Diamond No Ace: Life As Sawamura Eijun

Without Eijun on the mound, Seidou High School…

Had not lost its will to fight.

In fact, one could even say—

That without Eijun, Seidou began to shine with a different kind of brilliance.

...

Bottom of the sixth inning—Seidou's turn to bat.

Leading off: Tojou Shouji.

Followed by Kuramochi, Shirasu, and others—

Each one stepping into the box with their coach's instructions engraved in their minds.

They clung stubbornly to Narumiya's fastballs.

So much so that it disrupted the pitcher-catcher coordination for Inajitsu.

Catcher Tadano began showing signs of pressure once again, even letting a pitch slip past him.

Tojou may have been struck out in the end.

But the relentless fastball focus caused Tadano to misread the sequence during Kuramochi's at-bat.

"Whoosh!"

"Ping!!"

Kuramochi didn't miss the mistake.

His swing was sharp, and although Narumiya's power suppressed the force behind the ball—

Kuramochi still managed to sweep it toward third base.

A grounder—

It became a showdown between speed and defense.

And Kuramochi, relying on his footwork alone, beat the throw and made it to first!

"You damn bastard!!"

Kuramochi's on-base hit ignited the fire in Seidou's dugout.

Steals. Hit-and-runs. Aggressive offense.

Tactical chaos ensued, all while sticking to the game plan: stay on the fastball.

Kuramochi even managed to advance to third base.

But in the end—

Narumiya still had the upper hand.

Just as Coach Kataoka had predicted, Narumiya was holding back—he wouldn't dare fully unleash his changeup or forkball.

Even if he did throw them, they were only at 80% strength, as his catcher couldn't reliably stop them at full power.

Still—

Narumiya was Narumiya.

"Whoosh!"

"Smack!!"

"Strike three! Batter's out!!"

"Three outs! Sides change!!"

With a fierce strikeout of cleanup hitter Furuya, Narumiya ended Seidou's rally.

Such a shame.

Even though Haruichi delivered a clutch hit to right field, catching Narumiya's slider—

It was only enough to push Kuramochi to third.

By then, there were already two outs.

They couldn't sacrifice for a run, nor execute a squeeze.

If there had been fewer outs, Kuramochi's speed might've given them a chance.

But… there are no "ifs" in baseball.

"Damn it…!!"

Kuramochi ground his teeth on third base, helpless to change the outcome.

Back at the plate, Furuya took a deep breath.

Trying to relax his tightening muscles.

Is this… what it means to face overwhelming power?

Furuya narrowed his eyes, watching Narumiya walk off the mound with his usual arrogant posture.

He clenched his fists.

"Get your head back in the game, Furuya! The match is far from over! What's your number one job right now?!"

From the dugout, Miyuki—now suited up with his catcher's gear—called out firmly to Furuya, who was returning with a frustrated expression.

The weight of those words struck him hard.

Furuya's mind drifted briefly to the image of Sawamura…

And he gripped his hands tighter.

"Yes, Miyuki-senpai!!"

...

"Furuya, Miyuki—"

"For these final three innings, we're going to center the pitch plan around the forkball."

Coach Ochiai's half-lidded eyes narrowed slightly as he offered his cool instruction just before they took the field.

"The opponent's getting impatient. They want that win."

"…Understood."

Miyuki paused briefly, then gave a thoughtful nod.

...

"Top of the seventh inning. Inashiro Industrial High School's attack. Batting eighth: right fielder....."

In the sixth inning, Furuya had surrendered a run on three consecutive hits right after entering the game.

But in truth—

That was more due to his lack of relief experience, and needing time to settle into rhythm.

Inashiro had seized the opportunity at the perfect moment.

But now, things were different.

Furuya was fully locked in.

Engine revving at full capacity.

His power fastball arrived—

And for the first time, Inashiro realized:

This pitcher with jersey number 11—

This so-called substitute—

Was anything but.

"Whoosh!"

"Thud!"

"Strike!!!"

Pitch after pitch—

A relentless assault.

Inashiro's batters were forced to expend all their strength just to keep up with Furuya's sheer power.

Let alone try to overcome it.

And in this inning—

Miyuki had fully shifted the pitch sequence to revolve around fast forkballs.

Just when it seemed like Inashiro was starting to pick up on Furuya's fastball rhythm…

He threw in a forkball to disrupt everything, throwing off their entire offensive momentum.

"Out!"

"Smack!"

"Out!"

His imposing delivery, his overwhelming force—

It wasn't just a show of power against Inashiro.

It was a declaration to the entire stadium—

This game isn't over yet!

"Smack!!"

"Strike! Batter's out! Three outs—sides change!!"

Another flawless inning.

Even though Carlos managed to reach base with a well-placed bunt—

Furuya still struck out Shirakawa, their No.2 batter, with a blazing fastball.

"Damn it…!"

Shirakawa's grim expression deepened even further.

Seidou was stabilizing.

If their defense held strong, the next step would be waiting—waiting for an opportunity.

Waiting to strike back…

...

"Whoosh!"

No such opportunity would come.

Not anymore.

"Smack!!"

"Strike!!"

Seidou's captain, Miyuki, attempted to rally the team—

To take back the initiative.

But Narumiya Mei, standing on the mound, showed no mercy.

His cold stare.

His sharp, icy aura.

The Tokyo Prince—

Had transcended himself.

Now fully unleashing his strength.

"Whoosh!"

"Smack!"

"Strike! Batter's out!!"

A crushing response to Seidou's fire.

Delivered by none other than the Prince himself.

Brilliant pitching—

A three-pitch strikeout of Seidou's No.5, Miyuki Kazuya.

As Miyuki stood in the batter's box, stunned…

That expression captured the mood of Seidou's entire dugout.

This—

This was the final reply from the strongest pitcher in Japan.

"Whoosh!"

"Ping!"

It's too heavy!!!

Maezono's face twisted.

"Whoosh!"

"Bang!"

"Smack!"

"Out!!"

Everything had changed from the previous inning.

This was a new Narumiya.

Still dominant.

Still overwhelming.

...

"Let's go."

From the stands, Okumura suddenly turned away and began walking.

"…Huh? We're leaving now? But the game's not over yet, Koushuu."

Seto Takuma looked at him, shocked.

"No… it's over."

"It ended just now."

Okumura didn't stop walking.

He only replied in a quiet, matter-of-fact voice.

His figure quickly disappeared into the passageway leading out of the stands.

"Hey—wait up, Koushuu!"

...

It was as if everyone could feel it—

A kind of silent, shared intuition.

As Narumiya's pitches raged in the bottom of the 7th—

More and more people began to sense it deep down.

This game… is over.

...

Back in the dugout,

Having just finished receiving initial treatment, Eijun returned to the bench.

He gazed out at the mound—

At Narumiya, completely dominating the field.

A small shadow passed through Eijun's eyes.

For the first time…

The possibility of defeat felt so real.

So close.

He could almost smell it—

The scent of defeat.

"…So this is what it feels like for the first time…"

Eijun murmured quietly, lowering the brim of his cap with his right hand—something that felt oddly unnatural to him.

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