Diamond No Ace: The Monster

Chapter 222: Astonishment! A 158-Kilometer Pitch!

No outs, runner on first.

The players and supporters of Inashiro Industrial High School's baseball team were all visibly ecstatic.

To them, the current scene was both shocking and deeply satisfying.

They were awed by the sheer skill of the Inashiro players.

As for why they felt so gratified?

The reason was quite simple: they had given up a run right at the start of the game.

For the Inashiro Industrial High School team, that was a significant blow.

Their supporters even began to feel a sense of dread.

Would the game really end like this?

Having supported Inashiro so passionately, they were in no mood to see such an outcome…

But now, their earlier worries seemed entirely unwarranted.

Even though they had lost to Seidou High in the Kanto tournament finals, Inashiro Industrial High's commanding presence and strength weren't easily toppled.

Their players were still exceptional.

Seidou's batters may have scored early on, but when it was Inashiro's turn at bat, they achieved the same result.

Even when facing Seidou's first-year phenom Furuya, Inashiro had come back strong, scoring a run.

"The game's just started. It's still too early to call!"

Inashiro's players seemed to have rediscovered their confidence in an instant.

They all believed that this game was far from over.

No matter how well Seidou performed, unless they could decisively shut down Inashiro,

Inashiro's players were determined to regain the upper hand.

"Come on!!!"

"You're the best!!"

"Don't think a first-year phenom can take down Inashiro Industrial High! We won't lose to a rookie!!"

The cheers from the Inashiro supporters in the stands echoed this sentiment repeatedly.

Meanwhile, the team from Yakushi High, who had come specifically to watch this game, couldn't help but frown.

They had heard these words so often it felt as though their ears were growing calluses.

The fans' words were clear, but why did they feel the need to repeat them so many times?

Had they not kept repeating it, Yakushi's team might not have noticed…

Others on the field might not have sensed it either.

But these fans in the stands clearly held a surprising degree of fear toward that first-year phenom from Seidou.

"What do you think, Coach?"

Sanada asked with a smile, eager to hear his coach's thoughts.

Raizou Todoroki narrowed his eyes. His dark circles seemed less pronounced, and he appeared more spirited.

"The more someone fears something, the more they insist they aren't afraid of it! The players of Inashiro Industrial High and their supporters probably don't even realize it yet, but that first-year player, Furuya, has already become their nightmare. If they hadn't managed to score early, they likely wouldn't have been able to keep playing."

Coach Todoroki's perspective was startling.

Inashiro, the reigning powerhouse of West Tokyo and a perennial contender at Koshien, was said to be intimidated by a mere first-year player.

And not just a little intimidated.

However, anyone familiar with Coach Todoroki knew he would never lie about baseball-related matters.

This was the judgment of a former star player.

In his view, Inashiro's mindset had already been shaken.

If not for scoring early, they would likely have become stuck in a mental rut.

"What's next?"

Mishima asked, furrowing his brow.

This usually arrogant kid seemed unusually subdued.

It left Coach Todoroki feeling rather unaccustomed to the situation.

"What's with you behaving so meekly?"

"Probably because both of those teams are ones he desperately wants to beat, but hasn't been able to," Akiba muttered.

Hearing his friend's remark, Mishima immediately bristled.

"I will beat them! Just wait and see…"

As expected.

Mishima's polite demeanor couldn't last more than half a minute.

The players on Yakushi High School's baseball team collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Their usually cocky junior had suddenly become so courteous that they could hardly adapt.

Everyone even started to worry:

Could it be that his personality had drastically changed because of the previous defeat?

If that were true, would it affect his pitching?

The very thought of it made everyone uneasy.

After all, there are plenty of cases where a change in personality leads to fluctuations in performance.

While the others bantered, Todoroki Raizou mulled over the situation for a moment before speaking.

"That depends on how the young man on the pitcher's mound handles this crisis."

Scoring against Furuya early in the game had undoubtedly broken the psychological barrier for Inashiro's players.

What had once seemed an almost invincible pitcher was now proven to be beatable.

Once that idea firmly rooted itself in their minds, the Inashiro players would do everything in their power to maximize their team's advantage.

They would go on a relentless offensive.

If, at this moment, Furuya's response wasn't polished and decisive, then the unfolding scenario could turn quite grim for Seidou High's baseball team.

"A first-year player is still prone to inexperience. Do you realize that, kid?"

At this point, as the team's ace, he needed the resolve to turn the tide.

Raizou was genuinely curious if the rookie Furuya had what it took.

He wasn't the only one—many eyes in the stands were already focused on the pitcher's mound.

Even if they couldn't break everything down as systematically as Todoroki, the spectators had their own intuition.

They understood well that the outcome of the game now hinged on Furuya's performance.

Could he rise to the occasion and deliver as Inashiro's ace Narumiya Mei once did?

Just as everyone was pondering this, Furuya suddenly sprang into action on the mound.

He didn't appear as rattled as they had imagined.

Though his pitching motion still seemed intimidating, it felt natural coming from him.

After all, this was how Furuya pitched.

He was the fastest high school pitcher around.

What was so surprising about his intense pitching presence?

