Chapter 562

And only then uses a fast fastball to attack when the opponent is unprepared.

And this Natsume Chikage clearly doesn't understand these things.

Thinking of this.

Shinohara Shingo began to carefully recall Natsume Chikage’s pitching motion and release point just now.

Relying on his rich experience, he quickly judged—the next pitch is highly likely to be a fastball again!

A confident arc curled at the corner of his mouth.

Because he had already started to adapt to this speed.

Who is he?

He is the ace of the baseball club!

Facing Nakajima Satoshi’s pitching of nearly 143 km/h every day, he had long been accustomed to this level of speed.

It’s nothing more than a little faster; he can adjust immediately!

Natsume Chikage—wait to be expelled! Yukimura Suzune is mine!!

And it was at this moment.

Natsume Chikage moved!

His movement was more relaxed than before, and the power transmission seemed even more fluid.

His right arm swung out a sharp arc!

The white baseball left his hand, turning into a blurry afterimage that was even faster!

Shinohara Shingo’s pupils shrank, and relying on his prediction and extreme reaction, he swung the bat with all his might!

The bat cut through the air with a whistling sound.

However, he swung at empty air!

The baseball seemed to ignore the existence of the bat, precisely passing through the center of the strike zone and hitting the protective net behind with a "bang" again.

Shinohara Shingo stood frozen in place, turning his head sharply to look at the speed gun.

This number hit his heart like a heavy hammer.

No... impossible!

This kind of pitch speed has already touched the professional threshold, right?

Natsume Chikage, a first-year high school student, whose body has not yet fully matured, how could he throw this kind of speed?!

Absolutely impossible!

The speed gun must be broken!

Yes, that must be it!!

The temporary umpire, Aoki Masao, was also full of horror, his lips trembling slightly, and he shouted with all his might:

"Good... good pitch!!"

Nakajima Satoshi suffered another heavy blow, his expression dazed, almost unable to stand steady.

Why... why can your pitch speed still increase?

That 145 just now... wasn't your limit?

The students and teachers on the sidelines erupted again with sky-shaking uproar and exclamations!

No one expected that Natsume Chikage was not only a hidden pitcher, but his talent might even surpass the recognized ace, Shinohara Shingo!

Natsume Chikage’s strength overturned their cognition again and again.

The students on the side were also discussing it.

"Natsume-kun is too cool!"

"That's right, that's right!"

"Hmph, fangirls! Shinohara-senpai hasn't exerted his strength yet, he's just politely letting him have two pitches!"

"That's right!"

"Heh, I think you guys are just jealous of Natsume-kun!"

"Heh, women!"

"Heh, men!"

Fujiwara Aoi and Saionji Nanase quickly recovered from the shock, excitedly gripping each other’s hands and jumping on the spot.

"Great! With this pitch speed, Natsume-kun really has a chance to win!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe he really won't have to be expelled!"

On Yukimura Suzune’s cold face, the anxiety eased slightly, but her eyes remained focused.

She knew the match wasn't over yet, and it was too early to celebrate.

Akita Sana on the side was dancing with excitement.

"Great, Miki! 150! Natsume-kun threw a 150! He’s sure to win!"

Kondo Miki’s eyes flickered with complexity, her inner shock beyond measure.

She bit her lip, barely maintaining a calm tone.

"Don't be happy too early... Shinohara Shingo isn't that simple."

Akita Sana nodded vigorously.

"Right! Can't underestimate the enemy!"

"Natsume-kun, keep going!"

Konoe Hitomi looked at the speed gun, her left eyelid twitching imperceptibly.

"This guy... what is he still doing?"

And Shinohara Shingo in the field, under the impact of the huge sound waves around him, had his face become extremely solemn, and fine beads of sweat even seeped from his temples.

He swallowed involuntarily.

He had already missed two pitches in a row.

Although there were ten pitches in total, he needed to hit three.

That is to say, in the next eight pitches, he had to hit at least three.

Otherwise... the one to be expelled would be himself!

Thinking of this, Shinohara Shingo forced himself to exclude all distracting thoughts and raised his mental concentration to an unprecedented height.

Natsume Chikage looked at his right hand again and did two simple stretching movements.

The warm-up just now didn't seem sufficient, but he felt much better now.

He assumed the pitching stance for the third time.

His eyes were calm and waveless, like a deep pool.

Then, he swung his arm!

Still a fastball!

But this time, the speed of the white streak reached a level that made everyone suffocate!

Fast! Fast to the extreme!

Shinohara Shingo only felt a blur before his eyes, his body’s instinct made him swing the bat, but the movement was clearly half a beat slow.

"Bang——!!!"

The sound of the baseball hitting the wire mesh was louder and heavier than the previous two times!

Shinohara Shingo turned his head sharply and looked at the speed screen.

This number was like a red-hot branding iron, burning his retinas.

The entire baseball field fell into a strange silence.

It was as if even the wind had stopped flowing.

Immediately, an uproar and shock ten times stronger than before swept across the entire field like a tsunami!

"His... his pitch speed is still rising?!"

"My god! 158?! What did I see? A first-year high school student threw a 158?!"

"This... this is already a professional-level stable pitch speed, right?!"

"Natsume Chikage... what kind of monster is he?!"

Nakajima Satoshi was completely dumbfounded, his brain a blank slate.

This was a number that already touched the realm of the fastest speeds in Japanese high school baseball history!

The fastest pitch speed thrown by Ohtani Shohei, known as the "strongest high school student in history," during his high school stage was only 160 km/h.

