Amahisa clenched his fist.
Seeing this, Manaka Kaname glanced at him and asked calmly,
"Have you found your target yet?"
"If you still want to keep being willful and regret it again…"
"Then go ahead and stay lazy."
"But remember this—just because you're being lazy doesn't mean your opponent will be."
Manaka continued calmly.
"You all know Tanba and I are good friends."
"And Tanba once told me something about Ushijima."
"He said Ushijima is the most hardworking player in Seidou."
"From the moment he joined the Seidou Baseball Club, he's been waking up at 4 a.m. every morning."
"He runs 20 kilometers in an hour, then joins the team's regular training afterward."
"His most terrifying trait isn't just his talent."
"What's truly frightening… is that even with that level of talent, he still trains harder than anyone else."
"That's why he managed to rise to the top in only four months—and now he can rival Narumiya."
The Ichidai Sankou players nearby all looked at Amahisa.
In terms of pitching talent, Amahisa Kousei was actually even more gifted than Manaka.
His Fastball was already approaching 150 km/h.
In fact, his speed was similar to Narumiya Mei's—both hovering around 148 km/h.
Takahiro and the others believed that if Amahisa trained seriously this summer…
Then by next summer, during his final year of high school,
his Fastball would definitely exceed 150 km/h.
"If your Fastball breaks past 150…"
Manaka said calmly,
"Then even if you don't surpass those two…"
"At the very least, you'll stand on the same level as them."
Manaka's words were both encouragement—
and a challenge.
Meanwhile, on the field…
Ushijima Wakatoshi stepped into the batter's box.
In the top of the third inning, he had managed to suppress Yakushi's seventh, eighth, and ninth batters, though not without effort.
Now it was the bottom of the third inning.
Seidou's second offensive round was beginning.
Most teams placed their core hitters in the third, fourth, and fifth spots.
But Seidou's lineup was slightly different.
Their true core consisted of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth batters.
Originally, Masuko had been the central fifth batter.
But Ushijima Wakatoshi's batting was even more consistent.
So Ushijima moved up to the fifth spot, and Masuko shifted down to sixth.
That was why Seidou's core batting lineup was considered three through six.
"Finally… I get to face you."
Sanada tightened his grip on the rosin bag as he stared excitedly at Ushijima.
"Seidou's ace."
Ushijima calmly assumed his batting stance, waiting for the pitch.
"Inside Fastball. Shootball. Cutter."
"Those three pitches are your lifeline."
Ushijima was actually looking forward to facing such a strong pitcher.
Then Sanada roared in his heart:
"Let's go, Ushijima Wakatoshi!"
With full force, he threw the first pitch.
Whoosh!
The pitch shot forward with impressive speed—almost as fast as his Fastball.
Ushijima watched closely.
Pitch type: Shootball
Speed: around 135 km/h
The ball sharply cut toward the inside corner.
Just as Ushijima prepared to swing—
He suddenly noticed something strange.
The ball seemed too short.
Its tailing movement cut inward before reaching the plate.
Realizing what was happening, Ushijima instinctively stepped back.
The pitch nearly grazed his chest.
At nearly 140 km/h, getting hit by that pitch would definitely hurt.
In the worst case, it could cause an injury.
At such an important moment, Ushijima had no intention of getting injured.
The ball sailed past him.
Because the pitch moved so wildly, even the catcher failed to catch it.
The ball rolled away.
"Ball!"
The umpire called.
Ushijima ignored the call and stared directly at Sanada on the mound.
Then he spoke to Yakushi's catcher.
"Hey, could you pass a message to your team and your coach?"
"If you want to play baseball, then play baseball properly."
"If you want to provoke someone, that's fine too."
"But don't do it in a way that might injure someone."
"Otherwise…"
"Whatever Yakushi does…"
"Seidou can do the same."
"I can dodge a pitch under 140 km/h."
"But I don't know if your batters can dodge one at 158 km/h."
Ushijima's words stunned the Yakushi catcher.
Even the umpire looked at him in surprise.
He hadn't expected Ushijima to respond so bluntly.
If the pitch had truly been accidental, then there was nothing wrong.
But if it wasn't…
Then the situation was different.
"Sorry… we didn't mean it like that," the Yakushi catcher said quickly.
Ushijima nodded slightly.
"Good. It's better if it wasn't intentional."
"After all, in your last game against Ichidai Sankou, your team accidentally injured their ace."
"Everyone understands that it wasn't on purpose."
"But if Seidou's ace gets injured in this game as well…"
"Well…"
"Whether it's intentional or not will be open to interpretation."
"If we're talking about accidents…"
"It would be quite a coincidence for the opposing ace to get injured in two straight games."
Even the umpire began thinking after hearing that.
Ushijima said nothing more.
He simply waited for the next pitch.
Sanada received the ball back from the catcher.
He understood the message immediately.
"Come on!" Sanada shouted as he threw again.
Whoosh!
The baseball tore through the air.
Ushijima immediately recognized it as another inside pitch.
He swung.
Clang!
The bat connected.
Whoosh!
The ball shot toward the right side at high speed—
Bang!
But it sailed foul past first base.
"Foul!"
Ushijima didn't react.
Instead, he continued staring at Sanada.
Sanada couldn't help thinking:
This guy has a terrifying personality.
That last pitch nearly hit him.
And yet he wasn't afraid of the next inside pitch at all.
Not only that—he even pulled it foul.
His batting ability might actually be close to Raichi's.
Maybe not as explosive…
But the power is definitely there.
If nothing unexpected happens…
Next season, he'll probably become Seidou's cleanup hitter.
Thinking that, Sanada threw his third pitch.
Shootball.
Ushijima swung again.
Clang!
But this time the contact wasn't clean.
He had expected a chest-high pitch.
Instead, the ball dropped lower.
His swing hit the top of the ball.
Thud!
The ball bounced weakly near home plate and rolled forward.
But Ushijima immediately sprinted toward first base.
Seeing this, Sanada rushed off the mound.
He grabbed the ball and threw it to first.
Ushijima's speed was incredible.
He dashed down the baseline.
The first-base umpire spread his arms.
"Safe!"
The crowd gasped.
"What?!"
"A ball like that still became a hit?!"