Chapter 213: The Pitcher's Pride!

Come on, Huangqian Yangyi, throw it in with your fastest speed!!

Miyuki's eyes were filled with intense longing; this pitch must be thrown in!

Huangqian Yangyi's breathing steadied, and after seeing the sign Miyuki gave, his entire spirit was jolted—it was too thrilling.

To think he'd be asked to push his speed; it's truly insane.

At his maximum speed, he wasn't confident he could place the ball exactly where Miyuki wanted it.

But then again, it didn't matter if he couldn't hit the spot; the opponent wouldn't be able to hit it either, right?

With that confidence, Huangqian Yangyi flexed his fingers and lifted his chin slightly. Come on, Narumiya Mei, try and hit this pitch of mine.

Whoosh!!

Under the gaze of the entire stadium, Huangqian Yangyi's arm seemed to leave an afterimage, and the little white ball seemed to transcend time and space, arriving in front of Narumiya Mei in the blink of an eye.

Pop!

Miyuki extended his glove to catch the ball that had veered out of the strike zone, but his peripheral vision was fixed on Narumiya Mei, who had swung and missed.

Sure enough, at this speed, it was too hard for a batter to resist swinging; it was purely an instinctive reaction.

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!"

As the umpire's voice rang out, the entire crowd finally came to their senses. It was too fast! That pitch just now was too fast!

Everyone's gaze turned to one spot simultaneously: the speed gun display in the corner of the stadium—160!!

The pitch speed reached 160!

"My god!"

"Unbelievable!"

"It's 160; Huangqian Yangyi's pitch speed has entered the 160 km/h range."

"Huangqian!!"

"Seido!!"

The crowd's cheers were deafening; they didn't care at all whether the pitch had landed in the strike zone—this number alone brought them the most direct sense of passion and impulse.

"So strong!"

"Is this what Huangqian-senpai's pitching is like?" In the stands, within the Seido cheering squad, Furuya Satoru was deeply shocked after seeing the speed Huangqian Yangyi had clocked.

"Aniki!!" Sawamura Eijun stood up and shouted after a brief moment of shock.

It was so cool; this kind of pitching, this kind of presence, was exactly the image of an ace he had fantasized about countless times, and the kind of pitcher he wanted to become most.

Sitting beside the two, Kominato Haruichi and Arima Kazusa exchanged a look, both feeling the urge to stand in the batter's box and hit this ball.

"Hey, you two are pretty excited, aren't you?" Kominato Haruichi suddenly said.

Hearing this, Sawamura and Furuya turned to look at Kominato Haruichi, only to see him smile and say, "With Huangqian-senpai here, you two have absolutely no chance of becoming the ace, at least not until he graduates."

"If you want to become the ace, you'll have to wait until Huangqian-senpai retires from high school, which is after next summer. Can you two wait until then?"

Hearing Kominato Haruichi's words, both Sawamura and Furuya Satoru were stunned.

What a cruel reality; they hadn't realized it before, but now that they thought about it, both felt the road to becoming the ace was incomparably difficult.

"I will become the ace!" Sawamura clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth.

Furuya Satoru glanced at Sawamura and said flatly, "The ace will be me."

Seeing this, Arima Kazusa shook his head with a smile; their competitive spirit was truly intense.

On the sidelines, in the Seido dugout, seeing Huangqian Yangyi's speed hit 160, Department Head Ota was dancing with excitement.

Manager Kataoka nodded calmly; Huangqian Yangyi had already thrown 159 km/h during practice, so reaching 160 was within his expectations and not a surprise.

However, this would likely be a significant shock for Inashiro.

Narumiya Mei was struck out and walked off the field, fuming with rage; he looked back with every step, glaring at Huangqian Yangyi a full dozen times.

In the Inashiro dugout, the players were silent. Manager Kunitomo frowned with his hands behind his back, and after noticing the abnormality among his players, he turned and said, "Don't worry too much; it's impossible to throw at that speed every single pitch. Huangqian Yangyi's average speed is still below 155."

"Moreover, because of this speed, he absolutely cannot pitch the entire game. What we need to do is keep them scoreless until he leaves the mound; that will be our chance!"

Hearing this, the Inashiro players nodded; they knew it themselves, but the impact of that pitch was clearly still hard to digest.

As Huangqian Yangyi struck out Inashiro's Sixth Batter, Yamaoka Riku, the top of the second inning ended, and Inashiro Industrial returned empty-handed.

Bottom of the second, Seido's turn to attack.

Narumiya Mei, fully in the zone, showed dominance on the pitcher's mound that was in no way inferior to Huangqian Yangyi. Although his speed wasn't as fast as Huangqian Yangyi's, Narumiya Mei's pitching looked more refined, as if every pitch he threw had a life of its own, making it hard to predict.

Yuki Tetsuya swung at a forkball after two misses, but unfortunately, the quality wasn't high; the baseball rolled on the ground and happened to roll near Narumiya Mei, and Yuki Tetsuya was subsequently tagged out.

Next, Seido's Fifth Batter, Huangqian Yangyi, stepped into the batter's box.

Flicking the bat in his hand, Huangqian Yangyi looked at Narumiya Mei and smiled. This little blondie must really want revenge, using his own pitching.

Can't be careless, Huangqian Yangyi thought, focusing his mind as he raised his bat.

Soon, Narumiya Mei threw the first pitch—a fastball aimed diagonally at Huangqian Yangyi's chest!

The duel between the two excited the audience, and when they saw Narumiya Mei facing Huangqian Yangyi head-on with the very first pitch, the entire stadium erupted in noise.

Pop!

"Strike!"

Huangqian Yangyi swung and missed; this pitch was not only fast but the path was tricky, and the bat missed by half a ball's distance.

Impressive, little blondie, Huangqian Yangyi raised his bat again to prepare.

Narumiya Mei's gaze shot toward Huangqian Yangyi like a sharp blade; as a pitcher himself, he was confident he would never lose to this chestnut-haired monster!

Sensing his pitcher's mood, Harada Masatoshi could only do his best to support him. Choosing a base on balls would have been the best plan at this moment, but Harada Masatoshi knew that in the current situation, even if Manager Kunitomo gave the order himself, Narumiya Mei would definitely act on his own—this was the pride of a pitcher.

Narumiya Mei would never allow himself to back down in front of Huangqian Yangyi!

Second pitch!

Narumiya Mei threw a Slider on the outer edge, and Huangqian Yangyi swung his bat with all his might to follow the ball, hitting it Jianjie.

Hiss~

This little blondie, although his pitch speed isn't as fast as mine, the weight of the ball is truly heavy.

Two Strikes; Harada Masatoshi looked up at Huangqian Yangyi, then gave the signal.

Narumiya Mei frowned upon seeing the signal, then immediately shook his head.

A Forkball—this pitch might be useful, and it is possible to make Huangqian Yangyi hit a ground ball, but it is not aggressive enough!

This is a battle of momentum; just now Huangqian Yangyi used a 160 km/h pitch to Strikeout him, and now, he also wants to use something different to Strikeout Huangqian Yangyi.