Real world.
Blue Lock world.
At this moment.
The cameras all turned in unison to the 1.93-meter-tall Tendou.
This was a super goal, the kind you see once in a decade.
"63 meters!"
"According to the latest information, the shot from Manchester City's number 7 reached a staggering distance of 63 meters!"
"Fans in front of your screens, do you still remember?"
"August 17, 1996, the first round of the Premier League, the match between Manchester United and Wimbledon?"
"That was the moment David Beckham became famous with a single goal!"
"From that day on, the handsome man had a super long-range shot that the whole world envied!"
Many people began to connect the charismatic superstar with Tendou.
Because they were both so handsome.
Their handsomeness was the kind that could unify the aesthetic standards of the entire world.
After scoring, Tendou didn't celebrate. He just stood where he was and spread his hands towards Prince.
The Manchester City players stood stunned for a moment, then rushed towards him like they had lost their minds.
Some excitedly jumped on Tendou's back, while others ran over to pat his chest.
On the bench.
Prince transformed into the most passionate fan, ripping off his shirt to reveal his muscles in celebration.
Far away in Manchester.
Pep Guardiola, who had just joined the Blue Moons, couldn't help but raise his hands to his own shiny bald head.
Prince had called him a few days ago, telling him he absolutely had to watch today's match.
He said there was a player he wanted him to see, no matter what.
From his manner, his attitude, his excited tone, Guardiola knew that Prince must have encountered a genius over there.
Guardiola did him the favor, taking time out of his busy schedule to sit in front of his computer.
During the opening few attacks, Tendou had been invisible.
Naturally, Guardiola hadn't noticed him.
He frowned, his gaze shifting between Chigiri Hyoma, Mikage Reo, and Nagi Seishiro.
These few kids did look good, but not to the point of warranting his personal attention.
If the genius Prince was talking about was one of them, it probably wasn't enough to startle him.
But now?
He understood.
Tendou's very first touch made Guardiola's calm heart beat a little faster.
He knew that kid Kaiser. Before coming to Man City, he had coached at Bayern.
He knew very well what Kaiser was capable of. If Bayern didn't have Noa, he might have already promoted Kaiser to the first team.
And now.
Kaiser was taken down in a single encounter. The skill of the kid named Tendou was definitely not simple.
And.
Tendou was only 17 years old!
He was even younger than Manchester City's "Crown Prince," Foden.
Guardiola's first coaching job was at Barça. That experience launched him directly into the ranks of the world's elite managers.
The "Dream Team Three" Barça he led, with his signature style, had brought misery to all of Europe.
After leaving Barça, Bayern brought him in to introduce his advanced style of play, and so he went to coach Bayern.
Both coaching stints were at traditional giant clubs.
So, unlike most head coaches, the allure of giant clubs was limited for the current Guardiola.
At this stage of his career, rather than coaching a giant, he was more willing to build one himself, just like Ferguson did with the Red Devils.
That was why he came to Manchester City.
Because Man City was not yet a giant-level team, but it possessed all the conditions to become one.
He hoped to become Manchester City's "Ferguson."
Of course.
Although Manchester City had money, compared to teams like Real Madrid, it still lacked sufficient appeal for players.
Right now, Man City had money and tactics; the only thing missing was players.
Give him another Messi, and he was confident he could pull all those high-and-mighty European giants down from their thrones.
Could Tendou be the second Messi?
Guardiola didn't know, but he knew this kid had a limitless future.
Back then, Beckham used a stunning long-range lob to make the whole world know his name.
Today, Tendou, with a similarly stunning long-range lob, had kicked open the door to Europe.
At this moment.
Far too many clubs had taken notice of this young prodigy.
At the very least, Manchester City and Tottenham had already started thinking about buying him for the Premier League.
On the field.
Isagi Yoichi stared intently at Tendou. The other boy's figure was still so distant, so dazzling.
...
The match restarted.
Bayern kicked off again.
Tendou's stunning long-range goal was so breathtaking that it seemed to have drained some of the spirit from the Bayern players.
They no longer had the aggressive momentum from the start of the match. They patiently passed the ball around in their own half, looking for an opportunity.
But you can't score goals, let alone win a match, just by passing the ball around in the back.
Kaiser's eyes locked onto Tendou. After scoring the first goal, the other boy had returned to his strolling demeanor.
That composed posture was exactly like his own when he reigned supreme in the Bayern youth academy.
It was absolutely... disgusting!
Kaiser suddenly made his second move.
Isagi followed closely behind. From the first day he entered the Bayern youth academy, he had set his sights on Kaiser.
This absolute king of the Bayern youth academy was the target he now wanted to devour.
"I need to learn his vision and way of thinking!"
"Kaiser always finds a way to get onto the end of Ness's passing routes."
"Then, facing the defender in front of him, he breaks through in the opposite direction of their center of gravity."
BANG!
As he was thinking, Ness, as expected, made the pass.
Kaiser received the ball and immediately passed it back diagonally to Ness, leaving the Man City defender completely empty.
Ness followed up, caught up to the ball, and then tapped it diagonally forward.
A classic one-two-three.
In a very small space, Kaiser and Ness were on the same wavelength. With their tacit understanding, they easily broke through Manchester City's first line of defense.
Kaiser continued his charge, while Ness acted as a steadfast guard, always staying close by.
"Is he just going to charge directly at the Man City defensive line like this?" Isagi was shocked. He couldn't understand Kaiser's thinking at first.
The skill gap was too vast.
It was at this moment that he suddenly caught Kaiser looking around.
The other boy wasn't looking at the ball at all.
Just like Tendou, he never looked down at the ball at his feet when he played.
No, it was more like he was holding his head high, trying to take in the entire field. It wasn't about the ball, but about the information within his field of vision.
So that's how he thinks?
Isagi seemed to have an epiphany.
He had discovered the reason why Kaiser could always find that shooting path.
It wasn't an inherent talent, but rather observation and thinking—two actions that anyone could perform.
"...So Kaiser is constantly gathering intelligence by observing the battlefield, and then using all the information from both the enemy and our side to constantly update his calculations. With this overwhelming amount of information, he then calculates his own goal-scoring path!"
This was the exact way of playing that Tendou had taught him.
No!
"If this is how Kaiser plays, then he..."
Thinking of Tendou, Isagi immediately cut in from the other side and raised his hand, calling for the ball.
"Pass, Kaiser! You can't beat Tendou."
Huh?
Hearing this, Kaiser felt that this idiot was looking down on him.
He was already approaching the Man City penalty area and had drawn the attention of four defenders.
But Kaiser didn't choose to pass. Instead, he took a shot himself.
"Your shooting lane is already blocked!" Chigiri shouted. He was fast and had a very positive attitude towards defending.
Kaiser, however, sneered sarcastically, "Are your eyes just for decoration? Isn't that spot wide open!"
BANG!
Kaiser actually took a shot under such circumstances, even with four defenders in front of him.
But miraculously.
The ball he kicked flew through the four defenders at a sharp angle, heading for the far corner of the goal.
"What?!"
Chigiri and the others were stunned, their minds unable to comprehend such a shot.
But what Isagi saw was not Kaiser's monstrous shooting ability, but the position in front of the goal.
Zzzt~
Just as I thought, Isagi said to himself.
With a flash of lightning, Tendou's figure appeared in front of the goal without warning.
Thud
He planted both feet and leaped high into the air, kicking the sure-fire goal out of the Manchester City penalty area with one foot.
...
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