Whoosh!
The baseball exploded out of Sanada's hand like a bullet fired from a pistol.
In the blink of an eye, it was already in front of Isashiki Jun.
"You think I'd be scared of that?! Dream on!"
As the ball raced toward him, every muscle in Isashiki's body tensed.
He lifted the bat high...
Then unleashed a full-powered swing.
Crack!
The moment the bat connected with the ball, Yakushi's catcher—and every one of their supporters—felt their hearts sink.
"Damn it..."
"They hit it again..."
Seido's batters were simply too strong.
Sanada's pitches were already among the best in the country.
Yet against Seido's lineup, they seemed no more threatening than batting practice.
From the spectators' perspective, all they could do was watch as Yakushi's ace had his pitches driven into play again and again.
The baseball skipped across the infield after landing.
Yakushi's fielders reacted, but they were a step too late.
At that moment...
The greatest weakness in Yakushi's lineup was exposed for everyone to see.
A true powerhouse wasn't defined by just a few star players.
It was built on the strength of every player on the field.
Yakushi certainly possessed players capable of matching those from elite schools.
Some of them were even better.
But they also had obvious weak points.
Their defense, in particular, still had several glaring holes.
Against ordinary opponents, those flaws rarely stood out.
Against Seido...
They became impossible to hide.
The sharply hit ball skipped past the defenders before anyone could stop it.
Without hesitation, Isashiki flung away his bat and exploded toward first base.
He rounded the bag without slowing down.
Straight for second.
"Safe!"
Meanwhile, Yuki Tetsuya easily rounded third and crossed home plate.
"Seido High School scores its fourth run of the game!"
"The score is now 4–0!"
Seido had scored three runs in a single inning.
Against the reigning national champions, that alone would have been remarkable.
But that wasn't what truly shocked everyone.
The terrifying part...
Was how they had done it.
Their rally began with two outs.
The bases had been empty.
One more out should have ended the inning.
In other words...
Seido had been walking a tightrope.
One mistake...
One routine out...
And the inning would have been over.
Yet instead...
Kominato Ryosuke reached base.
Zhou Hao crushed a two-run home run.
Yuki followed with a hit.
Then Isashiki drove in another run.
Four consecutive hits.
Including a towering home run.
The sheer efficiency of Seido's offense left everyone speechless.
Their opponent was Sanada.
No one believed Yakushi's ace had pitched poorly.
His velocity...
His command...
His movement...
Everything remained at its usual high level.
And yet...
Seido continued driving his pitches into play as though they had already solved him.
"Yakushi High School requests a substitution!"
At that moment, Todoroki Raizo calmly raised his hand from the dugout.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
The plan he had prepared from the very beginning...
Could finally begin.
Seeing that smile, several Seido players instinctively felt a chill run down their spines.
"He's definitely planning something."
Although Yakushi's coach usually gave the impression of being carefree and absent-minded...
No one at Seido dared underestimate him.
If Yakushi had reached this stage of the tournament, it wasn't by luck alone.
Todoroki Raizo was a far more dangerous opponent than he appeared.
If the situation were reversed—
If Seido had fallen behind 4–0—
There was no way Coach Kataoka would be smiling so calmly while making a pitching change.
"They're taking Sanada off the mound?"
"What a shame."
"I thought he was pitching really well."
"Could Yakushi possibly have another pitcher as good as him?"
The speaker immediately shook his own head.
Even he couldn't believe what he had just suggested.
Pitchers of Sanada's caliber were rare even among the nation's elite programs.
For a dark horse like Yakushi to already possess three extraordinary first-years and an ace like Sanada Shunpei...
That was already a blessing beyond imagination.
The odds of them having another pitcher of equal ability were practically zero.
"Is this really the right time to take Sanada off the mound?"
Watching the unexpected substitution, Oowada Akiko, the beautiful reporter from Baseball Kingdom Magazine, couldn't help widening her eyes.
She genuinely didn't understand the reasoning behind it.
Beside her, veteran reporter Fujio calmly explained.
"It's actually a very reasonable decision."
"The more valuable your ace is, the more important it becomes to protect him."
"If he completely loses his rhythm, the game is over."
"When your ace can't immediately stop the bleeding, taking him off the mound to regroup is often the smartest move a coach can make."
As he spoke, Fujio shifted his gaze toward Todoroki Raizo.
The middle-aged coach still wore the same carefree smile.
He looked sloppy.
Unconventional.
Almost unserious.
Yet anyone who truly understood baseball knew better.
Behind that easygoing appearance...
Lurked one of the sharpest tactical minds in the game.
At first, Fujio had assumed that a coach like Todoroki Raizo could do little more than offer technical advice to his players.
As for anything beyond that...
He hadn't expected much.
It wasn't an unreasonable assumption.
After all, this was high school baseball.
No matter how closely it resembled the professional game, there were still fundamental differences.
Take the pitchers, for example.
Professional baseball used the designated hitter rule, meaning pitchers didn't have to bat.
High school baseball was different.
Pitchers hit for themselves, making substitutions and defensive adjustments far more flexible.
Moving an ace pitcher to another defensive position to let him regain his composure without removing him from the game entirely...
That was a strategy unique to high school baseball.
And Todoroki Raizo had executed it brilliantly.
It was obvious he had devoted tremendous effort to studying the game before taking over Yakushi High.
