Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 181: Pudding-senpai Evolves

"Rei-chan! This guy may have brute strength, but his control is awful. He should throw 100 pitches a day to build stamina!"

The moment Sendo stepped into the dugout, he heard the snarky glasses-wearing Miyuki mocking and berating a certain airhead.

"Oh my!"

"Have you already caught his pitches?" Rei asked.

Hearing this, Sendo couldn't help but get annoyed.

Thinking about his tragic experience last night, he had barely managed to squeeze in some time during his break to read a shoujo manga.

But Jun-san dragged him off to watch some random Inashiro match. He didn't pay attention to the game at all. Worst of all, Jun-san noticed and scolded him harshly.

Since Jun-san was one of his manga suppliers, Sendou didn't dare resist.

As a result, his grudge against Miyuki grew even stronger.

"I'm willing to follow Miyuki-senpai's instructions!" said Furuya, who had found his footing on the team and was currently in obedient mode.

"Please take care of me!" The obedient Furuya bowed deeply to Miyuki.

Miyuki tilted his head slightly, smirking. (If you weren't good-looking, this would be a disaster, you know?)

"What's with you today? You're surprisingly well-behaved!" he quipped, his sarcasm ever-present.

Sawamura, all too familiar with Miyuki's tone, thought to himself, Poor kid!.

"I just think it's best to start this way," Furuya replied earnestly.

"Hahaha! What a weirdo!"

Sawamura shook his head repeatedly, watching Miyuki and Furuya interact with growing unease.

He felt abandoned and was visibly transitioning from panic to indignation.

"Hey? Sendo, what's with that look?" Miyuki asked, noticing Sendo's unusually disdainful—or perhaps irritated—expression.

"When did I offend this guy? I don't even remember!" Miyuki thought, as Sendo turned his head slightly, signaling his disinterest.

"Eijun, are you wondering when these two started working together?"

"I'll tell you—it was last night!"

"That sly glasses-wearer ditched Jun-san, and I ended up taking the fall for it!"

"What?!"

Miyuki instantly realized what had happened.

"Calling me a 'sly glasses-wearer' is a bit much, don't you think? And you're sly too, you idiot!" This was the first time Miyuki had heard Sendou address him this way.

"I don't wear glasses!"

Miyuki was momentarily speechless.

Rei watched the two banter as usual.

Normally, it was Miyuki who ended up frustrated, but today it seemed Sendo wasn't in the mood to engage further.

So Rei spoke up.

"Sawamura, you'll be paired with third-year Chris. He'll teach you tactics and the mental preparation needed on the mound."

Sawamura immediately protested, but Chris firmly introduced himself, shaking his hand.

When Chris referred to him as a "rookie pitcher," Sawamura tried to resist further.

"Enough, Eijun!" Sendo intervened, his tone unusually serious.

Sendo's demeanor made Sawamura stop instantly, not even questioning why.

"Learn from him. He's the perfect mentor for you."

"Huh?"

"And what about me, Rei-chan? You called me here just to hear you assign tasks to others?"

"Starting today, you'll focus on improving your batting. You'll need more time with the pitching machine. I'll arrange it for you shortly."

"Got it! I'll treat the pitching machine like my wife!" Sendo quipped, already tired of running drills.

Although Furuya and Sawamura were focusing on pitcher-specific practice, they weren't exempt from regular training, doubling their workload.

As the pairs of pitchers and catchers left, Sendou glanced at Chris.

The senior looked haggard, almost like he had dark circles under his eyes.

"Rei-chan, this Chris-senpai… He wouldn't happen to be Chris Takigawa Yuu, would he?"

After everyone left, Sendo asked knowingly.

"Oh my! You actually know Chris's name?"

"It's a bit shocking to see the 'monster' from middle school end up like this."

Sendo still respected Chris deeply. Comparing Chris's baseball knowledge to his own, Sendo felt like a complete amateur.

"Let's go." Sendo quickly changed the subject, noticing the sadness in Rei's expression.

...

The "outing" turned out to be nothing more than exchanging greetings with the other players—a polite formality.

Afterward, Sendo joined the First String for defensive drills, and chaos ensued.

Furuya's defensive errors could've made a highlight reel. He missed even the lightest throws, and whenever he messed up, he casually told others not to mind, infuriating his teammates.

Meanwhile, Tanba provided helpful guidance:

"You're too focused on stepping on the base."

"Stay parallel to the foul line, or a runner might slide into your foot."

Sendo thought Tanba was considerate, though not necessarily toward him.

...

As the evening quieted down, the only sound was the whoosh of a bat slicing through the air.

"What's wrong, Sendo-chan?" Masuko asked, noticing Sendou sitting nearby in thought.

"Senpai, your swing is a bit too forceful. At that speed, you can't control the bat properly."

"Huh?"

Masuko had never heard anyone say this before.

"A powerful swing is great, but it becomes uncontrollable mid-motion," Sendo explained, detailing what he meant by bat control.

"Is that a problem?"

Sendo paused briefly.

"Do you plan to hit home runs every at-bat?" he asked bluntly.

"What?"

"With this kind of swing, it's either a home run, a strikeout, or an easy ball for the opponent when facing breaking pitches. Sure, it's powerful, but once the swing is in motion, it's almost impossible to adjust. You're not good with breaking pitches, are you, Masuko-senpai? Or maybe you're easily fooled by them."

"Uga!"

"Is Pudding-senpai evolving into Uga-senpai?" Sendo thought to himself, half-jokingly.

