Shirakawa failed to retreat to second base in time.
But that didn't matter.
He had already cut off Zhou Hao's path.
Raising his glove, Shirakawa lunged forward.
As long as he touched any part of Zhou Hao's body, this legendary player would be out.
The thought alone sent a surge of excitement through him.
At some point, Zhou Hao had become a nightmare for the entire Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team.
Even a national powerhouse like Inashiro had struggled to find a way to deal with him.
They had tried countless methods.
Yet time and time again, the results had been disappointing.
No matter what they did, they couldn't truly stop him.
Zhou Hao continued to dominate the field, doing as he pleased.
Just thinking about it was enough to make anyone frustrated.
Shirakawa was the type to hold grudges.
If there was no opportunity, then so be it.
But the moment an opportunity appeared, no matter how slim, he wanted to see Zhou Hao brought down.
Just like now.
As Shirakawa's glove closed in on its target, many Seido players and supporters had already shut their eyes.
They couldn't bear to watch.
Yet Zhou Hao himself appeared completely calm.
The instant Shirakawa committed to the tag, Zhou Hao suddenly launched into a leftward slide.
The abrupt movement widened the distance between them.
Shirakawa could only watch helplessly as his glove sliced through empty air.
"What...?"
His eyes widened.
At that speed, changing direction should have been impossible.
Unless...
Unless he had already known.
Shirakawa's mind went blank.
An overwhelming sense of shock flooded his body.
He repeatedly told himself that such a thing couldn't be true.
But no matter how hard he searched for another explanation, he couldn't find one.
How else could Zhou Hao have done it?
Meanwhile, after avoiding the tag, Zhou Hao smoothly adjusted his momentum.
A moment later—
His hand touched the base.
"Safe!"
One out.
Runner on second.
The Seido supporters exploded with excitement.
"He made it!"
"He actually stole it!"
Despite all of Inashiro's preparations, Zhou Hao had still found a way through.
Not only had he avoided the tag, but he had successfully advanced into scoring position.
Moments earlier, many Seido supporters had already started losing hope.
It wasn't because they lacked confidence.
The problem was Narumiya Mei.
He was simply too steady.
Two consecutive pitches.
Two taken strikes.
Yuki Tetsuya hadn't swung once.
Was it because Yuki didn't want to swing?
Of course not.
The answer was obvious.
Narumiya Mei's pitching left him with very few opportunities worth attacking.
Even if Yuki managed to force contact, there was no guarantee it would produce a meaningful result.
And after Yuki, could the rest of the lineup continue the attack?
No one could answer that question with certainty.
It was frustrating.
But it was reality.
Then Zhou Hao had suddenly stolen second base.
No one knew exactly how he had done it.
Yet that didn't matter.
The result alone was enough to ignite hope once again.
On the Inashiro side, the shock was even greater.
Everything had gone according to plan.
They had predicted the steal attempt.
They had prepared for it.
Shirakawa had been in perfect position.
The success rate of that play was supposed to be extremely high.
Yet somehow, Zhou Hao had escaped.
At full speed.
In a split second.
With a movement that shouldn't have been possible.
A sudden change of direction while sprinting at maximum speed often resulted in losing balance and falling.
Even professional athletes struggled to pull off such a maneuver.
Yet Zhou Hao had done it effortlessly.
It was almost as if he had known exactly where Shirakawa would be.
No.
Not just Shirakawa.
Harada's throw.
Shirakawa's positioning.
The timing of the tag.
Every single detail.
It was as though he had predicted the entire sequence before it happened.
How was that possible?
He was human, not some supercomputer.
How could anyone calculate so many variables in such a short time?
Humans were inherently unpredictable.
So how much confidence did Zhou Hao have to possess to make a decision like that?
In truth, Inashiro's players weren't entirely wrong.
The reason Zhou Hao had succeeded was because he had predicted everything in advance.
Or rather—
The Sharingan had allowed him to.
It was a risky gamble.
But the outcome had been perfect.
By reading Harada's throw and Shirakawa's movements ahead of time, Zhou Hao had slipped past the tag at the decisive moment.
An incredible steal.
An almost unbelievable steal.
The Seido supporters looked at Zhou Hao with stars in their eyes.
This was the Ace they admired most.
The Ace they trusted unconditionally.
As long as Zhou Hao stood on the field, it felt as though any obstacle could be overcome.
"This is incredible!"
For a moment, Seido's players and supporters couldn't even find the words to describe their emotions.
They only knew one thing.
It felt amazing.
The Inashiro players had always carried themselves with immense confidence.
As one of the nation's elite teams, they had every reason to.
At times, it even felt as though they considered themselves Seido's equal.
But were they really?
No matter what others thought, Seido's players found the idea difficult to accept.
After all, they were Seido.
The reigning powerhouse.
The national champions.
How could just anyone stand on the same level as them?
Wouldn't that be an insult to everything they had accomplished?
Now, Zhou Hao was answering that question with actions rather than words.
The gap between the two teams still existed.
Perhaps it hadn't been obvious before.
But now it was becoming impossible to ignore.
The players and supporters of Inashiro tightened their jaws.
They had realized it as well.
Seido wasn't finished attacking.
Not even close.
They still intended to score.
And judging from the pressure they were applying, it wouldn't be long before they made their move.
The thought alone made Inashiro's blood boil.
Was it coming?
The terrifying offensive power that had made Seido the strongest team in the country?
On the mound, Narumiya Mei could clearly sense the changing atmosphere.
Yet his expression remained calm.
At this moment, his state of mind was strangely clear.
"As long as I can stop everyone except Zhou Hao..."
"Even Yuki Tetsuya..."
"Then victory is still ours."
