At the top of the seventh inning, Seibō High School was on offense.
Everyone at Koshien could clearly sense the determination radiating from the batter standing in the box. His posture, his grip on the bat—everything screamed his desire to finally break through.
Yet even a batter with such resolve could only watch helplessly as Zhou Hao's terrifying pitch speed dominated the field.
They couldn't understand why Zhou Hao was still using such an extremely taxing pitch at this stage of the game.
From a strategic standpoint, it was dangerous.
But in terms of sheer effectiveness, the result was undeniable.
The pitch was overwhelming.
The stands erupted—not just with cheers from Seidou supporters, but also with gasps and applause from neutral fans.
"Speed is a man's romance!"
"Zhou Hao's pitching is absolutely invincible!"
Praise poured down from every direction, and no one felt it was exaggerated.
Because what Zhou Hao was showing on the mound was nothing short of brilliance.
Almost everyone was intoxicated by the spectacle—
Everyone except the players from both teams who truly understood what was happening.
Zhou Hao himself was under immense pressure.
Since the previous inning, a system notification had been echoing continuously in his mind.
Congratulations, Host, for entering battle enlightenment mode.
At first, Zhou Hao hadn't even had time to think about it.
He was pitching. Thinking too much meant losing focus.
But as the game progressed, he gradually began to understand what this so-called "enlightenment" meant.
A skill, when used repeatedly in real combat, would be continuously corrected and refined.
If Zhou Hao had known this earlier, he would've chosen to use it on his Spiral Ball, or at the very least on the Uchiha clan's inherited throwing techniques.
Either would have elevated his pitching to an even higher level.
But fate had chosen otherwise.
What Zhou Hao had been using was his imitation of Speed of Light Beam.
And the result was terrifying.
His pitching speed had jumped from 148 km/h, to 150, then 152, and now—
152.5 km/h.
Aside from his already-mature Spiral Ball, none of Zhou Hao's pitches had ever reached this level before.
Even the coaches and players of Seidou High School were shaken.
If it weren't Zhou Hao on the mound—
If it were anyone else—
They might have seriously suspected cheating.
But it was Zhou Hao.
Because he had already done too many unbelievable things, Seidou's coaches and players had developed an absurd level of tolerance toward him.
No matter how unreasonable something looked, as long as it was Zhou Hao doing it, they could somehow accept it.
Now that he had triggered the system's task, Zhou Hao had no choice.
The enlightenment was forcibly correcting his pitching mechanics, pushing his body toward the fastest possible delivery.
Zhou Hao knew very well how dangerous this was.
If the game dragged into extra innings, Seidou would be at a serious disadvantage.
But in the end—
He chose to complete the system task.
If he succeeded, his fastball speed would stabilize above 150 km/h.
For a pitcher, this was a leap he could not afford to miss.
Second Batter – Seibō High School
The second batter stepped into the box, grinding his back teeth as he tightened his grip.
He didn't believe Zhou Hao could keep this up.
Yes, it was spectacular.
Yes, it crushed morale.
But such pitching would absolutely drain stamina.
Once Zhou Hao collapsed, Seibō would seize victory.
That was the belief holding their team together.
"There'll definitely be a fishing pitch… or a normal straight,"
the batter told himself.
Even if it was a trap, he was willing to gamble.
Zhou Hao didn't hesitate.
He lifted his leg and fired.
BOOM!
The pitching motion alone was completely different from before.
The crowd leaned forward unconsciously.
Then—
The ball vanished.
The batter froze.
By the time his brain registered the pitch, it had already slammed into Chris's glove.
Thwack!
"Strike!"
The chill that surged through the batter's spine was indescribable.
He guessed wrong.
And Zhou Hao didn't give him time to recover.
The second pitch came immediately.
Whoosh!
A blinding white streak tore through the air.
Chris felt his wrist sink upon catching it.
This pitch was stronger—
faster—
sharper.
Even the late movement had improved.
Chris glanced up at Zhou Hao in disbelief.
Even after partnering with him for so long, Zhou Hao still managed to shatter expectations.
Imitating someone signature pitch was one thing.
Surpassing it was another.
152 km/h.
The stadium exploded again.
By now, Zhou Hao's pitch count had exceeded fifty.
Everyone knew how exhausting his pitching style was.
Yet Zhou Hao's expression didn't change at all.
The batter had no answer.
Strikeout.
Third Batter – Seibō's Core Slugger
The true heart of Seibō's lineup stepped in.
A batter who had once hit a pitch over 150 km/h.
His opponent back then was Kuroda.
Now—
It was Zhou Hao.
Chris signaled subtly.
A pure fastball might be dangerous.
Zhou Hao saw it.
Understood it.
And ignored it.
Two more pitches.
That was all he needed.
Chris felt a headache coming on.
Stubborn as ever.
But he nodded.
"If you insist… then let's overwhelm them."
Zhou Hao inhaled deeply.
His body felt like a bow pulled to its absolute limit.
BOOM!
The pitch shot out like an arrow.
The batter's pupils shrank.
This was different.
This Speed of Light Beam felt as if it would tear everything apart.
He swung with all his strength.
Too slow.
151 km/h.
"Strike!"
150.5 km/h.
"Strike!!"
153 km/h.
"STRIKEOUT!!!"
Three outs.
Side retired.
Silence engulfed Koshien.
Then—
An eruption.
Zhou Hao's pitching wasn't just fast.
If it were only speed, that batter wouldn't have been completely helpless.
There was something more.
Something no one could yet comprehend.
And standing on the mound—
Zhou Hao looked invincible.