Diamond no Ace: My Sharingan

An excited heart and trembling hands—this perfectly described Zhou Hao's current mood.

Standing on the pitcher's mound, Zhou Hao felt like he had just won the lottery. Not just any win, but the jackpot.

After hearing Coach Kataoka's earlier plans, Zhou Hao had given up hope of pitching in the early innings. But unexpectedly, good fortune fell straight from the sky and landed right on him.

Even though Coach Kataoka had instructed him to hold back and not go all out, how could Zhou Hao agree?

Whether he could show everything or not, Zhou Hao was determined to shine on the mound.

If he pitched well enough, then there'd be no reason to keep him hidden anymore—and that would mean more opportunities to take the mound.

"The Seidou High School baseball team has brought on a new first-year pitcher."

"Are they out of their minds?"

Though Seidou already had a clear lead, their opponent hadn't given up yet.

Making substitutions at this point was extremely risky.

The players of the Hachioji High School baseball team were livid.

They thought Seidou was looking down on them—treating this official game like a training session.

But others saw this moment as an opportunity.

When they faced Seidou's ace Yoshida earlier, the Hachioji batters had fallen into despair.

They had heard of Yoshida's so-called flaws and weaknesses, but when facing him, none of that was apparent.

His pitches were powerful, fast, accurate—difficult to even make contact with, much less hit well.

And even when they did manage to hit, they still had to deal with Seidou's airtight defense.

It felt impossible to score off Yoshida.

If the game had continued like that, the outcome was already clear.

But now, Seidou had changed pitchers?

And not just anyone—a first-year?

"That's the guy with the crazy batting average, right?"

"His name's Zhou Hao."

As a first-year, Zhou Hao wasn't exactly unknown.

His performance in the batter's box had been brilliant.

When the Hachioji players thought of him, they felt a tinge of fear.

But that was about hitting, not pitching.

Being a strong batter didn't mean he was a strong pitcher too.

Besides, his batting average wasn't even 100%.

Back when they faced Yamamoto Naka—the ace of Hachioji—Zhou Hao hadn't even gotten a hit.

Now, the Hachioji players had finally found something to feel confident about.

Most of the fans in the stands were Seidou supporters.

They were surprised by the sudden pitching change, but didn't react strongly.

Only the Hachioji players came alive, their morale igniting.

"He's just a first-year! Let's see what he's got!"

"We've been through plenty of battles too!"

The batter stepping into the box was Hachioji's cleanup hitter, their fourth batter.

Tall, strong, with incredible arm strength—it looked like he could launch the ball to the moon.

The rest of the Hachioji dugout was fired up, crowding near the front of the bench to cheer.

"Crush him!"

"Show that freshman what real power looks like!"

Their spirit burned bright.

In contrast, Seidou's dugout was... quiet. Eerily quiet.

No one stood up to cheer.

Everyone remained seated, looking like they were quietly praying.

As if they were worried this new pitcher would blow the lead.

But if you looked closely, you'd see something else—smirks being hidden behind hands, shoulders trembling with suppressed laughter.

The Seidou players found it hilarious.

Hachioji really thought this was a chance?

If they believed Coach Kataoka was just experimenting at this point in the game, they had no idea what they were in for.

Kataoka had no intention of throwing this match.

In fact, he wanted to crush the opponent cleanly and thoroughly.

And that meant only one thing: Zhou Hao was the real deal.

Zhou Hao himself noticed how fired up his opponents were.

But he didn't care. He only had eyes for Chris's glove.

Chris's signal was simple:

Shock them.

Zhou Hao nodded silently, tightened his grip on the ball, then raised his leg and began his pitching motion.

His body twisted like a coiled spring, releasing all that force into a single throw.

It felt like all of his weight was being hurled along with the baseball.

At first, the Hachioji batter was impressed.

This freshman's pitching form was solid.

But just as that thought crossed his mind—

BOOM!

The ball exploded through the air like a bullet.

The batter froze.

He hadn't even moved.

"Bang!"

The ball slammed into Chris's mitt with pinpoint precision.

"Strike!"

Chris caught it cleanly.

"...What the hell was that?!"

People didn't even dare to speak until after the pitch landed.

"It... it looked like a screwball!"

"I've never seen anyone throw a screwball like that...!"

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POWER STONE!!!

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