"This defensive positioning is incredible; just by standing there, he's blocked all of Kaiser's potential breakthrough routes, forcibly halting Kaiser and stopping this fast attack. This is Lorenzo, the protagonist Devourer of the new generation's world top eleven."
Isagi frowned, observing the positioning of everyone on the field, continuously calculating and planning his next move. Meanwhile, at the front, the battle between Kaiser and Lorenzo had already begun.
Kaiser completely ignored Lorenzo's shaky posture, self-assuredly dragging the ball laterally. As Lorenzo shifted his stance, Kaiser quickly cut inside and turned around.
However, even though Lorenzo's movements were influenced by Kaiser, he still managed to twist his body in an almost inhuman posture, raising his hand to block Kaiser's body, preventing him from gaining the speed to break free. Then, stepping and turning again, he positioned himself once more in front of Kaiser.
"Ah, worthy of three hundred million indeed, quite troublesome for someone worth two hundred million like me. But, are you sure you want to tangle with this watchdog so persistently? If this continues..."
Watching Kaiser, who was blocked again and looking increasingly grim, Lorenzo flashed his golden teeth, "If you can't even get past the first guard, you don't have the right to meet our king."
Kaiser, provoked by Lorenzo's taunting, became even more agitated but decided to drop the personal challenge.
He gently tapped the ball back to Ness, who was hovering nearby, and used a subtle move to block Lorenzo momentarily, freeing himself from the tangle and quickly repositioning.
However, despite Kaiser's clever planning, a boy with long bangs shattered his scheme. Niko, with eyes sharp beneath his bangs, accurately predicted Kaiser's movements. He suddenly sprinted across, positioning himself in front of Ness and intercepting Kaiser's pass.
"Shinichi was right, you only trust tools that can be completely controlled by you, so once you're in a deadlock, your only passing option is this second-rate magician, since everyone else at Bastard-München exists to serve Noa."
Having cut off Kaiser's pass, Niko quickly flicked his foot to send a lateral pass that dodged Ness's counterattack, then gestured with his right hand in a circle in front of his eyes, "Ubers Corporation, the latest business strategy is a huge success."
"Stop your chatter, lad, the counterattack starts now!" Aiku laughed and scolded, sending the ball straight back to Shinichi. As Shinichi touched the football and began to move forward, a faint silver-white electric arc suddenly burst forth in the eyes of everyone from Ubers.
"!!!...What is this?!" Watching Ubers's counterattack, Isagi's pupils sharply constricted.
In his eyes, Ubers seemed like a monster fully integrated as one, but the moment Shinichi took control of the ball, he even felt as if he were facing a real beast, a sensation of unity he had never witnessed before.
"This kid!" Meanwhile, Noa unconsciously straightened up from the sidelines, watching Shinichi intently for a long while, then turned to Snuffy, "Is he controlling the pace of the attack to bring everyone into a practice-like state?"
Yes, this was Shinichi's development of a new ability for the organizer form ZONE, born from his role.
Unlike Kuroko's Basketball, where Akashi's organizer personality in ZONE could only activate teammates' states through passing, Shinichi's entry into the second phase of ZONE was even more advantageous.
As long as his teammates were compliant, he could unify everyone's movements to achieve a state similar to the cooperation of Kagami Taiga and the Seirin team, although not quite reaching their level of predicting each other's actions a second ahead and coordinating at the speed of light, but at least achieving synchronized, intuitive coordination.
Shinichi can subtly enhance his teammates' conditions through rhythm, passing positions, and even his own positioning and defensive cover, until finally entering a pseudo-ZONE state.
This is also why, when using this ability, spectators initially only noticed faint electric arcs in their eyes.
However, obviously, as players on the field, it's difficult for them to immediately discern the secrets of Shinichi's abilities.
Consequently, faced with the formidable approach of Uber, the players of Bastard-München did not attempt to disrupt their opponents as they entered their groove. Instead, they quickly retreated to their positions, preparing defensively for Uber's onslaught.
"Ah, long time no see, Shinichi."
On the field, Yukimiya and Reiji positioned themselves one in front of the other in Shinichi's path.
