Chapter 71: Still Can't Win
"This free kick is 25 meters from the goal. That's well within this guy's range." Nagi's eyes revealed the gravity of the situation.
Isagi nodded, and after a moment's thought, he called out to Chigiri. "Chigiri, let's get closer together."
"Okay. Are we forming a wall?" Chigiri understood Isagi's idea.
Isagi nodded in confirmation. At the same time, his mind began to analyze the free-kick situation and the positioning of both sides.
In front of the goal, Isagi and Chigiri formed the wall.
To the left of the goal, Barou was defending, while the Red Team's Bachira stood on that side.
To the right of the goal, Nagi was defending alone, while the Red Team's Kira and Aryu were both on Nagi's side.
Isagi positioned himself slightly closer to Nagi's side.
Isagi pondered Rin's choices internally.
In his view, Itoshi Rin had only two options: shoot or pass.
If Rin chose to pass, Isagi would join Nagi on the side where they were outnumbered to help defend.
If Rin chose to shoot, Isagi would jump with Chigiri to block Rin's shot.
So Isagi chose a position that he believed could respond to both scenarios simultaneously.
However, Isagi's choice also had a flaw. If he jumped the instant Rin kicked the ball, he wouldn't be able to immediately recover to assist in defense if it was a pass.
In other words, Isagi had to judge Rin's choice in a split second.
Victory or defeat would be decided in that single instant.
"Come on, Itoshi Rin. What will you choose?" Isagi's eyes stared intently at Rin's movements.
Rin took a few steps back for his run-up.
He swung his leg.
The motion was executed in one breath.
BOOM!
The instant his right foot made contact with the ball.
Isagi still hadn't discerned Rin's intention.
'Huh? So fast!'
While Isagi was still thinking, the ball had already flown over his head. Chigiri, who had jumped on the other side, turned his head sharply but couldn't reach Rin's shot.
Swish!
The ball went in.
The score was 4-2. The Red Team extended their lead.
Isagi's face was full of confusion. 'How could he not hesitate at all?'
Kira saw it clearly from the side. That ball was a dipping shot that just barely skimmed over Isagi's head before dropping.
In other words, Rin hadn't left any time for Isagi to think from the very beginning. He just launched a fast, precise shot immediately.
After scoring, Itoshi Rin stared coldly at Isagi and said, "You must have been thinking about whether I would shoot or pass, right?"
"Your analysis was wrong. In this situation, I only ever have one option."
"And that is to shoot!!!"
Isagi came to a sudden realization upon hearing this. 'That's right. The one taking the kick is Itoshi Rin, who looks even stronger than Kira.'
'Why would he possibly pass?'
Isagi regretted his hesitation just now.
He had lost this gambit again.
"Damn it..." Chigiri cursed inwardly. He had reacted and jumped quickly, but Rin's shot had been directed toward Isagi's side.
Isagi's reaction had been a little too slow.
"Isagi, why didn't you jump? What are you doing?!" Barou was so angry that veins popped out on his forehead. In his view, Rin obviously only had the option to shoot.
"One more goal, and I'll end this boring match." Itoshi Rin declared.
'No, that's not right.'
'We didn't lose points just because of that free kick.'
Isagi's brain was still working. 'The one who caused the free kick was Kira.'
'What I should have stopped wasn't Rin's shot just now, but the central breakthrough initiated by Kira and Rin passing back and forth.'
'I saw early on that my team's stamina had dropped severely, but I'm afraid Kira and Rin knew that too.'
'Then those two guys created a game-deciding opportunity right when we were exhausted.'
'Damn it. If only I had realized our stamina issue sooner, the situation wouldn't have developed like this.'
'Rin and Kira... these two guys seem within reach, yet I can never catch up to them.'
"Aaaaargh! Isagi, you bastard! If I were defending, I definitely would have jumped..." Barou was still irritated about the goal just now.
'No, that's wrong.' Isagi shook his head, internally rejecting Barou's words.
'If Barou had been the wall, Rin absolutely wouldn't have shot directly. He definitely would have passed to Kira...'
'Wait!'
A flash of inspiration struck Isagi's mind.
