Harada's strikeout was a devastating blow to Inashiro Industrial.
With one out recorded, Narumiya Mei stepped into the batter's box.
A heavy atmosphere settled over the Inashiro dugout.
The players and supporters alike could already sense where this game was heading.
Yet Narumiya Mei's face remained filled with defiance.
Zhou Hao could no longer use his Spiral Ball.
His devastating high-speed fastballs were also gone.
By all rights, his strength should have dropped by at least half.
Under those circumstances, Inashiro should have been able to overwhelm him.
But reality told a completely different story.
Not only had they failed to break through, they had been toyed with from start to finish.
"Without those overwhelming pitches..."
"Do you really think you can suppress us forever with tricks alone?"
Impossible.
No matter what anyone else thought, Narumiya Mei refused to surrender.
If Zhou Hao truly had the ability, then he should keep throwing pitches Narumiya couldn't touch.
Otherwise—
The moment he got a chance, he would drive the ball into the outfield without hesitation.
He believed that.
Absolutely.
Just then, Zhou Hao delivered the next pitch.
Whoosh!
The ball wasn't particularly fast.
At least, compared to Zhou Hao's usual standards, it was ordinary.
Yet the moment Narumiya saw it, every cell in his body seemed to tremble.
Something clicked.
Something he had been desperately searching for throughout the entire game.
Perhaps because they had battled each other so many times, no one understood Zhou Hao's pitching better than Narumiya Mei.
He knew Zhou Hao's current arsenal was incomplete.
Without the Spiral Ball and his elite velocity, his dominance should have decreased dramatically.
And yet he was still controlling the game.
Why?
For the first time, Narumiya finally understood.
The answer wasn't simply the pitches.
It was the batter.
Zhou Hao had been reading every hitter.
Understanding their habits.
Predicting their reactions.
Identifying their weaknesses.
Then tailoring each pitch specifically to exploit those weaknesses.
That was why Inashiro's lineup kept feeling trapped.
Every batter thought they had a chance.
Only to discover they had already fallen into a carefully prepared trap.
And now—
Narumiya sensed that same trap being laid for him.
The instant the ball left Zhou Hao's hand, he reacted.
Taking a half-step backward, he swung.
Swoosh!
Crack!
The baseball shot into foul territory.
"Foul!"
A smile appeared on Narumiya Mei's face.
He was right.
He had read it correctly.
The reason Inashiro's batters had struggled wasn't because Zhou Hao's pitches were unhittable.
It was because he understood them too well.
One strike.
No balls.
Though he had fallen behind in the count, Narumiya's eyes shone brighter than ever.
For the first time all game, he felt he had found a path.
A path to hitting Zhou Hao's pitches.
Back in the dugout, the Inashiro players had nearly given up hope.
They hadn't believed a comeback was possible anymore.
But after seeing Narumiya foul off the pitch cleanly, their thoughts began to change.
Maybe Zhou Hao wasn't invincible.
Harada had managed to make contact.
Narumiya's timing looked even better.
If that was the case—
Maybe they could hit him too.
The next pitch arrived.
Crack!
Another foul ball.
Now Narumiya's at-bat looked remarkably similar to Harada's.
He seemed to have adapted to Zhou Hao's pitching.
Even some of Seido's supporters couldn't help feeling nervous.
Could Narumiya actually break through?
Meanwhile, the Inashiro fans remained strangely quiet.
Not because they lacked confidence.
But because they had been fooled by Zhou Hao too many times already.
Every time it looked like a batter had figured him out, another trap appeared.
If this was yet another illusion...
The excitement would only make the disappointment worse.
The game continued.
Two foul balls.
Two strikes.
The pressure was mounting.
Yet Zhou Hao remained completely calm.
There was no frustration.
No concern.
His expression looked exactly the same as before.
Across from him, Narumiya Mei's hands trembled with excitement.
His eyes burned with determination.
He was certain.
Absolutely certain.
He had figured it out.
He even knew where the next pitch would end up.
"It's coming."
Zhou Hao raised his arm.
Whoosh!
The baseball exploded from his fingertips.
A breaking ball.
