Chapter 40: No longer in Akagi

Sawamura is still very happy to be able to say hello to Hosho and Oda-senpai, these two old teammates of his.

It's just that before his mouth opened, and before the smile formed on his face, he saw who was behind Hosho and Oda.

Nanami, Matsumoto, Keiba, Tsuchihara…

These guys are not unfamiliar to Sawamura.

They are all 'rivals' that Sawamura encountered in middle school and the biggest stumbling block in front of Sawamura back in Nagano!

It was Sawamura who defeated them one by one and led Akagi Middle School to create miracles again and again.

Although the Akagi Middle School at that time had a big star like Sawamura Eijun, their overall strength was far from that of the top schools.

If they simply relied on their strength to confront these opponents, Akagi Middle School would have failed every time.

For this, it took Sawamura a lot of planning and tricks in addition to his impeccable performance to defeat them.

At least that was the case when Sawamura and the team were second graders, by the time Sawamura was in the third grade, almost all of Nagano's big talents had graduated. It was then that Akagi Middle School seemed to have become the overlord of the Nagano area.

But in the second grade, that was not the case. At that time, the Players of Akagi Middle School were still immature, so Sawamura had to make more effort.

For Sawamura and the others, they crossed the mountains and finally brought Akagi Middle School to glory!

Actually, when Sawamura joined Akagi Middle School, Akagi didn't even have a baseball team.

Not only that, Akagi Middle School was about to be closed and everyone else will be transferred to another school.

So anyone can imagine what kind of support Sawamura will get for starting a new club and a new team.

Simply, none at all.

He had to convince the principal himself for some budget (which was not much), He had to recruit and train members (Well, anyone he could find), Get a playing and training field (Wasn't even there), Find training opponents (No one was willing to waste time on them), and somehow win the national tournament with this.

And a bit by bit, he got sponsors for the team, some talented players were interested and joined the team, the training field was upgraded and ready, and more teams were willing to pay attention and play training matches against them.

And by the end of all of this, Sawamura was able to lead Akagi to the National Championship twice.

Moreover, it wasn't like he took all the chances from his opponents.

Take this Nanami Haruka for example!

He was the best pitcher in Nagano before Sawamura defeated him.

But because of the special rules in the Softball League, one region can choose two schools to participate in the Kanto Softball Tournament, and at the Kanto Softball Tournament, four schools can be selected to participate in the national competition, so after Nanami was defeated by Sawamura, he was still able to show himself in national competitions.

He was undisputedly a national star. Although not as famous as the Demon King Sawamura, he is also one of the 12 upcoming young talents!

The name of Sawamura Eijun the Maou was getting louder and louder.

But this still cannot hide the fact that Nanami Haruka is definitely a top pitcher in the country. Not to mention the strength, at least the reputation must be like this.

Nevertheless, Tsuchihara, Keiba, and Matsumoto were not so lucky!

Because of the appearance of Akagi Middle School, they completely lost the chance to advance to the Kanto Tournament and the National Competition.

And for that, if there is a chance to stomp Sawamura under his feet and defeat him completely, none of these guys will hold back!

Sawamura's original joy at seeing Hosho and Oda disappeared after seeing those glaring eyes.

A faint hostility appeared between them.

Now, they are no longer the teammates they used to get along well with each other.

But an opponent!

Nagano Hoshiryu High School has reached the national quarterfinals.

Next, Seidou High School will also play against Seihou High School for a place in the quarterfinals.

If all goes well and the two teams continue to advance, they will meet sooner or later!

By that time, it will be done with real action, not words.

"Haven't seen you for a long time!"

Hosho and Oda were probably a little embarrassed. After seeing Sawamura, they opened their mouths, but no one spoke.

The first to speak was Nanami Haruka.

It was clear that it was no longer a way of reminiscing between friends.

"Long time no see! Congratulations on your advancement, Senpai."

At this moment, Sawamura, who was still keeping a polite smile, had a look and eyes full of challenge, confidence, and something else.

He was no longer the talented first-year player in Seidou High School, and he was no longer the goofy Kohai who everyone got along with.

He was the National Champion,

The Demon King,

Sawamura Eijun!

This kind of change in spirit can be clearly detected even by anyone, not to mention the teammates who knew and got along with Sawamura in Seidou High School.

They looked at each other in amazement.

But no one spoke.

Right now, they are his teammates and Senpais. The only thing they can do for Sawamura is to stand behind Sawamura and be the strong wall behind Sawamura!

"Will you play tricks against us again? But it won't be so easy, Sawamura-kun." Matsumoto said with a smirk.

"Matsumoto-senpai, Akagi has Akagi's style, and I am no longer in Akagi."

Sawamura's words surprised the players from the Nagano Hoshiryu High School.

Yes, the current Sawamura is no longer the Sawamura they met before.

And the team Sawamura is in was no longer the team he built before.

Sawamura has reason to be angry.

His strength has improved, and the strength of his team has improved by several major grades!

In the face of the defeated generals he had defeated in the past, how could he be cowardly?

"Okay! Then we'll wait and see, Maou-kun." Nanami Haruka laughed.

It's great to be able to continue playing baseball in high school!

If it wasn't for baseball, where would he find an interesting opponent like Sawamura?

This time, I must win you no matter what.

"I heard Mei-san say before, you clashed, and he won in the end, right?"

When the two teams were parting, Sawamura suddenly asked Nanami in a low voice.

"So what?" 'Mei-san?' Nanami Haruka asked quietly.

"It isn't a big matter, just a piece of news. In the West Tokyo final, we were the last winner, and the score was 4:0!"

After he finished speaking, Sawamura looked back at Nanami and then gave him a big beaming smile.

During the whole process, neither Hosho nor Oda spoke to Sawamura.

They probably have some conflicted feelings in their hearts.

If there is anyone in Koshien that Hosho doesn't want to fight, it must be Sawamura.

He wasn't afraid of Sawamura, but it was the dream that Sawamura brought him to fulfill. Now that he has turned his head to become an opponent, he always feels a little conflicted in his heart.

Of course, he won't hold back in the game because of this little guilt.

If he did that, Sawamura would not only be unhappy, he might even lose his respect.

…