Chapter 33: The Era-Making Genius

In the dugout.

Coach Kunitomo's gaze was fixed on Miyuki, and since Miyuki had called for a timeout, he hadn't taken his eyes off him.

When outsiders talk about Seidou High School, the first person that comes to mind is usually the great Demon King Sawamura. It seems like in the powerhouse team of Seidou, Sawamura is seen as the only frontrunner.

However, anyone who knows a bit about Seidou High School would know that there's more than one frontrunner in Seidou.

The true commander of the Seidou High baseball team is someone else.

In previous matches between Inashiro and Seidou, Inashiro lost twice and won once.

After the matches, there were various conclusions drawn. People offered all kinds of opinions, each one sounding reasonable at first glance, but upon further reflection, none of them seemed entirely convincing.

Ultimately, these discussions boiled down to two main points.

One was the existence of Sawamura Eijun. His individual strength had far surpassed the level of a typical high school player.

In several direct confrontations, the players of Inashiro Industrial High School had lost out to Sawamura, making him the most valuable weapon and breakthrough point for Seidou.

Of course, in a baseball game, it's impossible to rely solely on one player's power to determine the outcome.

What truly made the difference in the games, what caused Inashiro's baseball team to consistently fall short against Seidou, was another factor.

That factor was Seidou's Miyuki Kazuya.

It was because of a catcher like Miyuki that Inashiro's team kept losing.

The All-Tokyo team found themselves in a significant crisis. For Coach Kunitomo and the players of Inashiro Industrial, this presented a good opportunity.

They could carefully observe how Miyuki would respond in such a crisis situation.

What would Miyuki do?

Kunitomo was confident that if they could thoroughly study Miyuki when they faced Seidou two months from now, they would hold the initiative.

At this very moment, at Inashiro Industrial's B-field, there was another person intently watching Miyuki's performance.

This person was Narumiya's current partner, as well as the main catcher for the Inashiro Industrial baseball team: Tadano Itsuki.

Tadano was eagerly looking forward to seeing what kind of performance Miyuki would show in such a scenario.

How much of a gap was there between himself and this nationwide number-one catcher?

Many others, like Tadano, were also watching Miyuki's every move with anticipation.

Ever since Miyuki had called for a timeout, everyone had been eagerly awaiting what the top-ranked catcher in the country would do next.

However, Miyuki himself was completely unaware of the attention he was drawing.

With a calm expression, Miyuki returned to his position behind the plate and immediately began signaling to the players on the field.

The batter coming up for Tokyo University was their sixth hitter, who had previously been the fourth batter in their lineup. A psychology major with exceptional batting skills.

Watching Miyuki's movements, the batter furrowed his brows slightly.

From a psychological perspective, it wasn't difficult to guess Miyuki's intentions after the series of signals he had just made.

'After taking several hits, the pitcher's state was clearly affected, at least to some degree.'

It seemed only logical for the catcher to go to the mound to have a chat with the pitcher, in hopes of getting him back into form.

But was it really that simple?

The Cleaner of Tokyo University couldn't help but feel suspicious. For some reason, he had the feeling that the catcher next to him wasn't as simple as he seemed.

Luckily, he didn't absolutely have to face this catcher directly.

No matter what the catcher and pitcher had discussed, after such consecutive heavy hits, it would be difficult for the pitcher to regain his rhythm.

Even if the pitcher thought that was the case, his body wouldn't necessarily cooperate.

'Before he recovers, I'll just hit the ball out.'

The batter raised his bat high and stared fixedly at the pitcher's mound.

The longer this dragged on, the higher the chances that the pitcher would recover. In this case, the best option was to hit the ball before the pitcher found his rhythm again.

The batter silently made up his mind.

As soon as the baseball came flying, he wouldn't hold back.

From his position behind the plate, Miyuki kept a keen eye on the batter's every little movement.

From the batter's actions, Miyuki quickly understood what was going on inside his mind.

'He wanted to swing!'

