Chapter 302: Peak Sendo
"Akira Sendo, Kazuya Miyuki, Kenjirou Shirasu, Haruichi Kominato, Eijun Sawamura, Satoru Furuya, and Youichi Kuramochi—even next year's new team will already have plenty of immediate fighting strength! What on earth is going on in West Tokyo?!
A team like this couldn't make it to Koshien until now—no matter how bad your luck is, that's just too much…"
Muttering to himself while twirling his small mustache, Ochiai stood by the field, utterly speechless at just how brutal the West Tokyo block was.
To think that such an incredible match was only a regional qualifier final—even a Koshien final wouldn't be this insane.
As a coach who would officially join in autumn, Ochiai naturally focused on the team's autumn potential.
And what he saw shocked him: there were already this many players who could be used immediately.
In this timeline, because Ochiai watched this summer tournament in person, he acknowledged Sawamura's strength early on—instead of only seeing his slump later and misjudging him at first glance.
Ochiai was rational, but that didn't mean he deliberately suppressed anyone.
.....
On the field
When Tetsu returned, most of the bench rushed out.
They hugged each other tightly, high-fived, laughed and cried all at once.
"Tetsu! Why were you running so fast?! That was a home run!"
"That applies to you too, Jun!" Tetsu shot back—referring to Isashiki's wolf-like sprint on Sendo's earlier homer.
At least Tetsu's shout was still full of strength.
They all needed an outlet.
The umpires gave them plenty of time.
When Sendo reached home plate, the seniors were already waiting.
Same as always—Isashiki wrapped an arm around Sendo's neck with all his might.
"You were way too godlike today! Were you trying to hit the ball out of Jingu Stadium? What if you hit someone outside the stadium, you idiot?!" Isashiki exaggerated.
"Even if I did hit it out of Jingu—" Sendo tried to correct him.
"You'd kill someone!" Tetsu cut in seriously.
"And even hitting a car would be bad!" added the Pudding Senpai.
The seniors were finally relaxed enough to tease him.
Others laughed loudly or piled on with jokes—
for a moment, everything felt warm and harmonious.
Only after returning to the bench did Sendo finally have time to reflect on that at-bat.
For the first time in his life, he had felt something so… beautiful.
It all started with Narumiya Mei's changeup that entered the strike zone.
Sendo clearly froze for an instant—not because of the pitch itself, but because that was the moment his condition truly peaked.
Simply put, that pitch was the very first one after his "buff" fully activated.
At that moment, Sendo's dynamic vision completely captured Mei's grip during his high-speed arm swing.
That sudden clarity startled him.
More than that, he felt his perception rise sharply—
as if every cell in his body was under perfect control,
as if the bat had become part of his body, movable at will.
The sensation was indescribable—so good it felt like a full-body massage.
From that point on, Sendo clearly changed his hitting approach.
With his vision and bodily sensitivity pushed to that extreme, his instincts reacted faster as well.
If he didn't take advantage of that, he wouldn't be Sendo.
So he locked onto one pitch type he could crush—the changeup.
Harada's pitch calling wasn't hard to read:
use other pitches to disrupt timing, then finish with the changeup.
Anything but the changeup wasn't worth swinging at—so he deliberately turned them into balls.
He also knew Inashiro would never walk him again.
They had no idea how far his condition had climbed.
By normal logic, a walk was impossible.
The changeup was identified the moment it left the hand.
Sendo believed that with his body operating at full capacity, there was no reason he couldn't hit it.
No matter how big the break was, the velocity decided everything.
And thus—that earth-shattering blow was born.
The instant the ball left his bat, that hyper-focused state began to fade rapidly.
Sendo felt as if he had grasped something important—yet couldn't quite remember what it was.
.....
On the mound
Snapping back to reality, Harada called a mound visit.
"Narumiya."
Harada softly called out to the still, sky-gazing back in front of him.
That single word was enough to bring the dazed fielders back to their senses.
Everyone looked at that figure with worry.
Finally—
Narumiya Mei slowly lowered his head, as if hearing Harada, and turned around.
"Ya-san."
What Harada saw then was an image he would never forget.
Narumiya's eyes were empty—no emotion, no color, not even anger remained.
The instant he turned, tears streamed straight down from his wide-open eyes.
Normally, people squeeze tears out with closed eyes—this meant his eyes were completely numb.
Just moments earlier, Narumiya had felt like a god—
unstoppable, cutting down everything in his path.
And in the very next instant, that "divine" power had been crushed like an ant.
The psychological impact was utterly devastating.
For someone as extreme as Narumiya, no one would have been surprised if he vanished from baseball forever.
In that moment, Narumiya felt as if all his effort, pride, confidence, and dreams had been pulverized into flour and scattered to the wind.
Only three days earlier, he had said similar words to Sakurazawa's players—and now, just three days later, he realized how small he himself truly was.
The instant Sendo made contact, Narumiya knew it.
They were no longer in the same dimension.
From their perspective on the field, the ball looked like it was about to fly out of Jingu Stadium.
It was like a high school basketball star dominating Asia, confidently challenging the NBA—only to have his dream swatted away by someone who already had NBA-level talent in high school.
The metaphor might be exaggerated—but the meaning was the same.
Narumiya had been shattered.
"Narumiya, don't worry. That guy was just in insane condition today. It's not that you're weak—it's that he's not human."
Harada placed the ball into Narumiya's glove as he spoke, unsure what else to say.
Surprisingly, those words had some effect.
A faint spark returned to Narumiya's eyes.
Narumiya slowly raised his left hand and took out the ball—
And just as Harada finally relaxed, the ball slipped from Narumiya's trembling fingers.
When it hit the ground, Harada felt his heart fall with it.
