Diamond no Ace: My Sharingan

The spring breeze brushed across his face, yet Zhou Hao remained perfectly calm.

He could sense Arata's determination to challenge him head-on.

He could even understand why Kominato Ryosuke had gone out so easily.

It wasn't that Kominato had been going easy on anyone.

He had simply chosen the strategy that gave Seido the best chance to score.

In other words, reading an opponent's determination wasn't a skill unique to Zhou Hao. Clever players could sometimes achieve the same result through scouting reports and instinct.

Just like the abilities Zhou Hao possessed.

They might seem beyond human imagination, yet they still existed within the realm of possibility.

Zhou Hao had merely combined those abilities and tilted the odds slightly in his favor.

With that realization, Zhou Hao appeared even calmer.

A faint smile lingered on his lips.

He looked ready to swing at any moment and send the ball flying out of the park.

From the outside, he looked no different from any other power hitter.

Harada stared at Zhou Hao for a long moment.

At that instant, he felt the same dread that the spectators in the stands felt.

If Arata challenged Zhou Hao directly, the outlook was grim.

Even so, Harada couldn't change the call.

Arata's fighting spirit was too rare to waste.

Seido's lineup was no joke. Earlier, they had already crushed the powerful lineups of Ichidai Sanko and Teito.

Just thinking about it made things clear.

Could Arata's pitching alone really hold back a lineup like Seido's?

Aside from a bit of luck, the only thing sustaining him right now was his overwhelming fighting spirit.

Nothing else mattered.

As long as that spirit burned, they still had a chance to win—even without their Ace on the mound.

If Harada forced Arata to back down now, it would destroy his confidence and ruin his rhythm.

Pitchers were troublesome like that.

Their emotions and personalities often flowed directly into their pitches.

Having made his decision, Harada didn't hesitate.

He set his glove firmly on the inside edge of the strike zone.

He couldn't afford to give Zhou Hao an easy pitch.

With Zhou's terrifying power, a hittable ball would be suicide.

The pitch had to graze the edge of the strike zone.

If Zhou could hit that, then so be it.

Balls struck from that location rarely produced good results.

Arata on the mound understood that perfectly.

Rather than feeling insulted, he took it as a sign of trust.

Challenging Zhou Hao with no one on base was already a bold statement.

Even elite Aces from powerhouse schools often lacked the courage to face the nation's top slugger directly.

Yet Arata dared to do it.

Acting purely on instinct, Arata gathered every ounce of strength in his body.

He lifted his leg high and drove it down.

Using the momentum of his entire body, his arm snapped forward like a bowstring released.

Whoosh!

The white baseball tore through the air.

Even the players on Inashiro Industrial's bench gasped.

Senior Arata was on fire today.

Already in the third inning, during their second confrontation, the quality of his pitches had clearly surpassed what he showed in the first inning.

Now compare that with Seido's explosive first-year pitcher.

Furuya Satoru already looked exhausted.

His velocity and control had dropped noticeably.

At this rate, he might collapse within another inning or two.

Meanwhile, Arata was still displaying elite form.

If his opponent weren't Zhou Hao—the best batter in the nation—they would probably be celebrating already.

Their relief pitcher was performing far beyond expectations.

But instead of celebrating, they could only watch nervously.

The man standing calmly in the batter's box had no intention of letting this pitch go.

As the ball approached, Zhou Hao subtly shifted half a step backward.

Behind the plate, Harada's pupils shrank.

Zhou had predicted it again.

Just how terrifying was Seido's Ace?

Anyone who faced him understood immediately.

By now, Harada had already accepted that Zhou could anticipate their pitch calls.

Even a borderline pitch like this wouldn't escape his notice.

And Zhou's adjustment proved it.

Against the vision of Zhou Hao's Sharingan, any deception Arata attempted was meaningless.

One glance was enough for Zhou to understand the plan.

That was why he moved early—to create the perfect space for his swing.

Now the moment had arrived.

To the fans in the stands—and even the Inashiro players—Arata's pitch looked sharp and perfectly executed.

But through Zhou Hao's eyes, the story was different.

To target the edge of the zone so precisely, Arata couldn't fully commit to maximum velocity or movement.

By Zhou's calculation, if he made solid contact, the ball would likely fly straight into the stands.

That was why Kominato had chosen to confront Arata directly.

If Kominato had taken a walk, the next step might have been a bases-loaded strategy.

With Arata still in top form, Seido might have ended up stranding all the runners.

So Kominato had gambled.

Either he would reach base himself, or he would pass the opportunity to Zhou Hao.

And Zhou had no intention of wasting his senior's effort.

As the baseball closed in, Zhou Hao gathered all his strength.

Starting from his hips, his entire body rotated explosively as the bat cut through the air.

"Fly!"

Crack!

