Zhang Han swung.
And missed.
For a moment, the Seido High School Baseball Team dugout fell into stunned silence. The players exchanged glances, as if silently asking one another whether what they had just witnessed was real.
Zhang Han had actually swung and failed to make contact?
For other players, even top hitters like Azuma Kiyokuni or Yuuki Tetsuya, swinging and missing was nothing unusual. Even the strongest batters accumulated their share of empty swings over time. Add them together, and the number would not be small.
But Zhang Han?
In his early days, when his technique was still rough, perhaps misses were common. However, ever since he developed his own distinct batting style and rhythm, they could not remember the last time they had seen him swing and completely miss the ball.
This was the first time in recent memory.
That realization unsettled them even more.
When had they begun to take something so unreasonable for granted? Somewhere along the way, they had subconsciously accepted the idea that as long as Zhang Han swung the bat, the ball would be hit.
What kind of logic was that?
It was absurd.
And yet Zhang Han had that kind of presence. He made the unreasonable feel natural. He made miracles seem routine.
Thinking about it carefully, this first year rookie had indeed created more than one miracle already.
Hidezawa's eyes narrowed as he quickly caught the key detail. "That was a forkball."
Tanaka nodded slowly. "The velocity wasn't much lower than a fastball. Over 130 kilometers per hour, and it still dropped that sharply. How does he even throw something like that?"
Komochi's breaking ball quality was extraordinary. Even if a batter saw the pitch clearly and anticipated it in advance, driving it cleanly would still be extremely difficult.
"Things are getting serious," someone muttered quietly.
Before this game against Osaka Kiryuu High School, Seido's players had already understood that victory would not come easily. Facing the Cosmic Team meant facing one of the strongest programs in the country. They had expected challenges. They had expected tests.
What they were experiencing now was one of those tests.
Only this one felt heavier than anticipated.
For the first time in a long while, they truly felt what it meant to be suppressed by an opponent. Previously, they had been the ones overwhelming others with power. They had not paid much attention to what that felt like from the other side.
Now they understood.
And it was unpleasant.
If given a choice, none of them wanted to experience this feeling even for a single minute longer. They preferred to dominate, not to be dominated.
In contrast, the supporters of Osaka Kiryuu were euphoric.
They could not perceive the complicated emotions within Seido's dugout. All they saw was their ace unleashing a devastating forkball that even Zhang Han could not touch.
Excitement surged through the stands. Fans leapt to their feet, shouting wildly.
"He's just a first year!"
"Trying to challenge Osaka Kiryuu? Come back in eight hundred years!"
Their taunts grew increasingly bold and arrogant. Even some neutral spectators began to frown.
"He's only a first year student. Do they really need to go that far?" someone murmured in dissatisfaction.
In the neutral fans' eyes, Osaka Kiryuu's supporters were behaving in a manner unworthy of a team known as the Cosmic Team.
Fujio, watching from the press section, merely curved his lips slightly. Whether Osaka Kiryuu's supporters were overreacting was debatable. However, the fact that they were forced into such emotional extremes said something important.
Zhang Han's performance had shaken them.
From another perspective, this uproar was proof of how much of a threat he had become.
Amid the chaos in the stands, Zhang Han remained calm at home plate. He ignored the noise completely.
Komochi's forkball had never appeared in their previous encounters. It had clearly been preserved as a secret weapon. The fact that it was revealed now meant something significant.
They had pushed Osaka Kiryuu to the brink.
With two strikes already against him, Zhang understood the situation clearly. The opposing battery would be eager to secure this final out. There were two logical possibilities for the next pitch.
Either they would throw another forkball, trusting its effectiveness.
Or they would throw a ball outside the zone, attempting to tempt him into a reckless swing.
Both options were plausible. Both carried risk.
They had choices.
He did not.
The forkball's quality was so high that even if he anticipated it perfectly, hitting it solidly would still be extremely difficult. Therefore, from the beginning, this at bat had been a gamble.
He chose to bet on the possibility of a ball.
Komochi worked quickly. With two strikes and confidence restored, he did not waste time. After receiving the sign, he delivered the next pitch almost immediately, not even glancing at the runners on first and third.
His focus was singular.
Defeat Zhang Han, and the inning ends.
The baseball shot toward the inside corner.
The moment Zhang saw its trajectory, he knew.
He had gambled correctly.
After two strikes, pitchers and catchers trained at elite schools often relied on ingrained habits. Throw a tempting ball. Entice the batter to chase. It was almost instinctive, drilled into them through countless repetitions.
Zhang stepped subtly backward as he initiated his swing. The slight adjustment transformed what would have been an inside ball into a hittable pitch.
In front of tens of thousands of stunned spectators, his bat connected with exquisite precision.
The crack echoed sharply.
The baseball streaked past the infield, landing behind the first baseman and racing deep into the outfield. After bouncing, it rolled dangerously close to the wall.
Azuma Kiyokuni sprinted home from third.
Yuuki Tetsuya, running aggressively from first, rounded third and followed.
By the time Osaka Kiryuu's outfielder retrieved the ball, it was too late.
Both runners crossed the plate.
The scoreboard flipped.
Six to four.
Seido High School Baseball Team had exploded for five runs in a single inning and seized the lead.
The stadium atmosphere shifted dramatically.
Every gaze that turned toward Zhang Han now carried something different.
Fear.
"This first year… is he cheating?" someone whispered hoarsely.
The once roaring Osaka Kiryuu supporters fell momentarily silent, unable to process what they had just witnessed.
In a duel filled with pressure, strategy, and pride, Zhang Han had once again defied expectation.
And the game had turned completely upside down.
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