003 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

"Nationals… as long as we win this match, we can go to nationals."

Stepping onto the green pitch, Isagi Yoichi's breathing involuntarily grew tense.

"Although the pre-match favorite Kira Ryosuke was unexpectedly eliminated, that doesn't mean our opponents are weaker. On the contrary, the team that wiped out Matsukaze High by a large margin is without a doubt a formidable enemy."

The sturdy middle-aged coach clapped his hands to signal the players to gather and spoke loudly.

"However! Their offense relies entirely on the forward Kōken Shinichi. And in the previous match, after they took a big lead, Shinichi was substituted early, and then Kira Ryosuke scored three consecutive points. It can be said that whether on offense or defense, this is a one-man team."

"Isagi! Do you remember the purpose of football?"

The sudden question startled the slightly absent-minded Isagi Yoichi, but he quickly reacted and replied loudly,

"Ah… yes! Football is one for all, all for one."

"That's right! Everyone for me, I for everyone. Football is a sport of eleven people. Mutual support among teammates will make you stronger, and this unity is our advantage!"

Seeing that Isagi had regained focus, the coach didn't want to scold the players before the match and continued instead,

"Keep this in mind at all times, and then fight without regrets!"

"Oh!!"

...

"Your name is Isagi Yoichi, right?"

Before the match began, as Isagi was preparing to do some warm-up exercises, a boy walked over from the opposite bench.

"I've seen your data. Back in middle school, you had strength that surpassed your peers, but after entering high school, there was no more news about you."

"Huh? Um, I…"

Such blunt words left Isagi Yoichi unable to tell whether this was stating facts or trash talk, but the other party didn't mind his awkwardness and continued,

"So I went back and reviewed footage of your high school matches. I don't believe you faded into obscurity because of a lack of talent."

"Your talent hasn't disappeared. It's just been sealed by something else. In the upcoming match, I hope you'll firmly remember this."

Having said pretty much everything he wanted to say, Shinichi didn't wait for Isagi's reply and turned to leave.

"Remember this—discard what isn't important. I'm looking forward to your performance."

"...Huh?"

Isagi tilted his head in confusion.

"What the heck was that guy? He came over, said a bunch of stuff on his own, then left on his own. What does it even mean…?"

"No—maybe that was exactly the effect he wanted?"

Isagi suddenly "realized" something, quickly patting his cheeks to clear his head.

"Don't think too much. There's only one goal now—win this match and advance to the national tournament."

"Beep—"

The whistle blew, and the match began, with Ichinan High kicking off. Isagi dashed forward instantly.

"Is it because that guy is on the right?"

Most of the opposing players were clustered on the left.

"What should I do? Go straight at their ace? Or avoid their strongest individual?"

Receiving a pass from a teammate, Isagi Yoichi instinctively observed the situation on the field.

"No good—the left side is far too crowded. There's no space to break through at all. They're clearly baiting us into attacking the right side. In that case…"

"Push forward!"

Isagi loudly directed his teammate's run.

That's right—he didn't know exactly how strong their ace was. Charging straight in for a head-on clash of raw ability was the worst option. But one person couldn't possibly defend such a large space. As long as there was support from teammates, it should work…

"Huh?"

Isagi suddenly stopped.

"How is this possible? There's absolutely no passing lane. He's clearly just standing in front of me, but whether it's a change of direction or a pass, any option that gets close to him is blocked? His control of distance is way too good."

"What's wrong? You're not attacking?"

Shinichi asked as he looked at Isagi's conflicted expression.

"If you're not coming over, then I will."

"What does he mean? Is he going to press?"

"With the defense behind him so empty, he's pressing?"

"Isn't he afraid of making a mistake?"

Even though the match had just started, sweat kept pouring down from Isagi's forehead. He could only keep scanning the field with his peripheral vision, hoping to find a route to defeat Shinichi.

"No one on the pitch is going to give you that much time to think, ball trash."

The moment Isagi hesitated, Shinichi stepped forward, increasing the pressure.