They stood in a cross-formation, so that if Shinichi managed to bypass Yukimiya in front, Reiji would quickly step up to block him again, "It's been a while, why the rush? How about you stay and play with us for a while?"
Unfortunately for them, they were now facing Shinichi, who had just awakened a new ability and was thoroughly enjoying his role as the orchestrator.
With a flash of silver light in his eyes and under the illumination of lightning, Shinichi swiftly kicked the ball long.
The football slipped through the gap between the two crossed defenders, flying directly towards Kunigami positioned diagonally ahead.
Receiving the pass, Kunigami quickly turned around, using his body to strongly hold off Bastard-München's center-back.
Then, after stabilizing at the front, Kunigami, serving as a pivot in the forward line, passed the ball back to Shinichi, who had managed to get past Yukimiya and Reiji.
With flecks of dark ink falling, the pure blackness gradually tinted the silver-white lightning. Shinichi switched back to attack mode and, from 36 meters away from the goal, took a direct shot—
"Don't even think about it, you clown!!!"
As Shinichi was about to take the shot, an angry voice erupted from behind him, followed by a forceful shove. While Shinichi felt he could maintain his shooting posture against this force, he couldn't be sure of the shot's success.
Therefore, Shinichi didn't resist too much. After making a posture to protect himself from injury, he allowed the force to knock him down onto the grass.
Beep—!!!
"Germany's Bastard-München, number 10, Mitchael-Kaiser, foul, yellow card."
The urgent whistle halted the game, and the announcer's voice promptly declared the foul by Kaiser, who stood on the field panting heavily with a fierce expression.
Meanwhile, Shinichi got up, his lips curled in an inscrutable smile: "Calm down. Aren't you a bit too hasty, Kaiser?"
"Shut up!" Kaiser, who had desperately sprinted back to defend, adjusted his breathing and snapped back at Shinichi with an ill look.
Helplessly, he was quite certain that Shinichi could have scored from that position. His foul, although giving away a free kick, at least allowed him to get back in time to defend.
"Alright, Ness, I'm going to cover his curved shot path, you watch for the low, ground kicks against the logic. After we intercept his shot, I'll start moving immediately. Hold the rhythm then long pass it to me," Kaiser instructed quietly as they adjusted their positions.
Ness nodded vigorously, his excitement palpable.
Meanwhile, Isagi, deep in thought, had subtly swapped positions with another player, perhaps foreseeing the play's development.
[The game resumed, and Bastard-München quickly launched a counterattack. The superstar rookie, Kaiser, and the magician, Ness, achieved almost perfect coordination, bypassing several defenders with their quick passing. But then! Lorenzo managed to halt Kaiser's progress! Kaiser still attempts to maneuver—evading a defender, can he break through? Ah! Lorenzo is back in step with him, there's no way through, Kaiser opts to pass back.]
[But wait! Niko makes a move! Niko intercepts Kaiser's pass, showcasing his defensive prowess for Ubers. In the New Hero Wars, Uber's defense is proving to be impenetrable! Now, Ubers begins their familiar pattern of counter-attacking.]
[Aiku passes to Shinichi, who starts to sprint with the ball. Faced with two defenders, Shinichi shockingly chooses to execute a precise pass through a tiny gap between them! The ball slips between the two players to Kunigami, who then passes it back to Shinichi who has now shaken off his markers and is advancing without the ball, ready to shoot—]
[Oh! Kaiser commits a foul! Still some distance from the goal, could he have blocked the shot path to disrupt the attack? Directly fouling seems unwise, but perhaps in the heat of the moment, the players felt it was too late. Now, let's see how Bastard-München will handle this upcoming free-kick!]
...
Facing the wall of players, Shinichi remained utterly composed. As he began his run-up, everyone's hearts tightened in anticipation.
However, Shinichi made no feint; he straightforwardly lifted his foot and struck the ball.
At the moment of contact, the ball dramatically deformed and twisted, until reaching a critical point, it exploded forward with a loud bang!
"Is it not a shot?!" Kaiser's pupils constricted as he watched the trajectory of the ball.
