Team A possession—Rin Itoshi starts from the center circle!
"Follow me!"
After the kickoff, Rin Itoshi immediately passed to Yo Hiori positioned on the left side of the center circle, then accelerated straight toward the central lane of Team B's half.
Entering down the left side of Team B's box, Yo Hiori clearly understood what Rin wanted from him.
As Kyohei Shiguma and Kairu Saramadara stepped up to intercept, Yo Hiori delivered a pinpoint pass to Rin Itoshi running ahead on his right.
Rin played it again immediately, sending the ball toward Hiori's left front—Hiori did the same in return.
Receiving the ball, he didn't give the defenders even a moment to react before returning it straight back to Rin.
With their seamless coordination, the pair slipped past Kyohei Shiguma and Kairu Saramadara in seconds.
But on the final return pass, Kudo Tōya suddenly appeared—closer to the ball than Rin Itoshi.
The reason was simple: Kudo Tōya had anticipated Rin Itoshi's entire sequence of movements.
Even so, Rin showed no panic. Instead, he smirked and said mockingly:
"So that's the basis of your predictions? Pathetic."
As he spoke, Rin changed his forward line, driving straight toward Kudo Tōya.
Using God's Eye to anticipate Rin's movement, Tōya dodged ahead of time.
He then tried circling around Rin from the left before Rin could receive the pass—but in the next instant, Rin changed course again.
He spread his arms to block the left flank and shifted his body that way, clearly intending to cut Tōya off.
Tōya only gave a dismissive grin.
"Hmph. I already told you—none of your movements escape God's Eye. Still feeling confident?"
He was right. The moment Rin raised his arm, Tōya had already predicted the entire follow-up sequence.
Tōya turned left, slipping past Rin's attempted block perfectly.
But Rin's next starting motion stunned him.
(Huh? What the—?)
(He stopped blocking me? Instead of continuing left, he turned back right?)
(Is he seriously handing me the ball Yo Hiori passed? … Wait—
The ball?!)
Tōya reacted instantly. The moment Rin turned back toward the right, he sensed something off.
His eyes darted to the ball—
the straight pass had already shifted trajectory, now bending toward Rin Itoshi's rightward turn.
Tōya had predicted this through God's Eye—but it was still too late.
By dodging Rin to the left earlier, he had already walked into Rin's trap.
Even now that he understood it, he couldn't stop what came next.
The ball was about to land at Rin's feet, and Tōya was pinned behind Rin's back—he had zero chance of stealing the ball now.
…
Ryūma Banjō had seen the entire exchange and thought:
(Damn… did Rin really just pull off a
I anticipated your anticipation of my anticipation
sequence?)
As Ryūma mentally unraveled the mind game, Rin sent the ball toward the right midfield—exactly where Ryūma was positioned.
Ryūma glanced back at Ryusei Shido and grinned.
"Heh. You look surprisingly good like this, Ryusei."
"I told you—I'll wipe that smile off your face!"
Hearing Ryūma's taunt while failing to catch up only ignited Shido further.
"Just wait—I'll tear you apart next!"
Ryūma completely ignored him, focusing on Kudo Tōya.
(Tsk… annoying. Tōya reacted and he's heading right into my shooting lane.)
(So God's Eye has shifted its focus to me, huh?)
(In that case… I need to create a situation you can't anticipate.)
He slowed deliberately. As soon as Shido closed in, Ryūma cut the ball backward with his heel to the left.
Shido reacted quickly enough—but lunging left put him exactly where Ryūma wanted him.
"Sorry—gotcha~"
Ryūma shifted his weight and flicked the ball again with his right heel, sending it through Shido's legs.
Spinning back, Ryūma shouted toward the ball:
"Yoichi! Feed it in!"
Yoichi Isagi received the ball and understood immediately. He was about to rush straight through the center lane of Team B's backfield when—
Shōei Barō, like a starving lion, suddenly lunged in from the opposite side.
"Ba—Barō?!"
Yoichi froze. He hadn't expected Barō to appear so suddenly—he'd even forgotten Barō was still on the field.
In that split second of hesitation, Barō snatched the ball cleanly.
"I devour you, Yoichi!!"
"Not enough. I'll hunt you down until—"
Before he could finish, a calm and gentle voice cut through his growl.
"Ryūma was right. Unstable elements like you need to be crushed early."
Barō's eyes widened. He turned in disbelief.
"You—how are you here? Yo… Hiori?!"
That's right.
Yo Hiori had seen everything. The moment Barō charged at Yoichi, Hiori picked up on his movement.
He sped forward before Barō could steal another pass—racing toward the center of Team B's backfield.
He hadn't forgotten Ryūma's earlier words.
If Yoichi couldn't deliver the ball—
then he would.
Ryūma saw this and frowned slightly.
(Damn… I forgot about Barō. That guy's a freak. Why's he so fixated on Yoichi?)
(What, did your alter ego Maid Barō fall for him or something?)
(Tsk. I was planning on Yoichi feeding the ball in, and then Hiori setting me up.)
(This complicates things… but whatever. Time to improvise.)
Just as Yo Hiori approached Team B's back line, he was immediately met by Kyohei Shiguma.
But Hiori didn't even look at him.
Instead, his eyes went straight to Ryūma Banjō.
Ryūma sensed the gaze and turned toward him as well.