One out.
Bases empty.
Yakushi's players and supporters were deeply shaken by what they had just witnessed.
When their three monster first-years stepped up in the opening inning, everyone had already experienced Zhou Hao's overwhelming strength firsthand.
After all, those three rookies were far from ordinary players.
The ease with which Zhou Hao had suppressed them spoke volumes about his terrifying dominance.
But now...
The atmosphere had subtly changed.
What everyone saw was no longer Zhou Hao's strength alone.
They saw just how helpless Yakushi's own players looked.
What had they done to deserve facing a monster like this?
That was the genuine thought shared by nearly every Yakushi supporter.
To them...
Zhou Hao was like the final boss in a game whose health bar couldn't even be seen.
No matter how hard they fought, there was no indication that he could ever be defeated.
And that uncertainty...
Was the most despair-inducing part.
Following the first out, Yakushi's fifth batter stepped into the box.
Their ace—
Sanada Shunpei.
As he gripped the bat, he clenched his teeth tightly.
The moment he stepped into the batter's box, he already understood one thing.
Hitting Zhou Hao's pitches would be incredibly difficult.
This wasn't a lack of confidence.
It was simply an honest assessment of the gap between their abilities.
Even so...
As Yakushi's ace and fifth batter, countless teammates were placing their hopes on him.
He couldn't afford to back down.
If he showed hesitation now...
The consequences would be unimaginable.
"Even if I can't get a hit..."
"I have to make contact."
Sanada quickly made up his mind.
Everyone on Yakushi knew that fastballs were the pitches he handled best.
If Zhou Hao challenged him with pure velocity...
Then perhaps—
Just perhaps—
He would have a chance.
"As long as I can read his timing..."
"Every pitcher releases the ball from a set rhythm."
"First... I'll learn the rhythm of Japan's No. 1 pitcher."
Sanada wasn't a reckless hitter.
He had his own plan.
Even if he couldn't understand Zhou Hao all at once...
He could gradually figure him out, one pitch at a time.
Behind the plate, Miyuki immediately saw through Sanada's intentions from the subtle adjustments he made before the pitch.
One eyebrow lifted slightly.
He had to admit...
Yakushi's new ace truly was impressive.
Against a pitcher like Zhou Hao, most batters fell into one of two extremes.
Either they gave up before the battle even began...
Or they swung wildly, hoping for a miracle.
Very few could calm themselves enough to think rationally.
Sanada could.
He had steadied himself almost instantly.
He understood what he needed to do.
And he immediately put that plan into action.
That alone proved he was no ordinary player.
Unfortunately...
He had misunderstood one thing.
Calmness alone wasn't enough to challenge Seido's ace.
Zhou Hao had never intentionally hidden his fastball in the first inning.
And he had no intention of doing so now.
Today's objective was simple.
Dominate.
If overwhelming Yakushi completely could shatter their confidence...
That would be the ideal outcome.
Even if he couldn't break them outright...
He intended to leave a scar deep enough that every Yakushi batter would remember it for the rest of the game.
There was another reason as well.
Zhou Hao had no intention of pitching a complete game.
Neither Coach Kataoka nor Seido's coaching staff believed Yakushi was an opponent that required their ace to throw all nine innings.
Pitching at Zhou Hao's level placed an enormous burden on his body.
Whenever possible...
Four or five innings was the ideal workload.
That was enough to suppress the opposition while allowing him to preserve his stamina.
Today's plan was no different.
If Seido built a comfortable lead by the fourth or fifth inning...
A relief pitcher would take over.
Naturally...
There was one important condition.
The lead had to be large enough.
One or two runs simply weren't safe.
If Yakushi mounted a comeback after Zhou Hao left the mound...
Seido would have no one to blame but themselves.
To prevent that from happening...
Zhou Hao intended to establish complete control now.
He slowly lifted his front leg.
Then drove forward.
His body rotated powerfully as his arm whipped forward like the blade of a windmill.
Boom!
The baseball exploded from his fingertips.
Wrapped in a piercing whistle, it reached the batter almost instantly.
Standing in the box, Sanada felt his mind go blank.
All he saw...
Was a tiny white flash.
By the time his eyes finally focused—
The baseball had already arrived.
His thoughts remained perfectly clear.
His body simply couldn't keep up.
The pitch was too fast.
Far beyond the limits of his reaction time.
Before he could even begin his swing...
The baseball had already disappeared into Miyuki's mitt.
Pop!
"Strike!"
The stadium erupted.
Seido's supporters cheered as if they had completely lost themselves.
"Zhou Hao!"
"Zhou-san is invincible!"
Still stunned, Sanada slowly looked toward the giant electronic scoreboard.
The displayed speed left him speechless.
167.5 km/h
His pupils contracted.
That was almost Zhou Hao's maximum velocity.
Against him...
Zhou Hao had actually unleashed nearly his full power.
A wry smile appeared on Sanada's face.
"You really think highly of me."
A 167 km/h fastball...
Calling it merely a fastball no longer seemed appropriate.
It was practically a beam of light.
The ball vanished before either his eyes or his body had time to respond.
"Impossible..."
"This is impossible."
"If Seido lets Zhou Hao keep pitching like this..."
"...we might as well surrender now."
The thought had barely crossed Sanada's mind—
Boom!
Another pitch.
Pop!
"Strike!"
Before he could recover—
Boom!
A third pitch.
Pop!
"Strike three!"
"Strikeout!"
Two outs.
Bases empty.
Sanada quietly returned to Yakushi's dugout.
Their sixth batter picked up his bat and walked toward the plate.
The moment Sanada stepped inside the dugout, every teammate looked at him with concern.
He immediately understood what they were worried about.
They weren't questioning whether he could hit Zhou Hao.