More importantly...
The substitution sent a clear message.
Yakushi wasn't giving up.
Despite trailing 4–0...
Despite already reaching the third inning...
And despite the possibility of surrendering even more runs...
They still intended to launch a comeback.
Fujio narrowed his eyes.
His gaze shifted from Yakushi's dugout to Seido's.
A powerhouse like Seido...
Are you ready for an opponent who's prepared to fight until the very end?
The answer to that question could decide the game.
If Seido was prepared...
They would weather whatever Yakushi had planned.
If they weren't...
Then perhaps this dark horse really could create a miracle.
Yakushi's new pitcher was a third-year.
The moment Seido's players saw him take the mound, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although they had already scored four runs, no one considered the inning easy.
Sanada Shunpei had placed enormous pressure on every batter.
Even the players who had already recorded hits weren't eager to face his Jet Ball and Cutter again.
Everyone shared the same thought.
If Sanada had remained on the mound...
Seido's scoring opportunities would have become increasingly limited.
The game might even have remained close until the ninth inning.
Now that he had been moved off the mound...
The atmosphere in Seido's dugout immediately lightened.
"The toughest guy is gone."
"Time to keep piling on the runs."
"Let's keep this rally alive."
Miyuki Kazuya stepped into the batter's box.
As Seido's sixth batter, he received an enthusiastic ovation from the crowd.
The cheers were so loud that it almost felt as though he had already gotten a hit.
Across the field, Yakushi's players couldn't understand what they were seeing.
Why are they so confident?
In their minds, changing pitchers should have disrupted Seido's rhythm.
After all...
A new pitcher meant every batter had to adjust all over again.
Just as they were thinking that—
The third-year pitcher delivered his first pitch.
Whoosh!
The baseball broke sharply as it approached the plate.
Its movement was so erratic that it was difficult to judge exactly where it would finish.
"What a strange breaking ball..."
"Has he been hiding that all this time?"
Inside Seido's dugout, several players frowned.
They quickly understood what was happening.
It wasn't just Sanada.
Even Yakushi's relief pitcher had been concealing his true weapon.
Only now, against Seido, had he finally revealed it.
Situations like this weren't unusual.
Especially for Seido.
Nearly every strong opponent they faced held back one or two secret weapons specifically for them.
However...
Hiding both an ace pitcher and another pitcher's signature breaking ball?
That was exceptionally rare.
Even Seido had never encountered something quite like this.
Naturally...
They became curious.
Meanwhile, Miyuki calmly raised his bat.
As the pitch entered the zone—
He swung immediately.
Crack!
Inside Seido's dugout, Manager Ota frowned deeply.
"Too reckless..."
In his opinion, Miyuki shouldn't have attacked the very first pitch.
The opponent had just entered the game.
His first offering was an unfamiliar breaking ball.
The sensible approach would have been to watch a few pitches first.
Study the movement.
Identify its weaknesses.
Then attack.
After all, Miyuki was the type of batter who excelled by gathering information.
Swinging immediately didn't fit his usual style at all.
Yet...
Before Ota could finish his thoughts—
The baseball had already been driven into play.
Yakushi's players were stunned.
They had expected exactly what Ota had expected.
Even if their relief pitcher wasn't strong enough to suppress Seido completely...
His hidden breaking ball should at least have bought them some time.
A few outs.
A little breathing room.
Enough for Sanada to recover.
Reality, however...
Was merciless.
The new pitcher had barely stepped onto the mound before his secret weapon was exposed.
The baseball skipped across the grass after landing.
Once again...
Yakushi's defenders couldn't stop it.
Their defensive flaws had become painfully obvious.
Several positions were exceptionally solid.
But two or three others remained clear weak points.
Whenever Seido managed to drive the ball into those areas...
A hit was almost guaranteed.
Miyuki had recognized that weakness immediately.
Not only did he crush an unfamiliar breaking ball on the very first pitch...
He placed it perfectly into the defensive gap.
Thud!
"It gets through!"
The Seido supporters finally witnessed the offensive explosion they had been waiting for.
The baseball rolled deep into the outfield.
Isashiki Jun crossed home plate with ease.
Meanwhile, Miyuki reached first safely.
"Safe!"
"The score is now 5–0!"
"Seido High School scores its fifth run of the game!"
Five consecutive hits.
Four runs.
Even after Yakushi changed pitchers...
Seido's offense showed no sign of slowing down.
The seventh batter stepped to the plate.
"Masuko!"
Standing in the batter's box, Masuko Toru looked like an immovable mountain.
The moment the pitch left the pitcher's hand...
He attacked without hesitation.
Boom!
His bat roared through the air.
Crack!
The breaking ball was crushed.
The baseball soared high into the night sky before disappearing into the outfield stands.
A home run.
Back in Yakushi's dugout, Todoroki Raizo could only smile bitterly.
"A breaking ball..."
"If it lacks enough velocity..."
"And doesn't have enough bite..."
"It simply isn't enough to challenge Seido's lineup."
This was something even he hadn't anticipated.
Originally, he had expected to sacrifice another run or two after the pitching change.
Five or six runs...
He could still accept that.
But he never imagined Masuko—who had been relatively quiet until now—would suddenly launch a two-run home run.
"Seido High School scores two more runs!"
"The score is now..."
7–0.