And the desire was very strong as if he was absolutely determined to swing at the next pitch.

'In that case, it was time for a Ball outside the strike zone.'

'If the batter swung, that would actually be a huge help.'

When Miyuki sent a signal to the pitcher, the feeling on the mound shifted.

It felt strange as if Miyuki's open Mitt was like a mysterious black hole.

For some reason, it felt like the mitt was drawing him in.

Drawing him in, making him throw the baseball in his hand.

'Throw it!'

Like he was under some sort of spell, the pitcher, Umemiya, suddenly pulled back and threw the ball.

The pitch felt incredibly fluid as if it had been practiced countless times before.

Whoosh!

The baseball flew toward the batter in the blink of an eye.

Tokyo University's sixth batter was momentarily surprised.

'This fast!'

He had seen Umemiya's fastball when he was observing earlier.

In his memory, Umemiya's fastball was around 130 km/h.

Nothing too special.

But standing in the Batter's Box, the ball seemed so much faster.

'Still, the speed hadn't exceeded his limits.'

He glanced briefly at Umemiya on the mound and sneered inwardly.

'If your skill is really only this much, then sorry, but this hit is mine.'

The batter took his stance, seemingly preparing to pour all his strength into the swing of his bat.

He swung with no hesitation, aiming directly at the baseball with full force.

Paak!

The ball was hit cleanly as if it had been whipped away, and it flew Foul.

"Tsk!"

The batter gripped his bat tightly, secretly frustrated.

He had been so close, just a little bit away.

That ball was almost out!

If it hadn't gone Foul, it would've at least been a double.

'But no worries.'

The pitcher's throws were now completely under his control. The next pitch would definitely be hit.

The batter looked determined.

Meanwhile, Umemiya, the pitcher, seemed to be completely overwhelmed by the batter's momentum.

Spectators watching the game generally believed that Tokyo University's batter was likely to build on the previous hits and score again.

The lineup was starting to show his true power.

Even though the players from Tokyo University weren't as strong as those from professional teams, they were still the best in their university, so their skills were indisputable.

Once they really got going, the Tokyo team could cause serious problems.

The game situation was developing in that direction...

Even Umemiya, as the pitcher, seemed to lack confidence at this point.

The only person still fired up was Miyuki, the catcher.

'Now, you're one Strike ahead!'

The batter's powerful swing didn't seem to faze Miyuki at all.

What Miyuki saw was only a situation becoming more and more advantageous for his team.

'Believe in your own pitching, and throw it here!!'

Miyuki Kazuya once again signaled to Umemiya.

Umemiya's mind wasn't entirely free from hesitation. He even began to doubt himself—was his skill really not enough?

But seeing Miyuki's confidence, Umemiya was unwilling to give up so easily.

Just as Nao-chan had told them before:

'Some things, as long as we put in the effort, have a chance of coming to fruition. If we never even try, they will never have a chance.'

As a grassroots team, if they didn't even have dreams, what was the point of continuing to play?

"It's definitely going to work!"

After the first pitch, the flame in Umemiya's eyes was rekindled by Miyuki's lead.

He was like boiling water on the verge of bubbling over.

So, he pulled back his stance and, without any hesitation, hurled the baseball with all his might.

Whoosh!

In stark contrast to the first pitch, this one was extremely slow.

The batter in the box, unprepared for such a sudden change in rhythm, struggled to adapt.

He could only hurriedly swing his bat.

Paak!

"FOUL!"

After two consecutive Foul balls, the batter was forced into a corner.

The spectators, who had previously been confident in the batter, now began to hesitate.

"What was going on here?"

"Now this is interesting!"

Could it be that all their previous assumptions were wrong? Perhaps the Tokyo team wasn't as close to giving up as they had thought.

As everyone was thinking this, the situation on the field changed once again.

After getting two Strikes, Miyuki Kazuya, without any hesitation, signaled for a third pitch.

When Umemiya saw this signal, his adrenaline surged.

