Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Sawamura Eijun entered Coach Kataoka's office and quickly noticed that the atmosphere inside was off.

Coach Kataoka was sitting at his desk, his face as cold as water, saying nothing.

Coach Ochiai and President Ota were sitting on the sofa, seemingly in quiet opposition to Coach Kataoka.

Takashima Rei stood to the side, arms crossed, with a similarly grim expression.

Miyuki, stood behind the two Coaches, saying nothing.

'What was going on?'

A large question mark rose in Sawamura's mind. If it wasn't for the fact that it would be impolite to leave at this moment, he might have run away.

The situation before him clearly spelled trouble, and big trouble at that.

If possible, Sawamura truly didn't want to get involved.

Unfortunately, Coach Kataoka didn't seem to plan on letting him off easily.

The usual unchanging iceberg expression on Coach Kataoka's face suddenly softened into a smile. It was hard to say whether it was because of seeing Sawamura or just being polite.

In any case, Coach Kataoka now appeared friendly and approachable.

However, seeing this version of Coach Kataoka made Sawamura's hair stand on end.

'When did the cold-faced Terminator change his demeanor?'

Things were off, and there was clearly something behind it. The situation was serious, maybe even more serious than Sawamura imagined.

"You're here, take a look at this…"

Coach Kataoka, still smiling, pointed to two invitation letters on his desk, signaling for Sawamura to pick them up and read them.

At this moment, whether Sawamura wanted to or not, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and pick up the two invitation letters.

One of them was addressed to Miyuki.

This was originally Seidou High School's plan, so there was nothing special about it. The tone of the letter was very polite, stating that the organizers hoped Miyuki would represent Tokyo in a practice match against North America, specifically the Los Angeles area.

It could also be called a friendly match between the two countries.

Sawamura knew that this invitation was probably without any issues, so he didn't waste time on it. He immediately skipped to the second letter.

As he thought, the issue appeared in the second letter.

"An invitation for Seidou High School second-year player Sawamura Eijun to participate in a practice match with the Los Angeles team on May 27th."

The tone was even more respectful than Miyuki's, but Sawamura's expression immediately became extremely strange.

This was not just an odd situation anymore; it was downright unreasonable!

In this event, only Inashiro Industrial High School, as the main participant, could invite multiple players. Other invited teams only needed to recommend one player each.

Furthermore, even the recommended players were mostly third-year students.

Although this wasn't a strict rule, it was an unspoken agreement between schools.

These third-year players were either graduating or preparing to continue their baseball careers, whether at university or in professional baseball. This exchange match was an excellent opportunity for them.

So, coaches and managers were very much in agreement, recommending their third-year players for the opportunity.

Coach Kunitomo from Inashiro Industrial High School could probably understand everyone's feelings, so he turned a blind eye to this practice.

As a result, the players selected from Tokyo were not necessarily the strongest players from their teams.

In other words, the team formed for this event might not even be the strongest team from Tokyo.

Of course, Inashiro Industrial High School wasn't running a charity.

Although Coach Kunitomo had a broad mind, he took on this responsibility mainly for his own students.

The third-year players from Inashiro Industrial were their super-golden generation, and many of them were exceptional players.

Simply having the runner-up finish at the Spring Koshien wasn't enough for all the third-year players to get their chance to shine.

That's why Coach Kunitomo created this opportunity for his students.

The four players selected from Inashiro were the ones Coach Kunitomo believed would definitely make a name for themselves in professional baseball.

If others heard about this, they would surely think Coach Kunitomo was crazy.

Having just one player from a school enter the professional selection would be impressive enough.

But in later rounds, it wasn't surprising if a few players from a strong team were selected.

For example, in the last Koshien, didn't three players from Seidou High School directly make it into the pros? Four if you count Chris?

But Coach Kunitomo's ambition was no less than that.

He believed that the four players under his guidance were all highly likely to be selected in the first few rounds.

So he desperately worked to give them more exposure.

This was the real reason behind the formation of this selection event.

"Interesting!"

Sawamura Eijun's mind was racing.

