Episode 26: "XB vs. Kazuma: Part 2"

While the bench erupted in confusion, members of the Shinagawa Tribe rushed over to Kazuma on the pitcher’s mound.

Shinagawa Tribe Member
"Mr. Ichinose... I-It's time we perform maintenance."

Kazuma Ichinose
"Tch... Nitpicky fools. Fine. Take it."

Kazuma ripped his white glove off and slammed it into the ground.

Shinagawa Tribe Member
"Oh..."

Other Shinagawa Tribe Member
"Hey... Are you okay?"

A second member of the Shinagawa Tribe approached, concerned for his teammate. He hurried over and picked up the dropped glove.

Shinagawa Tribe Member
"Yeah... I'm just not sure if he'll last until the end, considering we brute forced some of the adjustments."

Yutaka and Minami, who were in front of the bench, stepped closer to look at the white glove.

Minami Oi
"Mr. Gotanda... Maybe that's..."

Yutaka Gotanda
"I believe it's possible, yes. For their experimental tech to turn up now, at a moment like this."

Q
"What wrong? Is it really that bad?"

Yutaka nodded quietly toward Q before addressing everyone else.

Yutaka Gotanda
"Please listen to me, everyone.
That is not Ichinose's real skill at play. His abilities are being enhanced by Shinagawa Tribe-developed AI-Assisted XB Gear."

Eiji Todoroki
"This is the first I'm ever hearing of such a thing."

Yutaka Gotanda
"It's not made it past the prototype stage yet."

Minami Oi
"You see, a beginner would usually falter when trying to either pitch or bat.
But with this gear, the AI can compensate for their weaknesses, allowing them to perform about as well as an average player."

Yutaka Gotanda
"Even with it, he still should not be able to perform this well, so he must've forced them to increase the output."

The Shinagawa Tribe specialized in designing and developing XB Gear.
This was the exact kind of trick they'd try to pull.

The whole team let out a relieved sigh after hearing Yutaka's explanation.

Tsuki Iroha
"Oh thank goodness... My pride would've never recovered if he was just that good as a beginner."

Hyakuichitaro Senju
"For real! I would've never been able to show my face in public ever again!"

Yo Kuronaka
"Even if Kazuma's XB Gear is leveling the playing field, we're all fully capable players.
If we take it seriously, we can definitely beat him."

Tsuruko Semba
"Right! It's just as you said, Mr. Yo!"

Everyone felt that fierce determination come back to them.

As the game progressed, inning by inning, so did the team slowly begin to adapt to Kazuma's style.
While Ichinose's team carried momentum from the beginning of the match, his micromanagement broke his team's rhythm and coordination, resulting in frequent mistakes.

It was the bottom of the fifth—all bases loaded in the Trash Tribe's favor.
A single long hit could bring everyone in.

And in that crucial moment, Kazuma made a disastrous pitch.
A perfectly sweet ball floated high over the middle. Yo swung with full force and the ball soared high above, soaring farther and farther into the distance.

All runners returned to home base, adding four points to their score.
It now shifted 6-9 in favor of the Trash Tribe as they seized the lead in a single explosive swing.

As Yo returned to home plate, the Trash Tribe members rushed in one after another, exchanging energetic high‑fives.

Tsuki Iroha
"You did it, Yo!"

Yo Kuronaka
"If we keep this up, we can definitely win."

With the bottom of the fifth over, they took a brief break. Yo and the rest passed bottles around, quenching their dry throats.

They could totally win this.

The heat in his palms and the pounding in his chest confirmed that conviction. The whole Trash Tribe team buzzed with excitement.

In the meantime, Kazuma's whole team was looking pale, exasperated from the massive run they'd just surrendered. They all were made to line up in front of the bench by Kazuma so he could scold them. And it didn't look like it'd ease off anytime soon.
Much as he didn't want to hear him, Yo couldn't just close his ears. Kazuma's sharp, cutting voice stabbed at him as he watched in silence.

Kazuma Ichinose
"You! In the suit! Did you not hear me earlier?! I said to cover!"

Shinagawa Tribe Member
"I-I'm sorry... I didn't realize you meant me..."

Kazuma Ichinose
"No excuses! And you! Yes, YOU!"

Kazuma just kept jabbering endlessly, pointing fingers at everyone but himself as he went from one person to another, laying blame all over them.

Petite 24 Tribe Member
"M-Me?"

Large 24 Tribe Member
"Or... do you mean me?"

And yet, no one could tell who he even meant to blame anymore. His subordinates exchanged confused glances.

That was one of Kazuma's worst habits.
He rarely ever referred to people by their names, either choosing a simple 'you' or tacking on a physical trait.
Yo was all varieties of skunk to Kazuma, and even Yutaka would react to the somewhat vague insult, sporting black and white hair himself.

To make matters worse, many of Kazuma's subordinates shared rather similar features, which only led to further confusion.

The members of the 24 Tribe all hid their faces behind masks.
Not to mention all members of the Shinagawa Tribe uniforming themselves with a suit and sunglasses.

With everyone looking so similar, it was no wonder no one could tell who Kazuma was yelling at.
And that bad habit would also heighten their confusion at the time of receiving orders, which meant more and more failures.

Shinagawa Tribe Member
"I'm sorry, Mr. Ichinose, but we all look very similar.
Even if you try to point something out about how we look, chances are we all share it... We beg you please just call us by name..."

All of his subordinates agreed.
When one of them bowed their head and spoke up, the rest followed suit, one after the other.
The row of lowered heads all aligned in the same direction, like trampled on grass.

But Kazuma...

Kazuma Ichinose
"AAAAAARGH! You infuriating numbskulls!
All you need to do is faithfully follow orders like the pawns that you are! And you can't even do THAT?!"

Overcome with rage, he swung his fist at the subordinate who'd spoken up.
CRACK!

Shinagawa Tribe Member
"Wah!"

Thud!

24 Tribe Member
"Waaa..."

The struck subordinate was blown backward, kicking up a cloud of dust on the way.
The rest of the team simply watched in horror.

Anger surged in Yo's chest and mixed with nauseating disgust. And yet, the one whose anger burned the brightest was Yutaka.