005 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

"Hm? You deliberately avoided me?" Shinichi swept his gaze around before spotting Isagi Yoichi mixed into the crowd on the other side.

"Tsk—could it be because of me that Isagi has already awakened the use of 'Eyes'? Interesting. If that's the case, then maybe this match isn't completely meaningless."

"Then let me see just how far you can go, Isagi Yoichi." Shinichi scanned the opponent's formation with interest. Aside from Isagi Yoichi proactively switching positions, there were almost no changes. Shinichi didn't deliberately go looking either, and continued guarding one side just like before.

"There are many ways to use Eyes. As long as I can understand even a little from it, all this effort won't be wasted." Shinichi kept scanning the hesitant passersby who didn't dare to attack, while secretly observing with his peripheral vision.

"Are you deliberately using other people's bodies as cover? Basically you disappear behind others after a while, but what's the point of that? Relying on others as human walls also limits your teammates' passing lanes… no, wait! Where did you go?"

In Shinichi's field of vision, Isagi Yoichi's figure passed one player after another, but at a certain position, after being blocked by others, he inexplicably vanished from Shinichi's sight.

With almost no hesitation, Shinichi decided to go straight up and press the ball carrier. It wasn't because he thought this was the most reasonable choice—on the contrary, he planned to deliberately expose a flaw and give Isagi Yoichi a chance to act.

"So what will you do next? An assassin hiding in the shadows only has one chance to strike true. Where will you use that strike?" Shinichi quickly closed in on the ball carrier, his brain spinning at high speed.

"Still not coming out? I'm about to steal it~ Hm? You really came out?" In his peripheral vision, Isagi Yoichi's figure flashed toward the goal and vanished. Shinichi instinctively twisted his head—just that instant was a flaw!

The extra from about three meters away suddenly passed to the other side of Isagi Yoichi. Even though Shinichi still made an inhuman scorpion-kick motion to try to intercept, he only slightly altered the ball's trajectory.

In the end, the ball was received by another Ichinan High player who had sprinted forward at the same time Shinichi's attention was drawn by Isagi Yoichi's flash!

Ichinan High broke through with the ball to Shinichi's back for the first time!

"So it wasn't that you avoided me yourself, but that you used avoiding me as bait, with the real goal of letting your teammates' actions avoid my line of sight?"

"Really impressive. Not only did you understand how to use blind spots in vision, you even used your own presence to guide others' line of sight. Well done, Isagi Yoichi."

After breaking through Shinichi's defense, their team's defensive setup became somewhat chaotic. The defenders subconsciously tried to reorganize, and the previously airtight, shoulder-to-shoulder back line quietly cracked open a negligible gap.

But for Isagi Yoichi, that was already enough. He instantly cut back and burst out from the blind spot behind the covering defender. The Ichinan High striker remembered Isagi's instructions and passed to him as the opponent's defender rotated over to cover.

"Amazing, Isagi. It was all exactly as you predicted."

Isagi received the ball in an extremely dangerous position and quickly changed direction, faking out the only defender who could stop him. Facing the goalkeeper, he shot directly toward the corner. Even though the keeper reacted, he was still an inch short.

Originally it was just unwillingness. Under Isagi's command, the Ichinan High players who only wanted to make one last push saw the hope light up again in their eyes, which had been dimmed by Shinichi's overwhelming strength.

"Nice! A goal! In that case, this match isn't completely—"

"You won't get the chance."

A calm voice rang out across the pitch. Isagi Yoichi's eyes widened in shock as a figure descended into the goalmouth. With a bicycle kick, he viciously smashed the ball that had already passed the goalkeeper's fingertips.

"Bang!"

Under the force, the ball's trajectory suddenly shot upward. Shinichi's body slammed heavily onto the ground, then he quickly got up, revealing a brilliant smile that looked downright terrifying in Isagi Yoichi's eyes.

"So I told you—how could you forget the first goal?" Shinichi rushed forward to claim the ball's landing point, even finding the leisure to trash-talk Isagi.

"So-called prediction isn't worth mentioning. What I truly rely on is my speed and reaction ability. Even if I'm one step slow, so what?"

As if to prove his words, Shinichi leapt up, shoved aside his opponent, seized the ball, and charged straight at Isagi. This time he didn't even make any feints—just a single change of direction and burst of speed crushed Isagi Yoichi's defense.

"Even if I let you run for three seconds, you still couldn't catch me, turtle."

...

That's right. In the end, the 'Chess Player' trait is only blue quality. How could it possibly compare to his powerful body, honed through long training and boosted by multiple modifiers?

What's more, his current ability to control the situation only applied within the range of his own defense and offense—or rather, within the bounds of his 'chessboard.' As a Chess Player, he could calculate the opponent's actions based on his own 'moves,' that is, his actions, thereby achieving control of the game.

There was nothing that could be done about it. After all, in his previous life, just watching matches was, honestly speaking, merely for entertainment. Truly getting into football and practicing it seriously only started in the one year after he entered high school. Reaching his current level was thanks largely to his gold-quality 'Genius' modifier.

Right now, he was just like Nagi: overflowing with talent, yet still lacking a great deal of deep understanding of football compared to those who had been playing and studying it seriously since childhood. That was also something Shinichi planned to improve later in Blue Lock.

Although Shinichi had said that Rin's current control ability could hardly give him any further improvement, making it seem as though Shinichi's control over the pitch was already very strong, in reality, early Blue Lock Rin was nothing more than an imitation of his brother Sae's style.

In other words, Rin's current level could only control players of that same level. And in the U20 match, Rin's control ability was basically ineffective against U20 defenders.

After all, Rin's football was essentially a style that destroyed everything. Being able to reach this level while forcing himself to do what he wasn't good at was already a testament to his outstanding talent.

As for on the pitch, once Shinichi gained possession, there was no need to say much. A moment's distraction and he was back with another goal. For Ichinan High, that goal was like the final straw that broke them…

...

"Tweet—"

The whistle sounded. Isagi Yoichi pointed at himself in disbelief.

"You're subbing me out? Are you kidding me! Without my dribbling, how will they— I've already found Shinichi's defensive weakness! Even though this time failed, as long as we do it a bit better, as long as the passing links are faster, and we delay Shinichi's recovery run—"

"And how long will it take before you're proficient enough to do that? Before you can, how many more goals will the opponent score?" the middle-aged coach scolded sternly. Isagi wanted to argue back, but his lips twitched, his vocal cords seeming blocked, and for a long while he couldn't make a sound.

Seeing Isagi like this, the coach couldn't help but feel some pity. After telling Isagi to go sit down, he sighed.

"Isagi, you've already done very well. I can tell you never gave up and kept searching for solutions. But… this match no longer has any chance. Next year, you can come again."

"But your upperclassmen are already in their third year. For most of them… this might be the last chance in their lives to step onto the field in an official match."

"Although it's somewhat unfair to your effort, those third-year seniors who gave up their starting spots for you—for the sake of victory—now that the result is decided, let them have one last taste of the match."

Isagi didn't respond. He lowered his head, his unfocused eyes no longer looking at the pitch, only staring fixedly at his football boots.

"If… that shot had been just a bit better, if the angle had been just a bit sharper… if that ball had gone in, would everything have been different? Teammates… coach… would there still be hope for victory?"

"Damn it… I'm so unwilling!" Isagi clenched his shorts tightly, his body trembling as large tears kept dripping from Isagi Yoichi's deep blue eyes.

Striker Isagi Yoichi's final match before entering Blue Lock ended on the substitute bench.