He also felt that this matter was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

However, if he was asked to explain the deeper reasoning, he was powerless.

"This is Coach Kunitomo's plot!"

President Ota, usually gentle, was rare to show his anger.

He was genuinely furious. Seidou High School's situation had finally started to improve, entering an Era.

If nothing unexpected happened in the next few years, Seidou's players would be extremely strong.

Even if they didn't dominate every championship, they would certainly be strong contenders.

And now, their fiercest rival, Coach Kunitomo, had called up Seidou's biggest trump card to train at Inashiro Industrial.

This was so obvious that they couldn't be any more obvious.

They couldn't let him succeed.

President Ota had made up his mind. No matter what Coach Kataoka's opinion was, he had to intervene.

He couldn't let Inashiro's people get their way.

"This might not be Coach Kunitomo's idea!"

Coach Ochiai, stroking his beard, suddenly spoke.

His statement surprised both Takashima Rei and President Ota.

Coach Kunitomo was the overall leader of the event, and even the organizers had to respect his opinion.

If he didn't force it, who would think of sending an invitation to Sawamura Eijun?

Coach Kataoka nodded.

Coach Ochiai continued, "Everyone's actions are driven by their own goals. Although Coach Kunitomo took on the responsibility of coaching the Tokyo team, he surely had his own plans. Bringing Sawamura in now would only hinder his goals."

Smart people don't need to say too much.

Once Coach Ochiai started, everyone understood what he meant.

That's exactly it.

Sawamura Eijun was known as the Demon King on the field. Once he stepped onto the pitch, everyone else's shine would be overshadowed.

Coach Kunitomo, who desperately wanted to promote his students, would never make such a mistake.

That would be self-sabotage.

"Since it's not Coach Kunitomo's idea, whose is it?"

This question was one that the bigwigs of Seidou High School could not answer.

"We can't guess whose idea it was, but the question now is whether we should accept the invitation."

Coach Kataoka cut to the chase.

Though Takashima and President Ota had been arguing loudly earlier, they weren't confident about making this decision.

After all, this concerned Tokyo's reputation, and even the country's.

If Seidou refused to let Sawamura participate, it might not look good.

If a reporter picked this up, it could have a huge negative impact on Sawamura's reputation and on Seidou High School.

Being famous has its advantages, but it also comes with burdens and responsibilities.

Other elite teams could easily dodge this, but Seidou, as the best team in the country, couldn't just brush it off.

"I will go! Let's face it. If Coach Kunitomo is scheming, then let him observe. I'm not the kind of pitcher who'll just fold when someone knows my strengths."

At this point, someone had to make a decision.

Sawamura stepped forward without hesitation.

He truly wanted to go. He had been eager to face young players from North America.

His goal had never changed.

He was going to the Major League on time. His stay in the NPB will help him skip the headache of the Minor Leagues and at the same time hone himself against a true Pros.

Facing North American players now was a great experience.

Even if Sawamura didn't want to go, being pushed into this position meant he couldn't back down.

His attitude was so firm that it surpassed the coaching staff's expectations.

And this attitude solved a big problem for them.

They no longer had to agonize over it. Once Sawamura nodded, the decision was made.

Go! And go proudly.

Let those North American players see the power of their Demon King.

"Although going to Inashiro will reveal some of our tactics, you still need to be careful. Don't use the new breaking balls you've been working on!"

Coach Ochiai, stroking his small beard, gave this advice.

It was a very sound suggestion, and Sawamura had no reason to reject it.

He nodded decisively, clearly agreeing with the advice.

"Since they want to observe our tactics, we can return the favor," said Rei Takashima, now understanding.

If they couldn't resist, they might as well make the most of it.

Looking at this from a different angle, this was also a good opportunity to gather intelligence.

The best players from the Tokyo region would be at this training camp. These were the summer's strongest competitors for Seidou High School.

If they could gather information on them, it would be a huge benefit to Seidou's baseball team.

"This is settled then! But once you guys leave for the training camp, we still have four practice matches, and two of them are very important. So, who should we promote now?"

…