BEEEEEP—!
The whistle blew, and Shinichi launched the kickoff with a clean overhead toss.
Given that the Legendary Training Camp was full of players who relied heavily on upper body strength, Shinichi's throw-in skills were top-notch.
The ball landed perfectly at Lavinho's feet, and without wasting a second, he burst forward. In just a blink, he left Chris in the dust—only to be stopped in his tracks by Loki.
"Tch, how annoying. I'll leave it to you, little magician."
Seeing Noa closing in too, Lavinho had no intention of hogging the ball. He passed it swiftly to Ness. But almost immediately, Kaiser stepped in.
"You sure talked a big game. Let's see if you're actually worthy of challenging me."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
Ness kept a cool facade, but he remained cautious.
The match's pace hadn't slowed a bit, even after the last ball went out of bounds.
When Loki came over to press and Ness got pinned down by Kaiser, things began to look grim.
Instinctively, Ness glanced at Shinichi—but both Kaiser and Loki moved in perfect sync to block the passing lane.
"You know," Ness said with a smirk curling at the edge of his lips, "the secret to a good magic trick is misdirection—making the unimportant seem important. In other words… diversion!"
Just as the two defenders shifted to cut off the pass, Ness's entire demeanor flipped. Calm and collected, he was a magician in his element. His right foot, seemingly poised to pass left, suddenly went slack.
He hopped over the ball, then pushed off hard, sending it blindly with his heel toward the trailing Isagi.
"Stop right there!"
A menacing shout sent chills down Isagi's spine.
Someone was closing in from behind—fast. With no time to think, Isagi switched feet midair and struck.
The panicked goalkeeper couldn't predict the sudden move. Having already committed to the wrong side, he was helpless to recover as the ball rocketed past him into the net.
GOAL.
Isagi landed in a low crouch, his breathing ragged—not from exhaustion, but from tension. Even though he'd scored against the mentors' team, his expression wasn't one of triumph.
Just now… Rin had nearly shut him down.
Rin had timed his intervention perfectly, arriving right at the split-second Isagi switched feet in midair. Had Isagi used the foot he faked with at the start, the keeper would've saved it. Had he swapped feet any sooner, Rin would've blocked the real shot.
He had Isagi checkmated at that precise moment.
Isagi could have delayed slightly before shooting to throw off Rin's timing—but that hesitation would've given the keeper enough time to recover, robbing his signature double-barrel volley of its unpredictability.
"If I hadn't started the fake with my left foot and ended up shooting slightly faster with my right, or if Rin's timing was just a bit sharper, he would've completely shut me down."
Still catching his breath, Isagi glanced at Rin with newfound apprehension. For the first time, he fully understood his own weakness.
The double-gun volley—devastating as it was—only worked in true one-on-one situations. Against multiple defenders… it was no longer unbeatable.
If his double-gun volley was essentially a cheat move—letting him react after his opponent in a game of rock-paper-scissors—then the counter was clear: two players working in sync.
If one throws scissors and the other throws paper, even if he reacts in time to beat one, the result will always be a draw with the other. In other words, a well-coordinated pair dividing the angles could completely neutralize his so-called unbeatable move.
"As I thought… I can't let myself be trapped by a single powerful move."
While jogging back on defense, Isagi cast a glance at Rin Itoshi.
"Rin Itoshi… as expected of Sae's younger brother and Shinichi's former Blue Lock teammate. The guy's no joke. I've only ever used this shot once in the first phase against France, and yet… he's already seen through it. And aside from Shinichi—who's in a league of his own—and the genius midfielder Hiori, he's the only one whose bid value rivals mine."
Meanwhile, unlike Isagi, who found clarity in discovering a flaw to fix, Rin was stewing.
"Damn it... I got beat by that shot again. Next time, I swear I'll crush it."
He wasn't celebrating. No, far from it. Every failed challenge to elite strikers only sharpened the storm inside him. He didn't blame anyone else—he blamed his own weakness. And in that frustration, the gap between him and Shinichi or Sae only seemed to widen.
"Isagi, and that damn Kaiser… all of you just keep jumping in my way. Tch... One day, I'll take every last one of you down!"
Feeling Isagi's gaze on him only made it worse. He gritted his teeth, quickened his pace, and locked onto Noa's position ahead. Finally, under Shinichi's tight press, Noa was forced to pass—and the ball went to Rin.
"Yo, Rin. My turn now."
Isagi was already waiting, puzzle eyes focused, reading Rin's every twitch.
"You... Get out of my way!"
In that instant, the demon behind Rin's eyes twisted with fury. He burst forward, dragging Isagi with him.
But this time, Isagi wasn't a physical liability—his body had caught up to his mind. His athleticism was now around the average of the New Hero Battle participants, and paired with his elite predictive skills, he stuck to Rin like glue.
Yet Rin didn't care. He used his shoulder to pin Isagi just enough to prevent a clean steal while dribbling toward the corner.
'What's he doing?'
Isagi narrowed his eyes.
'That's the sideline... He's almost out of bounds. What's Rin trying to pull?!'
Just as they reached the boundary, Rin slammed on the brakes and spun around, angling himself nearly sideways to the goal. Then—he unleashed a shot. It wasn't just from a sharp angle—it was from zero angle. Maybe even negative.
"No way—!!"
Under Isagi's stunned stare, the ball twisted unnaturally in midair, bending around like it defied physics. It curled into the top right corner of the net—unstoppable.
GOOOOOAL!!!
"A zero-angle... curved shot?!"
Isagi muttered under his breath, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Damn genius..."