Diamond No Ace: The Monster

Chapter 129: The Miraculous Satoru Furuya!

"That's Furuya, right?"

Coach Matsumoto shook Kataoka's hand, but his gaze was already wandering toward the Seidou High baseball players behind him.

The answer quickly surfaced.

Seidou's players couldn't help but glance at Furuya.

Even without a single word, Coach Matsumoto, wearing a gentle smile, had already identified his target.

"You're Furuya, aren't you? I've heard your pitch speed reaches up to 155 km/h. A first-year high school student with that kind of incredible speed—it's a first!"

Letting go of Coach Kataoka's hand, Matsumoto instantly stepped right in front of Furuya.

The look in his eyes was blazing, nearly drooling with excitement.

Furuya shivered slightly, feeling a chill.

He wondered where this strange middle-aged man had suddenly come from. Something about him felt unsettling.

At that moment, other players from Osaka Kiryuu High's baseball team started getting off the bus.

As soon as they stepped down, they saw their coach acting oddly.

"Coach, could you tone it down a bit?"

"No matter how much you drool, he's not transferring to our school."

If this were the old Seidou High team, they might have had a chance…

A team with no real shot at reaching Koshien wouldn't be able to keep top talent, even if it meant wasting a whole year.

But now, Seidou had just won the Kanto Tournament and was riding high.

Not only were they likely to make it to Koshien, but with the strength and potential they'd shown, they might even do something big once they got there.

In this situation, with Furuya already firmly established at Seidou, why would he transfer to another school? Even if it were the famed Osaka Kiryuu, it wouldn't sway him.

It wasn't until he heard the Osaka Kiryuu players' comments that Coach Kataoka realized Matsumoto had such a plan in mind. Unbelievable!

Seidou's baseball team had just started to turn things around, and Coach Kataoka wouldn't allow anyone to entertain such dangerous ideas.

"Coach Matsumoto, shall we start the game?"

At Kataoka's call, Matsumoto snapped out of it and wiped his mouth.

"Already?"

Even as he spoke, when he turned back to Furuya, his eyes still gleamed.

"155 km/h pitches! And you're just a first-year. By the time you're in your third year, who knows what you'll achieve? But don't expect us to surrender now. Be prepared, Furuya."

"That sounds like they actually think they can hit his 150+ km/h fastballs," Kuramochi muttered with a smirk from the Seidou dugout.

Back at the Kanto Tournament, Furuya burst onto the scene.

Facing this breakout ace, some of the nation's top teams had tried everything to hit his fastball! They developed strategies and practiced different techniques…

And the result? Even their toughest rivals, Inashiro Industrial, couldn't touch Furuya's high-speed pitches.

Over the last couple of months, even Seidou's own power hitters had tried, only to be met with less than ideal results.

After all this experience, Seidou's players were confident: no matter how strong Osaka Kiryuu was, they doubted they'd find Furuya easy to hit.

"Their lineup is incredibly powerful, proving their strength at bat. And each player was specially recruited."

Of course, not everyone shared that view.

Take Chris, for instance.

Unlike the rest of Seidou, who knew Osaka Kiryuu only by reputation, Chris pulled out a small notebook and started sharing detailed information about Osaka Kiryuu's players.

"As expected from Coach Chris!"

Sawamura looked at the notebook in Chris's hand with admiration.

Furuya, curious, asked, "I know you're great at gathering information, but how did you get details on Osaka Kiryuu?"

Coach Kataoka had kept the practice game a strict secret.

Even Seidou's captain, Yuuki, and primary catcher, Miyuki, hadn't known about it.

Sawamura was genuinely curious—when had Chris prepared such thorough information?

Not only did it include Osaka Kiryuu's playing style and player strengths, but also in-depth profiles of key players.

It was all in Chris's notebook.

Without hiding anything, Chris snapped the notebook shut with a loud clap.

"Since our goal is to dominate nationwide, our intel must be thorough. Osaka Kiryuu, last year's runner-up and one of the nation's premier teams, is a top priority for us," Chris said, a halo seeming to glow around him.

While the other Seidou players were preoccupied with small details, Chris had already set his sights on becoming the best in Japan.

After all, Seidou High's goal was never just reaching Koshien—it was about becoming national champions! No wonder Coach Kataoka regretted Chris's injury so much; his setback cost Seidou a full year of growth.

Even though Miyuki was outstanding as a catcher and performed at Chris's level, as a second-year, he couldn't perfectly align with the third-years. And, of course, there was the one-year gap between them.

"The game's starting. How long are you guys going to take?"

With a call from Kuramochi, everyone hurried to join the lineup. Both teams had already decided positions, and Osaka Kiryuu would bat first.

Coach Kataoka hadn't given any specific instructions before the game, not even announcing the starting lineup until now.

