On the television screen, the joy of making it to the Summer Koshien's Final Four for the second consecutive year engulfed every member of the Waseda Industries team—especially those who could only watch from the stands and cheer last year, and who have now just become starters, making them feel immensely happy to be part of such a great endeavor.

At the center of the frame was still the face of Lin Guanglai. Compared to others' happiness, although his face bore a victorious smile, it expressed more of a tranquility that comes after weathering countless storms.

"Knock, knock."

Kobayashi Tetsuya gently tapped the table, drawing all the attention of the Narashino players over.

"Since we made it to the Final Four, you all have seen a lot of Waseda Industries' games—share your thoughts, like your views on the opponent, what strategies we might use to counter them... say whatever comes to mind."

The room fell into a brief silence.

After a moment, Narashino School's captain and main shortstop, Miyata Kazuya, was the first to stand up and break the silence.

"Supervisor... judging from these games at Koshien, I think apart from Lin Guanglai, Waseda's players haven't changed much since the Kantou Conference, at most they've improved a bit but still within our capacity to handle..."

Saying this, though he felt a little unwilling, Miyata Kazuya had to admit:

"As for Lin Guanglai, although it may not be good to praise our opponent and belittle ourselves at this point, I still want to say—he is an exceptional player, a player far beyond this level; and I feel his condition at Koshien is even better than usual."

"While I have confidence in our team making it to the finals, if we can't find a way to counter Lin Guanglai..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but everyone present understood what their captain meant—so after Miyata Kazuya finished his words, the atmosphere in the room suddenly dropped considerably.

Yes, the Narashino players all had keen insights—they had each played baseball for many years, and they naturally understood the high value of Lin Guanglai's performance in this Summer Koshien.

At this moment, Miyata Kazuya's good partner, vice-captain and main second baseman, Nakamura Atsugi, stood up from the crowd to express his dissent:

"I disagree with Kazuya's view!!!"

His loud voice was like a sharp sword, piercing through the stifling air; looking around at his teammates, Nakamura Atsugi called out loudly:

"Everyone, setting aside other issues, if I remember correctly, our game against Waseda is tomorrow, right? Then why is everyone already looking resigned as if we've accepted defeat? We haven't even played against our opponent yet. Are we surrendering before even fighting?"

Seeing Nakamura Atsugi's flushed face of excitement, teammates tugged at his shirt, trying to calm him down a bit: "Atsugi, calm down a bit, it's not that we're saying to surrender, the problem is..."

"I insist on saying it!!!" He flung off his teammate's hand, and instead of calming down, his emotions were further inflamed.

"This pre-battle fear I see in all of you is unfamiliar to me—have you all forgotten the promise we made to each other after losing in the Kantou Conference finals by a single point?!"

"We agreed that the next time we face the same opponent, we must return that bitterness twice as much—how come it seems like everyone has forgotten after just a few months?"

"Of course I know the opponent is strong, even stronger now, to the point that even if we try our best, there's still a good chance we might not win—but even so, can this become a reason for us to retreat?"

"Wasn't Waseda strong during the Kantou Conference? Wasn't Lin Guanglai strong back then? Even such a strong team and player only scored one point against us the entire nine innings."

"Let me tell you clearly, since the day we lost the Kantou Conference finals, I've never forgotten it; I've been hoping for a chance from heaven to let me have my revenge!"

"Maybe heaven heard my words, and now the opportunity is here: if we defeat Waseda, we'll make history by advancing to the Summer Koshien finals! Mitsuhoshi and Okayama are schools we've studied before; their overall strength is no match for ours—meaning if we can surpass this opponent, we have a chance to claim victory in the Summer League!"

"This is our last Summer League—this kind of opportunity will not come again! Everyone, I'm really ready! The chance for our dream to come true is right ahead, what about all of you? Are you ready?"

"Let's properly settle old scores with Waseda Industries! Let's return all that bitterness back to them!"

There's no denying that Nakamura Atsugi's passionate speech almost perfectly targeted each Narashino player's sweet spot: for everyone present, including the supervisor, the final of the Kantou Conference a few months back had remained lodged like a thorn deep within their hearts—they'd watched that game repeatedly, examining every pitch, defensive play, and decision over and over, to the point they could recite them by heart.

After pondering over Nakamura Atsugi's words several times, one by one, Narashino's players stood up from their seats—their eyes glowed with a strong fighting spirit.

"Atsugi is right—if we beat Waseda, we're the champions! What is there to hesitate about! Let's go forward!!!"

"Exactly, Waseda is strong, but Narashino isn't some pushover, let's give it our all!"

"Well said! Let's not forget, we represent the whole of Chiba at Koshien; the people back home are supporting us, and tomorrow, our families will be in the stands watching us fight, so what is there to fear—Narashino, let's show them our finest!"

Even Miyata Kazuya, who initially spoke of conceding, was also roused into competitiveness—he apologized to his teammates, then joined the group cheering for the team.

Seeing the team with high morale, Narashino's supervisor, Kobayashi Tetsuya, nodded in satisfaction—he hadn't intervened, partially due to the sensitivity of his role as a supervisor; and also because he wanted to see where the players' argument would lead.

Given the current situation, it was clear that things were heading in a positive direction: Nakamura Atsugi's heartfelt words revitalized the entire team's atmosphere and gave him a grasp of the players' thoughts.

He knocked on the table with his knuckles once more, drawing all the players' attention back to him.

Once again, he posed the question: "Let me ask you all one final time, do you really want to win tomorrow's game?"

The response from the players was unanimous:

"Yes, supervisor, we want to win! No matter what it takes, we want to win!"

Kobayashi Tetsuya nodded and then shared his thoughts:

"Alright then, here's an idea I have, let's see if you all agree..."

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