Isagi won!
He completed the tackle on Bachira and, combining with the whole team, scored the winning goal. The fire in the corners of his eyes was as scorching as his fighting spirit.
The first direct confrontation between the two best friends ended with Isagi's victory.
"My target isn't you!"
"He's much further away!"
Isagi's expression was like that of a madman.
The audience was thrilled. Isagi had completed his revenge against Itoshi Rin. This kind of "prince's revenge" drama will never go out of style.
...
Then came the exciting player-selection segment.
Under the watchful eyes of all, Isagi made his choice. He unexpectedly extended his hand towards Itoshi Rin and then beckoned with his finger.
"Come with me, genius Itoshi Rin!"
He emphasized the word "genius," but did not choose his best friend, Bachira.
Seeing this, Bachira, after a moment of surprise, lowered his head. At this moment, the fans who shipped the "first-love group" or the "Nagi-Isagi-Bachira" group were all stunned.
This day was destined not to be peaceful.
Tendou clicked open the forums and took a look. Unsurprisingly, the fans had already started "fighting."
Bachira's fans furiously flamed Isagi for being selfish and disregarding their friendship. After the first loss to Rin, he had promised Bachira he would get him back. But after returning to the fourth stage, he had immediately abandoned Bachira's team and chosen to fight Tendou's. That was one thing.
After all, for Isagi, Tendou was indeed unreachable. At least in the anime, Tendou was portrayed as the goal Isagi was constantly chasing. So, when Tendou stood in front of him, it was understandable that Isagi wanted to try and defeat him.
But this time?
There was no Tendou this time. He had already finished his match with the World All-Star Team and had even pulled off a heaven-defying hat-trick. What more was there to say? The fans were indignant.
The moment this post was published, it immediately stirred up a huge wave. After all, Isagi's popularity was the highest among all the characters. Isagi's fans quickly left comments below and refuted. They mocked Bachira's fans for being obsessed with shipping CPs to the point of delirium, for not understanding what kind of place Blue Lock was. This was a place to cultivate forwards, not a variety show for you to fall in love.
Even the major streamers began to express their own views. Some claimed that Isagi's character design had already collapsed and that this anime was ruined. Others claimed that this choice was more in line with Blue Lock's themes of battle royale and egoism. If Isagi had chosen Bachira and ultimately succeeded, that would have been truly unrealistic and would have gone against the setting of this show.
In the end, to catch this wave of traffic, the streamers even linked up to turn up the intensity, arguing and flaming each other right there. Many viewers who didn't know what was going on became curious and chose to get into the series.
And so, Blue Lock vaguely showed signs of breaking into the mainstream.
Tendou watched with great interest and couldn't help but laugh. The more viewers, the more popularity. All good news.
...
One day later.
Tendou's team, having passed the selection, still had no match to play. Everyone was either training on the field or窩 in the dormitory watching the live broadcast of the matches. And Isagi's team had gone to challenge the World All-Star Team.
At this moment, a week had passed in the real world.
The fans could argue and make a fuss, but they still had to watch when the anime updated. They already knew that even Tendou, at full power, could only score 3 goals against the World All-Star Team.
So what about Isagi's team? With several good players like Rin, Isagi, Nagi, Barou, and Kira, how would they perform? The audience bought their peanuts, melon seeds, and coke, waiting for them to start.
But the match itself only lasted for five or six minutes. Three of those minutes were spent on pre-match trash talk, with Rin yelling at the other side with his Japanese-accented English. And one minute was them scoring the first goal through team cooperation, with Rin scoring.
The remaining time was the World All-Star Team beating up their friends.
1:5!
That was the final score. Isagi's team was completely powerless to resist. The Flow state that the audience was expecting also did not appear. The level difference was too great. Isagi couldn't find any solution and failed to score.
Instantly, Bachira's fans were gratified.
'Just this?'
'Hehe, Isagi sure knows how to pick people. He picked the only one who scored.'
'LMAO! What can he do besides hugging a thigh? His physical ability is not enough, and he has no special features in his technique. The animation team was blind to make him the male lead.'
'I don't get it. This celestial maiden doesn't get how such an ordinary shrimp-head man became the core of the team?'
'Great! Now Bachira doesn't have to be on a team with this kind of trash!'
The pent-up anger from a whole week was finally released at this moment. The viciousness and foulness of the fans' mouths were truly an eye-opener for Tendou. Of course, Isagi's fans were no pushovers either and immediately fought back. A single sentence, "You should pray that your baby Bachira doesn't get eliminated, you moron," was enough to break their defenses...
After all, at this stage of Blue Lock, too many people had been eliminated. Even the protagonist, Isagi, had lost two matches. And the protagonist's group's Isagi's former teammate was also personally sent away by Isagi. Blue Lock was really not that easy to get by in. The cruelty of the competition was simply outrageous.
It was at this time that the fans of Chigiri, Reo, and others finally understood just how lucky it was to be chosen by Tendou.
...
Blue Lock world.
After losing the match, Isagi's team also came to the dormitory of the final stage to rest. In the cafeteria, they even ran into Chigiri and the others.
"Isagi?!"
"Nagi!"
Chigiri and Reo seemed a little excited. To be able to see their good friends in this place was definitely a good thing. It meant that the other party had also passed the second selection. The few young men quickly gathered in a circle and began to chat about their experiences over the past few days.
"Hey, the match against the World All-Star Team... how did it go?"
They couldn't help but talk about Loki and the others.
"Completely useless." Isagi sighed.
"Our weapons... they were nothing in front of them."
"In terms of physical attributes, ground technique, aerial ball technique... we were no match for them in any aspect."
They were an existence that they absolutely could not defeat right now. Isagi had tried to enter the Flow state but had failed to do so. He knew it was because the opponent's level was too much higher than his.
"I thought so. The world's football stars are no joke," Chigiri said, thinking of that match and the two scoring opportunities he had missed. The proud "young lady" hadn't slept well for two days.
"Flow..."
"Yeah. I tried to enter the Flow state to fight against the World All-Star Team, but I couldn't achieve it until the very end." Isagi looked at the delicious food on the table but had no appetite at all. "We are still too far from being real football players."
"Is that really what you think, Isagi?"
"Hmm? Isn't it?"
Isagi looked at his companions' expressions, a little strange. In the end, it was Reo who told them what had happened. He rubbed Nagi's head and said, "Tendou... he entered the realm of Flow during the match against the World All-Star Team."
What?!!!
...
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