The cheers from the stands echoed throughout the entire Jingu Stadium…
The shouts of "Sawamura!" and "Demon King!" shook the entire stadium, making the stands tremble.
Sawamura, who had struck out three batters with just nine pitches, walked off the field with an aura that seemed to shine around him. He was the center of attention under the spotlight, and wherever he went, the light seemed to follow him.
Even though the Seidou High School baseball team was still trailing by one point, they were no longer outmatched by their opponents in terms of momentum. In fact, in certain respects, they seemed to have the upper hand.
In the Inashiro Industrial High School bullpen...
Narumiya's eyes were red.
Anyone who loves being a pitcher craves attention, right?
Not every pitcher likes to be in the spotlight, but great pitchers undoubtedly do. Without that craving for the spotlight, they wouldn't be able to perform beyond expectations when faced with a crisis.
Narumiya, without a doubt, was one of the top pitchers in the country, and he certainly loved being in the spotlight.
Standing on the field, he wanted to be the one and only center of attention.
Seeing Eijun showing off on his home turf now, Narumiya couldn't control his heart.
If his fighting spirit was at 100% at the beginning of the game, now it has surpassed 101%.
He was practically bursting with it!
"I want to go out there! I want to pitch!!"
Back in the Seidou High School bullpen...
Miyuki returned to the dugout and looked expectantly toward the Inashiro bullpen.
He then turned to Sawamura and whispered, "Do you think the plan will work?"
It was obvious that Inashiro Industrial High School's team had already prepared all their strategies before the game.
Now that their plan had succeeded, would they easily change their rhythm?
Sawamura smiled.
If their opponent were anyone else, he wouldn't be so sure.
After all, he wasn't a mind reader—he couldn't know exactly what others were thinking.
But when it came to Narumiya, Sawamura had a lot of confidence.
"Let me ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"How do you get an enemy who can't stand you to listen to you?"
Getting the enemy to listen to you…
It was a fresh topic.
Miyuki thought for a moment and replied, "I could threaten him with a weapon."
"And what else?"
"I could bribe him with money!"
"Anything else?"
"I could tempt him with a honey trap."
Sawamura asked several times, and Miyuki kept offering answers.
The responses made Sawamura break out in cold sweat.
'As expected, with Miyuki's sharp tongue, he was no saint.'
"All right, enough joking. Just tell me what you really think."
As Sawamura quietly moved further away, Miyuki decided not to tease him anymore, smiling as he said, "Actually, all your answers aren't bad. To sum it up, to get an enemy to act according to your will, there are just two methods—coercion or bribery. Or you could use both."
At this point, Sawamura laughed as if recalling someone, his smile full of nostalgia.
"To decide which method to use depends on who you're dealing with. For example, take our Prince here. If we want him to follow our orders, coercion won't be as effective as bribery! This guy is the type to take the soft approach, not the hard one."
"I didn't notice you gave him any benefits."
"Benefits come in many forms—material and spiritual. What I just gave him was spiritual. You could also think of it as a form of provoking him but in a different way…"
Sawamura's "benefit" to Narumiya was his own charismatic figure.
That guy was a fighter at heart, and as long as Sawamura Eijun acted cool, he knew Narumiya wouldn't let him outshine him.
Sawamura was confident of this.
"What if Mei doesn't fall for it?"
"Then it doesn't matter. Haven't we already got the momentum?" Sawamura said nonchalantly.
A pitcher can also support the team's offense—so long as they can maintain enough momentum.
What better display of momentum than striking someone out?
So Sawamura was using a deliberate strategy!
Even if the opponent saw through it, they would have no way of stopping it.
They would either confront him head-on or retreat into their shells...
Seeing the Seidou High School baseball team flaunting their strength.
In the bottom of the second inning, Seidou High School took their turn to bat.
Up first was the sixth batter, Shiratsu.
He raised his bat high and watched intently as Narumiya stood on the mound.
On the other side, Inashiro Industrial High School's players were discussing tactics.
With Coach Kunitomo's wisdom and the skill of Inashiro's players, they could easily see through Sawamura's devious plans. But Sawamura wasn't afraid of them noticing.
Once Sawamura had made his move, no matter how Inashiro responded, the Seidou team was already in an unbeatable position.
They could sit back and wait for Inashiro's reaction, and no matter how they responded, it wouldn't be a problem.
As Fujio would say, this was the Demon King's imposing presence.
It was a dignified way to bully the opponent.
SNAP!
"STRIKE!"
"BALL!"
"BALL!"
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"
Narumiya's reaction was exactly as Sawamura had predicted.
He went full throttle, striking Shiratsu Out.
Not only that but the next two batters were also struck out.
Three up, three down—three strikeouts.
The result electrified the atmosphere in the stadium.
The opponent's pitcher was performing so strongly, yet both Sawamura and Miyuki in the Seidou bullpen were smiling.
"The big fish had taken the bait...!"
In the top of the third inning, Inashiro Industrial High School took their turn to bat.
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE!!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"
Sawamura struck out two batters in a row before facing the second batter, Carlos.
In their previous duel, Carlos had successfully matched Sawamura's pitch speed and hit a Cutter Ball.
His performance was impressive.
However, this time, the situation took a shocking turn.
Sawamura used three completely different breaking balls to successfully deceive Carlos' swing.
SNAP!
"STRIKE!"
PING!
"FOUL!!"
With one Strike and one Foul, Sawamura continued to pitch and threw his third ball without hesitation.
WHRROOSH!!
When Carlos saw Sawamura's windup, his heart skipped a beat.
The feeling was nearly identical to when they watched Sawamura face the American Dream Team.
'Could it be?'
Carlos already had a bad feeling deep inside.
Even though he wasn't sure if Sawamura would throw a breaking ball he had never seen before, Carlos clenched his teeth and swung his bat.
With two Strikes against him, he had no choice but to swing.
The ball, in Carlos' eyes, didn't vanish like he had expected.
Instead, it seemed to accelerate and pass him by, landing precisely in Miyuki's Mitt.
SNAP!
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"
Another three Strikeouts. nine pitches.
Up to this point, Sawamura had recorded seven Strikeouts in total, all in succession.
His incredible rhythm caught the attention of Obayashi and Kobayashi, who were reminded of when they first saw Sawamura Eijun three years ago.
...