Chapter 564: Tanba-senpai's Ferocity
Whoosh!
Swish!
Clang!
Whizz!
Thud!
"Foul ball!"
"Ohhh! That pitch was on the outside corner. Unlike the brute-force approach he used against Kuramochi, here they went with a cleverer choice of location."
"Chris and Miyuki are different kinds of catchers, after all."
"Chris guides pitchers in a calmer, more measured way. Both are cerebral, but Chris leans toward tactical precision, while Miyuki pushes pitchers to dig out their hidden potential."
"Well, differences aside, Haruichi is completely suppressed right now."
"Yeah, he can't get a handle on Tanba's pitches. Two strikes, one ball. Tanba's in full control."
"The curveball's gotten nastier—easily the biggest factor here."
"Looks like it's going to be tough for the current roster to break through Tanba."
....
Rational pitch calling, paired with Tanba's velocity that hasn't dropped at all—in fact, stronger than in the summer—made Haruichi hesitate at the plate.
Boom! Another gust of force as Tanba powered forward.
Whoosh! The flash of light streaked across the zone.
At the plate, Haruichi gritted his teeth.
The ball was skimming the very edge of the inside corner—perfect control from Tanba.
With no choice, Haruichi stepped in, relying on his finesse to at least make contact, swinging the bat with all his might.
But it wasn't just placement.
Two-thirds of the way in, the ball suddenly broke, sliding toward the outer edge.
A curveball!
Haruichi's pupils shrank. He twisted desperately in mid-swing to adjust his bat path, pouring every ounce of strength into it—
But the movement was sharper, faster than anything he expected.
Pop!
The ball slipped neatly past his bat and into Chris's mitt.
"Strike three! Batter out!"
....
A brilliant curveball. Sharper than ever. Tanba and Chris perfectly executed the strikeout.
Kuramochi and Haruichi—both sat down in succession.
The third-years roared, their momentum surging.
"Hahaha, nice work, Chris, Tanba!"
"Good ball, Tanba!"
"Koichiro! That's the spirit—shut those kids down!"
"Beautiful pitching, Tanba!"
"As expected of the true Ace!"
"Keep it up, Tanba!"
Their aura was overwhelming.
Two straight strikeouts, Kuramochi and Haruichi back on the bench, while Tanba's heavy curveball loomed larger than ever.
On the current team's bench, Miyuki and Maezono wore solemn expressions.
"This is getting tougher… That curveball, paired with his steadier fastball, makes it nearly unhittable. Chris-senpai really is on another level as a catcher."
At that exact same moment—
Eijun rose slowly from the on-deck circle, and Miyuki stepped out of the dugout with his bat in hand.
Both of them shared the same thought:
It's him.
That man, crouched behind the plate with his calm smile.
Chris-senpai.
For Miyuki and Eijun, he was someone of extraordinary importance—the senior they respected most.
And for that very reason—
He was the one they absolutely had to overcome.
Eijun's eyes blazed with determination, fire dancing in their depths.
Chris-senpai… here I come.
....
"Third batter, left fielder, Sawamura-kun!"
Chris could sense it—the storm raging inside Eijun. His gaze softened just a little, warmth flickering at the corners of his eyes.
Come, Sawamura. Show me how far you've grown. Show me if you're truly ready to carry this team.
This was no ordinary at-bat.
It was more than a student and teacher facing each other.
It was the clash of old ace versus new ace.
Tanba, who once carried the number one on his back.
Eijun, the current shining star of Seidou, the Diamond of Ace known across Japan.
The transition between eras.
This duel would carry weight far beyond just one practice game.
The crowd, too, felt it. Their eyes gleamed with an unusual anticipation.
"Play ball!"
At Kataoka's sharp call, Chris's eyes locked on the mound. His fingers flicked subtly, signaling the first pitch.
"Splitter. Tanba, keep the early trajectory steady."
"I know."
No one knew Eijun better than Tanba.
At first, he hadn't thought much of the fiery freshman—a talented kid groomed early by Kataoka, nothing more. But the summer had shattered that notion.
This underclassman had stolen the Ace's aura, the spotlight, the respect of the nation.
And deep inside, Tanba couldn't deny the sting of jealousy.
But now—here, in this duel—he had a chance to unleash everything he had left.
In the end—at the very end—Coach Kataoka placed his trust in Eijun.
And Eijun did not betray that trust.
The true Ace without the Ace number.
That was the name the outside world had given Eijun that summer. A title that Tanba found bitter, frustrating, and yet… he could not deny it.
Because the Tanba of that summer had been weak.
And the Eijun of that summer had been dazzling—so dazzling he had carried Seidou to heights Tanba himself had once longed for, but never reached.
When Eijun finally stood at the very peak,
the bitterness and jealousy inside Tanba melted away.
Because deep down, he knew.
In this world, so-called geniuses could be caught by ordinary men through relentless effort—sometimes even surpassed, when the genius grew complacent.
But monsters… true prodigies beyond reason… they were unreachable.
And Eijun was exactly that—a monster.
At this moment, as he stood face-to-face against Eijun, Tanba's heart was strangely calm.
He no longer wanted to compete in pride or titles.
He wanted only to show his own pitching—not for victory, not for recognition.
But simply to stand on the mound and throw his truest self.
"Boom!!"
The surging aura exploded forth.
Tanba's foot slammed forward, his right arm raised high, every ounce of strength pouring into the motion.
"Whoosh!"
In a single fierce swing, a flash of white light roared into the sky.
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