Didn’t you say you were just using me as a substitute?

In the crowd, Kitahara Tsutomu was grabbed by the arm by someone and was pulled forward.

Only after he rushed out of the crowd did Beiyuan Zun see who that person was.

"Anaei-senpai."

That person was none other than Ryuya Anai, who had originally joined the first team but was forcibly pulled down by Kitahara Takashi.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot. Go warm up."

After Anai Ryu brought Kitahara Takashi out, he handed him a brand new baseball uniform.

Kitahara Takashi looked at the brand new baseball uniform handed to him, then looked at Anai Ryuya, and said softly: "Thank you!"

He had not expected the other party's magnanimity.

If it were him, if the position he had worked hard for three years to get by taking the civil service exam was replaced by someone else, even if Kitahara Tsutomu didn't turn against the other person, he wouldn't give the other person a good look.

As Kitahara Takashi was taking off his coat, Anai Ryu also whispered, "Junior, go to the top for me."

Kitahara Takashi paused, took off his coat and handed it to Anai Ryuya, put his hands into his baseball uniform, and said, "Okay!"

After a simple warm-up, Kitahara Takashi stood on the pitcher's mound under the expectant gaze of reporters.

He knows what this group of people want to see.

So, he pressed a seam of the ball with his index and middle fingers, stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, bent his knees slightly, stepped back, and when his leg reached the highest point, he extended his foot and threw it.

*

Meanwhile, in the meeting room of Tan High School.

Horikita Manabu looked around and found that representatives of all age groups had arrived. He nodded slightly to the student union secretary, Akane Tachibana, indicating that they could begin.

Tachibana Akane pressed a button that looked like a remote control, and the projector projected an image onto the blackboard.

"This year's Koshien is better than any previous year."

"These are the teams that I observed yesterday that are most dangerous to us."

As Ju Qian said this, she pressed the remote control again.

The name of a school soon appeared on the projection screen.

[Chongkyo High School Affiliated to Chukyo University]

Koshien record: Champion: 7 times; Runner-up: 0 times; Semi-finals: 6 times; Quarterfinals: 7 times; Danger level: ????

"Chukyo High School has always been a top team in Koshien, winning the Spring Championship 11 times, with a total of 58 wins in the spring and 78 wins in the summer, all of which are the best numbers in the country."

"He has won the Hajia Championship seven times. During the Chukyo-sho era, he won the championship three consecutive years, in the 7th, 17th, and 18th rounds, achieving the only three consecutive Hajia Championships in history."

"Chujing University's dominance is far less than before, but they have always been a favored seeded player."

"This year, we even hired a retired MLB player as our coach. With intense training and the addition of several powerful new players, we've formed the strongest batting line in all of Koshien, and we've taken the competition by storm."

"Also, their trump card is incredibly strong. They have a strange butterfly ball, and so far few people have been able to catch it."

"They are also one of the favorites to win the championship."

Ju Qian's clear voice with distinct pronunciation echoed in the conference room.

After Ju Qian finished speaking, no one spoke.

Tachibana Akane paused and continued, "Next, we'll introduce Osaka Toin High School."

Then, she pulled up the information about Osaka Toin High School.

Koshien record: Champion: 5 times; Runner-up: 0 times; Semi-finals: 1 time; Quarterfinals: 0 times, Danger level: ?????

"As we all know, the strongest team in modern times is Osaka Toin High School. In the past 10 years, they have won three championships, two of which were consecutive spring and summer championships."

"Another point worth mentioning is that once Osaka Toin High School reaches the finals, their winning rate is often 100%."

"Osaka Toin has never lost a match."

"This summer, they not only have a strong batting lineup, but also a rich reserve of pitchers. They have three pitchers who can become ace pitchers on other teams."

"This year, not only do they have a strong batting lineup, but they also have a rich reserve of pitchers. They have three pitchers who could become ace pitchers on other teams."

If JD.com is the old overlord, Osaka Toin is the new generation overlord.

Their dominance in Koshien is terrifying.

"Next, the third team is..."

The meeting lasted for two full hours, during which no one spoke except Ju Qian.

As the meeting continued, everyone's face showed a tired and affectionate expression.

Even Arisu Sakayanagi couldn't help but gently rub his temples with his fingers.

But no one complained.

Because before coming, they had heard from their homeroom teacher that if they won the Koshien this time, the school would give out more than 100 million points to the students.

In advanced development, points are money and everything.

No one doesn't want to have a higher score.

Therefore, this time, Gaoduyucheng High School is determined to win the Hajia championship.

The whole school was united, and this could only happen when there was a common enemy.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, Class A and Class D would never be able to join together.

There is a purpose behind being so generous with Gaozuoyu.

It hopes to attract more talent by dominating Koshien.

Gaodu Yucheng High School has always had an ambition, which is to achieve a 100% admission rate and employment goal, and to become the number one school in the country.

At present, high-level cultivation is far from the so-called goal.

