"Hmph. I'll crush you completely, you freak!"
"Tsk! You again, blue-haired runt!"
Shōei Barō's forehead veins bulged as he glared at the blue-haired kid who'd ruined his attacks more than once.
Yo Hiori slowly stood up, not sparing Shōei Barō even a glance, and sprinted toward Team B's goal. As he took off, he tossed back:
"For this match, just stay a dormant, sick lion."
Hiori's pass shot toward the left side in front of Team B's goal.
That spot was packed: Kyohei Shiguma, Nijiro Nanase, Rin Itoshi, Ryusei Shido, and Kairu Saramadara were all nearby.
But only two of them reacted the fastest.
Ryusei Shido's lips curled upward, his eyes flashing. With a quick change of direction and burst of acceleration, he left Nijiro Nanase frozen on the spot.
Then Shido went all out, his raw instincts guiding him straight toward the ball's landing point.
Rin Itoshi kept pace as well. Swinging around Kyohei Shiguma's blind spot, he even pressed a hand against Shiguma's shoulder for leverage, launching himself toward the ball with extra speed.
Both Rin and Shido spotted each other instantly. They knew the next touch would be a fight, so they braced for the clash.
But in that crucial moment, neither noticed the third figure bursting in.
(Don't think! Move on instinct!)
(Trust everything I have—)
(Every nerve, every sense—leave it all to that instant of reflex!)
Rin Itoshi and Ryusei Shido stared wide-eyed as the figure shot past, blurting out:
"Yoichi Isagi?!"
"You—"
"How are you here?!"
Yes—at that moment, the one who had outsped both Shido and Rin was the "Puzzle God," Yoichi Isagi!
A heartbeat later, Isagi sliced cleanly between them. As he reached the ball, his body reacted on its own—instinctively unleashing a Blitz Shot!
[BOOM!!]
As expected, Blue Lock goalkeeper missed yet again.
GOAL!! Team A 4:2 Team B
"Yoichi!! That was amazing!! Incredible!!"
"Absolute world-class strike!!"
"Oh!?"
Just as Isagi was about to speak, Nijiro Nanase barreled toward him shouting.
Nanami crashed into him again, tackling him back to the turf in excitement.
"You actually forced your way between Rin and Shido—two guys you can never reach normally—and stole the ball first!"
"Then scored instantly!! How'd you do it?! You're basically a god!"
Pinned to the ground, Isagi's mind was a mess, but he pushed out an answer.
"I… I don't really know what happened."
"But it felt exactly like Hiori said."
"When I replaced thinking with 'reflex,' my body just moved there on its own."
Nijiro Nanase was still buzzing.
"What is this…?"
"A new skill? An awakening?!"
"Holy crap!"
Still stuck under Nanami, Isagi sighed helplessly.
"Alright, can you get off first?"
"Ah! Sorry!"
As Nanami got up, Ryusei Shido walked over with a grin.
"Not bad, Yoichi Isagi."
"I take back what I said before. You're not average at all."
"I can feel it—your cells are sparking."
"I kinda like that explosive burst of yours."
Isagi clearly hadn't expected praise from Shido, leaving him speechless.
Beside them, Rin Itoshi glared at Isagi, visibly annoyed.
"Hmph. 'World-class shot,' huh?"
"You don't even understand how your own strike happened. You just lucked out and stole the ball from me."
"You're infuriating, Yoichi."
Isagi's head was too scrambled to respond; he simply stared back in silence.
Shido, however, wasn't letting that slide. Cracking his knuckles, he smirked at Rin.
"Hey, just admit it, you 'No. 2' brat."
"When someone shines that brightly and you can't even give a sincere compliment, second-rate players drop to third-rate fast."
"And on that last play, Yoichi Isagi totally outdid you, so-called 'No. 2.'"
Rin's eyes chilled as he flexed his wrist.
"Childish."
"Someone steals the ball from you and you grin like an idiot?"
"How could someone like you ever become the world's best?"
Shido's veins popped as he laughed angrily.
"Ha! You can't recognize the strengths in others!"
"With that 'No. 1' self-delusion of yours, how could you ever become the world's best?"
Rin's face twitched, fury boiling.
"Fine. I'll crush you like the disgusting bug you are!"
Shido didn't back down, clenching his fists.
"Oh yeah? You wanna fight?"
"You overrated 'No. 2'!"
Just as the two were about to throw punches, two figures rushed in, each grabbing one.
"Alright, Shido. I told you—no violence!"
"Huh? Tōya, don't pin this on me! That lower-eyelash creep started it!"
The one restraining Shido was indeed Kudo Tōya—the only one capable of cooling him down.
"I know. But fighting him is pointless. Use that energy to think about our next play."
"We're one goal from losing. If you really hate him that much, then mark him like glue next round."
Shido nodded, grinning.
"Didn't need you to say it. I'm gonna box him in so hard he won't even move."
The only person capable of pulling an enraged Rin away was Ryūma Banjō.
With an arm hooked around Rin's neck, he dragged him back and sighed.
"Come on, Rin. Why are you arguing with that maniac Shido?"
"If his insane logic matched yours, wouldn't that make you insane too?"
"And seriously, did you forget Blue Lock bans violence? He's not worth taking a yellow—or a red—for."
Rin snorted, shaking off Ryūma's arm. Heading toward the center circle, he shot back:
"End this match fast. I don't want to see that blond cockroach for even a second."
"Yeah, yeah."
After answering, Ryūma returned to Yoichi Isagi and held out a hand.
"Up you go, Yoichi. That shot was seriously badass!"
"Huh? Thanks!"
Isagi scratched his cheek awkwardly after Ryūma pulled him up.
Ryūma patted his shoulder with a grin.
"Alright, keep it up, Puzzle-kun."
Watching Ryūma walk away, Yoichi Isagi blinked, confused.
(Huh? What did he just call me?)