out their ace, Sanada, earlier than expected."
"Now that the top of the third inning is over, Ushijima is still dominating."
"Three innings."
"Three batters each inning."
"Three outs."
"Perfect defense so far."
"And…"
"His Cutter is even sharper than when he faced us."
"The pitch is faster now, and it drops more at the end."
"He used to throw only one type of Shootball…"
"But today he revealed another one."
"The sharpness of his Shootball is no weaker than his Cutter."
Manaka paused before saying quietly:
"With Ushijima pitching like this…"
"I'm afraid even Narumiya Mei would have trouble suppressing him."
"If Narumiya is the king of left-handed pitchers…"
"Then Ushijima is the king of right-handed pitchers."
Manaka's words made Amahisa extremely uncomfortable.
But he couldn't deny it.
Right now…
Ushijima Wakatoshi had truly become terrifying.
And Amahisa knew very well that there was now a clear gap between them.
His loss at the Kanto Tournament had dealt him a heavy blow.
It had even caused him to miss the quarterfinals.
But that had been his own selfish decision.
His own regret.
If he hadn't suddenly left the team…
If he had stayed and played the Round of 16 against Yakushi…
Ichidai Sankou might not have lost.
And today's game…
One of the main protagonists on the field…
might have been Ichidai Sankou instead.