Exactly as Narumiya had predicted.
The moment he saw the release point, confidence surged through him.
"I knew it!"
"This is your finishing pitch!"
He immediately stepped backward.
The movement created extra space, allowing him to track the ball's break more clearly.
What had originally been a blind spot would now be fully visible.
The instant Inashiro's players saw the adjustment, excitement exploded inside them.
They understood immediately.
Narumiya's movement perfectly countered the pitch.
Could it be?
Could their ace really drive Zhou Hao's pitch into the field?
Everyone watched with anticipation.
Then the ball reached the plate.
Narumiya didn't hesitate.
Boom!
The bat tore through the air with terrifying force.
The swing looked perfect.
The timing looked perfect.
Everything looked perfect.
Then—
The baseball vanished.
Narumiya's eyes widened.
He couldn't react.
Neither could anyone else.
By the time they understood what had happened—
Pop!
The baseball was already resting inside Miyuki Kazuya's glove.
"Strike!"
"Strike three!"
"Batter out!"
Silence.
Even the spectators struggled to understand what they had just witnessed.
From the stands, the ball seemed to disappear in midair.
As for Narumiya, who had been standing right in front of it—
The feeling was even more surreal.
One moment the baseball had been there.
The next moment it was gone.
Like a magic trick.
Narumiya stared at Zhou Hao in disbelief.
"Zhou Hao..."
"Can you perform magic?"
A grin appeared on Zhou Hao's face.
Surprised?
That had been his plan all along.
For most of the game, he had intentionally suppressed part of the breaking ball's movement.
Allowing opponents to gradually adapt.
Allowing them to believe they understood it.
Then, at the decisive moment—
He released the pitch's full breaking power.
The sudden increase in movement completely shattered their expectations.
It wasn't that Zhou Hao had only just learned how to do this.
He simply hadn't needed it before.
Why rely on elaborate tricks when overwhelming power could solve everything?
A boxer capable of ending a fight with a single punch wouldn't waste time dancing around the ring.
But not using a technique didn't mean he hadn't mastered it.
And now, with his strongest weapons unavailable—
Zhou Hao was finally revealing just how terrifying his pitching intelligence truly was.
The Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team was both fortunate and unfortunate.
Fortunate because the Zhou Hao standing on the mound today couldn't use his devastating high-speed fastballs.
Unfortunate because they became the first team forced to face this new version of Zhou Hao.
A version unlike anything they had ever prepared for.
Every breaking ball he threw seemed different.
Many of them were pitches no one had ever seen before.
Facing such an unpredictable pitcher without any prior knowledge—
Even a weakened Zhou Hao felt overwhelming.
The Inashiro batters simply couldn't find an answer.
With two outs, Inashiro's sixth batter stepped into the batter's box.
By now, many Inashiro supporters had already closed their eyes in despair.
Harada Masatoshi and Narumiya Mei had been their final hopes.
If even those two couldn't record a hit against Zhou Hao, then scoring a run today would be nearly impossible.
"What was that last pitch?"
"It looked completely different from his earlier breaking balls."
"I watched the replay. The break was much bigger."
"I've never seen a pitch move like that before."
"Even on video, it's obvious."
"Unbelievable."
Then someone quietly laughed.
"Well... that's Zhou Hao."
"No matter what he does on the field anymore, I won't be surprised."
"I'll just assume it's normal."
"Same here."
"What a monster..."
The spectators couldn't stop discussing the pitch.
Meanwhile, the players of Inashiro looked increasingly pale.
Only Seido's players and supporters remained energized.
"This is exactly what I expected."
"Zhou Hao's pitching is impossible to figure out."
"It's always something new."
Technically, the inning wasn't over.
Zhou Hao still needed one more out.
Anything could happen in baseball.
Yet not a single Seido supporter seemed worried.
Even Inashiro's players remained silent, their lips tightly pressed together.
Deep down, they already understood.
The game was slipping away.
This was Zhou Hao's dominance.
Before the final out had even been recorded, he had already crushed his opponents mentally.
The sixth batter stepped in determined to fight.
But determination alone wasn't enough.
A few pitches later—
Strike three.
