Chapter 270: The Pharmacist's Counterattack

Yuki Tetsuya looked at the situation on the field; with two outs, if the quality of the hit wasn't high, the runners on base could easily be tagged out, ending the inning immediately.

He had to hit it far!

Sanada Shunpei was, of course, also aware of this. At this moment, he just needed to secure one out, and the best way was to make Yuki Tetsuya hit a grounder to the infield.

With a plan in mind, Sanada Shunpei did not intend to reveal his intentions right from the start.

Watching the catcher's mitt closely, Sanada Shunpei first threw a fastball on the high outer edge. Yuki Tetsuya remained very calm and did not rush to swing; sure enough, it was a ball.

"Hey, hey, can you see it that clearly? At least move a little."

Yuki Tetsuya's immovable demeanor put immense pressure on Sanada Shunpei, yet he still wore a sunny smile on his face.

Adjusting his breathing, Sanada Shunpei quickly threw the second pitch, a high inside fastball. Yuki Tetsuya swung and hit a foul ball; one strike, one ball.

Two high pitches in a row—Sanada Shunpei felt it was about time. Then, for the third pitch, a low inside Jet Ball flew toward home plate. Yuki Tetsuya frowned; he had guessed it would be an inside pitch, but he hadn't guessed the type. His bat barely made contact with the ball. Boom! The powerful explosive force blasted the difficult pitch away, and a lightning-fast line drive pierced through the Yakushi infield.

"How is that possible!" Sanada Shunpei was incredibly shocked. Even though his batting stance had been disrupted, was this guy's explosive power really that terrifying?

Seeing the baseball land in the no-man's-land of the outfield, Sanada Shunpei gritted his teeth tightly. Fortunately, their defense returned the ball in time, preventing Kuramochi Yoichi from running all the way home.

Stopping at third base, Kuramochi Yoichi let out an excited roar. Looking at Isashiki on second and Jiecheng on first, he knew the pitcher must be under immense pressure with the bases loaded; this was a great chance to score.

But whether they could succeed would depend on the performance of the Fifth Batter, Tanba.

Standing in the Batter's Box, Tanba's desire to hit at this moment even surpassed his desire to pitch. If he could drive in a run himself, Chris would surely be even happier.

Gripping the bat lightly, Tanba felt his state was at its absolute peak. His gaze locked onto Sanada Shunpei, and he ran through all of the opponent's pitching characteristics in his mind.

Just then, Sanada Shunpei threw the ball—a low outer-corner cutter!

"Ha!!"

The moment the baseball came out, Tanba swung his bat toward the outer corner. Boom!

"Foul!"

The baseball was hit out of bounds. Tanba clicked his tongue, as if angry at himself. The crouching catcher, Watanabe Tatsuya, couldn't help but look up when he heard that sound—what a terrifying expression!

Swallowing hard, Watanabe Tatsuya couldn't understand how he had sensed killing intent from Tanba. Surely their Yakushi team hadn't offended Seido, had they?

Unable to figure it out, Watanabe Tatsuya hurriedly gave the signal. The first pitch was a cutter on the outer corner, so for the second pitch, he decided to go with an inside Jet Ball.

Sanada Shunpei nodded slightly. The baseball flew toward home plate, and Tanba's bat swung out, biting hard into the little white ball.

"Hiss! Senior Tanba is in god-like form today."

"As if helped by the gods!"

"They scored!"

It wasn't a high-quality hit, but it brought a run home for Seido. Tanba stood on the first-base bag, venting his emotions wantonly.

Still bases loaded!

Sanada Shunpei shook his head with a bitter smile. Giving up a run wasn't surprising; what was surprising was that according to the scouting report, this Tanba's hitting shouldn't be very strong, and his personality was on the soft side. How was his fighting spirit so high today?

After Tanba, the Sixth Batter, Masuko Toru, came up. Although he hit the ball, the quality was low and the direction was off. The ball was intercepted, and Yakushi quickly secured the out to end the inning.

The game reached the fifth inning, with a score of 8-0.

In the top of the fifth, Tanba successfully retired Yakushi's Fifth Batter, Fukuda Daiki, but gave up a double to the Sixth Batter, Sanada Shunpei. Afterward, the Seventh Batter struck out, the Eighth Batter reached base, and the Ninth Batter was forced out.

In the bottom of the fifth, Sanada Shunpei's pitching continued to be effective; Shirasu, Sakai Ichiro, and Kuramochi Yoichi were retired in succession. The game reached the sixth inning, and Yakushi's leadoff hitter, also their strongest batter, stepped into the Batter's Box once again.

With a heavy swing, a curveball thrown by Tanba was blasted into the stands.

The appearance of the Home Run instantly boosted Yakushi's momentum. All the Yakushi players and fans in the stadium cheered collectively; with more than half the game gone, they had finally gotten on the board.

"Yahahaha!" Todoroki Raichi ran around the bases lightly. The gloom of being struck out by Huangqian Yangyi twice before was swept away; sure enough, blasting a pitcher's ball away was the most satisfying thing.

"Hmph!"

Tanba snorted coldly. Just watching from the sidelines, he knew this kid's swing was terrifying, but having encountered it on the field and had his own pitch hit away, Tanba couldn't help but admire Huangqian Yangyi at this moment. Such a formidable batter had actually failed to even touch his pitches.

Having given up a run, Tanba's expression was somewhat grim.

"Tanba! Don't worry about it!"

"Tanba-san! Just pitch it for them to hit!"

"Trust us!"

The voices of his teammates behind him rang out, and Tanba adjusted his state to focus on the next batter.

In the Seido Dugout, Huangqian Yangyi sat beside Fujiwara Takako, holding a thermos in his hands.

"Todoroki Raichi is indeed impressive, hitting a Home Run right off the bat. If it were the old Senior Tanba, his mentality probably wouldn't be this stable right now."

"Yangyi, no matter how impressive that Todoroki Raichi is, he still can't hit your pitches, can he?" Fujiwara Takako laughed.

Huangqian Yangyi turned his head and smiled: "Senior, you've learned how to flatter people now, haven't you?"

"I'm just stating the facts," Fujiwara Takako said.

Just then, a "bang" sound came from the field. Akiha Kazuma made contact with a vertical curveball, but the quality was low, and it was easily intercepted by Kuramochi Yoichi, who forced him out.

"One out!"

"That's it, Tanba, pitch it for him to hit!"

Next, the Third Batter, Mishima Yuta, came up. After two consecutive swings and misses, Tanba followed Chris's instructions and threw a ball to try and lure the batter to swing, but it didn't work. As a First Year batter, being able to hold the third spot was enough to show Mishima Yuta's excellence; to be able to clearly judge the pitch path with two strikes and choose not to swing showed he had enough guts.

On the fourth pitch, a forkball was scooped up by Mishima Yuta. The little white ball flew over second base and landed in the outfield, resulting in a single.

After this, Yakushi's Fourth Batter successfully bunted to reach base at a critical moment, sending Mishima Yuta to second, and subsequently, the Fifth Batter struck out.