"Alright!"
Isagi clenched his fist and yelled in excitement.
Bachira walked over and patted his shoulder.
"Isagi, your shooting accuracy went up again!"
Nagi also nodded.
"Mm. All that practice wasn't wasted."
They bumped fists.
The training from the First Stage strengthened me.
And this attack was built on all three of us understanding each other's weapons.
It's insanely effective.
We're really strong
we can win this.
"Defense is second-rate. Dribbling is maxed.
Alright, alright…
I think I've got a rough idea of this kappa-head now.
Time to output."
Isagi suddenly heard Eita Otoya's voice.
White Team kicked off.
Eita Otoya received the ball.
Isagi focused on him.
Eita got the ball
but didn't push forward.
Instead, he stopped and scanned the field.
Is he looking for a passing lane?
Eita touched the ball to the side.
I can steal that he pushed it too far.
Isagi rushed in.
But Eita immediately noticed and smirked
dragging the ball back sharply.
He… baited me.
"Idiot. I only take on battles I'm guaranteed to win."
Isagi tried to body-block him,
but Eita used his arm to shield and pushed back.
Isagi realized
He's strong way stronger than I expected…
I can't stop him at all!
"Don't challenge someone's strengths
attack their weaknesses.
Then your odds skyrocket.
In a world where only winning matters…
this is basic logic, Isagi Yoichi.
Your team's weakness
is you."
Eita tossed Isagi aside effortlessly.
Nagi came to help defend.
"You've got time to chat right now?"
"Look
if you don't stop me, the damage will only pile up."
Isagi chased desperately.
Damn it if we just collapse on him together
Eita performed a bicycle feint and cut to the side.
Nagi and Isagi boxed him in.
Suddenly
Eita stretched both arms out,
creating space between himself and the two.
Isagi analyzed
His spin move…
he's forcing our balance to shift,
then using overwhelming deception to escape.
Using the pressure of his hands to push them away,
Eita accelerated explosively,
burst into the box
and shot.
The ball hit the net.
GOAL!!!
Eita smirked at Isagi.
"I'll play with your weakness
until you break."
Isagi lowered his head.
This guy…
he's nothing like Kunigami
a heroic, straightforward fighter.
He's like an assassin.
He targets weaknesses relentlessly.
And those weaknesses…
I can't fix them right now.
I should avoid my flaws and maximize my strengths.
My strengths are spatial awareness
and straight-line shooting.
If I can use them properly
I can fight back.
Red Team kickoff.
Bachira passed to Isagi.
Facing Yukimiya, Isagi planned to use a one-two again.
But Eita closed in immediately
sticking to him, blocking passing lanes,
running parallel with him like glue.
Isagi tried to force a pass lane open
but Eita blocked him with his arm and rammed into him.
Not good
he's knocking me off balance!
"I told you
in solo battles, you're just ordinary."
Eita stole the ball.
Isagi's mind raced.
From the start, Eita had been doing this
calculating distance,
controlling spacing with his arms.
Isagi's breathing quickened.
"Don't drag your team down, Isagi Yoichi."
"I'll help."
Nagi and Bachira came in.
The three pressured Eita together.
Eita placed his hands on Isagi and Nagi,
pushing them away as Bachira lunged for the ball
It's working
we can steal it
Eita suddenly laughed.
"Silent step.
Tiptoe advance.
Slip through without a sound."
Karasu appeared in a passing lane from out of nowhere.
Then Eita slipped a pass.
When?!
When did he even get there?!
Karasu received the ball and shot instantly.
GOAL!!!
Eita casually commented to Karasu,
"You were a second late, idiot."
"Shut up.
Just join my movement."
Bachira gasped.
"This double-striker combo is insane…
But we can't lose."
Nagi picked the ball up from inside the goal
and glanced at the opposing team.
"Wow…
so there are people this strong.
Soccer really is interesting."
"Huh?"
Isagi looked at him.
"Thanks to you, I get to witness this.
Isagi, from here on
I'm going to make things even more fun."
Isagi replayed the goal in his mind.
They used Eita's ball control to pull defenders in then Karasu stole timing with his movement.
That was Karasu's style
a thief in the dark.
Isagi looked at the scoreboard closing in
and at Eita staring right at him.
I hate that I don't have Ryan's strength.
If Ryan were here,
we wouldn't look this pathetic.
No
I can't rely on Ryan anymore.
I'm the man who'll become the world's No.1 striker.
So what do I do now?
In his mind,
the field transformed into a giant puzzle.
If he wanted to win he needed the missing piece.
He drifted into a memory.
On a day during the Physical Ability Enhancement Training
Ryan had spoken to him about a concept.
"Isagi, do you know how someone can disappear on the field?"
"How can a person suddenly disappear?"
"Watch."
Ryan held a bottle.
He dropped it to the ground
it bounced repeatedly, making noise.
Isagi frowned, unimpressed.
"Okay… and? It's just a bo
Huh?! Ryan?!"
Isagi looked around
Ryan had vanished.
Left, nothing.
Right
A finger poked his cheek.
He looked up
Ryan was behind him.
Ryan walked around front and picked up the bottle.
"Well? Didn't I disappear?"
"That was insane!
How did you do that?!"
"It's a principle from magic visual misdirection.
Your eyes were glued to the bottle,
so you had no idea when I moved."
"But what does that have to do with soccer?"
"You've been hanging around Raichi too much, use your brain.
On the field, everyone's eyes are on the ball.
Almost no one is constantly tracking every player."
Isagi nodded slowly.
"Right…"
"So when you're off the ball
you can use misdirection to appear where no one expects.
If someone passes into that space,
it looks like you 'appeared.'
Sometimes defenders won't have even noticed you were there.
It's like the ball suddenly changed direction
that's a disappearing pass."
Isagi's eyes lit up.
"That's amazing!"
"But it requires one huge condition."
"What condition?"
"To use the disappearing pass
you must lower your presence on the field."
"Presence is influenced by many factors.
Take me, for example.
I'm this handsome and this strong
my presence is like the sun."
Isagi's mouth twitched.
"But if you want to use this technique
you must reduce your presence
until you're like a shadow
something ignored, unnoticed."
"And to become that you need strong teammates.
If strong teammates are light
you are the shadow behind them.
The stronger the light
the darker the shadow.
And the more powerful your impact becomes."
Isagi listened intently
though he still didn't fully understand.
"But there's one drawback.
If you score or dribble past people
you increase your presence.
Then the whole technique falls apart."
Isagi looked crushed.
A striker who can't score…
what even is that?
Ryan noticed and kept talking.
"That's why you only use it situationally.
Got it?"
Isagi nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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