Chapter 298: Let's Say Hello

Deceived by a Circle Changeup, Harada Masatoshi looked at Miyuki Kazuya with some helplessness. Using a Changeup so early, was this a response to what they did before?

Turning to walk off the Batter's Box, Harada lowered his voice as he passed the on-deck circle: "This guy is focusing on Breaking Balls today; the ball speed isn't as fast as before. You can try to look for a Fastball to hit."

"Ya-san, I know."

Narumiya Mei puffed out his chest proudly, carrying his metal bat as he walked step by step toward the Batter's Box. His entire demeanor became incomparably cold, yet a raging flame burned in his eyes.

"Fifth batter, Pitcher, Narumiya-kun."

As Narumiya Mei stepped into the Batter's Box, the atmosphere of the entire stadium was ignited once again. The previous ace-versus-ace matchup hadn't happened because Narumiya Mei chose to grant Huangqian Yangyi a Base on Balls.

But now, no one believed that Huangqian Yangyi would choose to grant Narumiya Mei a Base on Balls. One must know that since this person entered high school and stepped onto the Pitcher's Mound, he had never once recorded a Base on Balls.

It seemed that in his baseball, there was never retreat or avoidance; there was only ever offense. No matter who the opposing Batter was, he would throw the ball in his hand without the slightest hesitation.

A very aggressive stance.

Miyuki glanced at Narumiya Mei's stance next to him. Like everyone else, including Harada Masatoshi, he was standing quite close to the Home Plate. This kind of stance made things very uncomfortable for both the Catcher and the Pitcher.

As expected, Inashiro's strategy on the batting side today was to use their stance to apply pressure and lock down Huangqian Yangyi's inside-corner pitch path.

Various possibilities flashed through Miyuki's mind as he tried to deduce the intentions of Manager Kunitomo.

On the Pitcher's Mound, after Huangqian Yangyi and Narumiya Mei exchanged a look, he focused his attention on Miyuki.

Can't guess it. Since that's the case, let's use this pitch to say hello to our old friend first. Miyuki shifted his position slightly, then extended his glove, his right hand signaling the sign.

A smile curled at the corners of Huangqian Yangyi's mouth; he really liked this sign.

Whoosh~~

He took a deep breath to adjust his state, his body leaning slightly forward, his right hand hidden behind his back rotating the baseball, watching Narumiya Mei, who was waiting with full concentration in the Batter's Box.

Slowly straightening his body, his left leg also lifted gradually. As he stepped out, his raised arm swung, leaving a blur.

Swish!

The feeling of the baseball flying off his fingertips was incredibly clear.

Narumiya Mei's pupils shook in the Batter's Box. This ball—so fast!

A massive sense of pressure arrived with the baseball. Narumiya Mei resisted the instinct to dodge and opened his stance, swinging the bat in his hand.

Whack!

"Strike!"

Before the bat had even swung halfway, the little white ball had already drilled into Narumiya Mei's chest area, being caught steadily by Miyuki into his glove.

It was just a ball's distance away!

The umpire broke into a cold sweat. It was close; that ball almost hit Narumiya Mei.

Narumiya Mei, who had swung and missed, couldn't care about that much. Before he could even feel lingering fear, his eyes subconsciously looked at the stadium's speed gun.

"161 km/h!"

This was a Fastball where Huangqian Yangyi had pushed his maximum speed.

Using such an inside-high Fastball to say hello to Narumiya Mei was simply perfect.

Damn it!!

Narumiya Mei gritted his teeth hard. He knew very well that he would never be able to throw at this speed in his life. It was so infuriating; these two bastards must have done it on purpose. They didn't even use their top speed to deal with Harada-senpai earlier, but they threw so fast when it came to him.

Hmph!

Narumiya Mei lowered his head and snorted coldly at Miyuki: "If you've got the guts, do it again!"

"Hehe."

As soon as Miyuki saw Narumiya Mei's expression, he knew the effect of that "hello" pitch was very good.

With a smile on his face, Miyuki stood up and threw the ball back to Huangqian Yangyi. "Mei, try hitting it."

"Kazuya, are you looking down on me?!" Narumiya Mei said coldly.

Miyuki hurriedly squatted down and stopped talking. Seeing this, Narumiya Mei turned his head to look at the Pitcher's Mound.

You hateful chestnut-haired monster! I must win!

Narumiya Mei gripped his bat tightly, the desire for victory in his heart reaching its peak. No matter what, he had to hit Huangqian Yangyi's ball.

Sensing Narumiya Mei's determination, Huangqian Yangyi smiled, then looked at Miyuki to confirm the sign, lifted his leg, swung his arm, and the baseball whistled toward the Home Plate.

"Haa!!" Narumiya Mei let out a loud roar as he swung his bat, aiming at the incoming ball and blasting it out.

Bang!

A violent vibration, a piercing sound. Feeling the shock coming from the bat, Narumiya Mei's entire expression turned ferocious, using all his strength to drive this ball out.

Swish!

The baseball flew high into the air, toward First Base.

Yuki Tetsuya rushed forward quickly, preparing to intercept the ball, but just as he was about to reach the spot, Yuki stopped. This ball flew out along the boundary line.

"Foul!!"

The umpire's voice rang out.

"Such a heavy ball!"

Narumiya Mei loosened his grip on the bat; his palms still felt somewhat numb.

Having played against Seido so many times, he had long since grown accustomed to Huangqian Yangyi's cannon-like pitching, but the sensation transmitted to his hands every time he made contact still felt shocking.

With such powerful ball force and tail-end movement, Narumiya Mei dared to say that this was rare in the entire history of Japanese high school baseball, perhaps even unprecedented.

Facing this freak of a guy, as long as his spirit wavered even slightly, or if he was unfocused for even an instant, he would miss the best timing to hit the ball.

Even if he made contact, with this kind of heavy ball quality, trying to hit it to the spot he wanted was a difficult problem. In the vast majority of cases, it was either a Flyout or a force out.

He turned his head to look; that ball was also very fast, 154 km/h.

Narumiya Mei's eyes flickered, and after taking a deep breath, he made a decision.

He adjusted his stance slightly more, almost to the position closest to the Home Plate. Not only that, Narumiya Mei quietly choked up on the bat. This action could not only increase his own hitting area but also maximize his hitting power, but the disadvantage was relative: he had completely given up on the inside-corner pitch.

A choice with mixed pros and cons; in Miyuki's view, Narumiya Mei was completely forcing them to throw an outside pitch.

But if he called for an inside pitch, such a stance would put great pressure on the Pitcher, and one slip would result in a Hit by Pitch; although Miyuki did not think Huangqian Yangyi would be intimidated by Narumiya Mei's stance, if he really dared to call for an inside pitch, the other party would certainly throw it without any hesitation.

Huangqian Yangyi had exactly that kind of personality—was it being overbearing, or rebellious? The more you provoked him, or the more you thought he wouldn't do something, the more he would insist on doing exactly that.

Miyuki looked toward the Pitcher's Mound, and sure enough, Huangqian Yangyi was staring at him with a gaze full of fighting spirit and desire.

What a willful guy, Miyuki smiled to himself; this was fine too, throw it, and use an inside pitch to shatter Inashiro's illusions.

Setting his glove, Miyuki signaled with his hand.