Ohtani Shohai's gaze was fixed on the scoreboard in the outfield of Koshien Stadium, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

The huge board recorded the score on the field clearly:

Hanamaki East (Iwate) 0:5 Waseda Real (West Tokyo).

Before the game started, although he always believed his team had the ability to play the role of the underdog, he was actually mentally prepared for losing — what Ohtani Shohai didn't expect was that in this game, they, Hanamaki East, could be so... so —

So powerless to fight back.

Yes, they were rendered powerless against Waseda, against Lin Guanglai.

The triple in the second inning, followed by the uncaught third strike, seemed like the key to Pandora's Box. Hanamaki East's players were beaten by the "monsters" released from the box, like a disorganized group of soldiers.

The gap in the match was not just a visible 4-point difference, but a full-scale gap in both offense and defense.

Ohtani Shohai is a proud person, with pride stemming from confidence in his talent and strength — but now, he also started to doubt himself a little.

Before entering high school, at least in Ohtani Shohai's own view, he and Lin Guanglai were absolutely players of the same level; but now, the gap between the two seemed to be getting bigger.

"Have I regressed? Or is it that Lin's progress is so fast that even with all my efforts, I still can't keep up with him?"

Ohtani Shohai lowered his head, questioning himself back and forth in his heart, wanting to get the answer to the question —

Apart from himself, no one could answer it.

A moment later, Ohtani Shohai raised his lowered head again: unlike before, the confusion in his eyes had disappeared, replaced by determination, and beyond determination, a thirst for victory.

Maybe their Hanamaki East wasn't as strong as Waseda Real, maybe now he had already fallen behind Lin Guanglai in terms of strength — but these were things to think about later, these were not the most important things!

Now the only thing that matters, the only thing, is this game in front of them!

Ohtani Shohai only knew that, in the deepest part of his heart, he never believed his team was inferior to the opponent, he never believed his talent and strength were inferior to Lin Guanglai — he wanted to win! He wanted to win this game! He wanted to, like his predecessors, let all of Japan see Iwate! Let all of Japan see Hanamaki East!

Since that's the case, he had no time, nor the right to hesitate, to be confused any longer — every moment of hesitation at this moment is a desecration to this game, to their Hanamaki East, to the people of Iwate Prefecture supporting them, and even to the people of the Tohoku Region who worked hard to come to Koshien.

Standing up from the substitute bench, Ohtani Shohai called on his teammates around him to get up — they all formed a circle, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, shouting with the loudest voice their bodies could produce.

"For Tohoku! For Iwate! For those departed souls!"

The rekindled passion outside the players' area also affected their supporters in the Alps Stand above them — in response to the players, Hanamaki East's supporters also rallied themselves.

What sounded was not only the majestic instrumental music from the brass band, but also the spectators holding supporting items clapped in unison, chanting the same slogan:

"Go Iwate! Go Hanamaki East!"

The atmosphere of the stadium underwent a subtle change — for those with a more sensitive sense of the game, they could feel a slight shift in the atmosphere of the entire Koshien.

Spectators love seeing the strong maintain their dominance and successfully defend their title; but more than that, they are willing to cheer for the underdog, to watch them counterattack in adversity, burning youth and passion, and possibly achieve a dramatic comeback.

In such an atmosphere, Ohtani Shohai stood on the pitcher's mound once again.

In this inning, Waseda's lineup started with the second batter, Matsunaga Kenta, and just when he was confidently trying to assume the role of the trailblazer to break open the game for his team, he found himself under fierce attack from Ohtani Shohai.

The first pitch, a low outside slider, precisely hit the corner of the strike zone — facing this tricky outside breaking ball, Matsunaga Kenta couldn't move at all, and had to let the ball pass.

The second pitch, a red-center fastball in the strike zone, in a spot even more comfortable than a batting practice pitch; but the issue was the speed, which was so fast that Matsunaga Kenta couldn't react at all — his eyes barely caught the ball's trajectory, but his bat speed couldn't keep up.

The third pitch, Ohtani Shohai executed the same trick, another red-center fastball with nothing but speed, Matsunaga Kenta swung his bat this time, but hit nothing but air.

With just three pitches, Ohtani Shohai powerfully eliminated Matsunaga Kenta, not even breaking a sweat — when facing the third batter, Kenshu Yasuda, he replicated the performance from the first at-bat, again with three pitches, again with the unreasonably fast fastball, Waseda's first two batters successively fell before him.

When Lin Guanglai stepped into the batter's box again, Koshien Stadium roared once more — unlike the first appearance when the audience expected him to hit another home run, this time the cheers were for both players on the field.

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