"Oh, he's here."
On the mound, Mukai Taiyo watched Ushijima Wakatoshi slowly make his way to the batter's box, a wooden bat resting on his shoulder.
The moment Ushijima stepped into the box, Teito's catcher, Kan Kengo, narrowed his eyes.
"He's using a wooden bat instead of a metal one."
"Is he trying to hit a home run and build momentum?"
"But Taiyo hasn't even shown his full strength yet."
As those thoughts flashed through his mind, Kan Kengo slipped his right hand beneath his mitt and gave the sign.
Mukai immediately understood.
"Scary... He's only a first-year, yet he's already using a wooden bat and has twenty home runs."
"But all the pitchers you've faced before were second-rate. Don't compare me to them."
With that, Mukai delivered the first pitch.
Standing in the left-handed batter's box, Ushijima calmly tracked the incoming baseball.
Pitch Type: Screwball
Velocity: 110 km/h
The moment he identified both the pitch type and its speed, Ushijima chose not to swing.
Even though he possessed Gold-level Home Run ability, simply seeing the pitch clearly didn't guarantee a successful hit.
Breaking balls relied heavily on timing. Unless you understood exactly when the ball would break, making solid contact was far from guaranteed.
Fastballs were different. They didn't require reading that sudden change in trajectory.
"Whoosh!"
The pitch wasn't particularly fast. At first glance, it looked like it would barely catch the outside corner.
Then, just before reaching the plate, the baseball twisted.
What initially appeared to be a strike drifted just enough to slip outside the zone.
Thwack!
The ball settled neatly into Kan Kengo's mitt.
"Ball!"
Kan's heart skipped a beat.
He saw through it? He didn't even flinch.
Even Mukai was surprised.
That very same screwball had fooled Kuramochi into swinging.
Yet Ushijima remained perfectly still, never changing his stance.
As he stood there, the pressure radiating from him spread across the field, weighing heavily on the mound.
Even Mukai could feel it.
Taiyo, don't underestimate him.
This is the strongest batter in Koshien.
One of the best hitters in the entire country. If you let your guard down, you'll pay for it.
Kan silently reminded his partner.
Mukai muttered to himself.
"It's only his first at-bat..."
"You're already forcing me to get serious?"
"Fine."
"Have it your way."
With that, he put everything behind his next pitch.
"Whoosh!"
The baseball exploded out of his left hand.
Thrown from his sidearm delivery, the pitch stayed extremely low, skimming just above the dirt while breaking sharply toward the outside corner.
The instant Ushijima saw the release point, he decisively stepped forward with his left foot.
His hands tightened around the bat.
Then he unleashed a full-power swing.
The baseball screamed toward the outside corner at nearly 140 km/h.
A low outside pitch was one of the hardest locations for a batter to drive. It stayed far from the hitter's body and hugged the ground.
But Ushijima had already made his decision.
He won't challenge me inside.
So he committed completely to the outside pitch.
Thwack!
The barrel of the wooden bat barely caught the baseball just inches above the dirt.
Good!
Kan's eyes lit up.
He only caught it with the end of the barrel.
With that posture, there's no way he can drive it.
At most, it'll be an infield fly—
Before the thought could finish, his mind froze.
Under normal circumstances, that understanding was completely correct.
The pitch was low and outside.
Ushijima had reached for it with both hands, making only marginal contact with the end of the bat. His posture had collapsed, leaving him no way to generate enough power for a deep hit.
That was true...
For ordinary hitters.
But Ushijima Wakatoshi wasn't ordinary.
His Wooden Bat Home Run skill had reached Gold level.
Even against this velocity, he still had enough control and strength to execute his technique.
The instant the bat met the ball, Ushijima released his right hand.
Using only the momentum of his left-handed swing, he scooped the baseball upward with astonishing precision.
"Whoosh!!!"
The ball rocketed off the bat, soaring high into the dim afternoon sky.
"What?!"
Mukai stared upward in disbelief.
Kan Kengo was equally stunned.
The entire stadium followed the ball's towering flight.
"Whoa!"
The crowd erupted.
"Go! Go!"
The Seido players shouted at the top of their lungs.
Hearing the cheers, the manga-loving Sawamura couldn't help himself.
"Go! Cyclone Magnum Tornado!"
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone who understood the reference imagined a tiny black-dotted crow flying across their minds.
Meanwhile, the baseball continued its majestic arc.
Despite every Teito player silently praying for it to stay in the park, it carried toward the left-field foul pole...
Higher.
Farther.
Then it barely cleared the fence, just inside fair territory.
"YEAHHHHHH!"
The Seido dugout exploded with cheers.
The spectators stared in stunned silence before bursting into thunderous applause.
On the other side, Teito's morale took a devastating blow.
"H-How is that possible..."
Mukai could hardly believe what he had just witnessed.
The pitch had been low.
Outside.
It wasn't even a strike.
Yet Ushijima had somehow turned that impossible pitch into a home run.
"Solo Home Run!"
Seto leapt to his feet in excitement.
"Incredible..."
Even Okumura Koushuu couldn't hide his admiration.
"That pitch was extremely low and outside. Just making contact with it should've been difficult."
"But he didn't just make contact..."
"He hit it out of the stadium."
Seto nodded beside him.
"Yeah... It's ridiculous."
"And did you notice?"
"The instant he made contact, he released his right hand and relied entirely on the momentum of his left-handed swing to scoop the ball into the air."
"...That batting technique..."
"He truly is the greatest monster hitter of this Summer Koshien."
Even Seto found himself breaking into a cold sweat.
Koushuu's eyes remained fixed on Ushijima as he rounded the bases.
He's an incredible pitcher.
He can recognise nearly every pitch type and trajectory.
He throws with overwhelming power.
He can pitch with both hands.
And now his batting is this unbelievable...
I... I really like him...
The thought made Koushuu's face flush red.
No... that's the wrong word.
It's not that I like him.
I just... hope...
I hope I can become his catcher someday.