Tendou soon arrived at his destination.
Pushing the door open, he saw that more than two hundred forwards from all over the country had already gathered inside. He, Isagi Yoichi, and Kira Ryosuke were the last three to arrive, bringing the total number of people to exactly 300!
Their arrival attracted the attention of many, mainly focused on the pretty boy, Kira Ryosuke. The last person hailed as the "jewel of Japanese football" was Itoshi Sae, who was now in Real Madrid's youth academy. With Itoshi Sae as a shining predecessor, it was hard for Kira not to attract attention.
In contrast, after a few glances at Tendou and Isagi, the others looked away.
"So many people!" Isagi was a little surprised.
What was the JFU planning?
He scanned everyone present and found many familiar faces. All of them were the main strikers from teams all over the country.
How did he know? Thanks to Tendou, Ichinan High had qualified for the final tournament of the Winter Cup this year. To seize this hard-won opportunity, the coach had collected information on all their main rivals and told them about it.
"That person is Amori's ace, Okawa Hibiki!"
Amori? (A pun on Aomori, with "Amori" meaning "leaking pus").
Tendou was stunned. What kind of name was that? Why did it sound even more disgusting than washing poop?
"Even Ishikari, the tallest high school forward, is here!"
"Even Nishioka, known as the 'Aomori Messi,' came! Amazing!"
Isagi exclaimed, his eyes scanning player after player. These were all main strikers from teams that had qualified for the final tournament of the Winter Cup. He hadn't expected to see them here.
Hearing this, Tendou gained a preliminary understanding of "puzzle piece" Isagi's eye for talent. He hadn't mentioned a single one of the important people.
Tendou scanned the crowd, and the people he saw included geniuses like Itoshi Rin, Shidou Ryusei, Karasu Tabito, Otoya Eita, Yukimiya Kenyu, and Nagi Seishiro.
"But, why are they all forwards?" Isagi finally noticed the problem. Including himself, Tendou, and Kira Ryosuke, all 300 players here seemed to be forwards. What was this all about?
"Ahem, um, ah, eh."
Just as Isagi was wondering, seeing that everyone had arrived, Ego Jinpachi finally walked onto the stage. He made strange sounds, as if testing the microphone, which also managed to attract the attention of all 300 people in the hall.
"Greetings, you uncut gems of strikers. Congratulations."
All the lights in the hall were instantly turned off, leaving only a single spotlight on Ego Jinpachi. All 300 people, 600 eyes, were now fixed on him.
A mushroom haircut, black-framed glasses, a black shirt, black long pants, and even his shoes were black Crocs. He gave off a rather unsettling feeling.
He continued, "All of you here are the 300 under-18 forwards I have selected based on my own arbitrary and biased judgment."
So they really are all forwards.
Isagi had held onto a sliver of hope before, as he hadn't recognized everyone. Now, hearing Ego Jinpachi's words, his anxious heart finally settled. This invitation was not going to be simple.
"First, let me introduce myself. I am Ego Jinpachi. The JFU hired me to help Japan's national team win the World Cup."
A World Cup championship?
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene erupted in an uproar. Such a thing only existed in their fantasies. For them, it would be a blessing from the heavens if the Japanese team could just break the Round of 16 curse. Haven't they seen that even the two emperors of European football today couldn't lead their national teams to lift the World Cup trophy?
"Who is this guy? Do you know him?" Kira Ryosuke tried to get some useful information from Tendou and Isagi. Unfortunately, Isagi was completely clueless. "No, I have no idea."
Hearing this, Tendou guessed Ego Jinpachi's identity.
If even these kids don't know him, then it's almost certain that Ego Jinpachi was never a professional player.
For Asian fans, any player who has the opportunity to play abroad is worthy of their attention, even if they are just a youth academy member. Therefore, Ego Jinpachi's identity was most likely a former professional coach.
"Let me explain simply."
Ego Jinpachi ignored the young people below and continued his speech.
"For Japan to become number one in the world, we are only one step away!"
"And that is to create our own revolutionary striker!"
A toothless attack.
This problem not only plagued the Japanese national team but also the entire world of football at this moment. With the exception of a few football powerhouses like Portugal and Argentina, almost every country suffered from a lack of striking power to some extent. It was as if world football had not yet recovered from the "Twilight of the Gods" in 2010.
Furthermore, in four years, at the next World Cup in Qatar, fans believed they would experience another "Twilight of the Gods." Many stars familiar to fans, such as Modrić, Messi, Ronaldo, Suárez, Di María, Pepe, Benzema, and others, would likely leave the beautiful game after playing in that World Cup. Because these once-mighty, all-powerful stars had all reached the age of retirement.
Of course, from Tendou's future perspective and what he knew, the real "Twilight of the Gods" would be at the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. That would be the "last dance" for these veterans!
In short, in today's football world, while it couldn't be said that attacking talent had withered away, it was certainly not as vibrant as it once was. The two superstars, Messi and Ronaldo, seemed to have sucked up all the luck in football. Perhaps this was also a reason for the skyrocketing player transfer fees in the future. Powerful forwards were just too rare.
In the future, Mbappé, who had just won the World Cup not long ago, and Haaland would be hailed by people as the new "dual hegemony." But the level of these two couldn't truly compare to Messi and Ronaldo; it felt more like a forced hype, a means to guarantee viewership ratings. On the contrary, that kid who won the Euros while doing his homework had a better chance of chasing the dual hegemony.
But I digress.
Ego Jinpachi, Anri Teieri, and many fans at the time all believed that as long as they could solve the problem of a "toothless attack," the Japanese team could take another great leap forward, and even competing for the World Cup championship would not be impossible. However, this problem had actually plagued them for many years. If they continued to follow the old ways, who knew how long they would stagnate. Therefore, the two of them put their heads together and prepared this crazy plan.
"I am going to conduct an experiment here, to cultivate one world-class striker from the 300 of you," Ego Jinpachi said, spreading his hands. Beneath his calm expression hid a trace of fanaticism and madness.
"And this is the facility prepared for the experiment, Blue Lock!"
A pentagonal building appeared on the big screen, very similar to the Pentagon in the United States. When it came to paying filial respects, the Japanese were serious.
"From today on, you will live a communal life here and participate in the special training program I have designed."
"During this process, you cannot go home, and you must bid farewell to your past football life. But I can assert this: the one person who wins this survival game, eliminates the other 299 people, and remains until the end will definitely become the world's number one striker!"
"I've said my piece. Yoroshiku (please take care of me)!"
Ego Jinpachi revealed his plan in one breath and then waited for the players' reactions. He was well aware of how crazy his plan was. When dealing with the old fossils at the JFU, he could adopt a cold, dismissive approach. But he couldn't do that with these kids. If the players didn't participate in the plan, his experiment couldn't proceed.
Therefore, he had already prepared a speech to persuade these wet-behind-the-ears kids.
...
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