Blue Lock: Beyond Greatness

"Relax, no need to be so tense. How about this? I'll make a declaration: in this match, every time I change direction, I'll go past you on your right side. How does that sound?" Shinichi said with a confident smile, his eyes flashing like lightning.

He wasn't in a rush to counterattack.

Instead, he focused his attention on Kira.

"It's coming!" Kira ignored the alarm bells ringing in his mind as he fixed his gaze on Shinichi.

Watching him prepare to take his first step, Kira locked his eyes on Shinichi's foot, which was about to start dribbling.

'Which way will he go? Will he really stick to the right like he said? Or is it just a feint?' Kira's heart raced wildly. The moment Shinichi got the ball, a long-forgotten sense of despair surged in Kira's chest. "Damn it! I'm not the same as before! Bring it on!"

As soon as Kira set his defensive stance, Shinichi moved.

Kira could swear he hadn't even blinked, but somehow, Shinichi's figure vanished from his sight.

All he saw was a flash of lightning streak past the corner of his eye, and in the next moment, Shinichi had already breezed past him, pulling several meters ahead.

What was that?!

Such incredible speed, beyond any reaction!

Like a wooden dummy, Kira had been easily bypassed.

He turned his head in vain, only to see Shinichi nearing the centerline.

However, someone else wasn't completely left behind.

Rin, who had started tracking back the moment Shinichi intercepted the ball, exhaled deeply.

Shadows of fierce determination seemed to roar behind him as he stood his ground, ready for the incoming Shinichi. "Come on, let's see how much distance remains between us now!"

"Not much, really..." Shinichi's eyes lost some of their electric sharpness, the lightning within them seemingly dissipating.

Yet, he remained completely unbothered, showing no intention of slowing down.

As he sprinted at full speed, he suddenly dropped his right shoulder.

The small motion, executed in the midst of his blazing run, caused Rin—already under immense mental pressure—to instinctively shift his weight.

But in the very next moment, Shinichi pivoted sharply, switching directions to the left.

Exploiting the opening created by Rin's shifted balance, Shinichi slipped past him with ease. "Just a difference of about 500 years," he remarked, almost nonchalantly.

Even so, Rin refused to give up.

With a quick side-step and a powerful push off the ground, he unleashed a reaction at the very limits of his ability.

Remarkably, before Shinichi could completely break past him, Rin managed to stretch out one arm, barely blocking Shinichi's path.

"Hmm, not bad. You've closed the gap to about 499 years now," Shinichi remarked with a playful tone.

Unfazed, Shinichi immediately planted his foot on the ball, stopping abruptly.

With a seamless sequence of movements—a pullback, a pivot, and a switch of feet—he executed a lightning-fast Marseille turn.

The move created a gulf between him and Rin, as if they were two cars speeding in opposite directions.

With fluid motion, Shinichi transitioned from the left side to the right, breaking through Rin's defenses effortlessly.

"Did you think that declaration wasn't meant for you?" Shinichi said with a smirk. "When I say I'll go right, I always deliver."

Boom!

Shinichi's team: 1

Rebel Team: 0

The familiar sound of a thunderous shot reverberated through the field.

Yet this time, Rin didn't display the same frustration as before after losing a goal.

He had come to terms with the disparity in skill and the path ahead.

His focus shifted to doing his best within his abilities and accepting the results—something Shinichi had once learned while competing against world-class players.

"If I can't resist yet, at least I can start to read his moves," Rin thought as he reflected on their brief clash. "But it felt like he pulled back that intensity when facing me... Is he underestimating me? Damn it, this guy is still as infuriating as ever."

Meanwhile, Kira clenched his teeth, his thoughts racing. "I can't win, but at least I need to prove myself to earn a spot in the U-20 match." Yet before he could act, a flash of lightning zipped past him.

He didn't even have time to react before the ball vanished from beneath his feet.

"Getting distracted on the battlefield is a grave mistake. Are you letting useless junk fill your head again?" Shinichi said coldly as he passed by Kira, glancing back at him.

There was no despair in Kira's eyes, only venomous resentment.

"I thought Blue Lock would turn you into something better. But it seems there's not much difference from the first time we met," Shinichi sneered, leaving Kira behind.

"The same worthless trash, a so-called treasure that hasn't grown at all."

After a brief pause, the lightning returned to wreak havoc on the field.

The crowd could barely catch a glimpse of the blindingly fast figure weaving left and right.

In mere moments, Shinichi had easily outmaneuvered Akira, who stumbled and fell as Shinichi passed him—all through the right side.

"This is it! If I know you'll break through on the right, predicting your route becomes easy!" Rin, eyes ablaze, slid in from behind, aiming to intercept the ball at Shinichi's feet.

Yet without even glancing back, Shinichi calmly struck the ball toward the right side of the goal.

Blue Lock's goalkeeper reacted with lightning speed, diving right to seal off all possible angles.

However, the ball struck the goalpost instead and rebounded back at an even greater velocity.

Shinichi looked down at the struggling Rin, who was trying to get back on his feet, and raised his foot to meet the incoming ball again. "It doesn't matter, just like how I announce my direction of attack."

"Even if you predict everything, you still can't stop it. That's the gap between you and me."

Boom!

The same story played out again.

The ball whizzed into the net, leaving the Blue Lock goalkeeper scrambling awkwardly, just a fraction too slow as he tried to recover from his dive.

The scene only highlighted the brilliance of Shinichi's calculated play.

Standing in front of the goal, Shinichi turned back to the others, his cold gaze sweeping over them.

The lightning in his eyes finally faded completely.

"Honestly, I'm starting to get bored of this..."

"Bring something more interesting to the table, or I'll end this match myself."

In the observation room, the crowd erupted into waves of astonishment at Shinichi's performance.

His unparalleled dominance and overwhelming presence could be felt even through the screen, leaving an undeniable sense of despair.

Facing someone as overpowered as him, both opponents and teammates alike would likely crumble under the almost tangible pressure he exerted.

The only way to survive such crushing force was to adapt—and then evolve.

"Rin's earlier play was brilliant," someone commented. "He first gave Kira the space to fully utilize his weapons and disrupt the opponent's defense. Then, he used Kira's efforts as bait to create a synergy where 1+1. With just the two of them, they nearly dismantled Shinichi's team's defense. If not for Shinichi, that overpowered anomaly, they probably would've scored."

"Comparing their approaches makes it clear what the optimal strategy is," Chigiri remarked with a frown.

"But precisely because Rin is so skilled, it makes Shinichi's level even more terrifying... That speed—he's never used it in any of our matches. Is he really the same age as us?"

The group watching fell into an uneasy silence, as did the players on the field.

Everyone was stunned by the gap in ability, as if Shinichi existed on a completely different plane.

Everyone—except for two.

Rin, his fighting spirit undiminished, and Zantetsu, who had played alongside Shinichi before and witnessed his clashes with world-class players.

But there was one more exception: a lone figure on the field, eyes wide with excitement, staring intently at Shinichi's back, his face filled with uncontainable thrill.

"Amazing... Both Rin and Shinichi are at an unattainable level for me," Isagi muttered to himself, his eyes glued to the two brightest stars on the field. "Their almost perfect technical skills and their overwhelming control over the game..."

Countless pieces of information flowed into Isagi's vision, forming a mosaic of insight as he studied the clash between these two titans. "If I can make my presence known in this battle between them..."

"I can evolve... I will change myself!"

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