Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter Has Arrived

Chapter 423: Progress

Currently, the popular look in the entertainment industry is basically that of young, fresh-faced idols. While a good number of people appreciate a more ruggedly handsome image, it's not particularly trendy in this era.

Zhang Han originally had a beautiful, almost effeminate appearance. When he first joined the Seido High School Baseball Team, he looked especially like a male protagonist from a manga.

Of course, it was a shojo manga.

Not a hot-blooded shonen manga like Naruto.

The protagonists of hot-blooded shonen manga used to be tough warriors, but now they tend to be hot-blooded, simple-minded idiots.

Zhang Han had absolutely nothing in common with that kind of image.

However, after spending a year with the Seido High School Baseball Team, the amount of training he underwent in that single year exceeded the total training he had accumulated over three years in middle school.

Zhang Han's strength improved rapidly; even the coaching staff said his progress was substantial. In the past, although he had very impressive performances in games, a large part of that was because opponents didn't pay enough attention to him or didn't have enough clear information about him.

He took advantage of being a newcomer, which is why he was able to overcome any obstacle.

But now, the situation was completely different.

Zhang Han's strength had fully improved, and even without the newcomer advantage, opponents would no longer underestimate him. Their understanding of him was growing deeper and deeper.

However, the coaches of the Seido High School Baseball Team still firmly believed that even now, Zhang Han would have an excellent performance on the field.

His strength had reached that level.

Along with the improvement in his strength, Zhang Han's body and face had also changed significantly.

First, his height. Compared to when he first joined the team, Zhang Han had grown three centimeters.

His height had reached 183 centimeters; even within the Seido High School Baseball Team, which was full of athletes, his height ranked among the top.

From what Zhang Han could recall, only Tanba stood taller than him by two centimeters. Everyone else was either on par with him or shorter.

There were a few freshmen with decent height, but there was still a gap compared to Zhang Han.

The only difference was the extent of the gap.

This also made Zhang Han a little worried. In his mind, the ideal height was, of course, 178 centimeters.

Perhaps that might seem a bit short to some, but in his view it was the most perfect height. Standing next to anyone, it wouldn't seem awkward or overbearing.

But now he was getting further and further from that golden height.

Not to mention, he wasn't even sixteen yet.

Even if a boy's height doesn't grow much after sixteen, it will still grow.

Even if he doesn't grow three centimeters a year, growing two centimeters is quite alarming.

He was only sixteen. According to his hometown's saying, you still grow a bit at twenty-three and fill out at twenty-five.

He still had nine years until he turned twenty-five. Two centimeters a year meant eighteen centimeters in nine years.

That image was too beautiful and tragic; Zhang Han dared not imagine it further.

Not only his height, Zhang Han's weight had also increased by six kilograms. His current weight had reached seventy-two kilograms.

It may not have been obvious from his appearance, but his previously smooth stomach had been replaced by six-pack abs.

From this, it wasn't difficult to see how much his physical fitness had improved in that short year.

The increase in height and weight also represented an increase in physical fitness, which brought two benefits to Zhang Han.

The first was his ball speed. The reason his ball speed improved so quickly was directly related to the increase in his height and weight.

The other was his presence on the field.

Zhang Han's presence was growing stronger and stronger, not only when hitting. Even on defense, he could bring immense pressure to the opponent.

Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff felt it was a waste to keep such a player in the outfield, so they began having Zhang Han practice infield defense as well.

First Base Yuuki, Second Base Kominato Ryosuke, shortstop Kuramochi, Third Base Masuko Toru.

Looking at it, only Masuko's position could be given up. In the previous practice games, Masuko had also made some mistakes, so it was understandable for Coach Kataoka to put pressure on him.

Coach Kataoka occasionally let Zhang Han play Third Base during practice.

It proved to be very effective. Zhang Han's performance at Third Base was surprisingly strong, satisfying the coaching staff.

This made the Seido High School Baseball Team much more flexible when arranging their lineup.

There was also an unexpected gain from this.

Because Zhang Han moved to Third Base, Masuko Toru felt a great sense of crisis.

The most difficult thing was that no matter how hard Masuko Toru tried, it was difficult to reclaim the position from Zhang Han.

Zhang Han was a Koshien super rookie who had already been a core regular player the previous summer. He had voluntarily stepped away from that position to become a pitcher. Once he was determined to hold a position, no one could drive him out.

Since then, Masuko Toru had been particularly diligent, in both regular practice and practice games.

Because of this almost unbeatable opponent, Masuko Toru had thrown caution to the wind.

If he didn't go all out, his high school baseball career would end there.

The simple-minded Masuko Toru had made obvious progress recently. Coach Kataoka saw it but didn't say much.

He was afraid of accidentally interrupting Masuko's momentum.

As it happened, Zhang Han was practicing Third Base defense when he was spotted by a Tokyo Television reporter.

This immediately gave the reporter a novel angle.

The story of an international student studying baseball at a prestigious high school and ultimately achieving success.

Although previous reports had been widely discussed, they hadn't become a true topic of conversation. Compared to Zhang Han's skills, people seemed more interested in his appearance.

In Nitta's opinion, this was clearly a case of focusing on the trivial while neglecting the essential.

Perhaps students from China didn't fully understand what Koshien meant? Or what it meant to break two records on the Koshien field?

This young man definitely had a boundless future.

With that idea in mind, Nitta didn't linger and immediately returned to the television station, where he made a suggestion to the station.

The initial subject for the new program, meaning the subject for their first episode.

It would be best not to choose Inashiro Industrial, which had just won the Koshien championship, nor the dominant Ichidai Third High School.

Instead, they should focus on Seido High School, which had reached the Summer Koshien quarterfinals and then suffered an unexpected defeat in the Tokyo Autumn Tournament, stopping again at the quarterfinals.

This team not only possessed ambition and strength but also had strong topicality.

If they made such a topic work, not only would the television station benefit greatly, but for the producers, it would also be an opportunity to prove their capabilities.

"What if Seido doesn't perform well?"

Nitta's superior was a bit hesitant.

Although he believed the Seido High School Baseball Team had considerable strength, their opponents were equally strong.

Not to mention the powerhouses of East Tokyo.

Even Seido's own arch-rivals included a Spring Koshien champion and a quarterfinalist.

Could Seido go all the way?

It was a tricky question. Nitta thought for a moment before giving his answer.

"Yes!"

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