Chapter 260: Todoroki Raichi!

"Ichidai Sanko lost to Yakushi? I've never even heard of this team before," Kuramochi Yoichi said, looking at the others.

"Never heard of them."

"They must have been the type of team that gets knocked out in the first or second round, right?"

"A dark horse, they quietly took down Ichidai Sanko just like that."

Listening to the team members' conversation, Takashima Rei said, "The situation was originally evenly matched, and Ichidai Sanko even held a slight advantage, but Ichidai Sanko's ace, Zhenzhong Yao, was hit by a ball struck by a batter and had to leave the game due to injury; that is the biggest reason why Ichidai Sanko ultimately lost."

"What?! Hit by a ball?"

"Hiss~! That must hurt so much."

"Zhenzhong..."

Before the bus had even come to a complete stop, Tanba stood up with a swoosh.

Everyone looked at him; many knew about the relationship between Tanba and Zhenzhong Yao, so it was no surprise that he would react this way upon suddenly hearing that Zhenzhong was injured.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Tanba realized he had been a bit too hasty, so he sat down and took out his phone to send a message to Zhenzhong Yao to ask about his condition.

At this moment, Coach Kataoka asked, "Do we have the game footage?"

"Yes," Takashima Rei nodded, "the whole thing was recorded."

"Good."

Once the bus stopped, Coach Kataoka stood up and faced everyone: "Get off the bus now and go get some good rest. Tonight, we will watch the game footage of Ichidai Sanko versus Yakushi together; no one is allowed to be absent."

"Yes!!"

After getting off the bus, the group scattered. Huangqian Yangyi also prepared to quickly eat lunch and then take a nap. As for the matter of Yakushi High School, he wasn't in a hurry; the overall strength of this team was definitely inferior to Ichidai Sanko's. The reason they could win was partly due to their status as a dark horse, as Ichidai Sanko surely hadn't paid enough attention to them before the game.

And as for Yakushi, they did indeed have something special, take that kid from Yakushi, for instance, Todoroki Raichi.

Huangqian Yangyi reckoned that Ichidai Sanko must have been quite shaken; the pressure from that kid's swing was no less than that of Yuki Tetsuya and Dong Qingguo.

He was looking forward to it; in the game against Yakushi, he would definitely have to suppress that kid, Todoroki Raichi.

"Yangyi, what are you thinking about? I've been calling you for ages and you haven't answered." Miyuki had arrived at Huangqian Yangyi's side at some point, but after calling him a few times, he saw that he acted as if he hadn't heard him.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about the next game," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Hearing this, Miyuki smiled: "That Yakushi, we'll have to study them carefully tonight."

"Yeah, being able to defeat Ichidai Sanko, they are indeed worth paying attention to."

"Haha, what's there to worry about? Huangqian, you'll be pitching in the next game, right? Just suppress this Yakushi High School's lineup, and leave the rest to us!" Kuramochi jogged over, having just heard their conversation, and wore an expression of certain victory.

Huangqian Yangyi turned his head, "You can't say it like that; there is always uncertainty in a game, so don't get too complacent."

"Yeah, Kuramochi, you've been getting a bit cocky lately," Miyuki laughed.

Teased by the two of them together, Kuramochi's face darkened, "Bastard Huangqian! Idiot Miyuki! Die!!"

That night, Huangqian Yangyi, who had rested for the afternoon, came to the conference room together with Chris and Arima Kazusa.

Everyone watched the game footage of Yakushi and Ichidai Sanko over and over again.

Especially Todoroki Raichi's batting; it truly left the Seido members astonished. To have such a level of batting as a First Year.

"Well~ he's impressive, but that's about it. Last year, wasn't Huangqian even more impressive than him?" Kuramochi said.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Huangqian Yangyi. Indeed, they had such a monstrous batter on their own team.

"It's different. This Todoroki Raichi's batting style is different from mine. I am a technical, cerebral batter, while this kid is a pure beast; he plays by instinct," Huangqian Yangyi said.

"Heh, technical, cerebral? What does that have to do with you?" Miyuki retorted mercilessly. The others were also speechless; if they weren't teammates, they might have actually believed him.

Just then, Coach Kataoka tapped the table.

"Yakushi is a super-offensive team. Their batting is always aggressive swinging; they almost never bunt, and their on-base percentage is also very high. They often put great pressure on the pitcher during a game. For the day after tomorrow's game, the defense must stay focused and try to share the pressure for the pitcher."

"Yes!!!"

"And the other pitchers, all of you must be prepared to take the mound."

"Yes!"

Coach Kataoka nodded and looked at Huangqian Yangyi: "How about it? Are you going to pitch?"

"Mm-hmm, I will," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Since the start of the Summer Tournament, he hadn't even stepped onto the Pitcher's Mound yet.

"Good, then you'll start. 4 innings will be enough, right?"

"Enough, enough. I don't want to be too tired either."

Everyone was dumbfounded listening to this conversation. Usually, the game lineup is decided the day before the game, but the coach was asking Huangqian Yangyi if he wanted to pitch and if 4 innings were enough—meaning if he wanted to pitch, he could, and he could pitch as many innings as he wanted. This was too indulgent.

Tanba looked at Huangqian Yangyi, and after a long while, he shook his head helplessly. If only he had that kind of strength too.

Kawakami looked on with admiration, while as for Sawamura and Furuya, the two were dying of envy and jealousy.

"Alright, that's it for today's meeting. You can watch the game again if you want, but try to get some rest early," Coach Kataoka said before leaving the conference room.

Meanwhile, at Yakushi High School.

A group of people had just finished watching the game between Seido and Meikawa.

"Their pitching depth is too deep. This is the foundation of a powerhouse; we can't compare at all."

"Exactly, that Yang Shunchen was already very impressive, yet he didn't even force out Seido's ace."

"Say, Sanada, what do you think of Seido's batting lineup?" someone suddenly asked.

Yakushi's ace, Sanada Shunpei, sat behind the others and smiled after hearing the question.

"Well, Seido's batting lineup is the strongest in the country. I'll do my best, I'll do my best." Sanada laughed it off, but deep down, he felt a bitter taste. This was Seido, the King Seido, the one known as the undefeated Overlord. As for their team, although they weren't bad, he really didn't think they could topple Seido.

Unless they could crack that monstrous pitching.

Yakushi's coach, Todoroki Raichi's father, was also looking worried.

There were several people on the Seido team who radiated the scent of being able to make big money. What did this mean? Strength!

After fast-forwarding through this game, Yakushi dug out Seido's previous game footage again.

"Sugoi!! What an amazing pitch! I really want to hit it! I want to hit his ball!"

Watching Huangqian Yangyi's pitch in the video, Todoroki Raichi jumped up and down like a monkey, unable to contain his excitement.