Chapter 239: The Shock of Ushijima's Left-Handed Pitch

The radar gun flashed a single number.

150 km/h.

That’s right.

Ushijima Wakatoshi’s left-handed four-seam fastball registered 150 km/h.

Yet somehow…

It looked even faster than the one he threw with his right hand.

Thanks to his unusual pitching mechanics, his release point was almost completely hidden. To the batter, it felt as if the baseball simply appeared out of nowhere.

Combined with a 150 km/h fastball…

The illusion became overwhelming.

From the side, the radar gun faithfully displayed 150 km/h.

Any speed test would confirm the exact same result.

But from the batter’s box…

Or from the catcher’s position…

The ball looked far faster.

It honestly felt as though it exceeded 160 km/h.

It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say—

The hidden release point made this 150 km/h fastball feel like a 170 km/h monster.

Coach Kataoka stood frozen.

His entire body trembled.

For the past six months, he had eagerly anticipated the day Ushijima finally improved his control.

But he had never imagined…

…that the improvement would be this terrifying.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Ushijima fired ten consecutive four-seam fastballs.

Nothing fancy.

Every pitch went straight down the middle.

Yet Coach Kataoka swung and missed every single one.

Behind the protective net, Kuramochi, Shirasu, and the rest of the team watched with wide eyes.

Because they were safely behind the fence, they could fully appreciate just how overwhelming the pitch looked.

“Incredible…”

“It’s like Sawamura’s delivery throwing Furuya’s velocity!”

“I never imagined Sawamura’s pitching form combined with Furuya’s speed would become something this terrifying.”

“That fastball really feels like it’s travelling at 170 km/h.”

“Even professional hitters would struggle with something like this…”

Miyuki Kazuya couldn’t hide his shock.

Then another thought crossed his mind.

What if…

One day Ushijima’s left arm reaches 158 km/h too?

His right arm had already reached that speed.

If his left arm eventually did the same…

Gulp.

It would practically feel like facing a 178 km/h fastball.

“…178 km/h?”

Miyuki swallowed hard.

“That’s like comparing the Shinkansen to China’s high-speed rail.”

“Furuya’s 154 km/h suddenly feels slow.”

Coach Kataoka, standing beside him, silently tried to compose himself.

“Very good.”

“That’s enough.”

He turned to leave.

Not because the session was over…

But because swinging through ten straight pitches was simply too embarrassing.

He needed to leave before anyone teased him.

“Coach.”

“It’s not over yet.”

Ushijima’s voice stopped him.

“I’ve already seen your four-seamer.”

Coach Kataoka adjusted his sunglasses.

“Heh.”

“I didn’t come back from Koshien with only one improvement.”

“Miyuki.”

“You’d better pay attention to the next pitch.”

The moment Ushijima said that, everyone’s curiosity peaked.

Even Coach Kataoka stopped walking.

“What is it?”

Ushijima raised the baseball.

“A forkball.”

He looked toward Miyuki.

“This pitch…”

“Even I think it’s unbelievable.”

With that, Ushijima drove off the rubber.

“Whoosh!”

The baseball exploded from his fingertips.

Its speed exceeded 160 km/h, screaming toward home plate like a bolt of lightning.

Coach Kataoka instinctively swung.

Then…

His eyes widened beneath his sunglasses.

Just before reaching the plate—

The baseball suddenly disappeared.

Bang!

It crashed into the dirt in front of home plate before violently kicking away.

The ball ricocheted past Miyuki’s glove and shot all the way to the backstop.

Silence.

Complete silence.

Coach Kataoka had missed.

Miyuki had failed to block it.

Everyone stared blankly at the baseball rolling away.

“S-So fast…”

Miyuki slowly turned around.

“…And that’s a forkball?”

Coach Kataoka remained speechless.

Meanwhile, Takashima Rei covered her mouth in disbelief as she looked at the radar gun.

For a moment…

She wondered whether it had malfunctioned.

The left-handed fastball had already shocked everyone.

