Chapter 258: Shocking the Entire Stadium!
"157 kilometers per hour!"
"Could the radar gun be broken?"
Even after witnessing the pitch with their own eyes, many fans in the stands still had doubts.
They just couldn't believe someone could throw a ball that fast right at the start of the game.
"Does he not need to warm up at all?"
"No way he can keep that up for long, right?"
The stadium buzzed with chatter.
Behind the plate, Miyuki's lips curled into a knowing smirk.
"Sorry, but our ace is just on fire today."
When Furuya first joined Seidou, he had a rough time starting games.
Sure, even back then, his performance was already impressive—
but to the trained eye, it was clear he hadn't fully adapted to high school-level baseball.
Especially in the early innings, his pitching would often show little inconsistencies.
But as Seidou advanced through tournament after tournament, facing stronger and stronger opponents,
Furuya grew.
And he didn't just grow—he exploded forward at a ridiculous pace.
By the time Seidou won the Kanto tournament,
Furuya had matured significantly on the mound.
At first, when he was thrust into the role of ace, it had been a last resort—
Their original ace, Tanba, was injured.
And there wasn't anyone else to fill the void.
So they had no choice but to rely on a first-year rookie.
But after the finals of the Kanto tournament,
something shifted in the hearts of every player on the team.
By the time the summer tournament rolled around,
Furuya had earned it.
Every player, coach, and staff member recognized his performance—
not out of favoritism,
but because of one simple, undeniable reason:
Ability.
Furuya's strength, his dominance on the field, had won them over completely.
He wasn't just a talented rookie anymore.
He was Seidou's true ace.
And if Ichizen's players still thought he was just some monstrous first-year—
They were in for a brutal reality check.
"That first pitch has already carved itself into the batter's mind."
"Let's strike now while that impression is still fresh!"
Miyuki knew the risks of this strategy.
Pushing Furuya to go full power right from the start meant burning stamina fast.
But everything in baseball had two sides.
And in this case—
the psychological impact was more than worth it.
Ichizen had studied all they could—read scouting reports, watched footage.
But they had never faced a live fastball over 155 km/h.
Not until now.
And encountering it for the first time on the grand stage of Koshien?
They'd be shaken.
This was their chance.
If they could seize the momentum now,
the entire game would tilt in their favor.
"You get it, don't you?"
Miyuki didn't need to explain it.
Furuya had been his battery partner long enough—he understood without words.
"Of course I do."
This wasn't Furuya's first day as the team's ace.
It wasn't his first game with Miyuki behind the plate.
He knew his catcher's style—
sometimes simple and direct to the point of being brutal.
Like now.
No fancy mix-ups.
Just pure power.
Show them what you've got.
Furuya raised his leg high and slammed it down.
His entire body moved as one unified force—
from the ground up, power transferred fluidly to his fingers.
BOOM!!
The pitch tore through the air like a missile from an anti-aircraft gun.
Even the home plate umpire instinctively flinched.
He knew he was fully geared up—
but that pitch still felt like it could blast through armor.
"Are first-years always this terrifying now…?"
Wada, still standing in the batter's box, had gone pale.
Fast.
Brutal.
Unreal.
The white ball blurred past like a laser.
It disappeared from his view almost the moment it entered.
He wanted to react.
He wanted to swing.
Even if he missed, even if he struck out—
he just wanted to understand what made Furuya's pitch so terrifying.
But he couldn't.
His body couldn't respond in time.
His vaunted dynamic vision—useless in that instant.
The ball slammed into the mitt.
"Strike two!"
Only after that sound did Wada feel like he regained control of his own limbs.
"Is he really a first-year…?"
Even knowing Furuya was technically the same age—16 years old—
Wada just couldn't imagine someone his age throwing like that.
And according to their intel—
Furuya was actually younger than him.
A true first-year.
Only fifteen.
"This world… really is full of monsters."
Wada's heart sank.
In that moment, the image of their beautiful coach—
her voice, her encouraging words—flashed through his mind.
But in this moment, Wada had no choice but to admit—
he was about to let his coach down.
As that bitter thought crossed his mind,
the white baseball came flying again.
BOOM!!
The third pitch—faster than either of the last two.
Wada wanted desperately to swing with all his might—
But he couldn't.
His eyes couldn't track it.
His body couldn't react.
His mind went completely blank.
By the time his consciousness returned,
all he could hear was the pop of the ball hitting the mitt, and the deafening roar of the crowd.
"Pop!!"
"Strike!!"