They were worried that confronting someone so overwhelming had shaken his confidence as their ace.
Seeing their expressions, Sanada forced a relaxed smile and shrugged.
"I wanted to hit his fastball too."
"But..."
"A 167 km/h fastball is simply too fast."
"I'm not some legendary slugger."
"There's no way I can hit that."
His tone was straightforward.
He wasn't making excuses.
He was simply stating the truth.
The Yakushi players exchanged glances before quietly nodding.
They had never expected Sanada to overpower Zhou Hao.
What mattered was that their ace hadn't lost heart.
Now that they saw him smiling...
They could finally relax.
"That monster was always going to be difficult to deal with."
"Losing to him isn't something to be ashamed of, Sanada-senpai. Don't take it to heart."
Surrounded by his teammates' words of encouragement, Sanada simply smiled brightly.
Only after reassuring everyone did he make his way toward his coach.
Coach Todoroki Raizo looked at him with satisfaction and nodded.
He was clearly pleased with Sanada's performance.
"We're fortunate to have someone like you on the Yakushi High School Baseball Team. Otherwise, we'd probably have less than a ten percent chance of making a name for ourselves in West Tokyo."
Before this tournament, Todoroki Raizo had been full of confidence about reaching Koshien.
He trusted his three first-year prodigies.
He trusted his own coaching.
One year to build the foundation.
The next two years to chase the dream.
He had firmly believed he could lead Yakushi to the grand stage of Koshien.
But after facing West Tokyo's true powerhouses...
His outlook had quietly changed.
West Tokyo was overflowing with elite teams.
Especially Inashiro Industrial...
And Seido.
As long as those two giants stood in their way, Yakushi would struggle to rise above them.
Only because they had Sanada as their ace did they possess even a ten or twenty percent chance of breaking through.
Without him...
They wouldn't even have that much.
"...Even with me, it's still not enough."
The bitter smile Sanada had hidden from his teammates finally surfaced.
In front of Coach Todoroki, he didn't need to pretend.
"No matter how hard I try, compared to Zhou Hao... my abilities aren't even worth mentioning."
Todoroki immediately shook his head.
"Don't sell yourself short."
"You're already an outstanding pitcher."
"It's just that..."
"Our opponent happens to be even stronger."
After saying that, he let out a helpless laugh.
"You faced him directly."
"Is there any way to force him off the mound?"
Until today, Zhou Hao hadn't pitched a single game.
Yet the moment he stepped onto the mound, there wasn't the slightest trace of rust.
Instead, he looked to be in even better condition than before.
That proved two things.
First...
Zhou Hao's strength was simply terrifying.
Second...
As long as he remained on the mound, Yakushi would probably never score.
If Sanada were dominant enough to completely shut Seido down...
Or if his stamina were enough to outlast Zhou Hao...
Then Todoroki would have nothing to worry about.
The problem was...
Neither was true.
Sanada was an excellent ace, but he wasn't invincible.
Seido had already taken a run from him in the opening inning.
And when it came to stamina...
There was no way he could match Zhou Hao.
If the game continued like this...
Yakushi would slowly be overwhelmed.
"There is only one way."
Sanada spoke quietly.
"We have to find life in the midst of death."
"...What does that mean?"
Todoroki scratched his head.
He wasn't particularly fond of reading, so the idiom left him confused.
Sanada smiled awkwardly.
"It means we have to lure the enemy in."
He looked toward the mound, where Zhou Hao stood calmly.
"How many runs do you think we'd have to give up before Seido takes Zhou Hao off the mound?"
Against Yakushi...
There was no way Seido intended to let Zhou Hao pitch all nine innings.
Eventually, they would replace him.
And in Sanada's eyes...
That would be Yakushi's opportunity.
"...Is there really no way to beat the best pitcher in the country?"
Todoroki sounded unwilling to accept it.
He didn't mind using a few tactical tricks during a game.
But only if those tricks could lead to victory.
Against Seido...
Their chances of winning were already incredibly slim.
Compared to relying on clever schemes, Todoroki would rather fight them head-on.
Sanada slowly shook his head.
"Even if we somehow score one or two runs against Zhou Hao..."
"What would it change?"
Despite his calm personality, Sanada was just as competitive as anyone else.
But whenever he returned to the dugout, logic always overtook emotion.
He immediately pointed out the heart of the problem.
"As long as Zhou Hao is still pitching..."
"The outcome won't change."
Silence filled the dugout.
Finally, Todoroki spoke.
"Then we'll change pitchers next inning."
The earliest opportunity would be the third inning.
"We can't afford to let the score get out of hand."
"I'll figure something out."
Sanada nodded.
"I understand."
Moments later, Yakushi's sixth batter was retired.
Three outs.
Side retired.
The Seido supporters erupted into deafening cheers.
"Zhou Hao!"
"He's almost touching 168 kilometers per hour!"
"Breaking the record is only a matter of time!"
"The Yakushi batters must be completely stunned by now!"
Someone beside them laughed.
"If you were facing pitches over 165 kilometers per hour, wouldn't you be stunned too?"
No one argued.
It was a perfectly fair point.
At Zhou Hao's velocity...
Forget Yakushi's batters.
Even professional sluggers would struggle to react.
That was the overwhelming force of Zhou Hao's fastball.
A pitch that left everyone watching in awe.
"Bottom of the second."
"Let's go."
It was Seido's turn to bat once again.
On the mound, Sanada remained as composed as ever.
Without hesitation, he delivered his next pitch.
Despite having seen him for an inning already, Seido's batters still struggled against his unique arsenal.
His Cutter...
His Jet Ball...
Both arrived with incredible sharpness and precision.
"Whoosh!"
Seido's sixth batter gritted his teeth and swung with everything he had.