Diamond no Ace: My Sharingan

Zhou Hao, who helped the team score a run, had already become the most eye-catching presence on the field.

The other players on Seidou High School's baseball team also performed well.

If it weren't for their support and cooperation, Zhou Hao wouldn't have been able to help the team score two runs no matter what.

This wasn't an achievement he could claim on his own.

But the spectators watching the game clearly didn't care about such things.

What they focused on was the most dazzling, most attention-grabbing player on the field.

Just looking at Zhou Hao's build—

He didn't look like a baseball player at all. Not to mention comparing him to Azuma Kiyokuni…

Even when compared to players like Chris or Matsumoto, Zhou Hao still looked very skinny.

Of course, if you went by height-to-weight ratio, Zhou Hao was perfectly within the standard range.

In fact, he was about the same as the average classmate in his grade.

It's just that most baseball players tend to be quite robust. Placed among them, Zhou Hao naturally looked frail and delicate.

Yet it was precisely this seemingly frail and delicate player who, upon stepping onto the field, immediately caught an unbelievable ball.

From that moment on, Zhou Hao had been under the spotlight.

Then he went up to bat and, with his thin frame, cleanly hit a double.

And now, he had been sent back to home plate by his teammates.

The score was suddenly widened by four runs.

Not just Seidou's players—even the spectators had noticed:

Zhou Hao's strength was extraordinary.

On top of that, he was just a first-year newcomer to the Seidou High School baseball team, and he was fairly handsome as well.

With his identity and looks boosting his presence, Zhou Hao's strength began to appear even more unfathomable.

Faced with someone like Zhou Hao, what fan could resist being captivated?

It was only because today's match had a relatively small audience.

Otherwise, Zhou Hao would've gained a huge fan following already.

When Zhou Hao returned to the dugout, he could clearly sense that the way his teammates looked at him had changed.

During normal practice, Zhou Hao's performance was actually fairly average.

Aside from the impressive display when he first joined the team, people had gradually gotten used to him.

In the eyes of many upperclassmen—

They acknowledged the first-year junior's talent, but they clearly didn't believe Zhou Hao would shine much in this year's summer tournament.

His role in the main lineup was meant to be that of a secret weapon used at critical moments.

Even Coach Kataoka had arranged for Zhou Hao with that idea in mind before the game.

But now, it seemed their assumption had been completely wrong.

The Zhou Hao on the field felt like a different person from the Zhou Hao on the practice grounds.

In real matches, Zhou Hao always managed to surprise them—

And not just mildly, but with enormous surprises.

The game continued, and Seidou High School's offense didn't stop.

With Matsumoto getting on base, Seidou's batting lineup unleashed their full firepower.

The second, third, fourth, and fifth batters all made successful hits.

They secured another three runs in one go.

Adding the two runs Zhou Hao and the others had earned earlier, Seidou scored a total of five runs in just the second inning.

And it didn't stop there.

The situation on the field was: two outs, runners on second and third.

As long as Seidou's next batter could hit the ball, they could keep scoring.

And their sixth batter was none other than Chris, who had hit the first successful ball earlier.

"Oh my god!"

"They've gone through the entire batting lineup already!!"

"So this is the strength of a national top-tier lineup?"

The players of Gogen High School fell apart emotionally after giving up the fourth run.

Perhaps before the match began, they had been full of confidence and ambition, determined to fight Seidou head-to-head.

In the spring tournament, they had faced Inashiro Industrial—the so-called king of West Tokyo—and still managed a 7:3 score.

Even though they were mostly overwhelmed by the opponent during the game,

Looking at the score, it still seemed like they had some ability to fight back against the so-called West Tokyo powerhouse.

Although Seidou was also a national-level powerhouse, they couldn't be stronger than Inashiro… right?

They had only lost by four runs against Inashiro.

So against Seidou, who shouldn't be stronger, it made sense for them to score a few more points, didn't it?

If the difference against Inashiro was four runs, surely they could grab a few more against Seidou?

Didn't that mean they were qualified to go head-to-head with Seidou?

Didn't that mean they might even have a chance of winning today?

That's what the Gogen High players thought before the game began.

The Summer Tournament only came once a year.

Even though they knew in their hearts that they didn't have a real shot at Koshien,

And that they were still a long way from being true powerhouses,

They still hoped their team could go a bit farther.

Even if they couldn't earn a ticket to Koshien, reaching the top 16 or top 8 would still be an achievement.

But now…

The players of Gogen High were just going through the motions like walking corpses on the field.

Not because they were slacking during the match—

Even if only driven by physical instinct, they were still doing what needed to be done on the field.

But lacking the fighting spirit, they always came up just a little short.

That small gap might not seem like much.

But often it was that tiny difference that kept them from catching balls they otherwise could've reached.

Everything just went wrong for them.

This was a team that had potential—if they had played Seidou at full strength,

Even Seidou would have had to be cautious.

But now they had mentally collapsed…

Giving up runs was as easy as breathing.

Seidou's lineup was filled with strong batters, and against an opponent like this,

Every time they stepped up to bat, they were full of momentum.

When Chris hit the ball again, it happened to land straight into the pitcher's glove.

"Pop!"

"Out!"

Chris was caught out, finally ending the second inning.

The players of Gogen High sighed in relief.

That inning was finally over.

But the scoreboard now read 7:0!

In the third inning, Seidou didn't score.

But in the fourth inning, they racked up another three runs.

The score jumped to 10:0.

Seeing the massive point gap, people looked again at the game stats.

Even having witnessed it with their own eyes, they still found it hard to believe.

"It's only the fourth inning… how is the score this wide already?"

They couldn't understand.

But this was the reality.

Bottom of the fourth—Gogen High's turn to attack.

--------------

POWER STONE!!?? 

Support me at patreon.com/DaoOfPeeking