Chapter 126: The U-20 Counterstrike
"The thirty-fifth minute of the first half, and Blue Lock leads 2-0 thanks to Ryosuke Kira's second goal of the match!"
"Who could have predicted this? The stadium is absolutely stunned right now!"
Atsuto Tereasa's voice was actually shaking. He was watching the "Diamond Generation"—the players supposedly hand-picked as the future of Japanese football—getting dismantled by a group of unranked teenagers.
"Kira! Kira!"
"Let's go, Blue Lock!"
"What is the U-20 even doing out there? Go back to JV!"
The chants for Kira were deafening, interspersed with the brutal jeers of fans who had already turned on the National Team.
Oliver Aiku wiped the sweat from his forehead. Despite the score, a wide, hungry grin spread across his face. 'So this is it. The infusion of a new, violent gene into the stagnant blood of Japanese football.'
On the other side of the pitch, Yoichi Isagi tried to pull the same move as before, lunging at Kira for a celebration hug. But Kira saw him coming. With a sharp sidestep, he let Isagi sail right past him and face-plant into the grass.
"Hey! Kira!" Isagi grumbled, looking up with an annoyed, saltier-than-usual expression.
"Nice finish, Kira," Meguru Bachira said, his eyes practically glowing. To him, there was nothing more exhilarating than putting the National Team in their place. With Kira on the field, winning felt like a mathematical certainty.
"Hahaha! Nice face, Isagi. That was a solid feint," Hyoma Chigiri laughed, reaching down to pull Isagi up from the turf.
"Tch... showing off again. It's sickening," Tabito Karasu muttered, though his eyes were sharp with the same competitive fire. Even Itoshi Rin gave Kira a short, sharp nod of recognition.
Kira clapped his hands, focusing his team. "Alright, that's enough. We still have time left in the half. Everyone, initiate Plan B."
***
On the Blue Lock bench, the atmosphere was chaotic.
"Another one! He's actually doing it!"
"That's our Number One!"
"Destroy them!"
The substitutes were roaring with pride, but a few faces told a different story. Shoei Barou's temple was throbbing, a vein practically popping as he stared at the pitch. He was vibrating with a silent, murderous rage because he wasn't the one out there taking the glory. Rensuke Kunigami's expression was more complex—a mix of genuine happiness for Kira and a gnawing, restless frustration at his own seat on the bench.
"Ego-san, why are you staring at the floor? We just scored again! You should be celebrating!" Anri Teieri said, glancing at the coach.
'Idiot Anri,' Ego thought.
He was staring at the floor because he was trying to hide the twitch of a smile that threatened to ruin his reputation as a cold, calculating mastermind. He took a breath, composed himself, and looked up with his usual dead-eyed stare.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, you moron. The half isn't over yet."
"They're about to shift into their own version of Plan B."
Anri puffed out her cheeks, annoyed at being called a moron again.
***
While Blue Lock was riding high, the U-20 squad was drowning in toxic tension.
"My bad. I let him slip through," Aiku said, taking the lead and taking the hit for the last goal.
"It wasn't just you. They pulled a two-on-one. We got caught out," Kazuma Niou said, trying to settle the captain's nerves.
"Hey, rookie. How many more balls are you planning to lose today?"
Itoshi Sae's voice was like a bucket of ice water. He walked right up to Shuto Sendo, his eyes narrowed with pure contempt. "With a performance this pathetic, you'll be lucky if you can marry a fan-fiction of a model, let alone a real one."
"Because of your incompetence—because you can't finish a simple delivery—we're in this hole."
"Are you kidding me?" Sendo snapped back, his face turning red. "Yeah, I got stripped, but you can't pin the whole game on me!"
"I'm not pinning anything. I'm telling you as the man who creates your chances: start doing your job."
"Get me a goal. Now."
Sae's words weren't a request; they were an ultimatum. Sendo felt his blood boil, but he couldn't find a comeback.
"You guys realize that if you lose, the Blue Lock Eleven replaces you, right?" Sae added, his tone indifferent, as if he weren't even wearing the same jersey. "It doesn't affect me either way, but I figured I'd give you a friendly reminder of how close you are to becoming irrelevant."
"Alright, enough. Nobody wants it to end like this," Aiku said, stepping in and scanning his teammates. He saw the anger in their eyes—the wounded pride of the National Team.
That was exactly what he wanted to see.
"Let's move, boys. We treat every second left in this half like it's the end of the world. Let's go!"
The whistle blew, and the match restarted.
The U-20 didn't just move forward; they swarmed. Their two defensive mids, Itsuki Wakatsuki and Haru Hayate, abandoned their deep positions and pushed into the attack.
Under Sae's orchestration, the U-20 launched a desperate, high-velocity counter-assault. Their passing was tighter, their movements more violent. They were playing with a frantic desperation they hadn't shown all game.
Kira felt the shift immediately. The pressure was suffocating. He dropped back into the midfield to help anchor the defense. Aside from Nagi, who stayed up as a release valve, the entire Blue Lock team retreated into their own half.
This was Plan B: The Lockout.
"We're in the final stretch of the first half!" Tereasa's voice rose with the crowd's roar. "This was supposed to be a sure thing for the U-20, but the script has been flipped. Can Blue Lock survive this final barrage?"
On the wing, Teru Kitsunezato was driving the ball when he ran into a wall: Bachira.
Bachira gave Isagi a sharp look, and the two of them converged in a double-team. Kitsunezato realized he was being hunted.
'They're closing the trap...' Kitsunezato thought, his breath hitching. He was seconds away from losing possession.
"Over here!"
Kento Chou appeared beside him, his face set in a mask of pure determination. Kitsunezato didn't hesitate, shoveling the ball to him.
Chou took one massive, explosive stride. The U-20 winger used his incredible wingspan and strength to carve a path toward the box.
"I'm putting this in!" Chou roared, his eyes locked on the net. He cocked his leg back, ready to unleash a cannon.
"NOT ON MY WATCH!"
Ikki Niko appeared in his path. Niko knew he couldn't outmuscle a giant like Chou, so he didn't try. He kept his hands behind his back and focused entirely on the timing of the strike. The second Chou's foot moved, Niko lunged to block the primary angle.
Chou was a starter for a reason. He saw the block and adjusted in mid-motion, dragging the ball to the side before firing.
BOOM.
The stadium held its breath as the ball screamed toward the goal.
Niko looked back, his heart hammering. 'Gagamaru, please tell me you've got this.'
'Got it? I've had it the whole time, Niko.'
Gagamaru didn't just dive; he exploded. He used his freakish reflexes to track the deflected shot, snapping his hand out to parry it away.
"WHAT A SAVE!" Niko screamed, his fist pumping the air. It was the perfect synergy between defender and keeper.
"The ball is still live! Stay focused!"
Gagamaru hit the ground hard, unable to recover instantly. At that moment, the fourth official raised the board: 1 minute of stoppage time.
"Sixty seconds! Just sixty seconds!" Karasu yelled, his voice echoing through the box.
'Crap... the ball is heading straight for Sae...' Chigiri realized, his eyes widening in horror.
Itoshi Sae stood at the edge of the area, a calm observer in the middle of a hurricane. He cushioned the ball with a touch that looked like it belonged in a training video, killing the momentum instantly.
"Isagi!" Bachira shouted.
"I'm on him!"
The two of them swarmed Sae, their faces twisted with the intensity of the moment. They couldn't let him breathe. They couldn't let him think. They had to end the half here.
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