Because above him, Aoba and Shuchiin were pressing down so hard that it couldn't breathe.

There are many top talents in Gaokouyucheng, but compared with Aoba and Shuchiin, they are inferior.

There was a time when a student from Shuchiin got into an argument with a student from their school, mocking him, "Who would go to your crappy school if they could get into Shuchiin or Aoba? Only losers who can't get in go there."

This sounds harsh, but it's not wrong.

Aoba and Hidechiin, one has the Gosei family behind him, and the other is supported by the Shinomiya family.

Power, money, and status are all concentrated in these two schools.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about connections.

If you stay in high-level training, can you see powerful people like Kaguya Shinomiya, Ryujumo Momo, Kashiwagi Nagisa, and Hitomi Yozakura?

If Kitahara Takashi didn't work hard enough and couldn't get into Aoba, he wouldn't even be qualified to meet Kamikawa Nari.

To those truly great men, ordinary people are like dust on the ground.

You may work hard all your life but still not be qualified to see them.

This is also why the students of Shuchiin look down on the highly trained students.

In fact, it’s not just Shuchiin. Students at Koukou Yucheng also feel resentful towards their own school.

In their opinion, they could have gone to Aoba and Shuchiin, but they came here because they didn't perform well on the exam or interview day.

In the island country, those who can enter Aoba and Shuchiin will never consider other schools.

The leadership of Kokufukusei also knows the problem, so they plan to win the Koshien championship first to increase their own popularity.

"The last high school, Private Aoba High School."

When Aoba was mentioned, everyone in Gaoduyucheng became alert and their eyes widened as they looked at the projection screen.

【Private Aoba High School】

Koshien record: Champion: 0 times; Runner-up: 2 times; Semi-finals: 4 times; Quarterfinals: 22 times; Danger level:?

"This year, Aoba has a top 1.5 batting lineup. With the injury to Ohtani Shota, the powerful third batter, everyone was pessimistic about Aoba's prospects."

"..."

"But after acquiring Kitahara Takashi, Aoba's chances of winning have skyrocketed, now reaching 5.4%."

When mentioning Kitahara Takashi, a smile appeared on Nan Yunya's lips.

He had long wanted to meet Takashi Kitahara, who had only played baseball for seven days but could already pitch at 157 km/h and was considered the next genius to succeed Shohei Ohtani.

It would be fun to beat him.

"...Just wait, you arrogant fellow."

Horikita Suzune thought with a slightly cold look in her eyes.

Her understanding of Kitahara Takashi was still limited to the fact that her brother invited him to visit Gaodu Yucheng, but the other party didn't even bother to meet him and directly hung up the phone and blocked her brother's number.

Because of this incident, Horikita Suzune has a very bad impression of Kitahara Takashi.

"Are we finally meeting again, sir?"

Ichinose Honoki raised the corners of her lips slightly, creating a beautiful smile.

She and Kitahara Takashi first met in Aoba.

The two of them took the entrance exam together, but Kitahara Takashi passed while she did not.

Ichinose Honami will never forget that when everyone, including herself, was scratching their heads over the difficult questions in the exam, that boy took only twenty minutes to finish and hand in his paper, and was the first to walk out of the exam room.

After the exam that day, she happened to hear people talking about the boy.

I heard that he got full marks in the written test.

This gave Ichinose Honami a great shock.

She got more than half of the questions wrong on the same test paper.

If she is like this, let alone others.

But Kitahara Takashi got full marks.

"Is that Kitahara no Takashi? I've heard of you before."

Arisu Sakayanagi's eyes flickered with anticipation and curiosity about meeting Kitahara Takashi.

She once saw Ye Yingtong receive a call from a man named Beiyuan Zun, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

Even though Ye Yingtong's smile was very shallow and faint, she smiled.

You have to know that this was a woman who even dared to kill her own father.

She was actually happy because of a boy.

Arisu Sakayanagi has always wanted to meet Kitahara Takashi.

She had no other intentions, she just wanted to compare who was more powerful, Kitahara Takashi, whom Yozakura Hitomi liked, or Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, whom she liked.

*

At Hanshin Koshien, the commentator roared passionately: "Home run, bye home run!"

"Arayada High School's fourth batter, Ideno Ren, ended Toin High School's Koshien journey with a home run."

"Let us congratulate Arayada High School for advancing to the next round."

The moment the air raid sirens sounded, the boys of Arayada High School cheered wildly, while the boys of Tongyin High School hugged each other and cried.

The emotions on the same field were extremely divided into two parts.

On one side, there is a revelry as if there is no tomorrow.

On one side are the silent tears shed because of regrets after trying one's best.

The victory of one side is bound to be accompanied by the failure of the other side. This is the unique charm of competitive sports.

"I didn't expect Arayada to be so strong this year."

Katsuda Takezo frowned.

“It’s difficult~”

Kento Ogura had a bitter face.

I had guessed that Koshien would be difficult, but I didn't expect it to be so difficult.