Chapter 5: New Manifesto!

Early in the morning, the sky has not yet fully brightened.

On the special field of the baseball club of Seidou High School, a group of young men were running in full swing.

Their speed is not that fast, yet synchronized like a disciplined march, each stride a testament to their unity.

Leading them, as always, was the famous Captain of Steel, Yuuki Tatsuya.

During the days when Sawamura went home for vacation, the players were still habitually doing this kind of practice. Or rather, they have made this practice ingrained into their daily lives.

After everyone finished running, Coach Kataoka led President Ota, Deputy President Takashima, and Coach Ochiai and arrived in front of the team.

"All the third-year players, all go to the B field, the training programs will be left for Chris to make and manage." Coach Kataoka said.

After he finished speaking, Yuuki left with the third-year Senpais, leaving only the first- and second-year players at the scene.

Chris had initially planned to complete the semester and participate in the summer Koshien tournament before departing for the United States.

However, upon being invited to the U-18 World Cup, Chris's father personally negotiated with the Minor League team he had signed with, extending his stay by two months.

With this, Chris can wait until the end of the second semester to report to the team.

During these two months, Chris will be the acting coach of all the players in the third grade.

Chris has done a great job this past week. In fact, in the entire third-year team, the lineup is very complete.

Among the nine main players who won the National Tournament, there are six players in the third grade alone.

These six remained unchanged.

Only three positions needed filling in the Senpais team are the pitcher, shortstop, and right fielder.

The substitutes from the first team—Tanpa, Kadota, and Kusunoki—filled these gaps seamlessly.

The team they formed now, apart from a certain degree of weakening in pitchers, basically maintained 70-80% of the original Champion team.

Without mentioning the combat power of only 70-80% of the original, it should be enough to face any of the strong teams.

The third-year players are doing fielding exercises under the guidance of Chris.

Observing their relentless pursuit of excellence, Sawamura couldn't help but marvel.

Unexpectedly, Chris-shisho arranged such intense training for them early in the morning.

'Even after retiring, these guys didn't relax for a moment.'

"Yesterday, after consulting with the coaching staff and seeking the players' opinions, we have chosen our new team Captain,"

Coach Kataoka said, turning his attention to Miyuki.

"Next, I want to invite our captain to come forward and tell everyone a few words."

Clap clap! clap clap!!!

Despite just completing their morning run, some were still half-asleep and groggy. Performing the training in auto mode.

When Coach Kataoka spoke, words jolted them awake, especially upon hearing about the new captain.

Behind the scenes, these players had made no small wagers, the stakes ranging from dinners to baseball gear, candies, and snacks.

They gambled a lot on these messy things.

Who?

Who???

Amidst the clamor, a figure from the team awkwardly stepped forward.

"Hi!"

Looking at Miyuki who came forward, half of the Players at the scene couldn't help rolling their eyes.

The other half applauded enthusiastically.

Miyuki was a little flattered by this treatment.

Everyone used to say that he had a black belly, a vicious tongue, an irritating face, and other things that hurt his pure white heart(lol). He originally thought that his popularity was very bad.

He didn't expect that when he became the captain, there were so many people supporting him. Especially Sawamura, who applauded so enthusiastically, as expected of his partner!

Meanwhile.

Sawamura sidled up to Kanemaru who was next to him, whispering, "Don't forget about those biscuits."

Kanemaru closed his eyes in regret and frustration.

Knowing that Sawamura had already heard the news in the Coach's office, how could he bet with Sawamura foolishly?

Isn't this looking for loss?

But Sawamura's attitude at that time was obviously so ambiguous. From his words, it was obvious that the Captain was Sawamura himself.

Unexpectedly, his ignorant self in the end was still deceived.

And by Sawamura of all people, Sawamura!

Miyuki raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop the applause.

"To be honest, when the Coach looked for me, I was surprised myself. I didn't think I was the material to be the captain."

Miyuki admitted his reservations from the start.

"Now that I've assumed this role, there are things that must be addressed.

Many touted us as the new national powerhouse, predicting our domination of high school baseball for the next three years. Did any of you take those words to heart? I didn't. Journalists excel at spinning tales. If we buy into their hype, we may find ourselves lost in their narrative, clueless about our own path."

When he said this, the scene suddenly became serious.

The appeal of the national hegemon is too dazzling, even on those days when they are on vacation, there are at least a dozen or two dozen media personnel gathered outside the school's baseball field.

They've been around for a while.

This is still not the start of the school. After the school starts, the students around them will blow it again.

Could they afford to be led astray? Should they? As national champions, didn't they deserve to aim higher?

"The former National Hegemons they are talking about is them."

Miyuki pointed his finger firmly at the third-year Senpais who were training at the B-field.

"But now their era is over. They will retire after participating in the U-18 World Cup. The final report card they will have is the National Champions. They have completed their duty, but we have to bear this name and go to face the next challenge of Seidou.

Because of their outstanding performance, we have no other way out in this era. Except for winning the Championship again and achieving it consecutively, any other achievement is a step backward."

The scene fell silent all of a sudden.

No one thought that Miyuki would say such a thing.

Listening to what he said, they still had to achieve a consecutive championship, that is to say, in this spring Koshien and the next Koshien, they must be the final winner.

But was such ambition feasible?

While two champions emerged yearly from spring and summer Koshien, consecutive victories remained a rarity. Few teams, if any, had accomplished this gigantic feat.

Moreover, they still had the sleeping beasts in Tokyo to worry about.

Could Seidou make it?

Could Miyuki lead Seidou to be one of those exception teams?

…