The violent sound of the swing startled Harada behind the plate.

No matter the moment, Zhou Hao shone with a brilliance that captivated both friend and foe.

Even Harada, his opponent, couldn't look away.

That was the magic of Zhou Hao.

Ping!

Just as the ball skimmed the edge of the strike zone, Zhou Hao's bat met it perfectly.

Everyone watched as the ball shot high into the sky.

Every pair of eyes in the stadium followed the tiny white dot.

It kept flying.

Past one hundred meters.

Only then did it begin to descend.

The Inashiro outfielder had already positioned himself deep in the field.

He waited for the ball to drop.

But even with his back nearly against the wall, he couldn't reach it.

All he could do was watch helplessly as it sailed over his head and disappeared into the stands.

A roar erupted immediately behind him.

"That ball's mine!"

"A gift from heaven! It's finally my turn!"

Fans scrambled wildly, the area turning into chaos.

The announcer's voice rang across the stadium.

"Home run! A solo shot from Seido High School!"

"Seido scores their third run of the game!"

"The score is now 3–1!"

Zhou Hao's home run pushed Seido's lead even further.

"It's outta here!"

"As expected—Zhou Hao is the best!"

"So much for Inashiro's pitcher being special!"

"Looks like he's nothing after all!"

In Seido's dugout, Kominato Ryosuke narrowed his eyes with satisfaction.

"Knew it."

He might have reached base himself—the odds were decent, if not guaranteed.

But he judged that even if he did, Seido's chances of scoring might actually decrease.

After all, Inashiro's pitcher looked a little unhinged.

Daring to challenge Zhou Hao pitch for pitch?

Even the so-called prodigies of Osaka Kiryu's "Universe Team" wouldn't dare do something like that.

Yet Arata had done it.

So perhaps a small lesson was necessary.

Once he learned it, Inashiro's reliever would surely grow stronger.

One out. Bases empty.

Seido's next batter stepped up.

Their cleanup hitter.

"Cleanup, number three, first baseman—Yuki!"

Right after Zhou Hao's home run, the next man at bat was Yuki Tetsuya.

Even the players on Inashiro's side felt that their pitcher's luck had hit rock bottom.

Normal bad luck couldn't possibly be this cruel.

"That pitch he threw with so much confidence just got blasted… will his mentality hold up?"

Crouching behind home plate, Harada glanced thoughtfully at Arata on the mound.

He couldn't tell what kind of state Arata was in right now.

Arata met Harada's gaze and gave him a firm nod.

As if to say:

I'm fine. Keep calling the pitches.

Harada took a deep breath and made his decision.

He couldn't say he completely trusted Arata's judgment.

But at this point, there was no other option.

Not after Arata had shown such courage.

If they backed down now, his bold challenge to Zhou Hao would become a joke.

And Inashiro refused to become the laughingstock.

They had chosen this path.

No matter what hardships lay ahead, they would walk it to the very end.

"Whoosh!"

Arata's pitching motion showed no sign of hesitation.

The white baseball left his hand with explosive force.

Even the grim-faced Coach Kunimoto nodded slightly when he saw that pitch.

The game had become far more difficult than he had imagined.

Seido High was far stronger than expected.

Even without their Ace on the mound, they still held the lead.

But Inashiro hadn't gained nothing from this match.

Their reliever's performance had impressed him.

In that regard, they still held an advantage over Seido.

Just then—

At the plate, Yuki Tetsuya swung.

Without any warning, his bat cut through the air like lightning.

Crack!

Harada barely reacted.

He had seen this countless times before.

Or perhaps he had simply grown numb to it.

Ping!

The ball shot off the bat like a bullet.

It was so fast that almost no one had time to react.

Even Inashiro's elite fielders could only start moving after the ball had already passed them.

The ball struck the ground and took a nasty hop.

By the time the fielders chased it down, Yuki had already reached first base safely.

"Safe!"

One out.

Runner on first.

Once again, the same situation had appeared.

A near-perfect replay of what had happened earlier.

The expressions of Inashiro's players—and their fans—grew darker with every passing moment.

Once Seido's offense began to connect hits, it flowed like a raging flood.

Both the scouting reports and today's game had proven that clearly.

If Inashiro made even the slightest mistake, their chances would disappear instantly.

Seido would keep building momentum until their opponent was completely buried.

"We can't let this continue!"

"We have to strike back—now!"

The pressure on Inashiro kept mounting.

It was only the third inning, yet the team already felt suffocated.

If they couldn't turn the tide soon, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The players standing on the field felt it more clearly than anyone.

Their expressions grew heavier with each pitch.

They all understood one thing.

Even though it was still early in the game—

This was already the decisive showdown.

If they lost the next clash as well, Inashiro would join Ichidai Sanko and Teito as the latest punchline in Seido's unstoppable rise.