"Ping!"

The moment the white baseball connected with the bat, the stadium fell into a momentary silence.

No one doubted Zhou Hao's batting ability—but no one expected him to swing so decisively.

The bat in Zhou Hao's hands felt like a natural extension of his body. He could send the ball wherever he wanted.

The Sensen High School Baseball Team fielders immediately rushed in the direction the ball flew.

They had been completely helpless against Yuki and Azuma Kiyokuni.

But now, facing Zhou Hao, they noticed the ball wasn't flying that fast.

There was a flicker of hope.

They wondered if maybe—just maybe—they could stop this one.

They wanted to put an end to Seidou's seemingly unstoppable momentum. Wanted to stop Seidou from hitting so wildly.

But as they sprinted across the field, that faint hope quickly turned to despair.

The ball Zhou Hao hit may not have had speed, but its placement was deadly.

It was as if he had chosen the landing spot deliberately—no matter how fast the fielders ran, they simply couldn't reach it in time.

By the time they got there, the ball had already bounced once.

Worse, the ball landed just far enough out of reach from every defender on the field.

They could only chase behind it.

"It got through!"

The Seidou fans erupted in thunderous cheers.

This result was better than they had even hoped for.

Shimoi, on second base, took off in a full sprint.

Chris, on first base, had already started running before Shimoi.

Compared to Shimoi, Chris had complete faith in Zhou Hao.

It was as if he had already known that Zhou Hao would hit this ball.

Shimoi successfully crossed home plate.

"Safe!"

As Chris rounded third, he caught sight of the third base coach waving him through.

Keep going!

The first-string players of Seidou were all forged through experience.

They had practiced every possible situation over and over again.

Chris didn't hesitate.

He stomped on third and charged toward home plate.

"Stop him!"

The Sensen players couldn't accept this. They threw the ball back as quickly as possible.

And to their credit—Sensen was strong for a reason.

They caught up with the ball and returned it before Chris reached the plate.

The Seidou dugout tensed for a moment. Even they were caught off guard by Sensen's sharp defense.

But just as Sensen's catcher turned to make the tag—

Chris dove.

Before the catcher could even brace himself, Chris's fingers had already touched the plate.

"Safe!"

Seidou scored two runs in one play.

The scoreboard changed: 4:0.

Meanwhile, Zhou Hao had made it safely to second base.

Two outs, runner on second.

But at this point, the Sensen players felt the creeping weight of despair.

The game had just started—still in the first inning—and yet they felt as if they had played a full nine.

Even with two outs already on the board, they had surrendered four runs.

Or rather, Seidou High School Baseball Team, with two outs, had managed to reverse everything and score four runs.

The Sensen players began to question whether these guys were really high school students.

Sensen was no pushover—they were a top 8 team in West Tokyo.

Sure, there might be a gap between them and Seidou…

But this? This wide of a gap?

Even the Seidou players in the dugout were still buzzing.

"Did you see that? Zhou Hao stepped back before hitting."

That "guy" was, of course, Zhou Hao.

"I knew his eyesight was good, but I didn't think his judgment was this sharp."

Just having good eyes wouldn't have been enough for him to take such a bold stride.

A half-step? Maybe.

But Zhou Hao had taken a full stride, repositioning himself completely.

That meant one thing:

Zhou Hao had predicted the pitch before the ball even left the pitcher's hand.

"He saw me do it earlier. He must've picked it up from that."

Chris, quietly sitting on the bench, spoke up.

Predicting the pitcher's intentions—that had always been his specialty.

But now, Zhou Hao had done the same thing.

A strange storm passed through the dugout.

One player murmured:

"Wasn't this guy a total beginner in middle school?"

"Didn't he only start playing baseball when he entered Seidou?"

The answer was yes.

Even Matsumoto, Seidou's leadoff hitter, shook his head in disbelief:

"Monster."

Most of Seidou's core players had come up through junior baseball.

They weren't old, but they had been playing for years.

Yet here was Zhou Hao.

A kid who had only been playing baseball for less than four months…

And he was outperforming many of them.

"What a monster."

"Monster Zhou Hao!"

Whispers of awe spread throughout the dugout.

But Zhou Hao himself was completely unaware.

Even if he knew, he wouldn't have time to care.

Because at that very moment, he was on second base, ready to coordinate with Isashiki Jun, the next batter.

They were aiming to press their advantage and score a fifth run.

Unfortunately, Isashiki Jun hit a high fly ball.

And Sensen's players weren't about to fumble something like that.

"Snap!"

The ball dropped straight into the fielder's glove.

Three outs.

Seidou's explosive first-inning offense was finally over.

Isashiki Jun walked back, clearly frustrated.

But outs were outs—whether you liked them or not.

No matter what, the first inning had come to an end.

Top of the second inning.

Sensen High School Baseball Team's offense.

Coming up next were their fourth, fifth, and sixth batters—the core of their lineup.

In the stands, at the section where the Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team sat—

A burly student spoke up:

"The real key to this game starts now."

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