040 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

Hiori Yo and Ranze Kurona toyed with the muscular monster Tokimitsu Aoshi with a beautiful one-two, but at the same time Tanaka Shingen used this opening to block their path forward.

"Sorry, you can't pass through here."

'Excellent defensive positioning, great control of distance, no greed for a tackle at all, and he's consciously trying to block my passing lane to Kurona. Looks like a fairly balanced attack-and-defense type.'

With a single sweep of his eyes, Hiori Yo saw through Tanaka Shingen's defensive strategy. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

"Well, we do support each other like planets and satellites, that's true—but don't get the fundamental premise wrong..."

Tanaka Shingen suddenly realized something. He no longer cared about Kurona's threat and pressed forward directly, but Hiori Yo had already made his move. This sudden no-look long pass was completely beyond his expectations. The ball flew straight toward Shinichi as if it had eyes.

"Even if it's a planet, its path still ultimately circles around the sun."

"So, sun—let those who dare to stare directly at you witness your brilliance."

"OK..."

The rapidly spinning ball became as docile as a kitten the instant it was touched, stopping at Shinichi's feet. He looked at the roadblock ahead of him.

"Rin, since the audience is saying so much, why don't you accompany me and properly finish this performance."

"Sure... but the ending of this play is the arrogant boy dying in a stinking roadside gutter!"

Rin Itoshi didn't hold back with his words, yet his actions showed no sign of being provoked at all. He kept a rigid two-step distance from Shinichi.

For speed-type players, there are two defensive strategies against them.

The first is to stick extremely close, using physical confrontation to hinder their power generation so they can't start smoothly. That naturally makes it hard for them to exploit their speed advantage. The downside is that if the opponent breaks free and accelerates, the defender will have a hard time catching up.

The second is like Rin's approach—maintaining distance from the opponent. When the opponent tries to break through, that distance gives the defender some reaction time to block.

"But the downside is that if the speed gap is too large, deliberately leaving distance is basically giving the opponent a runway to sprint and unleash their speed."

Shinichi lowered his center of gravity.

"You're trying to give me space to perform, then crush me right where I'm strongest, huh..."

"Rin, you say football is a battlefield, but you still have moments where you sulk like a child, don't you."

As he spoke, Shinichi suddenly moved. His right foot nudged the ball forward, his left leg slammed into the ground to launch, and Shinichi shot forward like an arrow released from the bow, instantly erasing the distance between them.

"But sorry—I still wasn't going all out before."

No one knew at which step the direction change happened. The ball suddenly flew left. Rin Itoshi locked onto its trajectory and moved in sync, but at the instant his center of gravity shifted, Shinichi blocked the ball with the instep of his foot and flicked it to the right.

Unexpectedly, Rin Itoshi's shifted center of gravity was also a feint. His right leg suddenly exerted force, blocking Shinichi's path before he could complete the direction change.

"Fall... for me!"

"Still though... you're wide open down the middle."

In such an intense exchange, Shinichi somehow still had the leisure to tease Rin Itoshi.

Under Rin Itoshi's sharply contracting pupils, Shinichi's right leg suddenly planted itself. The ball dropped from his instep and continued rolling right, while his body twisted around the right leg as a pivot. His left leg swung around from behind, smashing the ball hard with his heel.

In the middle of a direction change, Shinichi abruptly altered his movement, using a flashy back-heel to kick the ball through Rin Itoshi's legs.

Even so, Rin Itoshi reacted immediately. He no longer looked at the ball's position and instead charged straight at Shinichi.

'A man-and-ball split—just stopping one is enough. The ball is already behind me now. Even if our speeds were similar, with my back to the ball and needing to turn around, there's no way I could catch Shinichi, let alone when I'm at a speed disadvantage.'

'So I'll stop you directly! At the very least, I can't give you a clean one-on-one.'

Rin Itoshi spread his arms, expanding his defensive range as much as possible. In this situation, even a foul was acceptable.

"This scene feels kind of familiar..." Shinichi looked calmly at Rin Itoshi, who was trying to grab him.

"But my answer is still the same."

"A man's embrace—I'll always respectfully decline."

Shinichi forcefully lowered his center of gravity, raised his hand to press against Rin Itoshi's waist and abdomen to suppress his power, then ducked low and burst forward beneath Rin Itoshi's raised arm.

The speed was so astonishing that Rin Itoshi, who instinctively grabbed Shinichi's jersey, was left with nothing but a torn scrap of cloth in his hand.

After the second selection, Rin Itoshi had already been tricked once by Otoya Eita's off-the-ball movement when they first met. Let alone now—Shinichi, with even stronger attributes, combined it with Karasu Tabito's hand movements.

In just a single collision, several meters opened up between them, and with no defender left on him, Shinichi's next action was obvious.

Raise his foot...

Burst shot!

Bang!

Goooooooooal!

2 : 0

As the net billowed and the Blue Lock goalkeeper collapsed silently to the ground, the score on the screen was rewritten once more.

Shinichi turned back and spoke flatly to Rin Itoshi, who looked as if he were questioning his entire existence.

"I remember—you said we were being too casual, treating football like a game, right?"

A shadow suddenly fell over him. Rin Itoshi lifted his head in a daze, staring blankly at Shinichi standing before him, looking down at him with cold indifference.

"It's normal that you can't understand, because being able to smile in battle is a privilege of the strong."

"Only poor students treat every exam like a life-or-death ordeal. Only the weak treat every battle as a desperate fight for survival."

"Isn't so-called urgency just psychological pressure that comes from being unable to achieve your goals? Aren't you so anxious because you can't catch up to your brother unless you work yourself to death?"

"Honestly, I really don't understand. You're tense every second, treating football as war, working so hard like this..."

"So why are you so weak?"

"What?!" Rin Itoshi stared at Shinichi in disbelief. Those pitch-black pupils held not a shred of emotion, stating it as if it were an obvious fact.

"I... am weak?"

"Yes. And paired with that attitude of yours that ignores everything, it's downright ridiculous."

The corner of Shinichi's mouth suddenly lifted as he extended his right hand toward Rin Itoshi.

"Now then, clown on our stage—stand up and accompany me as we finish this play."

"The script is the classic rookie web-novel formula: the protagonist crushes those who lack ability yet still dare to step forward and shout mindlessly..."

"Mediocrity."