049 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

"Why was he there?! I clearly checked the surroundings before making the pass—my field of vision… was completely fooled by him."

Mikage Reo struggled to comprehend the situation before him, and immediately, despair began to seep up again from the depths of his heart.

'It's Itoshi Rin. That guy's performance was far too dazzling, so we put too much of our attention on Itoshi Rin—and ignored his role!'

Mikage Reo chased after the football in frustration and helplessness.

'It looks like that blue-haired guy just happens to show up at the football's position every time to pick up scraps, but if you think about it carefully, he always appears in the best possible spot!'

"This guy is deliberately hiding himself. In reality, Hiori Yo is the opponent's second brain besides Itoshi Rin!"

"It's a pity—realizing this now is already too late. Sorry, Nagi. As expected, our struggle was completely meaningless."

At this moment, Mikage Reo, who had always believed himself to be at the center of the world, finally discovered that cruel truth. The pitch was like a stage, and Mikage Reo was not the one playing the leading role.

At this moment, a dramatic twist allowed the true protagonist to stand at the center of the stage and perform without holding back, while the spotlight on Mikage Reo, an insignificant supporting role, went out one by one until he was completely swallowed by darkness… now, it was time to exit.

Just as Mikage Reo was about to stop his steps and give up once more, a figure suddenly burst into his field of vision, and in an instant, the gray world lit up again with the light of hope.

"So my intuition wasn't wrong. You're just like that Isagi Yoichi—unremarkable, but extremely dangerous!" Nagi Seishiro cut into the battle from the side and rear, his raised lower leg almost touching the football at the same time as Hiori Yo. After a brief stalemate, the football's direction was ultimately seized by Nagi Seishiro, shooting straight up into the air.

"Ishikari! Go for the high point!" The fire of hope reignited, and Mikage Reo could no longer suppress the surging emotions in his heart. He shouted at the top of his lungs while charging forward like a madman.

"Nagi… you really are the best!" Mikage Reo, who had been forcibly pulled out of the shadow of despair by Nagi Seishiro, stared at him intently even as he ran.

"Nagi's press this time completely changed the situation. Ideas keep pouring in. The unmarked Ishikari has the advantage in aerial duels, and Zantetsu can now receive the ball near the goal as well. His burst power is also something that short guy can't compare to."

"But in the end, only Nagi can realize my ideal! Only the two of us together are the strongest!"

Mikage Reo steadily received Ishikari Yukio's headed pass, his eyes never once looking at anyone else. In his mind, a path far brighter than all the others clearly emerged.

"Go, Nagi!"

This powerful ground pass was not high in quality—one could even say it was extremely likely to cause a poor first touch, especially with Hiori Yo sticking close and marking Nagi Seishiro after failing to contest the second ball.

"But you can do it, Nagi. Trap and beat him—take down that blue-haired guy." Mikage Reo stood tensely in place, fists clenched so tightly that veins bulged.

"Go, Nagi!"

"Yeah, I will… try my best." Nagi Seishiro nodded. His eyes, fixed tightly on the ball, ignited with tiny sparks, and at the moment he lifted his foot to touch the ball, the flames in his eyes suddenly swelled and erupted. "I'm going to… surpass you all!"

Nagi Seishiro's foot seemed to be enchanted, making the high-speed ball obediently stop against his heel. He then sharply took a step back, briefly breaking free from Hiori Yo's close marking.

As he retreated, the ball was flicked into midair by Nagi Seishiro. At the same time, his leg swung high.

"Shooting from here? There is indeed a route, but with this white-haired guy's shooting ability, it should be hard to ensure a hit, so…" Hiori Yo stared intently at Nagi Seishiro's movements. 'A feint! Move forward to block his shooting lane first… then stop!'

Just as Hiori Yo had predicted, Nagi Seishiro's right foot, which had been kicked out with force, suddenly veered away a moment before touching the ball, bypassing the ball flying in midair.

At that instant, Hiori Yo's pupils shrank sharply as he launched himself forward in a diving header straight toward the ball—

With a light sound, Nagi Seishiro used his calf to juggle the ball again, sending it a bit higher into the air, perfectly avoiding Hiori Yo's determined lunge. At this moment, there was nothing left between Nagi Seishiro and the goal—

"If you think that way, you'll probably feel pretty desperate." Hiori Yo murmured softly as he fell awkwardly to the ground.

As his words fell, Nagi Seishiro struck the descending ball with full force. The ball shot straight toward the top-right corner of the goal. The Blue Lock goalkeeper was clearly shaken by Nagi Seishiro's feint and was delayed for a moment—by then, the save was already too late.

A slightly dull sound interrupted the ball's path and forced the cheer that was about to burst from Mikage Reo's throat back down again.

Itoshi Rin calmly appeared in front of the goal, leaped up, and firmly blocked Nagi Seishiro's sure-hit shot.

"I told you already. Your creativity doesn't even reach kindergarten level against me."

"Not to mention that mediocre talent with a bit of creativity—every thought is written all over his face. He can't even see the teammates running their hearts out. Such sloppy standards…"

"Hurry up and get lost. Don't stand here and get in the way!"

With that said, Itoshi Rin directly kicked a long pass toward the front field. Having foreseen that his teammate would intercept it, he immediately sprinted forward. Ranze Kurona received the ball while charging ahead, with Tsurugi Zantetsu beside him, who paid no attention to the overall situation on the field and only focused on carrying out his own duties.

"Speed-wise, you can't beat me." Tsurugi Zantetsu's body gradually edged past Ranze Kurona. Perhaps if both were off the ball, this contest would still have some suspense—but with the ball at his feet, Ranze Kurona was absolutely no match for Tsurugi Zantetsu.

"Yeah, I know. But it's about time." Ranze Kurona nodded calmly. After catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Mikage Reo rushing toward him in panic, he suddenly performed a Sudden Stop. Using the counterforce through his heel, he fiercely kicked the ball backward.

The heavy, powerful heel pass precisely found Itoshi Rin, who had just arrived near the midfield line—and right before the shocked gazes of Mikage Reo and the others, Itoshi Rin made a shooting motion!

"Damn it, is this guy going to shoot from here?!" Mikage Reo stumbled and fell, his constantly shrinking purple pupils reflecting Itoshi Rin's textbook-perfect shooting form and the beautiful arc of the ball.

3:0 → 4:0

Following closely after the crisp sound of the net rippling came the whistle signaling the change in score. Mikage Reo clenched his teeth and stared hard at Itoshi Rin, who walked back expressionlessly, as well as Hiori Yo, who was being helped up by Ranze Kurona.

"That blue-haired guy looked like he got played by Nagi, but in fact that diving interception was meant to force Nagi to shoot, while also reasonably lowering his own body to clear the line of sight for the teammate behind him, buying time for Itoshi Rin to react and block… he's even more troublesome than I imagined."

"And then there's Itoshi Rin." Mikage Reo tightened his fists. "Even if Nagi and I join forces and break our limits, we still can't defeat them…?"

"But we really have made progress. This time, we fought for a chance to shoot. If we can do a bit better, relying on Nagi, we can still—"

"Too slow, Rin." Just as both sides were about to spread out their formations and start another round, a lazy, casual voice echoed across the pitch. Shinichi stood up from the ground, patted the dust off his backside, and looked at everyone.

"This match is so boring it's putting the audience to sleep. Let me give a beautiful ending."

Kōken Shinichi, enters the battle!