Tears—endless tears—poured from Narumiya's eyes.
At least now, his eyelids worked again.
He cried so hard he couldn't keep them open.
(Just like Sawamura crying on the bus after Seidou's loss in the original story—and Narumiya crying during the handshake line after Inashiro's win. Those two really are alike.)
"We'll take it from here,"
Harada said quietly, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, then gently patting Narumiya on the shoulder.
He knew the coach wouldn't let this continue.
And sure enough—Coach Kunimoto had already reacted.
.....
Announcement
"Notice of player substitution for Inashiro Industrial!
Pitcher Narumiya replaced by Inokuchi! Batting fifth, pitcher Inokuchi! That is all!"
The stadium erupted in shock.
Immediately after, thunderous cheers exploded from the Seidou side.
In contrast, Inashiro's side fell into icy silence.
Some of the girls stared at Narumiya in worry, on the verge of tears.
.....
"Please take it from here, Inokuchi-san,"
Narumiya said before stepping off the mound.
After only two steps, he could no longer hold back—
covering his eyes with his left hand as he walked away.
He cried through the rest of the distance.
"Mei…"
Inokuchi looked at that lonely retreating figure with a complicated expression.
Clap—clap—clap—clap!
From the stands above Inashiro Industrial's bench, thunderous applause erupted.
"Don't cry, Narumiya!"
"You pitched great!"
"Narumiya-kun!"
"Leave the rest to them!"
The crowd gave their ace the greatest encouragement and support they could.
"Narumiya… got knocked out."
"They're just too strong—the Seidou lineup…"
The members of the so-called honor-student team were already starting to question their lives.
"This is…"
Even Ninomiya was stunned, unable to say anything.
"Yeah… I never would've dreamed he'd get crushed like that. That guy really is a monster. Now there's no doubt—the momentum has completely swung to Seidou. Narumiya just got mentally shattered, and now Inashiro has to face a Seidou lineup whose morale is at its absolute peak. If they can't hold, the game will end in this inning. Sure, Inokuchi is a third-year and normally can perform at his usual level no matter the situation. But this kind of pressure isn't 'normal' at all. And Narumiya wasn't just the ace—he was also part of the heart of the lineup. Today he even had the team's best batting results, second only to Harada. Him leaving also means that Inashiro starting the bottom half with their cleanup hitter isn't nearly as terrifying anymore."
After saying that, Yang focused his gaze even more intensely on the field.
"Sixth batter! Third baseman, Masuko-kun!"
....
Crack!
Smack!
Masuko, swinging at the first pitch, hit an outside ball.
Unfortunately for him, Yoshizawa made a ridiculously dramatic diving stop, and the ball popped straight into his glove.
But it did nothing to change how stiff Inokuchi looked.
"Slider," Miyuki flashed a sign to Sendo.
It was the same pitch both of them had guessed—
they exchanged signals, checking their answers.
Sendo replied with the same call.
Crack!
And with the cooperation of these two scheming troublemakers—
"It's gone!!! Left-field stands—a solo home run! Eleven to eight! A three-run lead!!!"
"He hit it…" Furuya muttered in shock.
"There weren't even any runners on…" Sawamura added automatically.
The two stared at each other, equally stunned.
Their expressions made Sendo laugh.
By the time the inning finally dragged to an end, the huge '4' on the scoreboard was practically a death sentence for Inashiro.
Shirasu's double, the bunt by the 'small-ball prince' to advance the runner, and then Kuramochi's surprise safety squeeze brought in another run.
Haruichi followed with yet another double, and Jun's deep fly ball was barely saved by Carlos with a godlike defensive play.
Seidou's lineup had gone all the way around once.
Forget four runs—even if Inashiro somehow tied it, the next inning…
Inashiro had been pushed to the edge of the cliff.
They had to score five runs in the bottom half of this inning to win.
Otherwise, Inokuchi would almost certainly get blown up next time through the order.
Just thinking about Sendo's two home runs made the already shaky Inokuchi's skin crawl.
And the batter before him was Tetsu.
After that came another bases-clearing-level hitter.
Then Miyuki—the one who'd taken a homer off him—followed by the ever-steady Shirasu.
After that, there was even that guy whose bunting seemed ridiculously good…
Whoosh!
Facing this divine lineup, there was no way Inokuchi could stay calm.
....
"Eijun."
Before the bottom of the twelfth began, Sendo called Sawamura over.
Even Miyuki, who snuck closer out of curiosity, only caught a few keywords.
"This is the most critical moment—can you please stay steady and not go wild?"
Miyuki was furiously complaining inside his head.
He never once considered that he had no right to say that—and somehow, his expression actually looked excited.
Truly the reckless duo.
"Huff—haaah!"
After returning from Sendo, Sawamura sat in front of the bench, using both hands and feet as he took deep breaths.
"One more time," Miyuki said, then jogged off.
"Huff—haaah!"
After another deep breath, Sawamura's fighting spirit returned in full.
Today, the ones in peak condition weren't just Narumiya and Sendo.
Well—Narumiya, the poor kid, was already done.
So that left two.
"Sawamura! Focus properly!" Jun said with a smile.
"The lead's big enough—get one out first," Tetsu added.
"Don't panic! Yahaha!"
"Sawamura-chan! Pitch calmly! We've got a four-run lead!"
"Four runs—protect it properly! And until the very end, don't forget your fighting spirit!!!"
Coach Kataoka shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Yes!!!"
"Yeahhh!!!"
"In this inning… end the game!"
Kataoka's final words trembled slightly—but they rang out loud and clear.
He had waited six years.
This was his seventh.
"We're going!"
Tetsu's deep, powerful voice drowned out Kataoka's wavering emotion.
"Oh!!!"
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