Chương 19: [19] Team Z's Crisis
"Next time, I'll stop you for sure."
Nishioka shook his head forcefully, but Shinichi's words kept echoing in his mind.
'Impossible. There's no way. He's only seen it a few times—how could he have already figured it out?!'
And yet...
'I can't break through! Every time I think I've found an opening, every time I feel I can get past him and create an opportunity, this guy somehow always positions himself perfectly to block my advance.'
'He's figured out my weapon!'
"You're slipping, Little Messi. You can't afford to lose focus on the field," Shinichi taunted with a smirk.
Accompanied by that teasing, grating voice lingering in his ears, Nishioka's consciousness started to blur.
In a daze, he thought he saw Shinichi's ghost-like figure dart past him, vanishing from view while the distance between them grew rapidly.
'Behind me… is he behind me now? Did I… did I finally leave him in the dust?'
Even though there was no longer any sensation of the ball at his feet, Nishioka continued to delude himself, running and struggling until he clumsily collapsed to the ground.
'So… he intercepted me after all…'
He didn't bother getting up to give chase.
Instead, he lay there on the cold, hard ground, staring blankly.
His empty, bewildered gaze locked onto Shinichi's figure, which was becoming smaller and smaller as it sped away like a gale.
'If I hadn't come to Blue Lock, would everything have been different? Maybe I wouldn't have been utterly destroyed like this… I could have remained the shining 'Messi of Aomori' back home. I…'
'But why… why don't I feel even a shred of regret? Why… why am I so happy?'
Lying on the ground, Nishioka raised his arm to block the blinding lights overhead, tears rolling uncontrollably down his cheeks.
Yet, his lips curved into a radiant smile.
''Aomori's Messi'? Like he said, clinging to such a meaningless title… I was such a fool.'
'Ah… coming to Blue Lock… was the best thing that ever happened to me!'
Meanwhile, Shinichi, like a bolt of lightning, charged forward with unstoppable momentum.
The defenders scrambled in a panic, desperately trying to reposition themselves to block him.
But just as they thought they had him cornered, Shinichi made a light pass to the side.
Before the defenders could even react, Shinichi had already darted past them with blistering speed.
At the same time, Hiori's return pass arrived perfectly in sync.
This near-instantaneous one-two play left the defenders helpless, rooted to the spot like motionless cones as Shinichi broke free toward the goal.
Boom… swish!
3:0.
"Hah… Hiori, that pass just now was really something," Shinichi said excitedly, pointing toward his teammate. "Probably the best one so far."
If their earlier plays had been like a chess game, moving one piece at a time, this goal was an entirely different level—executed with a speed and precision that left no room for response.
Not only was the pass perfectly placed, but after Shinichi had sent the ball to Hiori, his off-the-ball run didn't require any hesitation or slowdown.
While sprinting at full speed, the ball naturally returned to his feet.
The seamless, lightning-fast give-and-go, cutting through the defense like butter, was nothing short of a Blue Lock-style "Monster Fast Break"!
"Yeah, I think that one was great too," Hiori agreed with a nod. "I keep thinking about how to improve myself, how to catch up to you, but I've realized that's not enough. My physical attributes can't keep up with yours, and even if I force myself to catch up, I'd still just be holding you back."
"So, I need to stay one step ahead. I have to prepare for the future before it happens—only then can I truly match your play. That's what I was thinking during that pass. Somehow, it just… clicked."
Could it be?
By unconsciously making catching up to me his goal, he's accidentally entered a FLOW state and brushed against the threshold of Meta Vision?
"It's fine. Let's score two more and see if you can find that rhythm again," Shinichi said with a reassuring smile, patting Hiori on the shoulder.
As they walked back, their path was suddenly blocked by someone.
"Shinichi!"
"Oh, hey, Little Messi. What's up?"
"Don't call me that," Nishioka snapped, swatting Shinichi's hand away. After taking a long, deep breath, he said, "Shinichi, thank you. If it weren't for you, I might still be basking in my past glories. This time, I lost—but I won't lose forever."
"No matter how long it takes, I'll keep chasing you, surpassing you, and surpassing everyone else. The one who will become the world's best striker… is me!"
The curve of Shinichi's smile slowly faded, his gaze sharpening like two blades as he sized up Nishioka. "Too bad. In my life, I've never experienced the feeling of being surpassed. And for those lagging behind, they'll only fall further and further behind—until they're completely out of sight."
"Then let's find out. Don't think you're the only genius here."
