"Zhang-kun!"
Takashima Rei waved enthusiastically at Zhang Han.
The surrounding teammates immediately let out a chorus of jeers. These guys were full of bad ideas. It was no wonder, since the baseball team was almost entirely male. The only females were a few team managers and Takashima Rei. Those team managers were still young and immature, like unripe fruit. Even if everyone wanted to tease them, they would not dare.
Takashima Rei was different. As a mature teacher, joking with her was harmless. So no matter whether Takashima Rei was looking for Zhang Han or Miyuki, some of those who enjoyed a good show would always stir things up.
Zhang Han was helpless with these teammates. All he could do was ignore them. The more he paid attention, the more outrageous these guys would become.
"Little Rei, what's up?"
"You child, you're becoming more and more disrespectful," Takashima Rei said with a smile.
This kind of thing really depended on who was saying it. Like Azuma Kiyokuni and the others, they also liked to call Takashima Rei "Little Rei" to sound friendly. But Takashima Rei always found it awkward and would often glare at them. However, when the same address came from Zhang Han's mouth, she did not feel it was inappropriate at all.
"Come to the office with me."
"Okay."
Zhang Han was only like Miyuki in terms of how he addressed her. He would never actually tease a teacher.
When the two arrived at Takashima Rei's office, Zhang Han noticed that her desk was covered in documents. At least ninety percent of them were profiles of junior high third-year players.
"You're really…"
Zhang Han did not know how to express himself. He had seen people who worked diligently, but it was rare to see someone as dedicated as Takashima Rei.
"The unseen war has already begun. To keep the team strong, we must prepare in advance."
Currently, the team had two main tasks. One was to prepare for the Autumn Tournament, and the other was recruitment.
There were only so many outstanding players who performed well in their third year of junior high. These players were all targets of various powerhouse schools, and it was a matter of first come, first served.
Last year, a prospect like Zhang Han, who ranked outside the top ten among players his age, attracted competition from two powerhouse schools. Not to mention those players with even more prominent reputations.
Of course, when recruiting players, one could not rely solely on fame and achievements. Such things were also greatly related to luck and the overall strength of the team. It was best to look at a player's potential to ensure success.
Just like Zhang Han. He only ranked third in Matsukata Little League, and in all of Tokyo at that time, he barely made it into the top fifteen. Breaking into the top ten was already a struggle.
But it was precisely this Zhang Han who, after entering high school, made a transformative improvement.
Now, in the high school first-year age group, how many players could contend with Zhang Han? It was not that there were none, but they were definitely few and far between.
Takashima Rei had greatly benefited from this before. To be honest, Seido High School Baseball Team's ability to enter Koshien this year and achieve a top eight finish owed much to the two first-year newcomers, Miyuki and Zhang Han.
If it were not for their addition, Seido High School Baseball Team, let alone contending with Osaka Kiryuu High School Baseball Team, would have found it very difficult even to break out of West Tokyo.
It was precisely for this reason that the school now paid increasing attention to recruitment. Soon after the Summer Tournament ended, the principal and the dean unanimously decided to improve the special recruitment benefits for new students and to have Takashima Rei begin the new recruitment work as early as possible.
But this matter sounded easy. Accomplishing it was not so simple. Takashima Rei had worked for over three years, and she had only scouted two talents like Miyuki and Zhang Han.
Although she had also recruited many capable backbone players, genius players like these were rare and hard to come by.
"You're not going to make me a handyman, are you?"
Seeing so many new player profiles that needed to be organized one by one, Zhang Han immediately felt his head swell. Relying on his good memory, his academic performance had always been in the middle to upper ranks of his class.
But truthfully, he did not like this kind of secretarial work. Even if he were to deal with words in the future, it would be the kind where he could freely express himself, not this rigid and demanding task.
"Why would I ask you to do this kind of work? You don't understand it, and you're not good at it."
Takashima Rei shook her head.
"Then why did you call me here?"
Zhang Han was even more confused.
"I wanted to hear your thoughts. Because we made it to Koshien, our recruitment work has become much smoother. Players who were originally unwilling to accept invitations are now hesitant. But I cannot put all my energy into pursuing all these players, so…"
"So you want me to talk about my feelings about these current junior high third-year players?"
"Exactly."
Takashima Rei nodded happily, wondering if this counted as telepathy.
"You should ask Miyuki about this. In terms of information-gathering ability, he's miles ahead of me."
"His perspective is global. Although comprehensive, it lacks that… how should I put it… that feeling?"
Takashima Rei's explanation made Zhang Han widen his eyes. What she said sounded impressive. It would be even better if he could fully understand it.
"Are you just asking me which players left a deep impression on me? Or which players our team urgently needs right now?"
"Right."
Takashima Rei nodded.
"Mukai Taiyou."
Zhang Han blurted it out without hesitation.
Although he usually did not show it as obviously as Azuma Kiyokuni, as core players of the team, their views were similar. What the team lacked most right now was an ace.
Koichiro Tanba's talent was not entirely bad. It was just that his personality made it difficult for him to shoulder the main burden like Hidezawa.
If Seido truly aimed to dominate the nation, then what they needed most was a stable ace.
Among the next generation of pitchers in Tokyo, the one who impressed Zhang Han the most was Mukai Taiyou. Although his pitching speed was not very fast, he possessed super-level control techniques.
That kind of control, combined with Seido High School Baseball Team's iron-clad defense, could definitely keep the runs allowed in a game within a certain range.
For Seido High School, with its incredibly strong offense, this was enough. They did not need an ace who could suppress opponents throughout the entire game. Mainly, they did not dare to hope for one.
As long as the pitcher could control the runs allowed, their batters could solve the remaining problems.
Takashima Rei's expression turned very grim. Zhang Han's suggestion, just like Miyuki's, was incredibly frustrating.
She wanted to open both their heads and see whether they were intentionally trying to cause her trouble.
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