"This kid's luck is unreal!"
"It's because the director favors him so much. Batting behind Azuma and Yuuki, every time it's his turn, there's always someone on base."
"Stop being sour grapes. He performs well because he has the skill. Even if you were given the same chances, could you actually hit the ball?"
Captain Tanaka stood with his hands on his hips, stepping in to mediate.
Unfortunately, the moment he spoke, the surrounding players' expressions grew even more complicated.
They could have stayed good friends if he hadn't pointed out the most uncomfortable truth. Why did he have to open his mouth and shatter the illusion?
But honestly, Tanaka didn't need to say it.
Everyone knew it deep down.
Earlier in the tournament, some people were still unconvinced. They felt Zhang Han was just lucky—opponents didn't know him well yet, and he had decent skill. Under those circumstances, it wasn't strange for him to play the role of a dark horse and catch others off guard.
That kind of situation was common in baseball.
Whether hitters or pitchers, many players benefited from unfamiliarity.
It was just far rarer in the Summer Tournament.
By the time summer arrived, most players who took the field were seasoned second- or third-years, especially third-years. In such an environment, it was extremely difficult for someone to suddenly emerge.
After all, if a player truly had ability, there was no way to hide him.
The Autumn Tournament was completely different.
No one knew anyone else. Teams were newly assembled, lineups unstable, strategies unrefined.
Just imagining the chaos of the Autumn Tournament was enough.
That was why so many upsets happened there, and why dark-horse teams and players appeared endlessly.
It wasn't that teams didn't care about the Autumn Tournament—after all, it was tied to Jingu and Spring Koshien qualification.
But caring didn't help.
With East Tokyo and West Tokyo competing together, over two hundred teams fought for a single spot. The difficulty and intensity were at least double that of the Summer Tournament.
Even the biggest powerhouses weren't confident they could go all the way.
If Zhang Han and Miyuki had broken out during the Autumn Tournament, even with the same performances, they would never have attracted this much attention.
But this was summer.
And that made everything different.
Returning to Zhang Han.
Any lingering doubts within Seido vanished after this game. He was the only one who had managed to hit Kameshima's Gyroball. Luck or not, once the ball was hit, it proved ability.
More importantly—he was the only one.
No one was foolish enough to question his strength anymore.
The same was true for Ichidai Third High School. They would never again underestimate Zhang Han just because he was a first-year.
Never.
In their eyes, Zhang Han had already risen to the same level as Azuma Kiyokuni and Yuuki Tetsuya. Thinking about it that way was downright despairing.
Azuma had hit a home run.
Yuuki had smashed a double.
And now there was Zhang Han—no less dangerous than either of them.
Even the audience couldn't help feeling sympathy for Ichidai San.
"Seido's batting lineup is straight-up bullying!"
"This is brutal…"
"I didn't feel it when Kameshima was pitching, but now that Manaka—a second-year—has come in, the difference is obvious."
"That pitcher is too pitiful."
The discussions grew louder, as if the outcome had already been decided.
But in reality, Zhang Han's situation wasn't nearly as optimistic as it appeared.
Ichidai San had already done research on him before the game, especially after receiving information from Hoshida.
They understood Zhang Han fairly well.
And Manaka Kaname was very different from Kameshima.
Kameshima relied almost entirely on his Gyroball, lacking a truly sharp Breaking ball.
Manaka, on the other hand, possessed a rich arsenal of breaking balls, each with sharp movement.
From a technical standpoint, Manaka's pitching actually restrained Zhang Han to some extent.
Of course, baseball wasn't about comparing raw numbers.
If it were, everyone could just pull out stat cards and declare a winner.
Games were decided by performance in the moment.
The Seido players showed absolute trust in Zhang Han. They didn't even bother cheering loudly for him.
At least on the surface. But beneath those calm expressions was tension.
After all, this was Ichidai Third High School—the team that had suppressed Seido for years.
No matter how favorable the situation looked, their confidence wasn't unshakable. Standing in the batter's box, Zhang Han had originally planned to think carefully.
He enjoyed reading the game. The deeper he analyzed it, the more details he discovered, and the better he performed.
But not this time.
Although he verbally dismissed Azuma Kiyokuni's provocation, he still had pride.
He still had a temper.
If his senior had said that much, it would be embarrassing not to deliver. So Zhang Han stopped thinking. He only had one thought.
Hit the ball.
Fastball? No need to consider it.
Even if he thought with his toes, Zhang Han knew Manaka, who excelled at breaking balls, would never give him a clean fastball.
So it had to be a Breaking ball. And in that case, it didn't matter. As long as the pitch entered the strike zone, he would swing.
"Swish!"
Manaka was decisive. His first pitch went straight into the strike zone.
Inside corner.
Zhang Han saw the location instantly. Even though he couldn't fully identify the pitch type, it didn't stop him. He stepped forward.
Half a meter closer.
"What is he doing?!"
Ichidai San's catcher was stunned.
So were the fans. So were the players on both sides.
Normally, batters created distance from the pitcher to see the ball more clearly. The farther the ball traveled, the more its speed and power declined.
But Zhang Han did the opposite.
He shortened the distance. That meant the contact point was closer to where the pitch was released. Amid the sea of confusion, Zhang Han's bat whipped forward.
The ball had just begun to change. Before the pitch could reach its peak movement, it was violently swept away.
"Ping!"
The ball traced a sharp arc and dropped cleanly into the gap in the outfield defense. Yuuki, standing on second base, sprinted without hesitation and charged home in one breath.
"Safe!"
The lead widened.
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