And that was in his third year!

Natsume Chikage is only in his first year now!

What kind of terrifying, unreasonable talent is this?!

At this moment, the baseball club advisor, Ito Eiji, was shocked beyond measure by this horrifying pitch speed.

Following that, an irrepressible ecstasy surged into his heart!

Natsume Chikage really is a super genius encountered once in a millennium!

To be able to do this without systematic training, if cultivated, breaking the high school student pitch speed record is absolutely not a delusion!

Konoe Hitomi calmly unscrewed her thermos and took a sip of warm water, as if she had expected it.

This is more like it.

Yukimura Suzune and the others were also shocked speechless by this astonishing number.

Especially Kondo Miki, who was completely speechless at this moment, just staring fixedly at the shining boy in the field with unbelievable eyes.

However, before everyone could recover from the impact of this 158 km/h fastball.

Natsume Chikage had already picked up the ball again.

His movements were steady and coherent, without the slightest sign of exhaustion or strain.

Shinohara Shingo’s breathing began to become heavy, and cold sweat soaked the clothes on his back.

How on earth did this guy do it?

Is the speed gun really broken?

No... the sense of speed of that pitch just now couldn't be fake.

It was so fast he couldn't even see the ball’s path.

The speed gun... is probably real.

Thinking of this, a cold chill shot up Shinohara Shingo’s spine from the soles of his feet.

His gaze inadvertently swept across the sidelines.

In the moving crowd, he accurately captured that cold-as-snow figure—Yukimura Suzune.

She was looking at the field intently, and in those eyes that were always calm and waveless, worry was now clearly reflected, as well as... concern for Natsume Chikage.

Shinohara Shingo was stunned.

The Yukimura Suzune of the past had no interest in baseball or any sports competition and would never stop to watch.

But now... she was standing here for Natsume Chikage.

This realization was like pouring hot oil into his already anxious heart fire.

Anger, mixed with intense humiliation and unwillingness, erupted!

Yukimura Suzune... should be his!

He absolutely would not allow himself to lose to Natsume Chikage!

Absolutely not!!!

Intense emotions instead gave birth to a kind of extreme calmness.

Shinohara Shingo’s field of vision narrowed again, and all the noise around him quickly faded, becoming blurry and distant.

In his eyes, only the white ball about to fly from Natsume Chikage’s hand remained.

He entered an unprecedented state of focus—"Zone"!

However.

Right at this moment.

Natsume Chikage’s fourth pitch was released!

A flash of white light!

Still a fast fastball without any frills!

Shinohara Shingo swung his bat with all his might!

He judged the path correctly, but the pitch speed exceeded the limit of his body’s reaction!

Swing and a miss!

Immediately after, the fifth pitch, the sixth pitch, the seventh pitch...

Every pitch was a heart-palpitatingly stable 158 km/h!

Every pitch precisely drilled into the strike zone!

Shinohara Shingo tried his best, sweat blurred his vision, and his arms were sore and trembling from excessive force.

But he couldn't even touch the edge of a single ball!

All swings and misses!

Shinohara Shingo’s face was already as pale as paper, sweat rolled down like rain from his forehead, and the palm holding the bat was slippery and greasy, almost unable to hold it.

His eyes were filled with confusion, despair, and the last trace of struggling madness.

He knew he couldn't catch this kind of ball.

But he was unwilling! It couldn't end like this!

Natsume Chikage didn't hesitate at all.

This pitch, carrying the same terrifying speed and power as the previous seven, whistled in!

Shinohara Shingo let out a sound bordering on a roar, using the last of his strength to twist his body and swing the bat!

"Clang——!"

The bat swung at empty air again, hitting nothing.

And that white baseball was already lying quietly under the protective net behind.

It was over.

Shinohara Shingo’s body went soft, and his knees hit the dirt of the batter’s box with a "thud."

The metal bat in his hand dropped beside him with a "clatter."

He looked at the ground with empty eyes, his lips trembling, but he couldn't make any sound.

It's over...

Why am I the one who lost?

The one to be expelled... is me?

How could it be... this guy... how could he be so strong?

Natsume Chikage, who had intended to continue throwing the last two pitches, looked at the opponent’s completely demoralized appearance and slowly lowered his arm.

Because even if he threw again, the opponent didn't have the strength to catch it.

The entire baseball field, after experiencing a brief dead silence, erupted with unprecedented sound waves!

"Holy crap! He won?! Natsume-kun really won?!"

"My god! Six 158 speed balls in a row?! And so stable?!"

"He shut out... Shinohara-senpai?! How is this possible?!"

Yukimura Suzune, Saionji Nanase, and Fujiwara Aoi were also impacted by this shocking result, their hearts swaying.

They never expected that Natsume Chikage not only won but won with such an overwhelming, despair-inducing advantage.

Akita Sana screamed with excitement, suddenly hugging Kondo Miki beside her, jumping up and down.

"Miki! Did you see that?! He won! Natsume-kun won! He really defeated Shinohara Shingo!!"

Kondo Miki opened her mouth slightly, her expression dazed, unable to say a word.

The image of the down-and-out game otaku in her mind could not be overlapped with the shining genius boy on the field throwing professional-level pitch speeds no matter what.

Cognition was completely overturned at this moment!

But even at the end, she still bit her red lips, feeling somewhat annoyed.

She just felt what was the use of playing baseball.

It was nothing but a physical idiot!

To be worthy of someone like Senior Tsukishima, one must be someone excellent in mind, body, and spirit to be worthy!