Still, he understood the affirmative response from Pudding-senpai.

If Sendo hadn't spent every day helping Masuko with his swings, he might not have noticed the issues in his batting.

Even in the showdown against Sawamura, it was evident.

"How did you handle yesterday's matchup with Eijun?" Sendo asked.

"Uga?" Masuko replied, gripping his bat shorter.

"Exactly! That swing just didn't connect well. If the contact had been in the sweet spot, it would've been an easy home run."

"But Eijun's moving pitch is an exception. When you choke up on the bat, it reduces the power slightly, but your strength is more than enough. More importantly, it lowers the difficulty of making solid contact and improves control over the bat. That should help mitigate your weakness against breaking balls."

Masuko fell into deep thought after hearing Sendo's analysis.

"Back in middle school, my teammates lacked raw talent, so they adopted methods that sacrificed power for accuracy, focusing on consistently making contact and securing hits," Sendo explained.

Pudding-senpai's eyes lit up at the mention of this.

"And with your overflowing strength, you don't need to smash through the outfield fence. Reducing your power slightly—like choking up on the bat—doesn't affect your overall performance but increases precision without altering your batting stance. After all, it's too late to change your stance now."

"Uga!" Masuko nodded resolutely.

"Great! If you're willing to try, let's start now. It's best to make this a habit. Otherwise, in high-pressure situations, you might revert to your old ways. You need to train your body to adapt!"

"Uga!!!" Masuko seemed to abandon human speech altogether, but his tone made it easy for Sendo to understand.

As the fifth batter of Seidou, Masuko couldn't afford such a glaring weakness.

In the original storyline, Masuko had even blamed himself for failing to sustain momentum in key matches.

With the summer tournament approaching, Sendo wasn't sure how much Masuko could adapt.

Against pitchers like Narumiya Mei, who excelled at breaking balls, Masuko's performance often plummeted.

Even during Narumiya's most vulnerable moments, Masuko's outs were guaranteed, showcasing how much he struggled against breaking ball specialists.

Without guessing pitches, he faced too many variables, and his powerful swings often missed or resulted in poor contact.

This frustration motivated Sendo to help him. Improving Masuko's batting average, combined with Sendo's reliable performance as the seventh batter, would make opposing teams hesitate to walk Miyuki or avoid facing him.

This lineup would become truly formidable.

Besides, Sendo enjoyed the quiet companionship of Masuko and Watanabe .

Sometimes, solutions were as simple as breaking through a thin barrier, but few could identify the issue.

Masuko's ideal batting style aligned with the modern "fly ball theory." However, to achieve that, he first needed to develop precise bat control.

...

The next day, Sawamura was noticeably more energized than before.

"Won't you graduate in a year? Do you really hate me that much?!" he shouted while running.

"That's something Chris-senpai must've said, right? That guy is seriously gloomy. I don't even want to talk to him—he's radiating this 'stay away from me' vibe," Sendo thought, resting his bat on his shoulder in the batter's box.

"Sendo, you idiot! How long have you been standing there?! Are you going to hit or not? If not, get out of here and run laps! Stop slacking, you moron!!!" the assistant coach yelled.

Normally mild-tempered, the assistant coach always lost his patience with Sendo. He didn't just want to scold Sendo; he wanted to strangle him.

"Ping!"

But Sendo always managed to deliver terrifying long hits, forcing the assistant coach to endure.

A while later, Chris left, and Haruichi brought over a new training menu. Grumbling, Sawamura tossed it aside and clung to his tire.

"Guess I'll stick to tire training! Let's go, aibo! Hahaha!"

Watching this, Sendo quietly put away his own aibo.

"You idiot, Sendo! Are you going to hit or not?! Why are you filming in the middle of practice?!" someone shouted, exasperated.

"Oh, sorry!" Sendo replied, though his attention remained on Sawamura.

The assistant coach's frustration about how much Sendo shortened his lifespan would remain unspoken.

Sendo's behavior was nothing new, and the coaching staff had long since decided to let him do as he pleased as long as he performed well in games.

"Fine! Let's take a break!" the assistant coach finally relented.

The one who needed rest the most was probably the coach himself.

Though his stamina wasn't depleted, his mental exhaustion was immense. Sendo was like a hyperactive child, constantly distracted.

...

"What about the upcoming Kanto Tournament? Isn't it mandatory for everyone to attend?" Sendo overheard as he approached Sawamura during the break.

Sawamura's expression made it clear—he didn't want to go.

"You don't want to go, huh?" Haruichi read his expression perfectly.

"We'll only be spectating from the stands. It'll be frustrating for sure. But… we might face some of these teams in the Nationals. Why not take this chance to scout them out?"

Haruichi's words clearly swayed Sawamura.

"If you don't go and that sunglasses-wearing coach loses it, you'll be done for," Sendo added, teasing him.

"You idiot!" Sawamura glared at Sendo, his frustration adorable.

"You're so heartless! You've been at Seidou for so long and haven't watched a single one of my games. Who do you think I joined Seidou for?"

Before Sawamura could respond, Sendo wrapped his left arm around him in a playful headlock.

"That Furuya will also be pitching in the tournament. As your rival for the ace number over the next three years, you should see his pitching firsthand!" Sendo said, loosening his grip.

"Fine, I get it!" Sawamura took the opportunity to break free, grabbing his tire and heading off to train.

Sawamura might act tough, but even he had his moments of stubborn determination.

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