As expected, Akikawa Academy won their match.
That meant Seido's next opponent would indeed be Akikawa.
As the Seido team left the stadium, they happened to run into the Akikawa players walking in the opposite direction.
Among them was the tall boy wearing glasses.
You Shunshin.
His gaze landed on Ushijima Wakatoshi.
"We meet again."
He spoke in Mandarin, not Japanese.
The sudden switch of language surprised Ushijima for a moment.
You Shunshin's Chinese carried a faint Taiwanese accent, but it was extremely fluent.
Ushijima couldn't help but find it interesting.
In his memory, You Shunshin's Chinese sounded awkward and broken, almost like someone who had lived in Japan for too long.
Because of that, many people believed You Shunshin was practically Japanese.
But in reality—
His Chinese was perfectly natural.
Sometimes the strange impression only came from voice acting.
"Oh?" Ushijima smiled faintly. "You still remember me?"
You Shunshin adjusted his glasses.
"The surname Ushijima is extremely rare in China."
"You might not even meet one in a thousand people."
"And among those who play baseball?"
"You're probably the only one."
"So of course I remember."
Ushijima chuckled softly.
That explanation made sense.
However, the conversation between the two quickly left everyone around them confused.
Because they couldn't understand a single word.
Well… almost everyone.
Yuki Tetsuya could understand a little.
His aunt had married someone from China, and he had visited the country several times before.
So he could grasp some basic Chinese—
Though speaking it himself was another matter entirely.
"See you on the field the day after tomorrow," You Shunshin said with a calm smile.
Ushijima extended his hand.
"See you then."
The two shook hands briefly before walking past each other.
To You Shunshin, this upcoming match was something he looked forward to.
He had great confidence in his abilities.
But Ushijima knew very well—
You Shunshin was indeed a formidable pitcher.
His pitching wasn't quite at the level of Narumiya Mei, but purely in terms of technical skill, he was definitely stronger than Tanba.
The main reason You Shunshin struggled in tournaments was simple.
His teammates weren't strong enough.
If he had Seido's lineup supporting him—
They could easily dominate the entire Tokyo region.
You Shunshin was like a precision machine.
His pitching speed wasn't extremely high.
But his ball control was terrifying.
In fact, within the entire Diamond no Ace lineup, very few pitchers could match his control.
Even Narumiya Mei couldn't compare.
The only pitcher who might rival him in that area was Mukai Taiyo of Teito High School.
You Shunshin's pitching style was also very standard:
Four-Seam Fastball
Curveball with vertical drop
His speed hovered around 140–142 km/h.
That might not sound overwhelming, but in high school baseball—
It was already impressive.
Most pitchers in Koshien threw between 135–145 km/h.
Only a rare few exceeded 145 km/h.
So while You Shunshin wasn't a monstrous power pitcher—
He was still a top-tier high school ace.
More importantly, he possessed two qualities Tanba lacked:
Strong mental resilience
Calm analytical ability
Because of that, Ushijima personally believed You Shunshin's overall ability was actually higher than Tanba's.
The next day, both teams arrived at the stadium.
Sawamura looked around excitedly.
"Hohoho~ This is going to be interesting!"
"Our cheering section is so loud, but Akikawa's side is completely quiet!"
Miyuki laughed.
"Doesn't that show exactly how strong they are?"
"Huh?" Sawamura blinked.
Furuya looked equally confused.
Miyuki sighed and explained.
"Akikawa Academy isn't a famous baseball powerhouse."
"In fact, they focus mainly on academics and university entrance rates."
"For their students, club activities aren't the top priority."
"You could say that almost everyone who studies there has excellent grades."
"But even under those conditions…"
"They still made it to the third round of the tournament."
Miyuki crossed his arms.
"Just think about it."
"They don't have facilities like ours."
"They don't have the same coaching staff."
"And their training environment isn't as good as Seido's."
"Yet they still reached this stage."
"That alone deserves respect."
After hearing the explanation, the three first-years finally understood.
Ushijima simply stretched his shoulders and prepared for the game.
At that moment, Coach Kataoka called the players together.
"Miyuki."
"When calling pitches today, you can be more aggressive."
"Ushijima has too many pitch types now."
"That's both our advantage…"
"…and our weakness."
Everyone's gaze shifted toward Ushijima.
Even he nodded helplessly while warming up.
"All my breaking pitches move to the right side."
"The only exception is the Cutter, which breaks left."
"And vertically."
"The Sinker also drops, but it moves down and to the right."
Ushijima shrugged.
"These pitches all developed based on my natural throwing habits."
"So yeah… it's a bit troublesome."
Coach Kataoka nodded.
"Exactly."
"That's why you can be bold when pairing pitches."
"Ushijima's five pitch types are a double-edged sword."
"If used well, they become blades that cut down the opponent."
"But if used poorly…"
"They can cut ourselves."
Miyuki grinned confidently.
"Haha, don't worry."
"In the first two games, Chris and Miyauchi handled the catching."
"I've been itching to try for a while now."
"Finally my turn."
Miyuki hadn't played in the first two games, but he understood the coach's decision.
Chris was a third-year senior, and with the early opponents being weak, the coach wanted to give him a chance to play.
Miyauchi playing in the second match was also part of the plan.
Coach Kataoka wanted to increase the compatibility between Ushijima and Miyauchi, just in case.
Chris sighed slightly.
"To be honest…"
"If I wasn't injured, I wouldn't want to give the catcher position to you."
"Catching for Ushijima is the most comfortable thing ever."
"NO WAY!!!"
Sawamura suddenly shouted in panic.
"Chris-senpai belongs to me!"
"You can't partner with that bastard Ushijima!"
The moment he said that—
Everyone froze.
The wording sounded… strange.
Very strange.
Almost like some kind of weird possessiveness.
Ushijima wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He didn't even bother responding.
"Alright," Coach Kataoka said firmly.
"The lineup remains the same."
"Only the catcher position changes."
"Get ready to take the field."
"YES!" the team shouted in unison.