After finishing the first meal at Shuiyun Manor, Waseda Jitsugyo players had free activity time this afternoon.

The newly joined players this year clamored to visit Koshien Stadium and the history museum, experiencing something different as official team members. But those who visited last year stayed at the hotel to watch the game.

With the Summer League finals approaching, local tournaments in regions across Japan have mostly concluded; the TV is now broadcasting the last regional tournament match of this year:

The 93rd National High School Baseball Championship Osaka Tournament, the final battle.

In the match, East Osaka Kashiwara was on the first base side, batting first; on the third base side, batting second, was a team all Waseda Jitsugyo players were very familiar with, Osaka Tsubaki High School—who eliminated their rival, Luzheng Society, by 5:1 in the semi-finals of this year's Osaka Tournament, ending their opponent's dream of a championship defense, and advanced to the finals again after four years.

"So, why aren't we at Koshien Stadium, but watching others play instead?"

The person asking this question was Lin Guanglai—although he visited the Koshien history museum last year, he was still quite interested in many things there and wanted to see them again. Just as he was about to go out, the third-year seniors pulled him back.

"Oh come on, Guanglai, we can visit the history museum anytime—we'll go with you once we win the Summer League championship."

"When we played an exhibition game against Kiyonokura, I felt they were pretty strong, so consider this an early study of potential opponents, don't you think?"

While saying this, Kenshu Yasuda purposely took out a cushion, swept the tatami mat, and offered the best viewing spot to Lin Guanglai.

Since he went to such lengths, Lin Guanglai couldn't refuse anymore, so he sat down to watch Osaka Tournament's final battle with his teammates.

After approximately two innings, Lin Guanglai spoke up, "This game… Osaka Tsubaki looks like they could win effortlessly."

His words sparked intense discussion among those around him.

Matsunaga Kenta was curious and quickly asked, "Why do you say that? Remember, Kiyonokura is still trailing by a point—looks like they have more pressure, don't you think?"

In response, Lin Guanglai pursed his lips and retorted:

"East Osaka Kashiwara's one point was entirely due to Kiyonokura's defensive error, so it's not indicative—they're a team at this level, such a mistake definitely won't happen again."

"And look at the recent two and a half innings of Kiyonokura's offense, their lineup connection is getting smoother. I feel unless the opposing pitcher suddenly turns into a Super Saiyan, Kiyonokura scoring is just a matter of time."

Of course, he quickly added, "But East Osaka Kashiwara isn't just a lucky team—they have an excellent catcher, his batting ability is undoubtedly strong. If they can launch a wave of continuous offense around his batting position, there might be a real opportunity."

After Lin Guanglai's detailed analysis of the situation on the field, the game surprisingly started unfolding as he predicted:

In the top of the third inning, Osaka Tsubaki's front lineup quickly launched a wave of continuous offense, producing consecutive hits in five at-bats, instantly erasing the narrow one-point gap and widening it to 4:1;

In the top of the fourth inning, the latter part of the lineup also refused to lag behind, striking consecutive hits, and ultimately, Fujinami Jintaro as the ninth batter brought in 2 runs, expanding the score advantage to 6:1.

"See, I told you so, East Osaka Kashiwara played pretty well this match, but honestly, their hard power is still lacking—while Osaka Tsubaki's foundation may not be as strong as PL Academy, they're still stronger than these dark horse schools."

Lin Guanglai truly respected East Osaka Kashiwara's fighting spirit and perseverance exhibited on the field, but baseball is ultimately a competition of strength: when there's a significant gap in hard power between the two sides, character and determination can earn you a respectable loss but probably won't win you the game—unless a miracle happens.

Who would have thought, such a miracle actually happened:

As the game entered the bottom of the seventh inning, the score at that moment was 6:2, with Osaka Tsubaki leading; East Osaka Kashiwara managed to recover one point, but it still wasn't enough.

"Ah, Fujinami is up again—this tournament, he's pitched complete games almost every match, truly a talented pitcher, with a height nearly 197, making his fastball extremely dominant, worthy of being 'Nansoku's Darvish'!"

The TV commentary praised Fujinami Jintaro, but in this line, Lin Guanglai captured a crucial piece of information:

"Pitched complete games in every match."

As a tall pitcher like Fujinami, he knew too well what this meant.

Their exceptional height provided innate pitching dominance, but also demanded higher physical fitness—despite undergoing rigorous weight gain plans and training, every complete game was still a massive burden on Lin Guanglai's body.

This made Lin Guanglai furrow his brows and quietly mumble, "Counting the finals, Osaka Tournament requires eight matches in total… Can the body really withstand pitching so many complete games in half a month?"

Soon, East Osaka Kashiwara provided the answer: they capitalized on Fujinami Jintaro's consecutive complete games and physical exhaustion to score 3 runs against him, narrowing the score difference to 1 point and forcing Osaka Tsubaki's coach, Nishikawa Koji, to make a pitching change.

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