Life As Sawamura Eijun Chapter 422: A Brief Halt to the Assault on Ouya

Chapter 422: A Brief Halt to the Assault on Ouya

However, just as Ouya High School paused and Coach Araki sent a messenger toward first base, the move fell right into the line of sight of Seidou High’s dugout—specifically, into Eijun’s eyes.

A faint smile tugged at the corners of Eijun’s lips.

Without hesitation, Eijun quickly walked over to Coach Kataoka and whispered a few words to him.

His words caused both Coach Kataoka and Hiroshi Ochiai, who was standing beside him, to raise their eyebrows slightly, surprise flashing across their faces. Ochiai even gave Eijun a rather peculiar look.

Which made Eijun show a somewhat sheepish smile in return.

But after a brief moment of consideration


Kataoka and Ochiai exchanged a glance.

And both of them nodded at the same time.

“Wait. If the opponent’s defense shifts to the right side, don’t swing at the next pitch. Let it go and observe.”

Back on the field, as Ouya High’s players returned to their respective positions from the mound meeting


In Seidou High’s dugout


Coach Kataoka gave a subtle hand signal toward the field, directing it at Shirasu, and issued a new instruction. Caught off guard for a moment, Shirasu was slightly stunned.

But he still nodded silently in understanding.

You try to trap me, and I’ll trap you right back. In this game of mutual trickery, we’ll soon see who outwits whom.

On the mound


Eijun looked toward Wakabayashi, who no longer had that frustrated look from earlier—his expression now looked more at ease.

A faint smile once again appeared on Eijun’s lips.

“Batting sixth, right fielder—Shirasu-kun.”

Just as Eijun had predicted, Ouya High had sensed something was off. After all, two or three batters in a row had confidently targeted outside fastballs and hammered them.

And almost as soon as the ball left the pitcher’s hand


The bat was already in motion.

If that didn’t feel suspicious, nothing would. However, the Ouya players only thought it strange.

Wakabayashi, in particular, began to doubt himself—wondering if it was his pitching motion or some habit that Seidou had figured out.

None of the Ouya players realized that it was their defensive positioning that had been seen through.

Only one person did.

The brains behind the team—Coach Araki—was the only one able to piece together something unusual from the subtle signs.

With sharp insight, excellent judgment, and a wealth of imagination


He was like this in the original timeline.

And still the same here.

“Damn gorilla team
 I can’t believe they’re using tricks like this. After all the hits I’ve taken
 let’s see how I deal with you this time.”

Wakabayashi stood tall on the mound.

A cold smile appeared on his face.

He glanced back toward the infield—his teammates, and Sumi—all nodded back at him with serious expressions.

Time to turn the tables.

Time to cut off Seidou’s offense right here.

Unfortunately


As the saying goes, while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole watches behind.

In this particular clash, it was clear that Seidou High, with Eijun’s knowledge from a past life, had once again seized the upper hand.

Whoosh!

Clap!

“Ball!”

As he watched the clearly baited outside breaking ball sail by


Following Coach Kataoka’s instructions from the dugout


Shirasu didn’t show the slightest intention of swinging. His calm and composed demeanor left everyone on Ouya High stunned.

That included even Coach Araki in the dugout, whose expression suddenly darkened.

And in that brief moment of hesitation—

Shirasu seized the opportunity. The next pitch, a forkball thrown due to a high pitch count, rose slightly higher than intended—just enough for Shirasu to lock onto it perfectly.

Whoosh!

Ping!

A thunderous sound rang out.

The brilliant white line of the ball streaked through the air


Soaring across the sky-blue boundary.

Once again, everyone on Ouya High realized that their plan had been completely seen through by Seidou High.

Thud!

The ball hit the ground.

And at home plate—a lightning-fast figure slid in.

Maezono scored safely.

Seidou High put another run on the board.

The score: 4–0.

The lead widened yet again, showcasing the firepower of a true powerhouse lineup. And with it, Ouya High was pushed even closer to the edge of the cliff.

“Batting seventh, center fielder—Tojou-kun.”

Damn this elite school
 these arrogant kings
 these damn bastards! How dare they toy with us like this!?

On the mound—

Wakabayashi’s face twisted with rage.

His hands were trembling uncontrollably.

It was clear: at this point, Wakabayashi’s anger had hit its peak. Breakdown? No. In his eyes, this wasn’t a run scored through Seidou’s true strength.

It was a run earned by exploiting a loophole.

To him, such tactics were nothing short of disgraceful.

Losing to such underhanded tricks from a so-called “prestigious” team—

Wakabayashi swore he would never forgive himself for it.

He would never acknowledge it. He would never recognize such a team as the true kings or the strongest in the nation.

Victory—he had to seize it.

Right here, right now—he had to stop them.

And then, take back the runs he lost.

He would win—to prove he was right.

He would win—to slap those arrogant elites in the face!

Wakabayashi, now consumed by obsession


Had become completely unhinged.

If Eijun knew what Wakabayashi was thinking right now, he’d probably just scoff and say:

“Disgraceful? Shameful? Are you serious? This is just normal tactics in an information-driven game.”

Failing to notice your own mistake and blaming it on others—

To Eijun, there were only two words for that:

“Heh
 Pathetic.”

And yet, here and now


Being unhinged—well, sometimes being a little unhinged has its perks.

For Wakabayashi, it meant his attention was now fully locked in. That intense focus allowed his control to sharpen even further. He had always relied on painting the corners to win battles


Now, he was attacking those delicate edges even more boldly—and with frightening precision.

Wakabayashi’s impeccable control also began to subtly sway the home plate umpire’s judgment.

Most borderline pitches


Were now being called strikes.

This put Seidou High in a tough spot. That said, this wasn’t the first time they’d faced something like this. Back in their summer match against Akikawa, they’d been subjected to similar calls.

At first, Wakabayashi’s risky approach gave Tojou—thanks to his refined batting sense—a chance.

With one smooth pull, he sent the ball flying into shallow right field.

Once again, runners ended up on first and third.

But from then on


It was as if Wakabayashi had tapped into some hidden cosmic energy—he gave the rest of Seidou’s batters no room to breathe.

Adding to that—

The eighth batter was Kawakami, the pitcher.

The ninth was Kanemaru, who could hit fastballs, but struggled badly against breaking balls.

Both of them were struck out flawlessly.

Seidou’s seemingly relentless, storm-like offense that inning—

Was finally stopped, albeit barely, by Ouya High.

Still, Seidou’s lineup had cycled all the way from the leadoff hitter to the ninth.

A complete rotation.

And in that one explosive inning, they racked up four runs.

Now, in the middle innings—

Seidou High had taken firm control of the game's pace.