"Numbers 1 through 9, you're up!"

A full lineup of regular starters.

Even though Coach Kataoka hadn't said anything beforehand, everyone, including Furuya, seemed mentally prepared. The moment they'd seen the Osaka Kiryuu team bus, they'd anticipated that they'd need their best lineup—even for a practice game.

Meanwhile, Osaka Kiryuu's players were also warming up, with their leadoff hitter stepping confidently into the batter's box, eager to get started.

"Wow! You're putting that first-year monster on the mound already?"

The batter blurted out in surprise when he saw Furuya taking the mound, clearly intrigued.

This reaction didn't escape Miyuki's notice from behind the plate.

"Something's off," he thought.

This wasn't like what Kuramochi had said earlier; their opponents didn't seem blindly overconfident. Their batter's poised and eager stance in the box suggested he was ready to hit Furuya's pitch.

"That's definitely strange," Miyuki observed.

"They seem well-prepared. Be careful!"

Miyuki's alertness wasn't lost on Furuya, who gave a subtle nod. He, too, sensed something unusual.

Both the Osaka Kiryuu coach and players seemed unfazed, even eager, in the face of his 155 km/h fastball.

It was as if they genuinely believed they could hit his pitch. But despite this strange vibe, Furuya didn't hesitate.

"If you really think you can hit it, then bring it on!"

Were they just overconfident, or could they actually deliver? Only the game would tell.

Standing tall on the mound, Furuya lifted his leg high before driving it down forcefully. As his weight shifted forward, the baseball in his hand shot out with a roar.

BOOMM!!!

The ball fired off like a cannonball, its speed and force leaving an impression.

"Whoa!"

Osaka Kiryuu's players watched with wide eyes. The pitch was even more intense than anything they'd heard about or seen on tape.

The white ball hurtled across the 18 meters like a mysterious creature, appearing right in front of the batter.

It was a straightforward pitch, aimed dead center in the strike zone.

Despite its lack of movement, Osaka Kiryuu's leadoff hitter was caught off guard.

In that instant, his hands betrayed him, swinging the bat prematurely.

In the end, he missed entirely.

Thud!

"Strike!"

The ball smacked into Miyuki's glove with a crisp, resounding snap.

In both dugouts, people were already holding up radar guns, eager to capture the speed of that pitch. Osaka Kiryuu's dugout erupted first, voices full of disbelief.

"First pitch, and it's that fast?"

"This kid's a full-blown monster!"

In Seidou's dugout, a group of teammates clustered around Kusunoki, who was the one holding the radar gun.

"151 kilometers per hour!!!"

Compared to the speeds Furuya had hit at the Kanto Tournament, this was fairly average. But for everyone present, including Coach Kataoka, it was like a tidal wave crashing over them.

They had all just endured a brutal week of conditioning training. Furuya, a first-year rookie, wasn't the only one worn down—every third-year player felt like their bones were falling apart, with muscles sore from head to toe.

If they'd been at 100% of their usual strength, then after that training, they were now operating at maybe 80% at best.

Even though Furuya had kept pace with his upperclassmen in the drills, his real condition was likely no more than 80% of his peak.

And yet, here he was, pushing his fastball over 150 kilometers per hour?

No one on Seidou's team had expected that.

"This guy…"

"I thought he'd be lucky to hit 140 kilometers per hour."

"Come on, he's gotta at least make 145!"

Gradually, the tense expressions in Seidou's dugout eased into smiles.

Considering their opponent was the formidable Osaka Kiryuu, Seidou would have faced an uphill battle even at full strength. In their current worn-down state, they'd been bracing for a thrashing.

Initially, Seidou's players had viewed the game with dread, feeling they had almost no chance of victory, maybe even a risk of getting crushed. But now, suddenly, they felt like they might actually have a fighting chance.

That's the confidence a true ace pitcher brings!

"He's really something special!"

The Seidou players, as well as the hardcore Seidou fans around the field, were looking at Furuya with eyes full of admiration.

Even their opponents, the Osaka Kiryuu players and their coach, couldn't hide their excitement. Coach Matsumoto licked his dry lips, his gaze practically smoldering.

"What is our recruiting team even doing? A talented gem like this, and we didn't hear a thing about him?"

If they'd had a chance to reach out to Furuya earlier, Matsumoto was sure that with his reputation and Osaka Kiryuu's prestige, Seidou wouldn't have stood a chance of landing him.

"We need to get our recruitment in order. If another player like this shows up, we can't let them slip away."

While everyone was still marveling, Furuya threw his second pitch.

Another straightforward fastball right down the middle!

The Osaka Kiryuu leadoff batter's eyes flared with frustration.

"Even if you're arrogant, there's gotta be a limit to it, don't you think?"

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