And this intensity wasn't even at its peak—compared to his usual self, this pitch didn't seem as charged as his previous ones.

It seemed that conceding that early run hadn't ignited his full competitive spirit on the field.

He hadn't yet been fully fired up!

Just as everyone was thinking this, the white baseball seemed to flow smoothly from his hand.

Boom!

As the ball left Furuya's hand, a loud, ripping sound through the air yanked everyone's wandering thoughts back to reality.

What a terrifying sight!

Even though they weren't standing in the batter's box, even from a distance, the sheer force of Furuya's pitch made them think the same thing:

It was almost suffocating.

In the batter's box, Inashiro Industrial High School's third hitter tightly pressed his lips together.

He clearly realized just how extraordinary this pitch was.

And yet, there was nothing he could do about it.

The ball came so fast that he hadn't even intended to swing.

Even if he had planned to swing, facing such an overpowering pitch, he might not have been able to connect.

Pop!

The ball slammed hard into Miyuki's glove.

A grin spread across Miyuki's face.

"Strike!"

Giving up a run at the very beginning was certainly not part of Seidou High's game plan.

But what's done is done. No matter how frustrated they might feel, there was no way to undo it.

What they needed most at this moment was to pick themselves up and move forward.

Especially Furuya.

He had to fully shake off the shadow of that setback to move toward a brighter future.

And now it seemed their team's ace was handling it just fine.

As soon as the problem arose, Furuya found a way to resolve it.

Not only that—he executed it brilliantly.

Just like this clean, sharp fastball that seemed to completely turn their earlier slump around.

"Well done, keep it up!"

Not just Miyuki—many of Seidou's teammates found themselves thinking the same thing.

As long as Furuya could maintain this level of pitching, victory would surely be theirs.

But just as the Seidou players were entertaining that thought, they suddenly noticed something unusual in the stands. Everything had gone unnaturally quiet.

What was going on?

This abrupt silence inevitably caught their attention.

Even the players from Inashiro couldn't help but glance around.

Then they saw it—the fans in the stands were all staring blankly at the large electronic scoreboard.

Seeing this, both teams seemed to realize something all at once.

They looked up, disbelief written all over their faces.

"157 kilometers per hour!!!"

That was the speed of Furuya's last pitch.

In the Inashiro dugout, Narumiya Mei jumped up.

"Impossible! That must be wrong!"

The celebrated "Prince of Tokyo" refused to accept what he was seeing.

It was just too absurd.

Sure, they were both high school players, but Mei was a year older.

He simply couldn't believe anyone could throw a pitch at that velocity.

Before the game, they had specifically trained to handle Furuya's fastball.

And they trained thoroughly.

They didn't just face 150 kph fastballs; they even prepared against 155 kph pitches.

At 150 kph, most of their team's main batters could still make contact with a standard fastball.

But once it reached 155 kph, things changed dramatically.

Only three of their players could even touch a ball at that speed.

Their third batter, though a powerhouse at the plate, wasn't one of them.

In other words, even if Furuya's fastball was only 155 kph, that senior batter would be left standing there, helplessly watching it go by.

A pitch clocked at 157 kph was simply out of the question.

Faced with such an outlandish reality, it's no wonder the "Prince of Tokyo" couldn't accept it.

Harada, who was waiting for his turn at bat, shook his head solemnly.

"Maybe the machine is malfunctioning."

After all, no technology is foolproof.

Especially machines.

"But there are plenty of fans in the stands with radar guns. Judging by their reactions, they must be seeing the same numbers."

What were the odds that so many radar guns in the stands were simultaneously wrong?

The Inashiro players all knew the answer.

They closed their eyes in dismay.

They couldn't bear to watch what would happen next.

Whoosh!

The white ball tore through the strike zone with a thunderous roar.

Pop!

"Strike!"

Even though Inashiro's third batter tried his best and refused to give up, his bat still couldn't connect with the ball.

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!!!"

Furuya didn't use any tricks—just straightforward fastballs.

He didn't even aim for the edges, just threw strikes down the middle or right over the plate.

They were pitches that should have been easy to hit.

And yet, the batter still couldn't make contact.

This was the power of the first-year phenom!

In the stands, Seidou's die-hard supporters were practically leaping with excitement.

To them, nothing was more thrilling than witnessing this moment.

"See that? That's true terror!"

As the fans cheered wildly, Inashiro's cleanup hitter stepped up to the plate.

"Batting fourth, number two, catcher, Harada!"

Now it was Harada's turn to bat.

Inashiro's players and fans seemed to regain their confidence.

"This time's different! This time we'll get it!"

They repeated this almost like a mantra, as if not saying it would somehow doom them.

Inashiro's players felt a renewed sense of determination.

After all, among the three players on their team who could hit a 155 kph fastball, Harada was one of them.

Even though they knew there was a difference between machine-thrown pitches and a real pitcher, they couldn't help but pin all their hopes on Harada.

Whoosh!

Furuya's pitch against Inashiro's cleanup hitter was just as fierce as ever.

As the ball flew towards the plate, the numbers on the electronic scoreboard changed again.

"158 kilometers per hour!!!"

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