If this had been the Summer Tournament Final, Narumiya Mei might have chosen to walk Yuki without hesitation.
Even the slightest risk would have been unacceptable.
For the sake of Inashiro, he would have swallowed his pride.
But this wasn't the Summer Tournament.
This was the Kanto Tournament Final.
The game was important.
Very important.
But not important enough to make him back down.
Standing before him was Yuki Tetsuya.
A legendary batter.
And Narumiya Mei wanted to defeat him head-on.
To prove the strength of his pitching.
To prove the strength of Inashiro's Ace.
The players and supporters of Inashiro immediately sensed his determination.
Their spirits rose.
"That's right!"
"Take him down!"
"Finish him here!"
"Strike him out!"
"Seido's cleanup hitter is nothing special! Take him out!"
From Inashiro's perspective, they had every reason to be confident.
After all, Narumiya Mei had already retired Yuki Tetsuya twice earlier in the game.
That fact alone gave the players and supporters of Inashiro Industrial tremendous confidence.
As long as Yuki was shut down, Zhou Hao's presence on second base wouldn't matter.
Even if he had somehow reached third, it wouldn't change anything.
At least, that's what they believed.
Just then, Narumiya Mei made his move.
The count stood at one ball and one strike.
Without hesitation, he unleashed his trump card.
The Changeup.
Whoosh!
The moment Yuki saw the pitch, his eyes narrowed.
He remained completely focused, refusing to be fooled by the sudden change in velocity.
Only after the ball approached did he commit to his swing.
The bat came around with full force.
But an unexpected scene unfolded.
Whoosh!
The powerful swing that seemed capable of sweeping everything away completely missed.
Yuki had adjusted downward.
Unfortunately, the baseball dropped even farther.
His bat passed harmlessly over the top of it.
Pop!
The ball settled firmly into Harada's mitt.
"Strike!"
The umpire's call echoed across the field.
Everyone immediately understood what that meant.
Two strikes.
Yuki Tetsuya had been pushed into a corner.
On the next pitch, anything close to the strike zone would force him to swing.
Yuki slowly pulled his bat back.
His expression remained as cold and unreadable as ever.
Seeing this, Harada finally relaxed a little.
"We have the advantage now."
"Let's challenge him with a fastball on the edge and see if we can force a mistake."
The target was set right along the border of the strike zone.
Narumiya Mei gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Against a batter like Yuki Tetsuya, there was no such thing as being too careful.
"Sorry, Yuki-senpai."
With that thought, Mei drove forward and released the ball.
Whoosh!
The roar of the pitch echoed throughout the stadium.
Even Seido's players felt their hearts tighten.
Narumiya Mei's rhythm was simply incredible.
The freedom with which he controlled the tempo of the game was frightening.
Among Seido's players, they had only seen this kind of presence from one person before.
Zhou Hao.
And whenever Zhou Hao entered this state, the outcome was usually already decided.
The opposing lineup would find itself completely trapped.
No chance to escape.
No chance to fight back.
Now Narumiya Mei appeared to have entered that same zone.
Could Seido break through?
As that question crossed everyone's minds—
Yuki swung.
The influence of the previous Changeup had already vanished from his thoughts.
His eyes locked onto the incoming pitch.
Then he attacked decisively.
Clink!
The baseball shot off the bat.
A clean line drive.
It flew over Narumiya Mei's head before either Shirakawa or the second baseman could react.
Pop!
The ball landed safely in the outfield.
The moment contact was made, Zhou Hao exploded into motion.
His legs churned like pistons as he raced toward third base.
At the same time, Yuki discarded his bat and sprinted toward first.
"Now!"
Every Seido player and supporter instantly understood.
This was likely their best scoring opportunity of the entire game.
They had to capitalize.
No matter what.
Perhaps it was Seido's tradition.
Perhaps it was because their opponent was Inashiro Industrial.
Either way, nobody wanted to lose.
From the players on the field to the supporters in the stands, everyone shared the same thought.
Score.
Score as many runs as possible.
Crush Inashiro if they could.
But Inashiro wasn't about to allow that.
A black blur shot across the outfield like a bolt of lightning.
Carlos.
He reached the baseball in an instant and scooped it up cleanly.
"He got it!"
"Can they still stop him?"
The crowd held its breath.
Carlos had a choice to make.
He could throw to first and try to catch Yuki.
But that wouldn't prevent Zhou Hao from scoring.
With only one out, trading a run for an out made little sense.
Besides, the odds of getting Yuki were low.
Stopping Zhou Hao at home plate was the better option.
Carlos made his decision immediately.
Whoosh!
His arm whipped forward.
The baseball exploded from his hand like a bullet.
In the blink of an eye, it traveled dozens of meters toward home plate.
Harada's eyes lit up.
The moment he saw the throw, every fiber of his being came alive.
This was exactly the opportunity he had been waiting for.
At that moment, Zhou Hao was still about five meters away.
Harada didn't have enough time to block the plate properly.
But he didn't need to.
Five meters.
A fraction of a second.
More than enough time to catch the ball and apply the tag.
"It's over."
"Good game."
Several Seido players in the dugout couldn't bear to watch.
Subconsciously, they began closing their eyes.
At that exact moment—
Zhou Hao activated his Sharingan.
Everything around him seemed to slow.
The roaring crowd faded into the background.
The movements of every player became crystal clear.
Countless routes appeared before him.
The left side?
Blocked.
The right side?
Only a seventeen percent success rate.
Practically impossible.
Then—
Above.
Estimated clearance: 1.5 meters.
Success probability: over eighty-five percent.
The answer appeared instantly.
Without slowing down, Zhou Hao suddenly leaped into the air.
Straight over Harada.