"Ping!"
The instant the bat connected with the baseball, every heart inside Koshien seemed to tighten at once.
It was impossible to tell whether it was imagination or reality, but tens of thousands of spectators felt as if they had clearly heard that crisp impact echo through the stadium. The sound was sharp and heavy, as though it had struck not only the ball but also the nerves of everyone present.
Then the force of that swing erupted.
The baseball shot forward violently, rising with such overwhelming power that, for a fleeting second, many felt as if the entire world had been flung outward with it.
They had never seen a swing quite like that.
The white ball climbed higher and higher, cutting through the thick summer air. It did not wobble. It did not stall. It simply kept rising until it disappeared beyond the stands.
Silence.
At that moment, not only the supporters of Osaka Kiryuu High School Baseball Team and the neutral spectators were stunned. Even Seido High School Baseball Team's own supporters were frozen in disbelief.
What just happened?
Although they had watched it unfold with their own eyes, most people remained bewildered.
It took more than ten seconds before someone hesitantly tugged at the sleeve of a friend beside him.
"Did the ball just fly out?"
"It looked like it… but it happened too fast. I didn't even react."
Even the answer carried uncertainty.
"Congratulations to Seido! At this critical juncture, their Fourth batter, Azuma Kiyokuni, has blasted a Homerun, scoring one run for the team!"
The Commentator finally found his voice after confirming through replay.
If he had not seen the slow-motion footage, he himself would not have dared to be certain. The ball had left the stadium so quickly that the naked eye could barely follow its trajectory.
A Homerun.
And not just any Homerun, but one that cleared Koshien entirely.
The scoreboard shifted.
13–9.
Seido High School Baseball Team trailed by four.
On the surface, that single run did not seem to change much. It was still a four-run deficit in the late innings.
But the true situation was far from unchanged.
A direct Homerun at such a moment did more than adjust numbers. It shattered the emotional balance of the game.
Moments earlier, Seido had seemed as though they had been kicked off a cliff by Osaka Kiryuu. Even though the game had not officially ended, their chances of climbing back up had appeared nearly nonexistent.
This run was like a hand gripping the edge of that cliff and pulling them back just enough to cling to hope.
The danger remained.
The deficit remained.
But compared to when they were five runs behind, the psychological landscape was entirely different.
Before, they could not even see the possibility of a comeback.
Now, however slim, it was visible.
"Too fierce!"
"As expected of the Fourth batter!"
"You may not look impressive, but from today on, I'm your fan!"
The stands erupted.
Excitement swept through Seido's supporters like wildfire. What had seemed hopeless now flickered with possibility.
At this very moment, Azuma Kiyokuni stepped fully into the spotlight.
Six Homeruns.
The game was not even over yet. There was still a chance he could bat again. And Seido had not surrendered.
Professional baseball scouts were already watching closely. Not just the twelve clubs in Japan, but even overseas teams had begun to take notice.
Six Homeruns at Koshien.
Such a record could not be ignored.
He was not a once-in-a-century anomaly, but he was undoubtedly a prodigy who might only appear once every decade.
In this instant, millions of fans across the country remembered a name.
Seido High School.
Azuma Kiyokuni.
Cheers and applause cascaded down like rain.
When Azuma rounded the bases and returned to Home Base, his expression had changed.
He was no longer the silent, fully concentrated hitter from moments ago. The intense focus had receded, and his familiar personality resurfaced.
A triumphant smile spread across his face.
Yuuki Tetsuya instinctively prepared himself, expecting Azuma to boast loudly as he had done before.
But Azuma surprised him.
Although clearly pleased, he did not act smug. As he walked past Yuuki, he simply reached out and patted his shoulder.
"The rest is up to you."
No arrogance. No self-congratulation.
Azuma understood the situation clearly. No matter how glorious the moment, Seido was still trailing by four runs.
"Don't worry," Yuuki replied solemnly.
Azuma would not give up.
Neither would Seido.
From their perspective, the game was not over.
Five runs had been suffocating. Four was still daunting, but momentum had shifted. They still had two full innings of offense.
They could do it. They had to believe that.
"Yuuki! Yuuki!"
The Seido supporters roared in unison. Tens of thousands shouted his name together, the sound reverberating through Koshien's steel structure.
The stadium trembled faintly beneath that unified voice.
On the mound, Tachi Hiromi felt it.
When Azuma had hit that ball, Tachi had already been shaken by the overwhelming aura behind the swing.
Now, faced with the thunderous roar of Seido's supporters, his composure wavered further.
Instinctively, he took a small step back.
It was subtle.
But Seido's players noticed.
Off the field, they might be easygoing and even playful. On the field, they were relentless.
They sensed it immediately.
Fear.
This was an opportunity.
Even if rationally the comeback seemed unlikely, opportunities in baseball were often born from moments like this.
Yuuki felt it too.
His aura pressed forward naturally, synchronizing with the tension on the mound.
He stepped slightly toward the batter's box, intensifying the psychological pressure.
And Tachi Hiromi, whose grin had resembled that of a demon moments ago, unconsciously retreated another half step.
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