Chapter 169: A Head-on Duel!

Perhaps he could tangle with the opponent a bit more to drain the pitcher's stamina!

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, unnoticed by anyone.

Following this, Matsuki Musashi, full of confidence, once again threw a Fastball.

Huangqian Yangyi immediately locked onto the ball's trajectory and swung his bat; this time it was on the outside corner!

"Jianjie!"

"Jianjie!"

"Jianjie!"

For three consecutive pitches, Matsuki Musashi kept the speed above 150, and although Huangqian Yangyi couldn't hit them cleanly after tracking the ball each time, his luck was decent enough to foul them all off.

To the spectators, a head-on duel of consecutive Fastballs was synonymous with passion and excitement; they loved such drama far too much.

At this moment, the spectators didn't even think about why such a situation had occurred; they just wanted to see, in this head-on duel, whether Matsuki Musashi's pitching was stronger or Huangqian Yangyi's hitting was superior!

Come again.

Huangqian Yangyi looked at Matsuki Musashi with a provocative gaze; if he had the ability, he should keep throwing, and if even one pitch dropped in speed, he would blast it away without explanation!

On the Pitcher's Mound, feeling Huangqian Yangyi's gaze, Matsuki Musashi suddenly got heated; already proud as he was, how could he endure the provocation of a First Year brat?

Shaking his head at the Catcher, he was going to throw another Fastball!

And so!

"Ball!"

"Ball!"

As two consecutive high-speed balls flew outside the strike zone, Matsuki Musashi suddenly felt like a clown when he saw Huangqian Yangyi's smile.

Conversely, Huangqian Yangyi was in a pleasant mood; the opponent's control was indeed wavering, and furthermore, continuously firing at a speed he had never thrown before would definitely affect a pitcher's normal rhythm—everyone was clear on this point, including the Catcher and Osaka Kiryu's Manager Matsumoto Hirotaka.

"He's having another episode!" Manager Matsumoto shook his head and sighed; his ace was good in every way, except for this personality—arrogant, conceited, and easily provoked into a hot-headed state.

And look, he was having an episode right at the start of the game.

He had originally thought he would be more steady after becoming a Third Year, and previous games had gone smoothly, but he hadn't expected this guy to get competitive with a First Year at a time like this.

Just then, the situation on the field had already changed; with a count of two strikes and two balls, even Matsuki Musashi shouldn't have been recklessly firing at high speeds, so, restraining his heated emotions, Matsuki Musashi ultimately threw a High-speed Slider toward home plate.

However, the drawbacks of forcibly throwing at a speed exceeding his own ability manifested immediately: this High-speed Slider was too slow!

Matsuki Musashi, whose feel for the ball had been affected by the high-speed pitches, perhaps hadn't noticed it himself, but Huangqian Yangyi was far too cunning; the instant the baseball came out, he accurately sensed the abnormality of this Slider, and when the baseball flew in, he swung his bat heavily.

Bang!

Amidst the crisp sound of metal colliding, the small white ball flew high, shooting rapidly toward the Center Fielder's stands like a white laser.

"He hit it!"

With a loud shout, the entire audience erupted; they watched as the baseball flew straight toward the spectator seats like a cannonball.

"Home Run!"

Following that was another exclamation; this time, the baseball cleared the outfield wall and dropped into the stands.

"Another Home Run!"

The commentator's voice was trembling; he simply couldn't believe his eyes.

The direction of this game was too magical; Matsuki Musashi was actually being blasted for two Home Runs at the start of such an important game.

Was this a joke? Was he in bad form? Was he feeling unwell? It didn't look like it; if he were truly unwell, could he still fire at a speed of 153 kilometers?

In that case, did this mean Matsuki Musashi had lost in a head-on duel with Huangqian Yangyi?

"Top of the first inning, after Yuki Tetsuya, Seido's Fifth Batter, ace Huangqian Yangyi, after a few pitches of entanglement, has blasted Seido's second Home Run!"

The entire stadium was shaken by this thrilling moment. The spectators cheered wildly, applauding Huangqian Yangyi's spectacular performance.

Meanwhile, Matsuki Musashi stood on the Pitcher's Mound, his face gloomier than terrifying.

He was Matsuki Musashi, the ace of Osaka Kiryu, the existence hailed as the strongest pitcher; how could he be blasted for two Home Runs by an opponent at the start of the game? To him, this was like a nightmare!

"Haha, well done, Huangqian!"

"That's it!"

"As expected, you can still do it!"

"Oh oh!"

"Two runs!!"

His teammates shouted excitedly.

Dong Qingguo on First Base returned to home plate first to score a run, then Huangqian Yangyi also jogged back slowly; in just half an inning, Seido was already leading Osaka Kiryu 3:0.

A god-tier start!!

"Haha, Huangqian, I thought you were going to be retired." Dong Qingguo patted Huangqian Yangyi's shoulder heavily.

"Your Home Run count is already at four, right?"

Hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi touched his head and laughed: "I can't compare to you, Senior Dong; if you hadn't been given a Base on Balls every time in the last game against Honghai Daxiangliang, you definitely would have hit a Home Run too."

"Hmph, those cowardly guys!"

Mentioning this, Dong Qingguo felt his anger flare up; his Home Run count was still only at two!

Returning to the Dugout, Huangqian Yangyi was immediately greeted by his teammates' congratulations; with 4 Home Runs, he was already leading the pack in this Koshien!

"I knew you could hit it," Miyuki said.

"Hehe, luck, it was really luck; I didn't expect this Matsuki Musashi to be so easily provoked."

After saying this, Huangqian Yangyi turned his head and said to Manager Kataoka: "Manager, the opponent's condition might not be very good right now."

Manager Kataoka nodded; he was also clear about the impact caused by Matsuki Musashi's pitching that exceeded his limits just now—this opportunity had to be seized!

Sixth Batter, Tanaka Wataru, stepped into the Batter's Box and immediately saw the signal given by Manager Kataoka on the sidelines: look for the Fastball! Left Fielder!

Tanaka Wataru nodded; his hitting wasn't weak, and most of the time he was a member of the heart of the lineup; taking advantage of the fluctuation in the opposing pitcher's state, he wouldn't let this chance to beat a dog in the water slip by.

On the Osaka Kiryu side, Director Matsumoto's face had turned completely black; trailing by three runs at the start was a situation he had never imagined, and he stared with sharp eyes at Matsuki Musashi on the Pitcher's Mound, wondering whether to send him to the outfield to cool off.

In the end, Director Matsumoto decided to wait and see for now; no matter what, Matsuki Musashi was Osaka Kiryu's ace, and it was impossible to pull him just because of a little trouble, as that would affect team morale and show a lack of trust in the ace.

On the field, Matsuki Musashi kept taking deep breaths, trying to steady his mindset and regain his pitching feel.

It is no wonder people call him the strongest Pitcher of this Koshien; after a brief adjustment of his state, his pitching quickly returned to its usual level, and after Tanaka Wataru barely managed to connect with one ball and reached First Base in a thrill, the Seventh Batter Isashiki Jun subsequently hit a ground ball and was put out.