Tokyo: The story begins with a confession.

Page 98

The match quickly began amidst greetings between the two teams: Yamato Academy versus Yamamichi High School, with Yamamichi High School attacking first.

This was exactly what Coach Xiang Cheng wanted, to suppress the momentum of Sando High School at the very beginning with the aforementioned giant pitch by Qian Yi!

The moment Uesugi Kenichi walked out of the cowshed, the director promptly gave him a close-up shot of his face.

In an instant, thunderous cheers erupted throughout the Heisei Gymnasium, with everyone standing up and applauding.

The online comment sections and bullet comments suddenly became densely packed, and the intense data flow almost paralyzed the entire network.

Faced with this scene, Uesugi Kenichi slightly raised the brim of his hat and smiled as a greeting to his supporters.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this is the first time I've seen a scene like this in the qualifiers. It feels like I'm at a baseball team's home stadium, with the entire audience chanting the name of their star player."

The director clicked his tongue in amazement at the strong cheers from the audience.

"Indeed, in my opinion, Uesugi-kun should be more suited to be an idol. The tickets for his handshake event would definitely sell for an astonishing number!" A staff member next to him exclaimed.

"Idiot, how can someone like an idol be compared to a noble baseball player! Besides, handsome sports stars have a much greater influence than idols." The director shouted angrily, then quickly added, "Camera, watch the camera, don't let it go off-track."

"Yes!"

……

After waving his hands to the left and right, Uesugi Kenichi stood on the pitcher's mound, picked up the powder packet and played with it for a while. It was incredibly hot in Tokyo at this time of July, and his hands were slightly sweaty.

After playing with the pink bag for a while, he twisted his wrist and saw that his catcher was already dressed. He made a gesture to him and nodded, then took the baseball in his right hand.

He turned his head to observe the first batter from Shandao High School, a boy who looked very strong and muscular, giving off a powerful and intimidating aura.

This body type has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it has an outstanding power hitting ability and strong hitting power, making it easier for players to hit home runs.

The downside is that they may not be good at short-range hitting and sprinting, and they are not very agile. If the pitcher knows a lot of pitches, they are relatively easy to deal with.

Catcher Kazumitsu Tanaka placed his glove in the center of the inside corner, then waited for the baseball to arrive with a hint of lingering fear.

Chapter 187 Sonic Giant Throw!

Through recent training, he has come to understand just how freakish his pitcher is. With such a fast pitching speed, he also has top-notch ball control, something only a monster could do.

No matter where he places the glove, the baseball will eventually obediently crawl into his glove.

There was one thing that gave him a headache: even with thick gloves on, the baseball falling into the gloves felt like a cannonball, hitting his hand painfully.

Moreover, he didn't dare to open his eyes. If he did, he would be afraid and want to hide.

He calculated that he could catch a maximum of about fifty balls; any more than that and his wrists wouldn't be able to handle it. And those fifty balls were the result of him using both hands together.

Fortunately, the coach didn't expect him to take the entire load by himself, and arranged for two substitutes to come on and get beaten up.

Uesugi Kenshin watched for a while and then stopped; it didn't seem to make much difference to him who the opponent was.

He wasn't going to hold back too much on the first point, intending to give Shandao High School a shock. Coach Xiang Cheng thought so too, and they needed to suppress Shandao High School's momentum in one fell swoop.

There's no need to suppress him. Although the first batter of Yamado High School is a muscular man, when he saw Kenichi Uesugi standing on the mound, his hands were sweating profusely as he nervously gripped the bat.

It wasn't just him; almost the entire team felt the same way, their eyes filled with deep seriousness as they looked at Uesugi Kenichi.

It feels like a college basketball game where Shaquille O'Neal suddenly appears on the opposing team—who wouldn't panic?

Kenichi Uesugi took a deep breath and gripped the baseball firmly in his right hand, his arm muscles tensing as if a cheetah were poised to pounce. Instantly, the baseball in his hand streaked across the sky like a white streak.

The ball was as fast as lightning. Before the spectators on the sidelines could react, they heard a loud bang, like a cannonball, and then saw the baseball firmly in the catcher's sling.

Wow~

Enthusiastic cheers and applause erupted from the audience.

