For a continuous ten-plus minutes, he was everywhere.
Not just the commentators, but some of the old-school fans also discovered the problem. At first, they only felt that the number 7 guy was a bit active, that he was everywhere. But if you think about it carefully, you'll find that he wasn't blindly chasing the ball. Every time Tendou appeared, it was in the position where the team needed him the most.
...
On the field, the fans' cheers began to wane. The national youth team had been pressing the Blue Lock team for the past ten-plus minutes, but the threat they created was extremely limited; they hadn't even completed a single shot. This was the most typical case of dominating possession without scoring.
The expressions of the fans who had traveled far to support the national youth team began to grow grave.
In front of the coach's bench, Yasumori Hoichi also noticed the problem. He could see more problems from the sidelines than the players on the field. The continuous high pressure without scoring had caused their formation to push too far forward.
Although the national youth team was playing a 4-2-3-1 in this match, on the attack, their formation was a strong-attacking 4-3-3. For them, victory was a certainty, but they wanted more than just a win; they wanted a big win!
Right now, if they were suddenly caught on the counter and stabbed in the back, it would be troublesome. So he could only pray that the team would establish a lead as soon as possible.
He turned his head and looked at Ego Jinpachi. He could never have imagined that the other could unearth such a talent from a group of amateur players.
A midfield libero. This kind of creature was very difficult to target. Many of his pre-match deployments had been nullified. But not targeting Tendou was not an option. Let that number 7 continue to play like this? The team was bound to run into trouble sooner or later.
BOOM!
The Blue Lock stadium suddenly erupted in an uproar. Hoichi's heart skipped a beat for no reason.
Blue Lock was on the attack.
Isagi was half a second too slow in releasing the ball and was tackled. But just as the latter had taken the ball forward, he saw a streak of light flash past in his field of vision. When the light dissipated, only the back of that omnipresent number 7 was revealed, and the ball had been taken along with him.
A tackle in the attacking third. The Blue Lock team launched an immediate counter-attack.
Tendou accelerated with the ball, charging down the middle with long strides. The opponent's formation had been pushed too far forward during this time. With a simple acceleration from Tendou, only the "Four Great Heavenly Kings" of the national youth team were left in front of him.
Tendou suddenly pointed a finger. Isagi, Rin, Nagi, and Otoya immediately swarmed forward. Aiku and the others were wary of Tendou's four "guardians." However, Tendou's target was not them.
Tendou started at high speed, crossing a distance of ten meters in an instant. Niou Kazuma, one of the Four Great Heavenly Kings, saw this and, sure enough, came forward, his muscles bulging as he crashed over.
Physical confrontation. This was what he was good at.
But.
With a BAM, Tendou, who was hit by the fierce charge, stood firm.
"What?!" Niou was dumbfounded. He could send first-division domestic pros flying. How could he not move a high school student? This was too unscientific.
And Tendou, in the middle of his advance, came to a sudden stop, flicked the ball, and changed direction again, instantly shaking his opponent off.
And at this moment.
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Four landing spots appeared in Tendou's eyes, representing four passing routes. One of them was particularly bright. This was a red line that only appeared when the success rate exceeded 90%.
Tendou was about to take the kick, but Itoshi Sae, timing it perfectly, crashed into him again.
BAM!
The two of them collided. Sae wanted to seize the moment Tendou was kicking to knock him off balance. He stared at Tendou with cold eyes. The latter returned a cold smile, a feint in a feint. The two cores of their teams clashed silently.
The Six Eyes rotated.
As if he could see through the future, Tendou avoided Sae's press, created space, and then truly took the kick. The entire process did not exceed one second.
Under the gazes of the audience on-site and in the real world, the two figures instantly crisscrossed. Tendou used a feint to get past Sae, and then the ball was passed out by him.
BAM!
The ball flew towards Isagi's position. At this time, Isagi was still thinking, Tendou really did see me, marveling at the terror of his eyes.
At this moment, he had already formed a puzzle in his mind. A triangular combination completed by himself, Nagi, and Rin would be enough to tear open the opponent's defensive line. With just two passes, he could get an excellent goal-scoring opportunity.
However.
As he watched the ball's landing spot, his body felt as if it were being coiled by a python. Looking closely, it was shockingly the captain of the national youth team, Aiku. He was seen leaping high, about to clear the ball with a header.
And Tendou.
He had already turned away in an extremely cool manner.
Sae also noticed the fierce spin on this ball and judged that that position was not the ball's true landing spot. He, along with Tendou, also turned away. He also noticed a figure making a high-speed forward run.
The person Tendou had pointed at initially was not Rin, Isagi, Otoya, or Nagi.
The two cores simultaneously turned and strolled back to the center circle. This left everyone else confused.
It was also at this time that the ball, which was about to be cleared by Aiku, suddenly made a sharp turn, flying past his head by a hair's breadth.
"What?!" Aiku's confident face suddenly stiffened.
The same went for Isagi. He cursed "Damn it!" The bastard Tendou had used him as a bait again.
Tendou's real target was the half-space in the left side of the penalty area.
There, a red cheetah was making a lightning-fast forward run. It was Chigiri Hyoma. The long hair constantly flowing behind him was proof of how fast he was.
Tap!
He controlled it smoothly and immediately cut inside into the penalty area.
The 44-degree golden shooting angle.
"This time, I have to score!"
The Arabic numerals "44" flashed in Chigiri's pupils. The poor little leopard. Ever since developing his golden angle shot from the left, he had been unable to score. Because the opponents he had encountered were either Loki or Tendou.
You have to know, in the later Neo Egoist League, after developing this "44 Snipe," he averaged one goal per game.
But this time, there was no Loki, no Tendou. The Four Great Heavenly Kings were all being contained by Rin and the others. There was no one left who could stop him.
BAM!
Chigiri heavily struck the ball. It instantly lifted off the ground and flew towards the far corner of the goal.
SWISH!
The ball went in.
The entire stadium fell silent. The fans who had traveled far to support the national youth team, some covered their heads, some their lips. After a long while, they were pulled back to reality by the commentator's amazing lung capacity.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!"
"The ball is in!"
"Unbelievable!"
"The first to score is not the national youth team, who had the initiative on the field, but the Blue Lock team!"
"The player who scored is Chigiri Hyoma!"
"But we cannot ignore the player who single-handedly created this goal, Tendou Kageyoshi!"
"A timely tackle, astonishing physical strength, he even got past player Itoshi Sae and sent out this precision-guided pass."
"Everyone was deceived by him!"
"For this goal, he deserves at least 70% of the credit!"
"A genius's whimsical idea, a genius's pass, an unbelievable midfield libero!"
"..."
"WOAH!"
After a moment of silence, the stadium erupted like a volcano.
Before the match, no one had thought the Blue Lock team could win because they were just a group of high school students, and all of them were forwards. How could such a bullshit team defeat their carefully selected national youth team?
But Blue Lock's counter-attack was powerful. Or rather, Tendou's counter-attack was powerful. He had defeated Sae in a one-on-one, tricked everyone with a classic "Beckham Curve," and helped his team open the scoring.
No one had expected such a plot before the match!
The fan who had added to his bet earlier, looking at the ball rolling in the goal, was completely numb. He roared, "Match fixing!!"
...
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