Hongo's greatest weapon was that Fast Forkball, so—
Absolutely don't swing carelessly.
As Kōshū faced Hongo's pitching again, he found Senior Miyuki amusing, but an inexplicable hint of tension also rose in his heart.
Renji noticed the shift in the batter's overall demeanor and subtly moved to the right. Come on. Their ace has enough power to send it over the wall. We absolutely can't let him get hold of one now.
Besides, Nitta Manager had already made it clear before they took the field.
"If you're not confident, just walk him. As long as you get the rest of Seido's batters out."
Hongo did not shake his head. He simply nodded in silence.
His control today was good enough to hit the absolute limit of the Outside Low Corner.
The batter's body tensed sharply for an instant, then relaxed on its own.
"Strike!"
The pitch entered the zone with extreme precision, right on the edge where it was difficult to judge. Even if he hit it, he would not be able to control where it landed very well.
With runners on base, grounding into a double play would only help the other side.
Thus, Kōshū got a taste of what it felt like when pitching against himself. These borderline pitches really do look far away.
The second pitch came straight down the middle and looked incredibly tempting, but knowing the opponent's control, the batter tracked it all the way to the end.
"Ball!" As expected, it was a Forkball that suddenly broke just before the plate.
After readjusting his stance, Kōshū's previously chaotic thoughts settled down. Only in that state could he properly make use of Dynamic Vision.
The next instant, Hongo lifted his leg and delivered the pitch. To the batter's eyes, the motion suddenly slowed down.
This