"It's here! This is the Sky Demon King's signature move, the Sonic Giant Throw! Power rating: five stars!"

"I waited all day just to see this ball, but what the hell is this speed and power? I didn't even see it."

"I feel a little sorry for the thug from Yamado High School. He's still standing there, seemingly not even realizing that the baseball has been caught."

"Am I the only one who feels sorry for the catcher from Yamato Academy? Just the sound of the baseball going into the sling makes my teeth ache. If he hadn't caught it, he might have been seriously injured!"

"Now that you mention it, the catcher from Yamato Academy really is a warrior!"

"Uesugi-kun is so handsome! I want to have your babies!" Many young women shouted excitedly. They didn't have as many feelings as the men; as long as he was handsome, that was all that mattered.

This kind of handsomeness is not just about physical appearance. If we only talk about appearance, Uesugi Kenichi is still a person. The world is so big, there are always many people who can be compared to him in terms of appearance alone.

The key lies in the temperament, that upright and pine-like temperament is the most important point. Coupled with such strong baseball skills, the words "So cool!" naturally come out of his mouth.

But there's actually a lot more they wanted to express, but in the rush, these girls were so captivated by his handsomeness that their minds went blank and they could only think of those three words.

What they found a bit of a pity was that Uesugi Kenichi seemed somewhat aloof, and it was rare to see him smile. Although he looked quite handsome in this serious manner, if he could just smile at them, their hearts would probably melt.

In an instant, the entire arena erupted in a frenzy, as if a pot had been boiled over.

At this moment, the speed measuring machine on the big screen also displayed the ball's speed value: 183 kilometers per hour!

The coach of Fenglin High School, who hadn't left after the match, took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on.

"I didn't see wrong? He's really 183cm?" He seemed to be completely speechless.

"You read that right, it really is 183." The recorder next to him said in disbelief. It didn't look that scary from the video, but seeing it in person, it was hard to believe that a high school student could throw that.

He felt that if that ball had hit him, it would have probably killed him.

"If he could shoot like that every time, what's the point of playing basketball?!" The coach of Fenglin High School couldn't help but swear.

"That's a foul! I protest! It's completely unfair for such a monster to appear at Koshien Stadium. He should be in Major League Baseball, not here!" The coach of Furin High School was extremely angry, his neck stiff.

The recorder, having been sprayed in the face with spittle by his own coach, looked utterly dejected. "Coach," he thought, "it's no use talking to me. You have to go and talk to the organizing committee, but of course, they'll probably ignore you anyway."

Objectively speaking, he really didn't do anything wrong. He's old enough, a college student, so everything is normal. And look at his popularity. If he's not allowed to play in the next competition, the audience will go crazy.

Of course, the coach was just grumbling. He knew that it was basically impossible to send Uesugi Kenichi off the field. He then looked at Aoki Ryosuke, who was also watching from the sidelines.

"Ryosuke, what do you think? Is there any hope of scoring against him?"

Ryosuke Aoki shook his head with his arms crossed. "If all the pitches are like this, then there is no hope at all. Even if I hit it, I have no control over where the ball lands. It will either be a fly ball or a bad ball. Even if (Wang Li) gets lucky and hits a ground ball, it is easy to be tagged out."

"And this is based on the premise that he only throws fastballs. If there is any variation, he will be completely unable to play. However, I don't think it is possible to vary the pitch at such a fast speed."

"Damn it, this year was supposed to be the most promising year. Aoki, you're already a third-year student. I promised I'd take you to Koshien this year."

"It's okay, Coach. I'll do my best. If I can't do it even after trying my best, then I can accept it."

"Hey, why isn't Uesugi-kun from our school? Otherwise, we would definitely have been able to take down the Red Blue flag this year!" Coach Fuubayashi said, slapping his thigh hard.

"The crimson banner, ah, it's truly something to aspire to~" Aoki Ryosuke also felt a little regretful.

But things don't always go as planned, and sometimes hard work doesn't guarantee success...

Chapter 188 Accepting 100 Million Yen with Tears in His Eyes

This year, their team is indeed very strong. They have no weaknesses in their hitting line. The only thing they lack is a top-notch pitcher. Although their current pitchers are adequate, they would be considered average in the Koshien tournament, making them one of the weaker teams.