But this forkball…

“Rei…”

Miyuki hurriedly asked,

“How fast was it?”

Still staring at the display, Rei answered in a trembling voice.

“…160.”

“…160 km/h.”

“What?!”

The bullpen exploded.

Everyone stared at Ushijima.

His forkball…

Was actually faster than his four-seam fastball.

His right-handed four-seamer topped out at 158 km/h.

The left-handed fastball only felt like 170 km/h because of the deceptive delivery.

But this…

This forkball genuinely reached 160 km/h.

“You’re kidding…”

“A 160 km/h forkball?”

“And with that kind of drop?”

Miyuki replayed the pitch in his head.

“If I’m not mistaken…”

“It started toward a left-handed batter’s inside corner…”

“Then it dropped almost straight down.”

“The vertical break had to be at least fifty centimeters.”

“160 km/h…”

“Fifty centimeters of vertical drop…”

“And it finishes inside to lefties and away from righties…”

“…This is insane.”

“Who in the world is supposed to hit that?”

No one had an answer.

Ushijima calmly threw five more forkballs.

Each one vanished at the plate.

Coach Kataoka finally experienced what a true disappearing pitch felt like.

“Amazing…”

Everyone watching could only marvel.

“And the control…”

Toujou stared blankly.

“Every single pitch landed in the strike zone.”

Miyuki’s excitement became impossible to hide.

“Damn…”

“You really evolved after Koshien.”

“Perfect command of your four-seamer.”

“And now you’re throwing a 160 km/h forkball with pinpoint control.”

“You…”

“What about your other pitches?”

Ushijima shook his head.

“The others haven’t improved much.”

“Only these two received major upgrades.”

“So only their velocity and command increased.”

Then he switched his glove to his right hand.

“I want to test my left arm too.”

He threw several four-seamers.

Then several forkballs.

The results came quickly.

His left-handed forkball topped out at 155 km/h.

It couldn’t quite match the right-handed version.

Most likely, his left shoulder and wrist still weren’t as strong.

Even so…

Because of his hidden release point…

And because he used Sawamura’s unorthodox mechanics…

The left-handed forkball became even harder to read.

Although it measured only 155 km/h, Coach Kataoka felt as though it was even more dangerous than the 160 km/h version thrown right-handed.

The ball simply appeared before his eyes…

Then disappeared beneath the strike zone.

The right-handed version was a disappearing forkball.

The left-handed version…

Felt more like a ghost.

Ushijima smiled.

“My left-handed forkball feels… ghostlier, doesn’t it?”

Coach Kataoka and Miyuki both nodded immediately.

There was no disagreement.

Learning Sawamura’s pitching mechanics for his left arm had been an outstanding decision.

Sawamura’s deceptive delivery…

Combined with Furuya’s power…

Had produced something entirely unique.

It perfectly blended the strengths of both pitchers into one weapon.

Miyuki rubbed his sore catching hand.

“The right-handed four-seamer is manageable.”

“I can handle a 155 km/h fastball.”

“But…”

“That 160 km/h forkball…”

“And especially the left-handed version…”

“I barely managed to catch them.”

“If I don’t spend a lot more time receiving those pitches…”

“I’m going to keep dropping them.”

“Pitches above 160 km/h are completely new territory for me.”

Reluctantly, Miyuki admitted the truth.

He needed to improve.

Otherwise…

He would become the weak link in Ushijima’s battery.

No.

As his catcher…

There’s no way I’m letting myself fall behind.

I’ll train even harder.

Coach Kataoka nodded with satisfaction.

“Then from now on…”

“Ushijima will spend this training period pitching exclusively to Miyuki.”

He was already looking forward to the upcoming Spring Koshien.

Once today’s bullpen session ended, Ushijima and Miyuki still had strategy meetings ahead of them.

After all…

Their next challenge in the Autumn Tournament awaited.

Their third-round opponent—

Ugumori High School, the East Tokyo powerhouse that had eliminated Inashiro.