Diamond no Ace: My Sharingan

"Any ulterior motive?"

Takashima Rei nodded, his face serious:

"It was the players from our team's second squad who first discovered it. They brought mobile phones and micro cameras, and specifically aimed at Zhou Hao."

"Who is it?"

As long as someone has done it, it will leave traces.

"They're just some third-year students from a city school and people from Ichidaisan and Inashiro." ( i forgot to change the City Third to Ichidaisan. )

President Ota said disdainfully.

Although their team hasn't made it to Koshien for several years in a row, those two teams have never relaxed their vigilance toward them.

Once there's any change in Seidou, they immediately rush in like cats smelling fish.

Clearly, subconsciously, both teams see Seidou as a major competitor—one that must be strictly guarded against.

"Not just those two, but also Kurayami Academy."

"Seiko?"

"That's our next opponent!"

Coach Kataoka and Director Ota were both surprised upon hearing that.

As a team from West Tokyo, Seidou knows all the active regional teams very well.

Seiko Academy has always had decent results, and their coach is quite famous.

Naturally, both of them were familiar with Seiko Academy.

Their impression of Seiko? A team full of strong, bulky players.

It's not an exaggeration to say those players have muscles in their brains.

That image is largely due to their coach's obsession with raw power.

As a result, most of their starters are large and heavily built.

Some even call them the Gorilla Team—a nickname that's, frankly, not that far off.

The players on their team really do resemble gorillas.

For a team like that to go so far as sending people disguised as fans to spy on Seidou's training?

That's a method usually reserved for top-tier elite schools.

"I didn't expect that, Coach Kumakiri..."

President Ota muttered, rubbing the fat on his chin.

Coach Kataoka nodded, saying, "Let's gather the players for a meeting."

Since the opponent already made their move, there was no reason for them to just sit back.

"But you just punished them to run thirty laps..."

Coach Kataoka nodded and said,

"Then we'll wait until they finish. Once they've calmed down, we'll talk."

The distance of thirty laps around the baseball field is more than ten thousand meters.

Even the players of Seidou High School were exhausted and breathless afterward.

But before they could catch their breath, Kataoka ordered everyone back to the meeting room.

"Our next opponent is Seiko Academy. Their previous scores were 15–2, 13–1, and 11–2."

While Seiko lost a few runs in each game, the points they scored far outweighed what they gave up.

Just like Seidou, all of their games ended early due to mercy rules.

"Here's the information on their main players."

This time, instead of a slideshow, printed sheets were handed out.

"Everyone take a good look—"

The players glanced at the data and immediately raised eyebrows.

"Weight... 96 kilograms?"

"Wait, 89kg too?"

"Hold on, 103 kilograms?!"

Their first reaction was sheer shock at the other team's size.

While high school baseball players are often built strong, even that has limits.

The average high schooler typically weighs between 50 to 65 kg.

Seidou's team averages around 70 kg. Their heaviest, cleanup hitter Dong Qingguo, is only 91 kg.

Compared to Kurayami, they didn't even break the top three.

"What are those guys eating?"

Seidou has a tradition of starting meals with three bowls of rice, but even that didn't compare to Seiko.

"This team's batting power is no joke. Pitchers, study this well. If nothing unexpected happens, you're all going to pitch."

Ever since Zhou Hao showed extraordinary talent on the mound, Coach Kataoka had a change of heart.

He no longer suppresses Zhou Hao's appearances.

"Yoshida, Tanba—"

He called on the two other pitchers.

"You two will go first."

"Yes!"

"Y-yes!!"

Yoshida responded immediately, while Tanba hesitated slightly.

These two had different problems when facing strong batting lineups.

Yoshida tends to start shaky, though he becomes one of the best once he finds his rhythm.

Tanba, on the other hand, panics once a runner gets on base.

No wonder the players had started thinking that Zhou Hao was the most reliable pitcher on the team.

Inashiro and Ichidaisan were confident going into matches with Seidou precisely for this reason.

They knew the moment the game dragged on, Seidou's pitchers would likely falter.

Their own aces weren't perfect, but still more stable than Seidou's rotation—at least before Zhou Hao emerged.

"Study this carefully and plan how to face them."

Even though Kurayami's offensive strength was terrifying, Coach Kataoka didn't choose Zhou Hao for this match.

Instead, he sent out Yoshida and Tanba.

Many were confused, though some understood the purpose.

"Is he letting Yoshida and Tanba face their flaws now—before we face Inashiro or Ichidaisan?"

Chris stared at Coach Kataoka's retreating figure, deep in thought.

If that was the idea, then this game would be a trial by fire.

It's a test—not just for the pitchers, but for the whole team.

Two days later, another sunny morning arrived.

The Seidou High School baseball team showed up early at Akita Stadium.

This was the quarterfinal venue, and their opponent: Seiko Academy, famous for its destructive offense.

Because it was a Saturday, the stands were noticeably more packed.

Not only did students from Seidou show up, but also several alumni came to watch.

And among the crowd… were even more reporters.

----------

POWER STONE!!!

Support me at patréon com/DaoOfPeeking