To him, Shinichi seemed like a player of the same type as himself, which made it utterly baffling that Shinichi would choose to pass at such a critical moment.
Could it be that Shinichi felt he had no chance of scoring from this position with a free kick?
But that didn't make sense either! At least, if it were him, assuming there was no chance of scoring, he would have forsaken the free kick opportunity and set up another team member to assist himself, or even if he knew he couldn't score, he would still keep the control firmly in his own hands.
Becoming a king is about gaining more, about having others serve oneself, isn't it? How could a king use his power to assist those who are merely followers?! If one has to forsake what rightly belongs to oneself even after striving to be a king, then why expend the effort to rise to that position at all?
Kaiser couldn't comprehend this at all.
He simply couldn't grasp Shinichi's approach, much like decades ago, no one could have anticipated that Michael Jordan would pass up the last shot of the game to instead set up his teammate Steve Kerr for the game-winning basket.
Some people exert all their effort and resort to various means just to barely become kings, simultaneously fearing any potential threats, quickly suppressing anyone capable until they are domesticated into harmless servants.
Meanwhile, others merely do what they wish and naturally find others willing to follow, elected to leadership by the will of the people, allowing their subordinates to harbor ambitions confidently, ready to face any challenger.
This mirrors how Noa was willing to nurture Kaiser and Isagi, which is also why Chris mocked Kaiser as a 'pseudo-king.'
Therefore, all of Kaiser's plans based on his own assumptions had utterly failed. The wildly spinning football curved around the crowd and flew towards Barou, who had cleverly positioned himself using his predator vision to block everyone's line of sight at the crucial moment.
"Just as I thought... that pass was meant for a teammate. Shinichi, you're still that guy who would sacrifice everything for victory... But I've seen through it now!"
As despair engulfed everyone from Bastard-München and the commentator began to shout excitedly, another figure burst through the crowd.
As countless puzzle pieces fell and clicked together in his vision, forming a unique, puzzle-like enhanced vision pattern, Isagi positioned himself precisely in front of Barou, blocking all possible receptions.
Simultaneously, Hiori also rushed from the other side, positioning himself in front of Barou.
"You're playing that trick again, Shinichi. Come on, show me something I haven't seen before."
At this moment, the situation swiftly reversed. Even Kaiser, who usually didn't see eye to eye with Isagi, felt a spark of respect.
To him, Isagi wasn't a threat as much as Shinichi was; stopping Shinichi from further breaking him down was paramount. If Isagi had his moments, he could live with that.
Watching the football, about to be intercepted by Isagi, Shinichi did not rush forward to contest or defend.
Instead, he turned around and walked slowly back towards his own half, recalling his training with Oikawa Tooru at the legendary camp.
During a training session that used the camp's ability to change scenarios, they had set up a series of Blue Lock goalkeepers to act as sparring partners in a volleyball match.
At that time, Oikawa orchestrated the play by having his teammates jump continuously without actually making a pass. He maintained his stance, drawing but not releasing.
Only when the last player who could join the attack leapt into the air, drawing Shinichi to jump for the block, did Oikawa finally touch the ball and score directly.
"When the opponent tries to predict your actions, use multiple options to confuse them, and by the time you reveal the last option, they'll stubbornly believe that's the correct answer."
Shinichi remembered Oikawa Tooru picking up the volleyball from the ground, pointing at him with his signature smile, "Also, don't think of the organizer as just an offensive player or even a subordinate to the ace. On the contrary, the organizer is the king who controls everyone on the field. So, when necessary, don't hesitate to use them as bait, to exploit and maximize their value."
"This ball is already in."
As Shinichi's decisive declaration fell, the football, mid-flight, suddenly plummeted down, then upon hitting the ground, it spun crazily and bounced back in the opposite direction, charging straight towards the goal.
As the ball whizzed past Isagi, Hiori, and the goalkeeper, shattering the ice spikes around them, the farcical end of this spectacle was already determined.
GOOOOOOOAL!!!
Ubers Italy 1:0 Bastard-München Germany!!!
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