I couldn't break him after all, Shinichi thought. Or maybe, I destroyed the 'Aomori's Messi,' but he's already rebuilt himself. Well, if it were that easy, it wouldn't be any fun. Maybe this is what Blue Lock is all about.
Excitement coursed through Shinichi as he clenched his fists.
If one Nishioka could rise like this, what about Rin, Isagi, and all the other 'monsters'?
Thinking this, Shinichi echoed Nishioka's sentiment aloud, almost to himself:
"Coming to Blue Lock… really was the best choice."
With that, the game resumed.
Nishioka abandoned his solo play, focusing instead on using his elegant dribbling to activate his teammates.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough against Shinichi and Hiori's seamless partnership.
After all, not everyone was like Isagi Yoichi—a monster who could shatter himself and rebuild instantly.
The final score: 9:0, Team X wins.
As the announcer's voice signaled the end of the match, Shinichi and Nishioka exchanged a distant stare.
"It's not over. Next round, I'll come back stronger," Nishioka's eyes seemed to say.
Shinichi sighed and shoved Hiori aside. "Stop making up lines for other people."
"Aw, but that's totally what he's thinking! He's so easy to read," Hiori replied with a teasing grin.
...
Turning away from Shinichi's harmonious group, the focus shifts to Isagi's side.
Inside the silent locker room, the air was thick with tension as the players gasped for breath, their exhaustion palpable. On the screen, the score of their latest match blinked: 3:2.
"Damn it! A full-team counterattack in the final minute? That kind of tactic is impossible to defend against!" Asahi Naruhaya growled, chugging water and slamming the bottle down in frustration.
"Unbelievable! That long-haired bastard actually passed the ball! He's supposed to be a forward, and he passes in that critical moment?" Raichi Jingo shouted angrily, his frustration peaking after being baited by Niko into leaving Ohkawa unmarked at the last second.
"And seriously, why was the goalkeeper still focusing on Niko even though he was blocked? If that ball had been stopped—"
"Hey, I only ended up as goalkeeper because I lost at drawing straws!"
Following their loss, the fragile unity within Team Z disintegrated instantly, with everyone pointing fingers and shifting blame.
I… lost again. Even here, in the bottom-tier Building 5, I still couldn't win. How am I supposed to catch up to that guy at the top? Kira sat silently, a towel draped over his head, staring at the ground.
Beside him, Isagi sat just as still, lost in thought.
This was the butterfly effect brought about by Shinichi.
His presence had prematurely shaken Kira awake, preventing his elimination in the first selection round.
However, this also had unintended consequences. Team Z's overall strength, boosted by Kira's skill, gave them false confidence, robbing them—and Isagi in particular—of the sense of urgency that originally drove their rapid evolution.
This delay in their growth now showed itself clearly.
In fact, they hadn't even won their first match.
The game against Barou's Team X had ended in a 5:5 draw.
While Kira was the strongest individual player on Team Z, his personality lacked the overwhelming dominance of Barou Shouei.
Under Barou's command, Team X had evolved from chaos to cohesion, from zero to one.
Meanwhile, Team Z remained nothing more than a fragmented mess of individuals.
Kira Ryosuke, skilled in team-oriented football, had initially partnered with Isagi in the chaos of the first match to score a goal.
Leveraging that goal and his reputation, he managed to command some semblance of respect from the team.
However, as Barou's personality and dominance gradually unified Team X, allowing them to turn the tide and take the lead, Team Z began to unravel.
"If no one else can make the breakthrough, my sexy goal will secure the win!" Raichi Jingo's frustrated outburst marked Team Z's descent back to its original state of disarray.
The "team-first" Kira, who excelled in cooperative play, also began to lose his way amidst the chaos.
If not for Isagi's last-second goal from a blind spot saving a critical draw, Team Z would have already been eliminated.
The root cause lay in the composition of Team Z itself: an unusually diverse group of talents and personalities.
Although labeled as the "bottom-tier" team, they were brimming with potential, as evidenced by the number of players who would eventually make it through the second selection.
However, within such a team, neither Kira nor Isagi had a weapon strong or decisive enough to command the respect of these untamed beasts.
Without an overwhelming and definitive weapon, neither could emerge as the true leader or the decisive "1" the team desperately needed.
"A beast without hunger will never hunt to the death. Win or lose, survival or elimination—only on the brink of extinction will a striker awaken," Ego muttered as he glanced briefly at the footage of Team Z before turning his attention back to Shinichi, who was in the middle of his training.
It would take a life-or-death match to spark change in these players.
Whether they would awaken or fall into oblivion—all would be decided in their next game.
That, Ego thought, was the only time worth watching.
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