042 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

'How is that possible?! I clearly saw Tokimitsu block him, so why did he appear here!'

Itoshi Rin's pupils shrank violently, but he still made the most correct reaction at the moment, blocking Shinichi's advance route before he landed.

"So didn't I already say it, our genius little brother didn't inherit a brain as easy to use as his older brother's."

Shinichi stepped on the football, burst one step to the left, then immediately performed a Sudden Stop and counter-burst. The ultra-high-speed Direction Change with almost no visible pause completely deceived Itoshi Rin's center of gravity.

Being able to freeze in place like a wooden stake just to avoid looking even more miserable already showed Itoshi Rin's superb skill.

"See? He got crushed this easily."

As he passed by the pale-faced Itoshi Rin, Shinichi spoke in a low voice.

"That kind of perfect football that observes the opponent's actions and counters them one by one belongs exclusively to a genius. Your talent isn't enough to fully reproduce it. This half-baked ball style you copied from others, and you still treasure it like a gem…"

"As expected of the traits of mediocrity. Always drawn to brighter brilliance, forever following in the footsteps of genius, and… forever one step slower than them."

"Damn it!"

The tightly stretched nerve in Itoshi Rin suddenly reached its limit and snapped under Shinichi's provocation. He no longer cared about his center of gravity, lunging at Shinichi with his mouth open like a vicious dog. But Shinichi seemed to have eyes on his back and easily dodged.

"Itoshi Sae, again Itoshi Sae! I'm not that bastard's appendage! Damn it… damn it! I'll destroy you all! Itoshi Sae… Kōken Shinichi, you two bastards ruined my life and shattered the meaning of my existence… Only you two, I will absolutely destroy you!"

Shinichi was right. I always wanted to seek answers from others, which is why I was bound by the shadows of those before me. Whether it's revenge, Itoshi Sae, or Shinichi… none of them should be the reason I play ball.

That's right, I was too naive! Itoshi Sae once told me not to use him as an excuse to play ball anymore. Now I finally understand those words. The first thing I should defeat… the thing I must shatter is myself!

"Then, Kōken Shinichi, I'll start with you—destroy you!"

Itoshi Rin climbed up from the ground and actually rushed in during the brief gap when Shinichi was blocked by Tanaka Shingen. His eyes brimmed with killing intent, his tongue hanging out unconsciously, charging straight at the ball under Shinichi's foot.

"Oh? Your tongue is sticking out. That's unhygienic."

Shinichi casually dodged Itoshi Rin's relentless pressing. The ball rolled back and forth under his feet, looking precarious, as if it would be stolen the next second. Yet at every critical moment, the ball slipped away from Itoshi Rin's foot by a hair's breadth.

"And it's very rude too. A wild dog baring its tongue—let me teach you the rules you need to follow."

Shinichi suddenly turned his back to Itoshi Rin and used the instep of his foot to push the ball forward, straight between his legs.

!

In Destroyer mode, Itoshi Rin's reaction was extremely sharp. He snapped his legs together instantly. But during its flight, the ball strangely produced a slight deflection. This unnoticed change caused the nutmeg not to be cut off by Itoshi Rin's swift reaction, instead striking his knee.

The ball spun and flew back to Shinichi again. With his legs clamped together, Itoshi Rin naturally couldn't chase it, only watching helplessly as Shinichi carried the ball away once more.

"The first rule is… if I don't give it to you, you're not allowed to take it. Next is the second rule."

To everyone's surprise, Shinichi had already passed Itoshi Rin by half a step. Itoshi Rin's posture had completely lost any condition to exert force.

Even if it weren't Shinichi, a monster with speed far beyond limits, he felt that even Hiori Yo would have already completely beaten the opponent. Yet Shinichi actually stepped back again.

"So nasty…"

This was everyone's first thought. This time, Shinichi's move wasn't about dribbling past anymore—it was purely to humiliate the opponent.

"Nasty… but so selfishly beneficial."

Immediately after, this group of people in Blue Lock with low sportsmanship expressed their praise.

In Blue Lock, the strong are meant to ruthlessly humiliate the weak. Some do it with words after winning, but Shinichi directly used football to humiliate.

From certain angles, his behavior even seemed more refined to them.

After passing Itoshi Rin by half a step, Shinichi kicked the ball back through Itoshi Rin's legs while Rin was adjusting his steps. He himself explosively retreated half a step and once again returned to stand before Itoshi Rin. He shifted his center of gravity, slightly sank his shoulder, lifted his foot to the right…

In fact, at that instant, the football sense cultivated over a long time had already made Itoshi Rin feel danger. But his body's instinctive movement was even faster than his thoughts.Thus he could only watch helplessly as the ground drew closer and closer.

Feigning a breakthrough to the right, Shinichi hooked the ball away in the opposite direction. Already in a transitional posture, Itoshi Rin followed by shifting his center of gravity. But Shinichi's left foot flicked upward diagonally, and the ball arced beautifully over Itoshi Rin's head.

The continuous Direction Change combined with a single-foot lift—similar to a rainbow flick—utterly crushed Itoshi Rin's last stubborn pride.

"The second rule: I don't like mad dogs that bare their teeth at me."Shinichi, having completely shaken Itoshi Rin to the ground, charged forward with the ball, expressionless.

"This is my judgment on you. Receive it with gratitude."

While running, he lifted his foot and passed to Hiori Yo, dodging Tanaka Shingen's sliding tackle. Shinichi sprinted to the front of the goal. The shrieking Tokimitsu Aoshi scrambled to block him, yet Hiori Yo kept his eyes on Shinichi, and with a quick pass of his foot, handed the ball to Ranze Kurona.

"Oh, thank you very much."

Even the Blue Lock goalkeeper's attention was drawn to Shinichi. Ranze Kurona was practically facing an open goal, so there was no reason not to score.

Swish!

2:0 → 3:0

With the wonderful sound of the net brushing, the score was rewritten again. Even Ranze Kurona's excitement was visibly obvious as he jogged over to Shinichi and high-fived him.

"Amazing. You completely drew them away. I owe you one goal."

"It's fine. While being the ace, I'm also the biggest decoy."

Shinichi shook his head.

"I never really agreed with some of Ego Jinpachi's theories. At least I think the midfield has a huge impact on a match. It's not true that someone who doesn't score is trash."

"Scoring is just a byproduct of my good performance. The only medal that truly represents a player's ability is victory. No matter how many goals you score, it has no meaning, because world number one belongs only to the one who keeps winning."

"I'm very glad that your judgment of the pitch is always so calm, Hiori. But at the same time, next time you don't pass the ball to me, you're dead."

"Eh~ You were just saying such high-minded stuff about only focusing on victory."

Hiori Yo grinned mischievously and poked Shinichi's shoulder.

"And it was clearly you who learned that eyelash freak's control over the pitch and guided the entire field toward that outcome just now."

'That only means our tacit understanding still isn't enough.'

Shinichi shook his head inwardly.

'I was just a fake decoy. Kurona was the real decoy. That's the result of thinking one step further than you. And pretending to shoot while actually passing toward the left side of the goal is thinking one step further again.'

'You're two steps behind, Hiori.'

Shinichi sighed inwardly and looked at the frantically roaring Itoshi Rin. After a massive improvement in strength, and now plundering Itoshi Rin's control ability, Hiori Yo's strength was gradually starting to fall behind his pace.

"Should I go try looking for Itoshi Sae later?"

"Did you say something just now, Shinichi?"

"Hm? No."

"Must've been a hallucination."