014 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

"11:0... not even on the same level."

"You've got to be kidding—why have we never heard of a monster like this before?"

"Damn it! You did this on purpose, didn't you?! I switched from track to football, so why the hell did you, bastard, come play football too?!"

...

Vaguely, Shinichi seemed to hear something interesting. But when he turned his head to look at the guy who seemed to have once crashed into him and had his resolve shattered, he said,

"Umm... no impression at all."

He had originally thought that someone who could cross over two sports, switch to football, and still be noticed by Ego Jinpachi and selected into Blue Lock must have something special. But since they had competed and still left no impression on him, then it didn't matter.

Putting it out of his mind, Shinichi smiled and wrapped an arm around Hiori Yo's shoulders. As for his earlier dislike? What? When did I ever dislike him? Hiori Yo has always been my best buddy, you know. The energy contained in his body is beyond imagination—I can't wait to do something big with him.

"Yo, yo, all you 'raw gems of talent.' The second match in Building No. 5 has ended. Team V defeated Team Y with a score of 6:3." Ego Jinpachi's annoying face appeared right on time, and several photos of players scoring goals were pasted onto the screen.

Looking at a few familiar figures, Shinichi nodded his chin.

"Jyubei Aryu, Karasu Tabito, Otoya Eita—seriously? Aren't these all guys who really shine after the second round? Just among the top 6 there are two of them, and they actually ended up together."

"What a pity it's a team we'll only meet at the end. Unlucky. They clearly have quite a few valuable weapons." Shinichi flipped through the match table. This round Team W had a bye, and their next match was exactly against Team W—again, no information at all.

"By the way, it seems none of you have really understood what it means to create football from zero. Kōken Shinichi, you listen too." Ego Jinpachi directly called out Shinichi, telling him not to zone out, and continued explaining.

"Unlike sports like baseball, where every player is assigned a fixed role, football lets players run freely across the pitch. Attack and defense can switch at any moment, and there's a lot of physical contact. In this sport, merely fulfilling your own duty is absolutely not enough."

"And if you want to win, you need 'individuality'—that is, your own personal ability. Shinichi, do you have a question?" Seeing Shinichi obediently raise his right hand high, Ego Jinpachi showed an unusual amount of patience.

"Reporting, coach. Didn't I just win that match by relying on my personal ability? What's the difference from what you're saying?"

"I thought being called a Genius meant you had something unique, but in the end you're just as stupid as this bunch of rotten wood."

Ego Jinpachi shook his head theatrically.

"Indeed, your personal ability united your teammates and brought order to the pitch. But your goals were not enough to become a revolution."

"In football matches, competing for goals is equivalent to destroying the opponent's organization. In other words, forwards are destroyers, and goals are revolutions on the pitch—meant to shatter the enemy's order!"

"However, not a single one of your goals destroyed the opponent's defense. You were still chased down by their defenders. You just found ways to get the ball in front of the goal and relied on your physical qualities to win 1-on-1 or 1-on-many situations."

"If the defending players you face are no weaker than you, and if your speed can't shake off their defenders, can you still score?"

These words, which to others sounded like nitpicking, were something Shinichi listened to with great interest.

"So what you're saying is, either completely destroy the opponent's defensive formation, or have a special technique that lets you score no matter how defenders try to stop you—is that right?"

"That's right! Don't let your imagination limit you. To create one from zero, you must create your own 'weapon,' forwards!"

"You must read the situation, toy with the enemy's organization, subdue it, destroy it, using a weapon that belongs only to you. Think carefully—use your bodies and your brains to figure out what you can do."

"What ignites the revolution of a goal will always be your own weapon!"

The TV screen went dark, and everyone looked at each other.

"Is he serious? Either you have to avoid all defense, or score 100% of the time even under pressure? Does he even know what he's saying?!"

Shinichi, however, looked spiritedly at Hiori Yo. "Let's go—we're going to practice."

"Uh, Shinichi, you're not seriously taking what he said to heart, are you?" Even Hiori Yo felt Ego Jinpachi's words were a bit too unrealistic.

"That's impossible. If you could really do that, wouldn't you be invincible? That's something only cheating could accomplish."

"How do you know I'm not?" Shinichi said what he truly felt in a joking tone, and he really didn't think it was a big deal. In anime, doesn't Isagi Yoichi often dodge defenders to shoot? And as long as the opponent hasn't figured out how to counter your weapon, it really is possible to score every time.

In Shinichi's view, this was no different from a player's signature move. For example, Jordan's fadeaway jumper was said to be an unstoppable move—once he jumped, whether the ball went in or not had nothing to do with the defender.

"And you said 'invincible,' right, Hiori?" Walking ahead, Shinichi turned his head to look at Hiori Yo. The Shinichi who had been joking around just moments ago suddenly became incomparably serious, his hollow spiral eyes staring straight at him.

Hiori Yo instinctively stopped in his tracks. Only after Shinichi averted his gaze did the air, frozen by the oppressive atmosphere, finally begin to flow again. Like someone just rescued from drowning, Hiori Yo clutched his heart and gasped for breath. Under that terrifying gaze, he had almost forgotten even the instinct to breathe.

"If you want to reach the very top, then 'invincibility' is something you must achieve. I hate that look of yours bound by common sense. Since we share the same goal, don't measure yourself by ordinary standards."

"I don't want to hear words like 'impossible' a second time."

...

Hiori Yo leaned against the wall for a long while before finally coming back to his senses. He looked toward Shinichi's gradually receding back, only to feel how ridiculous the resolve he had made earlier was.

"So domineering... and also... so distant. The gap between us." Hiori Yo pressed hard against his chest, where his heart had nearly stopped under Shinichi's presence, using pain to stimulate his nerves.

"Our guts aren't even on the same level! Of course—until now, I was nothing more than a walking corpse pushed forward by others' expectations."

"Before this, even the goal of becoming world number one was unimaginably distant to me. Yet I just saw someone else's ambition, admired that dazzling ideal, and shamelessly followed in their footsteps like a puppet."

Recalling the earlier scene on the pitch where he had been dominated by Shinichi, Hiori clenched his teeth.

"So that's it. What was pressuring me wasn't just his presence, but expectations! When I entrusted myself to Shinichi and placed my expectations on him, his expectations were placed on me as well!"

"I was afraid—afraid I couldn't keep up with him, afraid I would disappoint his expectations!"

"I've always been unable to face expectations directly, because in this relationship there was never mutual effort—only me running away!"

"It won't work if we don't rush toward each other! I have to 'expect' myself! Let my ideals merge with Shinichi's ideals!"

Shinichi's figure grew more and more distant, about to disappear around the corner. Hiori Yo finally took a deep breath and hurried to catch up with that silhouette.

"You're so slow. I was thinking if you didn't catch up soon, I'd just leave you behind." Shinichi had his hands clasped behind his head, that carefree look not showing the slightest trace of the sharpness from before.

"That won't do—you're still carrying my ambitions!" Hiori laughed and punched Shinichi lightly, then reached out his hand toward him.

"I'll absolutely help you become number one in history with my own hands—become a legend!"

"Isn't that obvious? Established facts don't need extra emphasis." Shinichi looked like he thought Hiori was making a fuss over nothing, but he still reached out his hand.

Smack!

The crisp sound of their high-five echoed through the corridor. The two boys stood side by side and set foot on the road to realizing their dreams (training room).