To his surprise, after completely trusting Miyuki's instructions, his performance reached its peak.

'This was the moment!'

His two fingers tightly gripped the baseball, and in this pitch, Umemiya used all of his power.

Whoosh!

The baseball shot like a laser, straight into the inside corner.

'Such a fast fastball!'

The batter in the box was filled with astonishment upon seeing the pitch.

But from his perspective, it seemed like this ball was even faster than the one Umemiya had thrown earlier.

What was different was that the last pitch had strayed from the strike zone, but this one didn't even bother to veer off—it came straight down the middle.

'Has he completely disregarded me?'

The batter believed he could predict his opponent's thoughts.

They probably thought he was much weaker than the professional league players, so they figured they could simply crush him with raw power, no need for subtlety.

'You Are Too Naïve, Brat!!'

A sharp light flashed in the batter's eyes.

Even though he was being pressured, it didn't mean he was powerless.

On the contrary, this situation had stirred his fighting spirit.

He spun his wrists firmly and, with a full swing, took aim at the fastball.

Just as the bat was about to make contact with the ball, the batter's smile had not yet fully blossomed.

The ball moved again.

Before reaching the strike zone, the baseball suddenly curved sharply.

And it curved drastically, with no prior warning.

'A Slider!!!'

The batter's pupils nearly popped out of his head as he watched the ball's trajectory.

He never expected the opponent would pull such a move at this moment.

The unexpected curve caught him completely off guard.

By the time he reacted, the baseball had already evaded the bat and landed safely in Miyuki's Mitt.

Snap!

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

Without a doubt, the batter was struck out.

All that was left were stunned, open-mouthed stares from those watching.

Because after the previous strikeout, Umemiya had shown unparalleled pitching strength.

This had made the Tokyo University batters cautious.

So, as the seventh batter prepared to hit, he subtly adjusted his grip on the bat.

His grip was to focus on getting a solid hit, no longer swinging for the fences on every pitch.

Thinking he was being careful, the batter had no idea that his actions had not escaped Miyuki's sharp eyes.

As soon as Miyuki saw the batter's new approach, he immediately signaled for a slow Curveball to be thrown.

With their prior coordination, even though Umemiya was still grumbling, he had developed a deep appreciation for Miyuki.

After receiving the signal, he immediately threw the pitch.

Whoosh!

The baseball whizzed toward the batter.

Seeing the slow Curveball coming in, the batter felt that it was just what he needed.

He hadn't felt confident hitting Umemiya's fastball or Slider.

But this slow curveball, as long as he didn't get too greedy and stayed patient, he should be able to hit it solidly.

With that in mind, the batter swung with confidence.

Paak!

The baseball was sent flying, heading straight for the gap behind the shortstop.

"Good!"

Watching the ball sail toward the outfield, the batter's heart soared.

He quickly dropped his bat and sprinted toward first base.

But just a few steps into his run, he heard the umpire's voice.

"OUT!!"

The shortstop, Shirakawa, had stepped back just in time, catching the ball that had dropped right into his mitt, and the batter was called Out.

"What luck!"

Owada Akiko, holding her camera, said with a smile.

"Luck?"

Fujio glanced at his partner, surprised.

He hadn't expected her to say something like that.

Was the All-Tokyo team really just lucky? Fujio couldn't say for sure.

But from what he had seen on the field, luck alone couldn't explain it.

With that thought, Fujio's gaze shifted to Miyuki.

It was Miyuki he had first noticed.

Back then, he even wrote an article about the "Savior of Seidou."

From that time, Fujio had recognized Miyuki Kazuya as a rare baseball genius.

But there were always many baseball geniuses every year. As Fujio recommended to Miyuki, other reporters also listed many other prospects.

It seemed like geniuses were cheap and plentiful.

Even so, Fujio had never changed his mind.

He still believed that Miyuki was the true genius.

An Era-making genius in baseball.

Even though now, the Demon King, Sawamura, had far more fame than his teammate, who would go further in the future? It was far from certain.