'If Rin chose to shoot directly because I was the one defending?'
'Then, if I can use his perspective against him... if I use the Isagi he sees from another angle... couldn't I defeat him?'
Isagi seemed to find a new solution all of a sudden.
Kira noticed Isagi's change. 'Yes, that's it. Keep evolving.'
"Crap. If the other team scores one more goal, we lose. Pass the ball to me next!" Chigiri said confidently.
"Pass to you? Can you even run anymore?" Barou expressed doubt and shouted, "Passing to this King is the only correct choice."
"I don't care what you guys do. I'll chase it down either way..." Nagi seemed indifferent about who received the pass.
"Everyone, I understand your thoughts. It's not over yet. Let's crush them!"
Isagi looked at Rin with interest. He really wanted to know if his method would work.
Beep!
The match continued.
White Team kick-off.
The instant the White Team started the play, Barou began his run.
Beside him, Kira stuck to him like glue.
"Tsk. I didn't expect your stamina to be this good. You're really annoying." Barou was unhappy.
Kira responded with a smile, "Defending against a King requires giving one hundred percent, naturally."
"Tch." Just as Barou was getting annoyed by Kira's persistent marking, Isagi dribbled the ball up from behind in his field of view.
"Oho, looks like your teammate wants to link up with you?" Kira looked at Isagi's movements thoughtfully.
'Link up with Barou?'
'That hasn't happened once in this match.' However, Kira didn't dare to take it lightly and leave Barou unmarked.
So he continued to stick to Barou.
On the White Team's side.
Seeing Isagi take the initiative for once, Barou immediately transformed into a beast.
He moved his feet frantically, trying to shake off Kira's marking.
What he didn't expect was that just as the two of them were tangling...
Isagi actually dribbled straight past them down the sideline.
"Ah! Isagi, you bastard! You used me as a decoy?" Barou felt like he had been played.
"I knew it." Kira knew things wouldn't be that simple, but he wasn't worried at all. After all, Rin was still behind them.
"Don't think you're getting past, Isagi." Bachira arrived to cover from the side.
Nagi immediately moved up to support, signaling for the ball with his hand.
In Nagi's view, this was a great opportunity for a wall pass.
Conversely, Isagi didn't think so.
In Isagi's view, Rin was already in a position to intercept any pass between Isagi and Nagi.
'I can't combine with Nagi on this one!'
A bird's-eye view of all the players on the field appeared in Isagi's mind.
'From the other side! Breakthrough!'
From the left flank, Isagi launched a long pass that traversed the entire field.
Straight toward the space in front of Chigiri on the right.
'Aaaaaah! Run! Don't let me down, Chigiri!!!!' Isagi prayed internally.
On the other side, Chigiri and Aryu also began to accelerate together toward the ball's landing spot.
"Princess, you can't run anymore, can you?" Aryu teased from the side.
"Piss off!" With a roar of rage, Chigiri actually managed to touch the ball first.
Everyone on the other side began to follow up frantically, rushing toward the goal.
Although Chigiri touched the ball first, he hadn't shaken off Aryu.
'What now?' Just as Chigiri was contemplating his next move, a figure broke away from the crowd.
Isagi was cutting diagonally toward the goal?
Chigiri didn't hesitate at all and passed the ball back to Isagi.
'How did he do that?'
'No one followed him?'
Chigiri was puzzled.
Kira knew what had happened. Isagi had vanished from Rin's field of view for a moment, running far wide.
Then, his sudden diagonal cut inside meant Rin hadn't noticed Isagi's movement at all.
'Yeah, right!'
'Isagi, you're underestimating Rin. If I noticed it, there's no way Rin wouldn't have noticed. You haven't shaken him off.'
Kira shook his head. Isagi was still too green.
Sure enough.
Behind Isagi, Rin appeared like a phantom.
"Crap. No way."
"I clearly shook him off, but now he's caught up and is running shoulder to shoulder with me..."
"He's in a position to block my shot..."
"It's no use. I can't shoot like this!!"
Isagi fell into a deep despair.
"As expected, I still can't win against Itoshi Rin..."
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