"He really rushed in?"

"Then as long as I pass it out—"

"No way… you've got to be kidding?!"

Seeing Shinichi press forward without hesitation, Isagi instinctively pushed the ball for a sideways pass.

No matter what, he was still just one person. Even if his defensive range was large, after a few rounds of passing back and forth, he'd eventually slip up—or so Isagi thought. But the moment the ball left his foot, he shouted in disbelief.

He saw Shinichi almost instantaneously stop the moment the football was passed, then launch himself off the ground like a spring compressed to its limit, accelerating forward. 

"No—ball is still a bit faster, but that margin isn't enough. The moment the ball is controlled, Shinichi will already be back in position?"

"No! At his level, even completing the first touch would be difficult. There's no time to make any move. He'll definitely be dispossessed immediately!"

Anticipating what would happen next, Isagi immediately abandoned the plan of spreading out and circulating possession, instead following behind Shinichi to support his teammate.

But to Isagi Yoichi's surprise, even though he believed he had imagined the worst-case scenario, he had still overestimated his teammate.

Facing the ferocious charge of Shinichi, the immense pressure and the possibility of losing possession caused this unknown passerby to make a mistake right at the very first touch. After contacting his instep, the football popped upward, moving forward slowly yet inexorably.

Strictly speaking, at the high school level, this might not even count as a serious mistake. It was simply that he failed to fully stop the ball.

In fact, the ball's momentum had been greatly reduced. It flew less than half a meter from the player before coming to a stop.

A first touch like that, if done by other players, might even earn some praise.

But his opponent was Shinichi!

Even at such a short distance, it only took one step to bring the football back under control.
And for Shinichi, who was already accelerating, the time for that single step was enough.

Shinichi charged in, extended his leg, and used his body to block the opponent. With 91 points of strength, the opponent was completely overpowered in the contest for the ball, unable even to touch the football before being pinned behind Shinichi.

At this point, the football officially fell under Shinichi's control.

"That was way too fast to lose the ball, wasn't it?"

Although he complained inwardly, Isagi didn't stop moving. He positioned himself in front of the turning Shinichi, forming a pincer with the teammate trapped behind him.

However, Shinichi merely shifted slightly to the side, using his shoulder to pin the passerby on his right.

With his left foot, he pulled the ball back to evade Isagi's tackle, then flicked it up and over Isagi's barely raised right leg.

He himself burst out from the left side, easily completing a clean nutmeg past man and ball!

As for Isagi, because he had rashly stretched out his leg to tackle, by the time he realized Shinichi's intent and tried to block by lifting his leg, he was already at his limit.

In the end, Isagi fell to the ground in a half-split position, utterly unable to chase back.

With Isagi Yoichi—the only one who could restrain Shinichi—out of the picture, the remaining fodder players, no matter how many there were, couldn't stop Shinichi's advance.

They couldn't even manage to halt him through intentional fouls.

All they could do was watch as he kept changing direction, feinting effortlessly, stylishly toying with the entire back line before calmly finishing into the net.

"They don't even need help from anyone else. Just relying on their ace alone, we can't stop them."

"On defense, they park the bus openly while letting their ace guard one side. Now that we're already behind on the scoreline, it means I have to break through Shinichi's defense and pull the score back if we're to have even the slightest chance of victory."

Thinking this, Isagi grew increasingly irritated.

"But what should I do? My dribbling clearly isn't good enough, and that pass just now was already my limit."

"When Shinichi defends, his control of distance almost completely seals off the 90-degree passing space directly in front of me."

"To avoid his defense, I can only pass sideways—but the power of a sideways pass still isn't enough to shake off his pursuit."

Isagi Yoichi couldn't help looking toward that young man who remained calm even while being surrounded by teammates celebrating.

In a daze, that tall, upright figure seemed to grow larger and larger, blotting out the sky as it stood in front of the goal, blocking the road leading to the national tournament.

The match had only just begun, yet despair had already surged up like a tide.

"This is completely a dead game…"