Victory... Isagi Yoichi no longer dared to hope for it.
A four-goal deficit could almost be considered the end of the match. It was impossible for them to score five consecutive goals while simultaneously preventing Tendou's team from scoring a single one. It wasn't realistic; they didn't have that kind of ability.
At this point, Isagi only wanted to defeat Tendou fair and square, just once, even if it was just by dribbling past him once.
But even this opportunity, Tendou did not give him.
"Dismantle."
Swish~
The screen suddenly went dark. A slash of a blade cut through the pitch-black screen. By the time the viewers' picture returned to color, all they could see were Isagi's dull eyes.
The ball at his feet had already been taken by Tendou.
The next second.
Swoosh!
Tendou's whole body emitted a white light. His speed went from slow to fast, and he shot out. In an instant, he had left Isagi behind, so far that he couldn't even eat his dust. This kind of instantaneous explosive power and speed made it impossible for people to treat Tendou as a tall center forward.
But if he wasn't a tall center forward, could he be a speed-type forward?
Barou Shouei found this idea absurd. He had only played against Tendou once and didn't know much about him, far less than Isagi and the others. After all, it was only after coming to Blue Lock that Tendou had gradually integrated his abilities into football. In other words, the Tendou that Barou first faced and the current Tendou were at least one level apart in skill.
But what was even more absurd was yet to come. After taking the ball, Tendou's speed still did not decrease. Barou, Nagi, and Otoya chased crazily, only to find the distance between them and Tendou widening at a visible rate.
Tendou had created a one-on-one opportunity just by running.
Anri Teieri, the female NPC, was already shouting with excitement as she watched Tendou charge into the penalty area at high speed. The Blue Lock Man, acting as the goalkeeper, immediately came out to challenge.
It had to be said that Blue Lock had quite a bit of black technology. This kind of virtual projection had a high technical content, and it was probably loaded with a lot of goalkeeper data. But for Tendou, with his impact, as long as he didn't make a mistake in his dribbling, he could basically get past the goalkeeper with a single change of direction.
In the world of football, the success rate of scoring in a one-on-one is as high as 70%. If it weren't for the existence of a certain player who always kicks the ball into the goalkeeper's arms in one-on-ones, this data could be even higher.
And Tendou did just that.
Under Anri's gaze, Tendou slightly decelerated as he approached the opposing goalkeeper, and his upper body suddenly made an extremely large sway. Even the Blue Lock Man was dizzied by his movement.
"The Death Pendulum?!"
Ego Jinpachi, whose expression had not changed all this time, was no longer calm. After more than a decade, he never thought this ultimate skill would reappear in the world.
Under his watch, the Blue Lock Man could only quickly choose a direction and dive for the save. But the unsolvable part of this dribbling move was that you could change direction to the left or right at any time to complete the breakthrough. This ultimate skill of Ronaldo Nazário was hailed as a goalkeeper's nightmare.
If the goalkeeper dives left, Tendou goes right. Conversely, he breaks through on the left.
You say, wait for him to choose a direction before diving for the save? This is precisely the terrifying part of Ronaldo's Death Pendulum. While performing this move, he still maintained a relatively high speed. This is why Ronaldo's peak career was so short. Because this dribble was really too damaging to the knees. Even Ronaldo, who was hailed as an "alien," was already plagued with injuries after joining Real Madrid.
BAM!
Seeing the goalkeeper dive for the ball in advance, Tendou, in the middle of his sway, immediately passed him with an exaggerated change of direction, then caught up to the ball and pushed it with the inside of his foot.
Now, a goal that was enough to make Anri unable to sleep at night was completed.
"The Pendulum Dribble?!"
The ball went in, the whistle blew.
Karasu and a total of 7 other players were all behind Tendou just now, witnessing the entire process of how he "abused" the goalkeeper. The exaggerated frequency of his upper and lower body swaying made their hearts pound with fear, afraid that Tendou's body would sway itself into pieces.
Why did the Pendulum Dribble almost become extinct after Ronaldo? One reason was that this dribbling move was too damaging to the body. Second, if you wanted to play with the pendulum, without a body made of iron, you really shouldn't even fantasize about it. Even the alien was scrapped; how could ordinary people casually imitate it?
But Tendou had done it. This left Isagi and the others, who had only heard of the alien's legend but had never seen him play, extremely shocked. Every time Tendou's body "swayed," it was like the great pendulum of death swinging once.
...
"GOAL!!"
"BEEP!"
The final whistle of the match blew.
The final score was 5:0. Tendou's team had completely defeated Isagi's team. It seemed that their loss was second only to Itoshi Rin's team's, but against Tendou, they had been completely shut out.
Looking at the glaring numbers on the scoreboard, the four members of Isagi's team were all in disbelief. They couldn't believe this was the match they had just played.
"Fourth Stage, 4-on-4 Enemy-Stealing Battle. Black Team wins with a score of 5:0."
The emotionless broadcast voice echoed across the field, pulling the still-dazed players back to reality.
Now, it was their time to choose.
"We won! We won! So..."
The moment the match ended, Mikage Reo's gaze immediately locked onto Nagi, and he started to walk over.
"Wait, Reo," Chigiri called out to him. "I know what you're thinking. That's something I won't agree to."
What did Reo want to do? Of course, it was to "reunite" with Nagi.
But Chigiri would not agree, no matter what. Nagi was not the player they needed. The strongest center forward was already on their team. With Tendou, they didn't need a stationary center forward.
Reo stopped in his tracks. He looked down. This team now was not Team V; it was not his to command.
"What do you think, Tendou? Who should we choose?" Chigiri stood with one hand on his hip, looking at Isagi's team of four, who seemed to be waiting for their sentence. "Should we do the same as before and pick Otoya to strengthen our front line?"
"Or should we pick Isagi?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Isagi's heart trembled for no reason. It wasn't fear, but excitement. A sense of satisfaction from finally having his strength acknowledged.
"My initial target was also Eita. But to be honest, that guy's performance just now... it really moved me," Karasu said, his gaze looking at Isagi.
At that final moment, Isagi had become the second strongest presence on the field, after Tendou. If it were for the good of the team, Isagi seemed to be the better choice.
"So, who should we choose, General?"
...
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