In the end, Sawamura couldn't withstand Takeda. This guy was too shameless and didn't even give him a chance to refuse.
Faced with this situation, Eijun could only reluctantly agree to temporarily act as the Captain.
"The players are all my Senpais. I can't guarantee I can lead them."
Before accepting the temporary Captain role, Sawamura made sure to say it plainly.
On the surface, it seemed that Japan's National Youth Team had changed its previous approach, recruiting baseball talent from all over the country instead of relying on the old, established teams.
This team, considering the individual overall strength of the players, should not be underestimated.
They were looking forward to facing such peers.
Before the World Youth Championship began, Eijun saw his little buddies.
Anyone who could represent Japan was certainly an elite!
This was an inevitable situation. Although Japan's overall land area wasn't vast, it had a large population, especially in Tokyo, a metropolis with tens of millions of people.
Moreover, baseball was quite popular, with many people playing it.
As a result, they essentially stood out from tens of thousands of baseball boys.
Sawamura stepped out of the Coach's office and headed to the training field, where he saw about thirty to forty players practicing.
These were probably his future teammates.
The national team only needed 20 players, but almost 40 had gathered here.
Of course, not all of them would play during the actual games.
This meant there would need to be cuts.
Eijun furrowed his brows, finding it hard to believe.
Takeda had already called everyone here. If some of them didn't meet the standards, how would Takeda have the face to send them home?
Eijun couldn't quite understand this.
But no matter whether he understood or not, the task before him hadn't changed.
As soon as he walked out, he ran into Miyuki.
"Special treatment from the Coach, huh? How enviable!"
As expected, his partner was different. He was always popular wherever he went.
Although Miyuki didn't say it out loud, he was clearly quite pleased with this.
However, Eijun wasn't in the mood for jokes.
"This is really an unfamiliar team. I just took a look, over 40 people, 20-plus teams. Our Coach really has big ambitions!"
Such ambitions were truly huge!
Recruiting so many new faces was a very risky move.
Their opponents were seasoned veterans who had worked together for years.
On the other hand, if they simply compared individual abilities, Japan's players weren't bad.
Especially the "great king" Sawamura.
Once a rival to "The Son of Baseball" Allen, he had now undoubtedly become Japan's number one.
The reason he hadn't yet become the world's number one among the younger generation was that the timing wasn't right.
After all, in his direct matchup with Allen, while Eijun had a slight advantage, he hadn't fully defeated Allen.
So, there was still no definitive conclusion. The only way to settle it was for Eijun to face Allen in the future.
If he won, he would be the world's number one for the younger generation.
But, back to the present, Eijun sighed deeply.
After a moment of reflection, he looked over at Miyuki, his mouth curling into a wide grin.
"I originally thought after the finals we'd all go our separate ways. Who would have thought we'd be fighting side by side so soon? Isn't it a little exciting to think about?"
"It really is exciting! Senpai and the others said before that the farther a team goes in the summer tournament, the less time they'll have to part ways. Now that I think about it, it really makes sense."
The little buddies gathered in groups, chatting quietly.
Over 40 players from more than 20 different schools?
When training, everyone was wearing their own school's training uniform.
It was quite a sight…
As Eijun chatted with Miyuki, his eyes swept over the players around him.
Familiar faces, familiar faces, more familiar faces!
There were particularly skilled players on the team, and such players never liked being left in obscurity.
The ones invited were all exceptional.
And these exceptional players, if all went smoothly, were bound to meet the Seidou High School baseball team.
Previously, the Seidou High School baseball team had won the Koshien tournament three times in a row, facing many opponents during that period.
Eijun saw many familiar faces among the players here.
First was the four-man team from Inashiro Industrial High School's baseball team.
He hadn't expected them all to receive invitations to the national team. They had even more members than Seidou's team!
How enviable!
They were the true life winners.
Compared to them, others seemed to have lived in vain.
There was Carlos, Shirakawa, and Yamaoka.
And then there was Eijun's old rival, Narumiya Mei.
Eijun and Miyuki went over to them and soon started chatting with the four from Inashiro.
"Aren't you guys preparing for college entrance exams?"
Normally, third-year players would retire, and, in order to plan for their future, they should focus on studying to get into a good university.
Although baseball was great, not everyone could live off it for their entire lives.
In such a situation, choosing a future career should come first.
Baseball could be continued as an extracurricular activity once they entered college.
"Don't look down on us! Although we didn't make it to Koshien in our last year, we were national runners-up in the spring Koshien, so we still have a spot and can be directly recruited."
Shirakawa explained.
Hearing this, Eijun was relieved.
While on the field, everyone would give their best and compete fiercely.
Of course, there could be no mercy in the competition.
But if the four from Inashiro High School were to have their lives changed because of this, Eijun would have felt very uneasy.
Fortunately, their hard work didn't go to waste.
The Inashiro High School baseball team's efforts paid off.
Their life paths didn't change dramatically.
Though it wasn't without any change.
Thanks to Eijun becoming the Ace, at least two of them had their life trajectories altered significantly.
One was Eijun's partner, Miyuki.
Before Sawamura's regression, Miyuki was extremely unlucky, suffering an injury that recurred from time to time, forcing him to retire from baseball.
The other one, whose fate was even more tragic, was Narumiya Mei.
In the last summer tournament, he too suffered an injury from overtraining, and it seemed to be quite severe, to the point that he had to delay his debut in Pro Baseball and play in university.
And every time he asked him about his time in university, he would avoid the topic, indicating that it wasn't a pleasant time either.
Now, he was lively and healthy—an unexpected blessing.
...