"What?!"
Narumiya Mei stared in shock as the baseball rocketed through the air after being crushed by Ushijima's swing.
The entire Inashiro team froze as they watched the ball soar toward right field.
However, the right-field umpire immediately waved his arms.
"Foul ball!!!"
Although it landed out of bounds, the hit still frightened everyone on Inashiro's side.
If the ball had stayed fair, it would have been a leadoff home run.
"WOOOAH! That was so close!"
The crowd erupted into excited cheers.
"It almost became an opening home run!"
"That was Narumiya Mei's full-power fastball too!"
"Judging from the speed, it had to be at least 148 kilometers per hour!"
"And Ushijima nearly sent it out of the stadium?!"
Both teams were visibly shaken by the very first exchange between the two aces.
Especially Narumiya Mei.
He had attacked the outside corner with a full-power fastball…
…and Ushijima had still nearly taken him deep.
Even if it was foul, how could someone pull a pitch that fast with such force?
"Terrifying…" Narumiya muttered unconsciously on the mound.
At that moment, Harada quickly flashed him a sign.
"Use the slider to disrupt his timing."
Narumiya immediately understood.
Meanwhile, Ushijima remained completely calm in the batter's box.
Narumiya gripped the ball tightly before throwing the third pitch.
"Hmph!"
WHOOOSH!
The slider flew out of his hand at full power.
The moment the ball left Narumiya's fingers, Ushijima noticed the difference.
Slower.
Not a fastball.
His thoughts flashed instantly.
A slider?
Without hesitation, Ushijima swung.
But just before the ball reached the plate, it sharply broke downward and inside.
Slider!
"Oh no—I misjudged it!"
In that split second, Ushijima forcibly adjusted his swing.
He bent his knees sharply and lowered his body.
CLANG!!!
The bottom edge of the bat barely clipped the underside of the baseball.
The ball bounced backward behind the catcher.
"Foul!"
Harada's eyes widened in shock.
"He adjusted his swing mid-motion…"
"Not only did he react in time, he even lowered his stance instantly to get under the ball."
"If he hadn't crouched down, the bat would've rolled over the top of it and produced an easy grounder."
"So calm…"
"And such absurd reaction speed."
Many experienced players watching the game were equally stunned.
As the saying went:
Amateurs watched the excitement.
Experts watched the details.
Anyone skilled at batting could immediately see how incredible Ushijima's adjustment had been.
"A terrifying baseball IQ…"
"Calm judgment."
"And unbelievably fast reflexes."
"Yeah," one scout muttered. "This kid's batting talent might be even scarier than his pitching."
The player beside him silently nodded.
On the mound, Narumiya clenched his fist tightly.
"How is he keeping up with all of this…?"
Then, for the first time, Narumiya truly acknowledged him.
"Incredible…"
"No wonder they call him a monster rookie."
Inside the batter's box, Ushijima also quietly exhaled.
At the same time, he had finally experienced firsthand just how nasty Narumiya Mei's slider really was.
I almost got fooled there.
Narumiya didn't give him time to think.
WHOOOSH!
Another pitch exploded toward the plate.
This time, it was an accelerated fastball.
After showing the slower slider, immediately following with a maximum-speed fastball was a completely standard sequencing strategy.
BAAAANG!!!
Ushijima reacted instantly and swung.
The baseball became a white streak as it screamed toward the foul territory wall.
SMASH!
"Foul ball!"
The crowd erupted again.
"Another foul!"
"If that had stayed fair, it would've smashed off the outfield wall!"
The atmosphere in the stadium became increasingly tense.
Four pitches.
No balls.
Two strikes.
Neither side was willing to back down.
Harada quickly gave the next sign.
Low inside fastball.
Narumiya immediately nodded and delivered the pitch.
Inside the batter's box, Ushijima's bat exploded forward the instant the ball entered his range.
CLANG!
The inside fastball was cleanly pulled.
The moment contact was made, Ushijima casually tossed the bat aside and exploded toward first base.
"He hit it!"
"So fast!"
"What insane acceleration!"
The crowd gasped in shock.
On the field, shortstop Shirakawa hurried desperately to his right after seeing the ball sneak through the infield.
Even though he managed to stop it before it reached the outfield, Ushijima's speed still terrified him.
Shirakawa immediately spun and fired the ball to first.
But before the throw could even reach the baseman's glove—
Ushijima's foot had already touched the bag.
"Safe!"
The first-base umpire spread his arms wide.
"Damn it!" Shirakawa cursed in frustration. "We still couldn't get him out?!"
"He's way too fast…" Harada muttered behind the plate.
That final pitch had already been difficult enough to handle.
Yet Ushijima still managed to make contact.
Only Ushijima himself knew how dangerous that pitch really was.
Originally, he had intended to drive it deep into the outfield.
But Narumiya's pitch had too much speed and movement.
At the very end, he could barely keep up with it at all, much less control where it landed.
This perfectly demonstrated Narumiya Mei's terrifying pitching quality.
Against pitches at that level, accurately aiming the ball became nearly impossible.
Just making solid contact was already impressive enough.
If not for his speed, that hit probably would've become an out as well.
The stadium announcer's voice echoed once again.
"Second batter, shortstop — Kuramochi!"
Kuramochi had been waiting impatiently for his turn.
The moment he stepped into the batter's box, he immediately chose to bat left-handed.
Harada narrowed his eyes.
"Normally, right-handed batters have an easier time seeing a left-handed pitcher's release point…"
"But instead of batting right-handed, he chose the left side?"
Narumiya instantly understood Kuramochi's intention.
"In the past, your strategy was always to buy time for Ushijima to steal."
"But now you're batting left-handed so you can reach first base even faster…"
"You're trying to use speed to pressure us."
The moment he realized that, Narumiya immediately went into his pitching motion.
Meanwhile, Ushijima, standing on first base, remained surprisingly still.
He stayed close to the bag without attempting a steal.
Harada looked confused.
"What? He's not running?"
"Strike!"
The umpire's voice rang out sharply.