Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

There is a type of person who is born to make others jealous.

Returning to home plate, Sawamura stared blankly at Furuya Satoru, who was running back, Once again reminding himself.

'I am not a protagonist, and this small talent of mine is nothing to be happy about.'

'If I really wanted to achieve my dreams, I must work even harder.'

It is precisely because of this that, despite Sawamura's accomplishments being second to none among his peers, he has never relaxed his demands on himself!

In the Seidou High School baseball club, he is always the last one to finish training.

He works even harder than the third-year seniors...

Despite this feeling of jealousy, Sawamura has tried his best to channel it in a positive direction. However, sometimes when he looks at Furuya, he just can't help himself.

Some people are simply born to be envied.

And Furuya is one of those people.

'Just what kind of talent is that?!'

Before entering high school, Furuya had not completely avoided baseball, but he had never received systematic training.

His so-called practice was just him hiding under a bridge to practice pitching alone.

His ability to become the fastest pitcher in high school, in addition to his natural talent, is also greatly attributed to his diligent practice since childhood.

But apart from his pitching velocity, everything else about Furuya has been learned at Seidou High School.

This includes his now passable control and his two unparalleled breaking balls.

Whether it's the Forkball or the vertical Slider, both of Furuya's breaking balls are top-tier in high school.

In other words, in just one year, the boy who knew almost nothing about pitching had already developed into one of the top pitchers in high school when he was in peak condition.

And that's not the most enviable thing.

Furuya's hitting ability is completely natural!

You should know that Furuya has no interest in batting whatsoever.

The time he spends practicing privately is either used for running with Sawamura or for pitching. He has barely wasted his time on hitting!

Yet despite this, his hitting strength is still among the best in Seidou High School.

Take the recent GRAND SLAM, for example. Of course, there was an element of luck. But for some batters, even with the luck, they would still be unable to hit it.

They can't do it because they are not made of that material.

But for Furuya, it was effortless.

The most frightening thing is that he hasn't practiced swinging a bat privately.

Apart from the mandatory 200 swings, Furuya has not practiced at all, and the total number of swings is less than 100,000.

Yet Furuya's hitting strength is still better than some batters in Seidou High School who started playing baseball and practicing their swings from a young age.

Talent is truly unreasonable.

In the Seidou High School rest area, the substitutes wore myriad expressions.

"Isn't he amazing?"

They said with wry smiles to the freshmen.

Surviving in the first string is that difficult.

Nishiyama shook his head: "I don't think Furuya-senpai is that impressive! I admire Sawamura-senpai even more. How strong is his heart? Only he could give practicing tips to such formidable rival."

It's not uncommon for Sawamura to give Furuya practice tips, especially during fielding training.

Everyone knows this.

They have seen Furuya's talent with their own eyes.

Putting themselves in Sawamura's shoes, they know it would be absolutely impossible for them to do the same for Furuya.

"After all, he's the 'Demon King,' he's different from us mere mortals," Kanemaru said with a sour tone.

Although he and Sawamura are good friends, sometimes he can't help but look up to Sawamura.

In fact, in his eyes, whether it's Furuya or Sawamura, they are the same.

Both are untouchable.

This isn't about their character; when it comes to personality, they all get along just fine.

It's about strength. The strength and talent on the baseball field.

Those two are so beyond speech, that just standing next to them makes even someone like Kanemaru, who usually thinks highly of himself, feel ashamed.

After hitting a GRAND SLAM, the Seidou's baseball team did not celebrate.

After all, it was on their opponent's turf, and it would be bad form to appear too smug after taking advantage.

After complimenting Furuya, the game continued.

Furuya himself did not dwell on it.

With his grand slam, the score became 8-1.

Furuya, who had just hit the home run, actually regretted it...

He wasn't foolish, and he knew that with this kind of score, it would be hard for him to pitch the entire game.

With the win practically secured, Coach Kataoka would surely let the freshmen play to experience the atmosphere.

This meant that Furuya had unknowingly created an opportunity for Nishiyama to play.

Just thinking about it made him furious.

He hadn't had the chance to play in the previous Orientation Game and had been annoyed ever since.