If Uesugi Kenichi were placed in their team, the Red Blue Banner would be practically within their grasp.

However, it seems that any team that joins Uesugi Kenichi could instantly become a strong team. His suffocating pitching alone would leave countless people breathless. The only thing that could limit how far Yamato Academy could go was Uesugi Kenichi's stamina.

It's important to know that the Koshien stadium is extremely crowded.

The game was still going on, and the first batter of Yamakado High School was struck out cleanly. Even though he tried his best with every bat, he only managed to graz the baseball slightly with one bat.

The entire stadium seemed to be Yamato Academy's home ground, and with Uesugi Kenichi's terrifyingly powerful pitches dominating, Yamado High School's morale was completely crushed.

There's no way around it; no matter which school it is, being struck out 27 times in the ninth inning and getting a clean sweep is probably not much better.

It felt like no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hit even a single 650-hit against that terrifying man standing on the pitcher's mound.

In the end, they lost their composure and were the first to concede a point. They were completely traumatized by Uesugi Kenichi, and when he stood on the batter's bench, it was as if the opposing team couldn't even shoot anymore.

In the end, Yamato Academy defeated Yamado High School with a score of 5-0.

When the two teams exchanged greetings on the court, the players from Yamado High School looked dejected with their heads down. They felt that their performance was terrible and they didn't even have the courage to look Uesugi Kenichi in the eye.

However, Uesugi Kenichi, having finished his match, no longer wore a cold expression. He shook hands with everyone from Toyama High School and offered them encouragement.

The members of Yamato Academy, who had won the game, were overjoyed, cheering and waving their arms in celebration. They were one step closer to their goal of reaching Koshien, so it was impossible for them not to be happy.

Kenichi Uesugi was greeted with a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

These spectators felt that their trip today was truly worthwhile, as they witnessed an exceptional performance. They had never seen such a dominant player in all the Koshien tournaments they had attended before.

He single-handedly handed the ball to the other side, a bald guy, without even getting a runner to base – a remarkably clean and efficient move.

It's worth noting that previous matches were usually very long, as accumulating three eliminations is no easy feat.

Faced with such a warm and courteous reception from the audience, Kenichi Uesugi turned around and flashed a bright smile.

This smile was captured precisely on camera by the ever-watchful director, instantly igniting even louder cheers from the crowd. This image was later used to create a large poster in the promotional materials for subsequent Koshien matches!

Back in the car, Kenichi Uesugi once again received a hero's welcome.

The next match was scheduled for July 1st, which is 3 days later.

Compared to other cities, the universities in the Tokyo region have it a bit tough, not only facing various strong teams, but also dealing with a frequent schedule of matches.

In other regions, the qualifiers are usually over after three matches, but there are so many schools in the Tokyo area that it takes five matches to finish.

Soon it was July 1st. The fourth match was against Maple Leaf International Academy. Although they were very strong and much stronger than Yamado High School, they did not immediately surrender in the face of Uesugi Kenichi's powerful pitch.

However, if you can't get past Uesugi Kenichi, then everything is just empty talk.

The result wasn't much better than that of Yamado High School; they were also swept by Uesugi Kenichi, only this time it took a few more balls. The final score was 3-0, so the difference wasn't significant.

As they previously analyzed regarding the schedule, their final opponent in the fifth round is Furin High School!

The match will be held on July 7th!

During this period, Kenichi Uesugi felt extremely depressed, as he deeply felt the enormous influence of baseball in Japan.

In the past, many people would stare at him when he walked on the street, but now they can call out his name immediately, and a bunch of people will gather around him to ask for autographs and photos.

Occasionally, when I go shopping, the shop owner will give me a free purchase; I just want to take a photo with him.

Moreover, you can hear people talking about him from time to time.

When watching TV at home, you can often see him on various channels. Videos of his matches are constantly being replayed on the Koshien special channel, over and over again, always ending with his radiant smile as he looks back.

Kenichi Uesugi even called to protest, but the TV station said that too many viewers were requesting a rebroadcast and they were powerless to do anything about it. In the end, they even took Kenichi Uesugi's bank account, saying they wanted to give him compensation.

Damn it!

Do you think I, Kenichi Uesugi, am someone who lacks such a small amount of money?