Chapter 09: Become Stronger

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T\N: The Second Chapter!

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"It's over!"

"Yeah, it's over..."

In the stands of Jingu Stadium, scattered fans stood up, preparing to leave.

They are all die-hard fans of Ichidaisan.

No matter what happens, Sankou is still a top giant in West Tokyo. Even though their performance has been relatively weak this past year, they still have many loyal supporters.

However, the more die-hard the supporters, the harder it is for them to accept Sankou being completely overwhelmed by Seidou.

They had already faced enough ridicule this year from friends who supported Seidou. How could they calmly watch Seidou flaunt their dominance on the field now?

Of course, only a few left. Most people were still unwilling to give up and organized to cheer for Sankou!

Even if they lose, they must do so with dignity; after all, they are bitter rivals with Seidou in the same region. If they are to lose, they will not do so without a fight. Naturally, they will stay to support Sankou.

Otherwise, in this battle of giants, if the entire audience cheers for Seidou, what would that mean?

"Amahisa!"

"Sankou!!"

The cheers from the stands clearly upped the mentality of the Sankou players.

Coach Tahara in the dugout, who always considered himself an experienced and battle-hardened coach, was now deeply moved.

'Even for these loyal fans, our team could not easily give up on victory.'

"Boys on the field, it's time for us to repay them. Regardless of the outcome of this game, for the audience here cheering for you, you must not give up."

His determination was easily conveyed to every player on Sankou.

One by one, the players' expressions began to change.

'Even if you win, we will not make it easy for you!'

'We can still fight, there are a lot of people rooting for us!'

'Yes, it is just the first inning!'

'Who knows, maybe something can happen.'

They looked like a death squad that had made up their minds.

Their belief now was that even if they lost, they would take a piece out of Seidou.

Of course, the resolve of ordinary players was far from enough. So far, Seidou had only registered one Out and scored three runs. Even with no runners on base, Seidou's offense was still relentless.

If their ace pitcher, Amahisa, could not get back on his feet, no matter how hard the other players tried, a collapse for Sankou would be inevitable.

Their ace pitcher was, in fact, Amahisa Kousei.

Standing on the mound with his head down holding his hat, he said nothing.

He waited until Miyuki circled the field, returned to home plate, and came back to the dugout.

His state hadn't changed at all.

"Once again, you've picked right. Isn't your guess a bit much?"

Sawamura, who returned to the dugout with Miyuki, said with a smile.

A rare glimmer of pride flashed across Miyuki's face.

"You're just outright jealous!"

"Whaha!"

Sawamura shrugged helplessly, feeling as though he and Miyuki were not on the same wavelength.

'Deep down, he should have understood, right? Relying on intelligence to predict pitches cannot last forever.'

'In professional baseball, relying solely on intelligence is far from sufficient. This isn't to say intelligence isn't important; on the contrary, it's crucial.'

'However, if you depend entirely on intelligence, you will inevitably be taught a harsh lesson by those who are all muscle.'

Thinking through the game is required for managers, analysts, and coaches on the team.

But the players who are just muscle, focusing solely on playing, can be the most terrifying.

When the two returned to Seidou's dugout, they were warmly welcomed by their teammates.

Many of them grabbed cups and eagerly poured water for them.

"Looks like Sankou is completely finished," Kuramochi said proudly.

Starting from him, Seidou's consecutive attacks were more than enough to leave Sankou reeling.

Being able to press their old rivals into the ground and rub their faces in it made Kuramochi-delinquent-kun very happy. He thought that if the Senpais found out, they would be equally pleased.

'Especially Jun-san.'

He heard that he hasn't been too happy with the professional team lately and has been honing his skills in the second team.

'After the game, maybe I should give him a call.'

"It also depends on the willpower of the opponent's Ace!"

Miyuki turned to look at the field, especially at the mound.

Amahisa Kousei, who had been keeping his head down, seemed to be on the verge of being crushed by the immense pressure surrounding him.

If the opponent falters, Seidou would find this game much easier.

Looking at the opponent's current performance, that seemed entirely possible.

Suddenly, Amahisa, who had been keeping his head down, raised it without anyone noticing.

There was no frustration or anger on his face.

Only a look of relief and a smile.

'Did this guy just smile after giving up a home run?'

In the dugout of Seidou, Miyuki felt a huge shock within himself.

'He's really an interesting guy; if I get the chance, I would love to catch his pitches.'

At that moment, Miyuki clearly realized that simply winning this game would not be simple.

