Diamond no Ace: My Sharingan

"Stop it!"

The fielders of Gogen High School's baseball team shouted as they saw Chris hit the ball.

They immediately charged forward without hesitation.

Already trailing by two runs, the players of Gogen High School knew full well what was at stake.

If they let more runs through, the game would spiral out of control.

A powerhouse team like Seidou High—packed with strong hitters—could become terrifying once they gained momentum.

Their lead would snowball and grow bigger and bigger.

One of Gogen's fielders pushed off the ground with both legs and lunged forward with everything he had.

He didn't care how badly he might fall!

Right now, all he wanted was to stop the ball.

You had to give it to the Gogen fielder—he really tried his best, but unfortunately, the ball still fell more than ten centimeters short of his glove.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the baseball flew past right in front of his eyes.

"It got through!!"

Cheers erupted from Seidou High's dugout.

They knew just how important this hit was.

Chris was the leadoff batter, and with that ball getting through, there was now a high probability they could score.

Chris, having just hit the ball, coolly tossed his bat aside and sprinted toward first base.

"Safe!"

No outs, and a runner on first.

Back in the dugout, Miyuki Kazuya watched as his rival put on an excellent performance.

Rather than feeling any negativity, his eyes were filled with admiration.

"That's how it's done."

The first time he faced Chris, this senior had taught him a painful lesson.

Chris's strength wasn't limited to being a catcher.

He was an all-around powerhouse.

Whether it was his batting skill or his ability to read the game, Chris was top-tier.

Only by defeating such an opponent could Miyuki truly prove his own excellence.

Seidou High's seventh batter stepped up to the plate.

Sticking to Seidou's signature offensive style, he executed a sacrifice bunt.

"Pop!"

"Out!"

Although the batter was out,

Chris, who had worked perfectly in sync with him, successfully reached second base.

Now the situation was: one out, runner on second.

Back in Gogen's dugout,

the more they looked at the current state of the game, the more familiar it seemed.

At the same time, a chill ran down their spines—from the base of their tailbones up to the backs of their heads.

"They're already up by two runs, why are they still doing this?"

"Aren't they supposed to be a nationally top-ranked powerhouse? Why can't they just face us head-on?"

They had already seen through Seidou's offensive strategy.

Their opponents wanted to use the exact same pattern, over and over, to slowly grind down the fighting spirit of their ace pitcher.

Gogen's coach glanced thoughtfully at Kataoka.

A strange feeling suddenly welled up in his chest.

He felt like this man in front of him looked more like a retired pro player than he did himself.

Kataoka's offensive strategy was almost identical to that of a professional team.

How were Gogen's players supposed to hold up against this kind of approach?

At this point, the only thing Gogen's coach was thankful for was that the current batter belonged to the lower part of Seidou's batting order.

Batters in this slot usually had the weakest hitting skills.

Like their number eight batter, for example.

"Eighth batter, number 20, outfielder—Zhou Hao."

When Zhou Hao stepped up to the plate, everyone on Gogen's team breathed a small sigh of relief.

He was just a first-year rookie.

Even though they understood that any rookie promoted by Coach Kataoka must have extraordinary potential,

at the end of the day, he was still just a first-year kid.

And Zhou Hao didn't look strong at all—he didn't give off the slightest sense of pressure.

They didn't believe for a second that this batter could hit Ikegami's pitches.

Just as Gogen's morale soared and they prepared to take the first out of the second inning...

In Seidou's dugout, Coach Kataoka suddenly realized what had been nagging at him.

Originally, he had sent Zhou Hao up just to let him get a feel for the atmosphere of a real game.

After all, Zhou Hao had practically zero experience in official matches.

Not only did he lack high school experience—he hadn't even played in middle school tournaments.

Since the team might need Zhou Hao to pitch in a crisis later on,

it was essential to let him get used to the game's atmosphere.

Only by doing that would Zhou Hao avoid nerves and mistakes when he eventually took the mound.

You had to admit, Coach Kataoka had thought things through.

Except he'd overlooked one detail—

Zhou Hao on the field was completely different from Zhou Hao in training.

On the diamond, Zhou Hao seemed to come with his own spotlight.

He naturally drew everyone's attention the moment he stepped up.

Just like now—

Gogen's players thought they could bully this first-year rookie.

But Coach Kataoka had a hunch.

He had a strong feeling that Ikegami's next pitch would get launched!

Zhou Hao's name was destined to be remembered by Seidou's two biggest rivals.

Just as Kataoka was thinking this,

the showdown began. As Gogen's ace, Ikegami decided to scare Zhou Hao first.

This was a classic move when a pitcher faced a rookie.

"Whoosh!"

The white baseball flew toward the inside corner—possibly even outside the strike zone—

It looked like it was going straight for Zhou Hao's knee.

"That's dirty!"

To the Seidou players, this pitch was nothing short of a provocation.

Once they got up to bat, they'd make sure to help their underclassman get revenge.

But just as they were thinking this—

Zhou Hao took a step back in the batter's box, creating space between himself and the ball. He swung the bat and made solid contact.

"Ping!"

The white baseball soared over the head of Gogen's third baseman.

After flying past him, it bounced in the outfield.

"It's wide open behind third base!"

"Why does this feel so familiar? Didn't we see this exact scene at the beginning of the game?"

"Of course! Wasn't it that same first-year kid who caught that tricky ball down the line earlier?"

"Gogen isn't going to get lucky this time."

Indeed, luck wasn't on their side.

After all, they didn't have Zhou Hao's Sharingan—they couldn't predict where the ball would land.

By the time the outfielder got there, the ball had already bounced deep into the outfield.

Chris sprinted all the way from second, rounded third, and headed home.

"Safe at base!!"

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POWER STONE!!!??

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