Tohoku Region, Iwate Prefecture, Hanamaki City, Hanamaki East High School.

Ohtani Shohai stood alone on the pitcher's mound at the center of the field, while his catcher, Sasaki Takashi, was squatting at home plate not far away.

After exchanging glances with his teammates, he lifted his front leg high, then rotated his body to generate force from his waist and abdomen, using all his strength to throw the ball toward the baseline.

The baseball shot like an arrow from a bow, swiftly crossing nearly twenty meters, heading straight toward home plate.

"Bam!!!" The high-speed baseball collided violently with the thick, wide catcher's mitt, emitting an extremely loud sound—barely overcoming the body's instinctive fear, Sasaki Takashi, who caught the ball, felt his palm sting, even though there was a layer of cushion between the ball and his hand.

Sasaki Takashi took off his mask and looked at Takahashi Shoufei behind him, who was responsible for measuring the speed of the pitch—Takahashi, currently the main central fielder of Hanamaki East, just like Ohtani Shohai and Sasaki Takashi on the field, joined the team in 2010 as first-years, now supposedly second-years.

"How is it, Shoufei? How fast was that pitch?" Sasaki Takashi got up from the ground, asking his teammate behind him—as the catcher, he might be the one who feels it the most besides the pitcher himself.

Takahashi Shoufei glanced at the speedometer, showing a somewhat unbelieving expression—he even doubted if the speedometer was malfunctioning, never expecting the ball to have flown past so quickly.

"A hundred, a hundred and fifty kilometers!!!"

"Shohei, you're amazing—a second-year and already breaking the 150 km/h speed mark—wow, there are hardly any pitchers nationwide who can do that, right?"

This number also astonished Sasaki Takashi: as Ohtani Shohai's dedicated catcher, he knew better than anyone his partner's ability; he knew his pitching mate was a genius, and not just any genius, but being able to exceed 150 km/h as a sophomore was far beyond his expectations.

To know, among all the high school pitchers across Japan, numbering tens or even hundreds of thousands, barely one could throw a pitch exceeding 150 km/h.

On the pitcher's mound, Ohtani Shohai was not as shocked as his teammates, instead calling Sasaki Takashi at home plate to continue catching for him, as he needed to keep practicing.

In Ohtani Shohai's view, although his current speed was indeed fast, the quality and control of the pitches still lacked considerably—a pitch with only speed but average terminal velocity and unstable control could easily be hit for long drives by skilled batters.

If Hanamaki East's goal was merely to reach the later stages of the local tournaments, or even to gain the entry rights for the Summer甲, then his current abilities might suffice; but only Ohtani Shohai remembered the adage he wrote under his baseball cap:

"From Iwate to Japan's Number One."

Even in the past year, including himself and the entire Hanamaki East High School, they faced quite a few setbacks:

In the fourth round of the Iwate regional, they were eliminated by Morioka Ichiro, and in the autumn Tohoku tournament, they were knocked out in the first round—once a nationally powerful team under the leadership of Kikuchi Yuusei, now they felt like a meteor that flashed across the sky, never again returning to their past glory.

But, Ohtani Shohai never changed his mind, his goal remained to lead his hometown team toward the never-before-achieved goal of Japan's Number One.

Looking at the empty stadium around him, his heart ached: the Great East Japan Earthquake caused massive, irreparable destructive impacts on Japan's Northeast Region, and naturally, Iwate Prefecture was not spared.

Since the disaster occurred, Ohtani Shohai found that many of his former teammates rarely came around anymore—in this calamity, some lost their homes, some lost relatives, and some might never return to team training again.

Ohtani Shohai knew he was lucky because his family was safe and sound, unaffected by the disaster; but those other Iwate citizens immersed in pain desperately needed a chance to process and release such negative emotions.

For this reason, from the moment the disaster occurred, Ohtani Shohai secretly vowed that this summer, no matter the cost, he would lead Hanamaki East to Koshien—they needed to bring strength to the people of Iwate in this way.

To be able to head to Koshien and to achieve a decent performance there, Ohtani Shohai had to seize every moment to improve his skills, only then could he face the powerful adversaries from all over the country.

Besides this, in Ohtani Shohai's mind, another figure appeared—if someone could read minds and see the face of this figure, they would find a face repeatedly shown in various programs this summer, someone who set countless records in Koshien as a first-year.

Not only did Lin Guanglai long to face Ohtani Shohai again, but Ohtani also longed to meet him—the last time the two faced each other was almost a year ago, and now just by watching TV, it was clear that Lin Guanglai had become significantly stronger; and Ohtani Shohai had not halted his progress either.

Should their schools have the chance to meet in the future, Ohtani Shohai believed that even a distinguished team like Waseda Jitsugyo from West Tokyo could be challenged by Hanamaki East.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Ohtani Shohai continued pitching; above the Hanamaki East High School baseball training field, besides the sound of baseballs cutting through the air and Takahashi Shoufei's continuous reporting of speed, there was nothing else.

On March 11, 2011, less than half a month before the commencement of the spring Koshien, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck—a disaster with immense impact, affecting many areas in the Tohoku Region, plunging the entire Japanese society into a mournful and solemn mood.

And it was against this backdrop that the opening day of the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament grew closer—to better prepare, the Waseda Jitsugyo Baseball Club players left Tokyo early and settled in Hyogo City, where Koshien Stadium is located.

On March 15, under the watchful eyes of numerous high school baseball players, Takano Ren completed the lottery ceremony of this year's Senbatsu—the opponent for Waseda Industrial School, where Lin Guanglai attended, in the first round would be Kyushu Academy from Kumamoto Prefecture in the Kyushu Region, a powerhouse that secured Summer甲 eligibility last year, undoubtedly one of the strong teams in the Kyushu Region.

Beginning on March 18, each school entered Koshien Stadium in order for pre-match field training.

On March 23, the 83rd Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament officially opened.

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