"Strikeout!!"
Ichizen's leadoff hitter. Their ace.
The one they had pinned all their hopes on—
Didn't even get the bat off his shoulder.
He was struck out on three straight pitches.
At the start of the match, fueled by their coach's pep talk, Ichizen's players had been like hungry wolves, howling with energy.
They were a top national powerhouse,
and they had come ready to clash with Seidou head-on.
At least, that was the vibe at first.
Now—
those same wolves had gone completely silent.
It was like someone had grabbed them by the throat.
They couldn't even speak.
When Wada returned to the dugout,
he immediately felt the mood crash around him.
His strikeout had shaken the entire team.
"Murasaki… I really tried. But that Seidou freshman… he's terrifying..."
Wada sat down and sobbed like a child.
The other Ichizen players, who'd been itching to ask him questions, were now so embarrassed they could've curled their toes through the dugout floor.
"This is Koshien for crying out loud!
There are reporters and cameras everywhere!
Pull yourself together!"
"You've humiliated Ichizen High out there!"
Even the fans in the stands couldn't help but cringe.
Seriously?
This guy's their ace?
How did Ichizen even make it this far with a pitcher like that?
Their coach and the rest of the team must've had it rough.
In Seidou's dugout, their players were grinning from ear to ear.
In their eyes, Furuya had completely taken control of the game.
Ichizen was spooked.
This was Seidou's chance.
All they had to do was clean up the next two outs,
and they could steamroll to victory.
That was always the plan.
That was the script they'd written for Koshien.
Even before arriving at the tournament, Seidou had talked seriously about how they wanted to present themselves.
Should they play it low-key?
Pretend to be underdogs?
Hide their claws until the right moment?
Honestly, it wasn't a bad tactic.
But everyone on the team knew—
that approach wouldn't work for them.
They were a powerhouse from West Tokyo.
They had beaten Inashiro Industrial at its peak.
Even if they played it humble,
other teams weren't going to buy it.
Their opponents weren't stupid—
they could sense how dangerous Seidou was.
So trying to play the underdog card was just a fantasy.
That path was closed.
So they chose a different one.
It was the path that Seidou's players truly wanted to take—
The path of a king returning to his throne.
They had come to prove to fans across the country:
the legendary Seidou High School was back.
The powerhouse that once ruled the national stage had returned to Koshien, and they weren't just here to participate—
they were aiming for the very top.
To make that statement loud and clear,
they had only one plan for their first game—
Crush the opponent.
No matter who it was.
They had to win—and win clean.
Meanwhile, only Chris wore a faint frown.
He knew Furuya had opened strong.
He saw the fear in Ichizen's batters.
But something felt… off.
That leadoff hitter, Wada—
after striking out in three pitches,
he had returned to the dugout far too calmly.
Almost like the at-bat hadn't affected him at all.
And more than that—
When facing someone with Furuya's velocity,
a batter's natural instinct is to swing.
Even if they know they'll miss, they still try.
They always try.
But Wada hadn't.
He didn't swing at a single pitch.
Not once.
It didn't feel intentional…
but that's exactly why it bothered Chris.
Was he watching?
Studying Furuya?
Gathering data firsthand?
"I really hope I'm just overthinking this…"
Chris muttered under his breath.
But before the thought could settle,
Furuya was already winding up again—
like someone had flipped a switch inside him.
He unleashed another blazing fastball.
BOOM!!
The second batter of Ichizen, the moment he saw that pitch—
His whole body trembled.
Before his brain could even process what was happening, his arms had already moved on their own, swinging the bat.
From the Ichizen dugout, Coach Aihara's eyes went wide.
"Idiot! I told you—don't swing recklessly!"
She had made it crystal clear before the game:
Facing Furuya's speed head-on was suicide.
The goal wasn't to get hits right away—
it was to wear him down.
In their regional final against Inashiro, Furuya had pitched great, but he couldn't go the distance.
He wasn't invincible.
He wasn't made of steel.
If they couldn't find his weakness,
then they'd fall back on Plan B:
force him to burn through his stamina.
That was the plan.
But now—
One of their own had just thrown that plan out the window.
Driven by instinct, fear, pressure—
whatever it was—
He swung.
And missed.
The white ball streaked past—untouched.
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
"Strike!!"
"Strike!!!"
"Strikeout!!!"
Two down.
Then came the third batter.
Same result.
"Three up, three down!
Side retired!!"
Furuya had struck out the side in the very first inning—
and left a trail of silence in his wake.
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