Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

Hit Me Baby One More Time

Today we have this unusual puzzle created for Scojo's prompt, as redeemed by Marty Sears, to create a hitline puzzle :-)
I hope you will enjoy and I would be really grateful for all the comments and ratings.

Normal sudoku rules apply.

Path: Draw an orthogonal path starting in R2C2 (S) and ending in R5C5 (E). The path visits each box exactly once, and never visits a cell twice.

Region Hit Line: Box borders divide the path into segments. A digit N on the path is considered a "hit" if it is the N-th visited cell along the path within its box (e.g., if the digits visited in a box are 97325 (with the 9 being the closest to the "S"), then the digits 3 and 5 would be hits).

Hit Circles: Each circle is on the path and counts the number of hits in its box.

Hit Me Baby One More Time: The number of hits must increase in each subsequent region visited.

SudokuPad Link

If you liked this puzzle, I recommend trying out my other puzzles:

The Erica Series:
★☆☆☆☆: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 12, 15, 17, 23, 26, 27, 31, 32, 46, 47
★★☆☆☆: 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25, 29, 30, 34, 35, 38, 40, 42, 45
★★★☆☆: 9, 19, 21, 22, 28, 33, 37, 38, 41, 44, 45, 48
★★★★☆: 36, 39, 43, 50
★★★★★: 49

German Sums Series:
★★☆☆☆: 1, 3
★★★☆☆: 2, 4, 5, 6

Shading/Ying-Yang:
★★☆☆☆: Pretty Odd Shaded Area
★★★☆☆: (+5)-Yang, Negative 8 YY
★★★★☆: Aim High! (YY)
★★★★★: Why-Why?, Happ(Y) Birthda(Y), ChinStrap!, Growing YY in the Fog Puzzle Pack

Modifiers:
★☆☆☆☆: Borrower
★★★☆☆: Modified Flat Mates, Neighbourhood Watch
★★★★★: Mad Delirium Puzzle: Remarkably Beyond Crazy [16x16], Top Right Boi [CC], There's Strength in Numbers

Fog of War:
★☆☆☆☆: Erica 12, Erica 17
★★☆☆☆: It's What You Do in the Dark That Puts You in the Light, Find It All, What the Fog?, Erica 20, Erica 29
★★★☆☆: Broken Flashlight in the Dark

Pencil Puzzle/Sudoku Hybrid:
★★☆☆☆: Masyu (Short) Sudoku, Heyawake Sudoku (Given Regions), Way Too Hot, Are You? [Hotaru Beam], Hey, What's Up? [Heyawake]
★★★☆☆: Tetromino Sudoku
★★★★☆: Made in the Shade (Heyawake CC)
★★★★★: Heyawake Sudoku

Pairometers:
★★☆☆☆: Pairometers (6x6 Pack 1), Pairometers
★★★☆☆: Pairometers (6x6 Pack 2), Pairometers (6x6 Pack 3)

Various Puzzles:
★☆☆☆☆: Blown Fuses in Electrical Installation, Let Me Introduce Myself, French Wrench, GAS Regional Constraints, Quadsumes, Snack Latin Arrows, Sarah
★★☆☆☆: Symmetrical Fan, Night Club, Important Hour on the Clock, What Was the Sum Again?, Disgroup Joints, 10-Arrows, Antiking Dutch Skyscrapers, (Not so) Little Killers, Indexing Sword, Larna's HoneyMoon, Ascending Sums
★★★☆☆: Cops & Robbers, Positive Symmetry, Doppelgänger Killer 1-25, Region Whisper Line, Christmas Chaos
★★★★☆: Liars. Liars Everywhere., Sandwiched XV Squishmates, Fireworks 2025, (Yin)German Pairrows, Little Galaxy, 2x Solution
★★★★★: Any NEWS?, Potentially Pointer, Possibly Parity Party