'Where was the opponent's despair? Their fighting spirit was evidently high.'

On the mound.

In Amahisa's eyes, a different spark flickered.

Seven months ago, he had faced Seidou. At that time, although he felt the opponent was strong, there was no pressure like this.

Even though he allowed runs in that game, he thought many of those could have been avoided.

In other words, Seidou's scoring had a lot of luck involved.

But just now, it was entirely different.

On the surface, Sawamura and Miyuki's strategies seemed clever. But it was precisely because of that they demonstrated their skill and strength.

Even if he was mentally prepared to face them again, Amahisa didn't think he could solve them.

It was at that moment that he truly felt his own lack of strength.

There was nothing extra to say; it was simply insufficient strength.

It was precisely because of this lack of strength that he was so thoroughly suppressed by Seidou's lineup.

To compete with the formidable Seidou before him, his current prowess was woefully inadequate.

'I had to grow stronger.'

'In today's game, I need to become stronger.'

Just like a bloodied warrior crawling out from the battlefield, Amahisa subconsciously pressed his lips together.

"As expected of the King Seidou. This is how a game should be. If you're the kind of opponent that can be easily defeated, what's the point in beating you?"

He muttered to himself, his eyes becoming extremely serious and focused.

"Fifth batter, outfielder, Yuuki-kun."

The batter of Seidou was Yuuki, the fifth in the lineup.

As a first-year rookie, he had been directly promoted to a core batter position by Coach Kataoka, which showed just how much importance Kataoka placed on him.

"Yuuki!"

"Yuuki!!"

When he walked into the Batter's Box, many fans and spectators cheered for him.

From a heritage standpoint and as a highly anticipated first-year rookie, everyone felt a more personal connection to Yuuki Masashi than to other newcomers.

Of course, expectations were higher too.

But right now, Yuuki had no time to pay attention to the cheering fans around him; he kept recalling what Sawamura had told him earlier.

'To truly demonstrate my value, I must defeat the opponent in front of me.'

For a team like Seidou, ordinary teams found it hard to pose a threat. Simply put, in a game against a typical team, who isn't on the field?

As long as a few core positions remain unchanged, it doesn't matter who else fills the other spots.

If newcomers want to make their mark, they must show their irreplaceable value. Otherwise, why wouldn't Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff give the opportunity to Senpais instead of first-year rookies?

Even from an experience standpoint, such an approach was unreasonable.

'I must hit!'

Yuuki was very clear about this now, and his eyes burned with determination.

'The previous Senpais had thoroughly broken the spirit of Sankou's Ace pitcher.'

'Now, if we wanted to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop, we needed to make the opponent feel a deeper despair.'

With the bat raised high, Yuuki's eyes blazed with intensity.

'Hit it!!!'

In Seidou's dugout, some noticed Kohai's performance.

Miyuki nodded in approval.

"The momentum looks good!"

Facing Amahisa Kousei, Masashi showed no signs of fear; instead, his fighting spirit was high.

Miyuki was pleasantly surprised by Yuuki's performance.

Beside him, Sawamura nodded and then shook his head.

"The momentum is there, but the mindset is still too naive."

The subsequent events proved Sawamura's statement to be correct.

Whrroosh!

The small ball flew toward him, and Yuuki saw the incoming baseball and swung his bat with all his strength.

Just as his bat was about to connect with the ball, he watched in disbelief as the ball veered away at an impossible angle.

SNAP!

The ball pierced perfectly into Takami's Mitt.

"STRIKE!"

As Yuuki stood there, he felt as if the vibrant world around him had turned black and white.

The entire world changed.

That completely different dimension of pitching deeply shook his soul.

He raised his head, incredulously staring at the unfazed Amahisa Kousei on the mound.

Yuuki instinctively swallowed hard.

'Was this what Sawamura-senpai referred to as the power of the high school's top pitcher?'

This was terrifying.

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

Yuuki showed no signs of backing down; he swung his bat with all his might each time.

But the closest he came to the ball was still over five centimeters away.

In other words, he didn't even graze it.

And so, he was directly struck out.

This was the result of Yuuki's first confrontation with a top national pitcher.

It was this confrontation that made Yuuki truly understand the terror of the nation's top pitchers.

"Sixth batter, outfielder, Nishiyama-kun."

Following closely was Nishiyama, who had stunned everyone with his supernatural performance before, pushing Shiratsu down the lineup.

He became the sixth batter.

…