Now, he finally had a chance to play, but after just a few innings, he would soon face the inevitable fate of being substituted.

It was truly depressing for the young man.

If the players from Tobuyasu High School knew what Furuya was thinking, they would surely drown him in saliva one by one.

They've seen someone act smug, but never someone as smug as this.

Although many Seidou High School players performed excellently in today's game, Furuya was still the best among them.

He dominated the pitching mound, suppressing the offense of Tobuyasu High School.

He even hit a GRAND SLAM, sealing the victory for his team.

And still, he wasn't satisfied?

Was he hoping to fly too?

You should know, this is Tobuyasu High School's field!

The game on the field was still ongoing.

Furuya's GRAND SLAM was a heavy blow for Tobuyasu High School.

Even Senzo, who had always been very composed, found it hard to maintain his calm at this moment.

His state was slightly out of control. Although he hadn't completely collapsed, he no longer had the same confidence he had before.

A pitcher's mental state directly affects the quality of their pitching.

The batter in the sixth position, Shiratsu the assassin, keenly noticed the opportunity and immediately assassinated/swung his bat without hesitation.

Ping!

After the ball was hit, it landed beside Tobuyasu's second baseman.

If the Tobuyasu second baseman had dived for the ball, they might still have had a chance to catch it.

But unfortunately, Tobuyasu's infielders were completely stunned.

They were a little slow in reacting.

By the time they recovered and were ready to intercept the ball, the ball had already flown past them.

Just like that, Shiratsu was on base!

No Outs, runner on first.

So far, none of the first six batters had made an error.

They all got base hits.

Seidou's lineup had now fully revealed its fangs and claws.

The players from Tobuyasu High School felt as though their hearts were in turmoil like water being splashed up and down in a bucket.

The huge score gap made them snap out of their earlier illusions.

It was only at this moment that they realized who their opponents truly were.

They were facing Seidou High School, the number one team in high school.

Ping!

Without giving Tobuyasu High School's players time to think, Seidou High School's offense continued.

The seventh batter executed a bunt, allowing Shiratsu to advance to second base.

This tactic was very necessary for Seidou High School.

After all, the batters in Seidou High's lower order weren't as strong as those in the top and core spots.

It was possible that they could be retired consecutively.

To continue the momentum and completely crush Tobuyasu's resistance, Seidou needed to score another run.

That's why the seventh batter chose to bunt.

As long as he was walked, Shiratsu would be able to advance to second base.

Once Shiratsu was safely on second base, all they would need was a good hit to bring him home.

Seidou High School's offensive intentions were now clear for all to see.

'Do you think it would be easy!'

On the pitcher's mound, Senzo's eyes sparkled with determination.

Though he had been a bit stunned earlier, he was now reignited with fighting spirit.

Sometimes, just a little provocation works better than words.

Seeing Seidou High School look down on them like this, Senzo was stimulated.

He decided he was going to take back everything, bit by bit.

At that moment, Seidou's Coach, Kataoka, also took action.

He substituted players!

Higasa, the eighth batter, was replaced by Takatsu.

Takatsu, originally a shortstop, was now moved to third base.

This was not a good sign for some of Seidou High's players.

Every action by Kataoka carries deep meaning. At this moment, switching Takatsu to third base proved that Kataoka was dissatisfied with the current third basemen.

Whether it was Kanemaru or Higasa, neither had gained Kataoka's full trust.

But to focus back on the game:

Takatsu, who was substituted into the Batter's Box, appeared calm on the surface.

However, deep inside, his emotions were turbulent.

'The opportunity had come!!!'

For the past year, he had been waiting for this day. The day he could prove his abilities in front of everyone.

He wanted to tell everyone around him that Seidou High's first-year class wasn't just about Sawamura, Furuya, Kominato, and Toujou...

It also included him, Takatsu.

He was determined to prove his worth with the bat in his hands.

He wanted to stay in the first string, firmly.

He knew that following the usual steps would never be enough. He had to show a talent that others couldn't match.

Just like now.

Looking at the ball flying toward him from the distance, Takatsu swung his bat without hesitation.

…

T/N: Well that's it for today.

Thank you all for reading!!

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