On the mound, Kanzaki Ryou glanced at Miyuki Kazuya's sign before shifting his gaze toward Inui Kengo in the batter's box.
This batter excelled at hitting inside pitches.
And defeating a batter with the pitch he trusted most was often the fastest way to crush his confidence.
Taking a deep breath, Kanzaki focused completely and fired toward Miyuki's glove.
Inside fastball!
The instant the ball left his hand, Inui recognized the trajectory.
He found the hitting point immediately and swung with full force.
Whoosh!
The bat carved through the air with terrifying momentum—
—but completely missed.
The baseball exploded inward even faster than he expected, darting past the bat and into Miyuki's mitt.
Smack!
It was the accelerating Fastball.
"Strike three!"
"Batter out!"
Only after the umpire's voice rang out did Inui finally regain his senses.
He had been struck out.
"…Phew."
Inui slowly exhaled.
Failing in his first at-bat was undoubtedly a blow to morale.
But Teito High School were still the kings of East Tokyo. One setback wasn't enough to shake them completely.
Besides, it was only the second inning.
There was still plenty of baseball left to play.
Unfortunately for Teito, things only got worse from there.
Their fifth and sixth batters were retired in quick succession—one by strikeout, the other on a force out.
The inning ended cleanly.
Bottom of the second inning.
After gradually regaining his composure, Mukai Taiyo managed to force Shirasu Kenjirou into a ground ball with a screwball.
However, Seido's seventh batter, Maezono Kenta, lined an outside pitch cleanly into right field for a single.
Afterward, Aso Takashi grounded into a force out, while Tojo Hideaki was retired on a fly ball.
The second inning ended with the score still 2–0.
But beginning in the third inning—
Seido's batting lineup once again displayed its terrifying offensive power.
Top of the third inning.
Kanzaki and Miyuki completely shut down Teito's lineup, not allowing a single runner to reach base.
Then came the bottom half of the inning.
The moment Mukai Taiyo had finally regained his rhythm—
Seido nearly broke him all over again.
Kuramochi Yoichi was retired on a Changeup.
But then Kominato Haruichi singled cleanly.
Immediately afterward, Miyuki once again targeted the pitch selection perfectly and blasted a double into right field, sending Haruichi all the way home.
Score.
3–0.
And just like in the first inning—
Miyuki stood on second base while Kanzaki Ryou walked to the plate.
The moment Teito's fans saw that scene, their hearts nearly stopped.
No way…
Were they about to give up another run?!
This time, however, Teito refused to repeat the same mistake.
Every fielder stared intently at Miyuki on second base, practically daring him to run again.
Whoosh!
Swish!
Ball!
Whoosh!
Ball!
Soon, the count reached three balls.
Then, just like before, the battery of Inui Kengo and Mukai Taiyo once again chose the intentional walk.
"Ball four!"
Kanzaki was walked to first base.
"Phew…"
The Teito supporters finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as they avoided pitching to Kanzaki, things would be manageable.
That first-inning home run had already left a psychological scar on everyone.
Sure, putting runners on first and second created danger—
but the next batter was only a freshman.
And hadn't he already been retired once earlier?
Even though Arima Kazusa had battled Mukai to a full count in his previous at-bat, that had happened right after the home run, when Mukai's condition had been unstable.
Now?
Their ace had clearly recovered.
With Mukai's talent, dealing with Arima should be easy.
At least—
that was what they believed.
BOOM!!
The instant the first pitch arrived, the entire stadium froze.
It was an extremely low pitch, practically scraping the bottom edge of the strike zone—
and Arima Kazusa swung immediately.
Not only Teito's players, but even Seido's dugout looked shocked.
Their strategy had always been to ignore low pitches completely.
Nobody expected Arima to attack that ball.
With an unbelievably smooth swing, Arima lowered his center of gravity and scooped the pitch into the outfield.
The baseball shot through the gap.
Miyuki scored easily from second base while Kanzaki advanced to third.
Arima safely reached second.
"Arima-kun!!!"
"Nice batting!"
"Good job, Arima Junior!"
"Genius!"
The Seido supporters erupted into cheers.
They never hesitated when it came to praising Seido's freshmen.
On the mound, they had:
Furuya Satoru with his overwhelming fastball.
Sawamura Eijun, the unique left-handed pitcher.
At the plate, they had:
Kominato Haruichi, whose bat control was exceptional enough to wield a wooden bat at the high school level.
And now Arima Kazusa, whose unique batting form and fluid swings constantly amazed the crowd.
With this much talent, Seido's future looked brighter than ever.
As for Teito's freshman genius pitcher Mukai Taiyo?
Sorry.
Seido had several freshmen monsters of their own.
Miyuki crossed home plate, extending the lead to 4–0.
And Seido's offense still wasn't done.
The next batter, Shirasu, calmly delivered another reliable single through the infield, loading the bases.
Bases loaded.
Opportunity.
Stepping into the batter's box was Maezono Kenta.
This was his chance to prove himself completely.
If he could drive Kanzaki home here, his starting position would become nearly untouchable as long as he avoided major mistakes moving forward.
Whoosh!
"Strike!"
Whoosh!
Clang!
"Foul!"
Quickly, Maezono fell behind with two strikes.
Whoosh!
Clang!
Another foul.
Mukai Taiyo looked slightly surprised.
According to their scouting reports, Maezono struggled badly against outside pitches.
Was his previous hit just luck?
If that's the case…
Then finish him with the Changeup, Taiyo!
Inui flashed the sign.
On the mound, Mukai nodded firmly.
Because Miyuki had punished his habits earlier, he had become cautious about throwing breaking balls with two strikes.
But in order to escape this crisis, he still needed to trust his finishing pitch.
Understanding that clearly, Mukai lifted his leg decisively and released the ball with the full aura of an ace pitcher.
Whoosh!
The screwball darted toward home plate.
This time, Maezono failed to square it up properly.
Thunk!
The baseball bounced sharply toward third base.
The moment the ball was hit, Kanzaki exploded off third base toward home.
Snap!
Teito's third baseman fielded the ball cleanly.
There was no time to force Arima out at third.
Instead, he immediately fired home.
Smack!
"Out!"
Kanzaki was tagged out at the plate.
Without hesitation, Inui grabbed the ball and fired it to third, trying to complete a double play—
but Arima barely managed to dive back safely.
Two outs.
Bases still loaded.
"…What a shame."
Clicking his tongue lightly, Kanzaki slowly headed back toward the dugout.
As he passed by the on-deck circle, he looked at Aso Takashi.
"Aso. Bring them home."
"Got it!"
After encouraging him, Kanzaki finally returned to the bench.
Miyuki immediately tossed him a bottle of water.
Kanzaki caught it casually and took a long drink.