He went down swinging.
The inning was over.
At this point, Zhou Hao's breaking balls had become terrifying weapons.
After the Uchiha family's hereditary throwing technique evolved to its second stage, even Zhou Hao had been surprised by the results.
The movement on his pitches was absurd.
The break was so sharp and unpredictable that batters struggled to establish any rhythm at all.
Even if he relied solely on breaking balls, most opponents would still find themselves completely lost.
In some ways, it reminded people of Tanba Koichiro.
If Tanba could consistently throw his signature high-drop curveball at an elite level, he would undoubtedly be qualified to serve as the ace of any powerhouse team.
But Zhou Hao had become something else entirely.
An upgraded, all-around version of Tanba.
His breaking balls moved more violently.
His arsenal was more diverse.
And he possessed the Sharingan, allowing him to read hitters and predict their reactions before they happened.
The combination elevated his pitching to another level.
Yet despite all those differences, the foundation remained the same.
At its core, pitching was still pitching.
There was no such thing as a perfect pitch.
Only pitchers capable of maximizing their strengths.
In Seido's dugout, Tanba Koichiro stared intently at the mound.
For the first time, he felt as though he had found a direction.
Perhaps he didn't need overwhelming velocity.
Perhaps he didn't need to compete directly with the gifted first-years.
If he could fully master the weapons already in his hands...
Maybe one day he could stand on the mound with the same confidence as Zhou Hao.
Maybe then, he could solve every problem with his own pitching.
Rather than constantly questioning his place on the team.
Three outs.
Side retired.
The game moved to the bottom of the eighth inning.
Seido's turn to bat.
Narumiya Mei responded in kind.
Despite the pressure, he recorded three clean outs.
Even Oshima, who had been performing well throughout the tournament, found himself completely shut down.
Only now did he truly understand the meaning of the phrase:
There is always someone better.
It wasn't that he lacked ability.
The problem was that the pitcher standing opposite him was simply too strong.
Aside from Zhou Hao, Narumiya Mei wasn't inferior to any pitcher in the nation.
Some might even argue he was better.
The inning ended quickly.
Then came the top of the ninth.
The score remained unchanged.
Seido 2 — Inashiro 0
For Inashiro Industrial High School, this was the final chance.
There was no longer any room for hesitation.
No room for strategy.
No room for caution.
They sent up their strongest pinch hitters.
Their objective was simple.
Get a hit.
Anything else could come later.
Unfortunately for them—
Zhou Hao had no intention of allowing even that.
Whoosh!
The baseball exploded from his fingertips.
At first glance, every batter thought they had a chance.
The pitch seemed hittable.
Reachable.
Almost inviting.
Then they swung.
And everything changed.
The baseball disappeared.
Not literally, of course.
But to the hitters, it might as well have vanished into thin air.
One moment it was there.
The next moment it was gone.
By the time they desperately searched for it—
Pop!
The ball was already nestled securely in Miyuki Kazuya's mitt.
"Strike!"
"Strike two!"
"Strike three!"
"Batter out!"
The first pinch hitter struck out.
Then the second.
Then the third.
One after another.
Any remaining resistance from Inashiro gradually crumbled.
Even in the final inning, Zhou Hao's pitching showed no signs of weakening.
His fastball velocity might have disappeared.
But everything else remained intact.
In some ways, he had become even more dangerous.
"Why?"
"How is this possible?"
The Inashiro players couldn't understand.
No one could answer them.
All they could do was watch.
Watch as the final pitches flew.
Watch as the final dreams slipped away.
"Strike!"
"Strike two!"
"Strike three!"
"Batter out!"
The umpire's voice rang across the stadium one last time.
"Three outs!"
"Game over!"
The Kanto Tournament Final had come to an end.
With a score of 2–0, Seido High School stood victorious.
And standing at the center of that victory was Zhou Hao.
Without his terrifying high-speed fastball.
Without his signature Spiral Ball.
He had still completed what seemed impossible.
A complete-game shutout.
A no-hitter against the mighty Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team.
Once again proving why he was the ace of Seido High School—
And why he was the most terrifying pitcher in high school baseball.