As the heavy alloy doors slowly closed and the last Blue Lock member’s figure vanished at the end of the corridor, only Noa and Kazuki remained inside the training ground.
Noa stood at the control console, looking down condescendingly at Kazuki, who was still lingering in the center of the pitch.
“Come up.”
Noa’s voice echoed through the vast hall.
Kazuki shrugged, hands in his pockets, and strolled leisurely up the steps.
Facing the man universally recognized as the current “world’s best striker” in world football, not a shred of reverence could be seen on his face; instead, he carried the casual ease of someone dropping by a next-door neighbor’s place.
Walking up to Noa, Kazuki didn’t even wait for the other man to speak, pulling up a chair on his own accord and sitting down, crossing one leg over the other.
“What’s up, Uncle Noa?
Keeping me behind specifically—want to give me private tutoring?
Or…” Kazuki’s lips curled into a playful arc, “…were you captivated by my performance just now and wanted to get my autograph in advance?”
Noa ignored Kazuki’s banter.
He turned around, his fingers swiping across the touchscreen a few times to pull up a data report detailed to an infuriating degree.
It was all the data from Kazuki’s test just now.
The 100-meter sprint, instantaneous explosive power, core stability, dynamic vision capture rate…
Every single metric wasn’t merely simple excellence.
“I don’t understand.”
Noa turned back around, those golden eyes staring straight into Kazuki’s.
“Your physical capacities are already at a complete peak, even surpassing the vast majority of active top-tier stars.
Your technical execution has zero redundancy, and every single point of force application is precise down to the micrometer—meaning you have zero need for any so-called ‘polishing’ or ‘awakening’.”
Noa paused, a trace of thinly veiled perplexity threading through his tone.
“I don’t get it.
A monster of your caliber, why waste time playing house games in this ‘Blue Lock’?”
He stepped up to Kazuki, placing both hands flat on the desktop and leaning forward, an overwhelming sense of pressure washing over them.
“With this data report of yours, the moment I send a single email, Re Al, Manshine City, and the first team of our very own Bastard München will dispatch a private jet to pick you up tomorrow.
You can fly straight to Europe instantly, enjoying top-tier medical care, the most scientific diet, and the highest level of competitive match practice.”
“Compared to playing ‘hero games’ here with a bunch of unweaned brats, going to Europe’s top leagues to cash in on your talent is the optimal, logical choice.
What do you say?
Just give a nod, and tomorrow you can have a Bastard München jersey printed with your name on it.”
It was a proposal capable of driving any young player in the world crazy.
A direct invitation from the world’s number one, a fast-track ticket to a superpower club.
Fame, wealth, and status would be within arm’s reach.
Yet, after hearing it all, Kazuki merely let out a soft scoff.
“Heh.”
He raised his head, the look in his eyes carrying no gratitude, but rather the mockery of someone watching a fool.
“Stop acting all self-important trying to arrange my life for me, Noa.”
“I have things I need to do, and I naturally have my reasons for staying here.” Kazuki extended a single finger, waving it lightly.
“Besides, with all due respect, I don’t think the current Bastard München can teach me anything.
This so-called ‘hyper-rationality’?
It’s nothing more than a fig leaf fabricated by the weak to cover up their incompetence.”
These words were arrogant to the absolute extreme.
If any reporters were present right now, these few sentences would undoubtedly hijack tomorrow’s global sports headlines—*Nameless Nobody Claims Superclub is Useless?
The Height of Arrogance!*
Noa’s expression still remained entirely devoid of fluctuation, as though Kazuki’s offense meant nothing to him.
“You think you’ve already moved past the scope of learning?” Noa asked indifferently.
“This is an extremely dangerous arrogance.
No matter how good the data looks, never having proven yourself on the top-tier pitch equals zero.”
“Whether it’s arrogance or not, won’t we know if we give it a try?”
Kazuki suddenly broke into an aggressive grin, the fighting spirit in his eyes blazing like a fire.
“What’s the fun in just looking at data?
Since you’re the world’s number one striker, why don’t we spar right now?”
He pointed toward the pitch behind him.
“One-on-one.
Let me see just how tough the so-called ‘world’s strongest’ can really be.”
Kazuki had directly challenged Noa!
He had issued a face-to-face, one-on-one challenge to the man who ruled modern football and was hailed as a “living legend”!
Noa looked at the audacious young man before him.
He had seen countless arrogant geniuses, but someone like Kazuki was a first in his experience.
Noa wasn’t angered; on the contrary, deep within those dead-water eyes of his, an imperceptible trace of interest flickered.
“You want to challenge me?”
Noa straightened his posture, straightening his collar, his tone still terrifyingly calm.
“Right now, you don’t have the qualification to make me go all out.
In this world, the queue of people wanting a one-on-one with me could wrap around the Earth twice.”
“Tch, scared?” Kazuki curled his lip.
“Provocation doesn’t work on me, it’s illogical.” Noa shook his head.
“But I can give you a chance.”
He raised three fingers.
“In this Neo Egoist League, there are five teams in total.
Aside from our German team, there’s England, Spain, Italy, and France.”
“If you want to challenge me, there is only one prerequisite: throughout all the matches during this period, lead this team to a 100% win record.”
Just as Kazuki wanted to say something, Noa cut him off.
“Don’t rush, that’s not even all.
The so-called clean sweep must be established under one condition—without using my ‘Superstar Entry Rule’.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Noa pointed to a line in the rulebook.
“According to the rules of the Neo Egoist League, in every match, each team’s Master Striker (that is, myself and the other star players) gets three minutes of playing time.
Those three minutes often dictate the direction of a match.”
“If you’re truly as strong as your mouth claims, then you should be able to sort everything out without needing me to step in, right?”
Noa looked at Kazuki, a sharp edge belonging to a powerhouse finally surfacing in his eyes.
“If you can sweep the teams of the other four countries and secure a clean sweep without any help from me whatsoever…
then at the very end, I will give you a chance.”
“A one-on-one opportunity that will make you understand what an ‘impassable wall’ truly means.”
Upon hearing this, the smile at the corners of Kazuki’s mouth gradually widened, transforming into an unmasked, wild laugh.
“Hahahaha!
Interesting!
Too interesting!”
Kazuki laughed heartily as he clapped his hands together, the light in his eyes frighteningly bright.
“Originally I thought this mob-slaughtering trip was getting a bit boring.
Since you’ve put it that way, I’ll take this bet.”
He walked up to Noa and extended his fist.
“No backing out.
If you end up losing, remember to hand over that ‘world’s number one’ title of yours obediently.”
Noa looked at the fist presented before him, falling silent for a moment.
He didn’t bump it, merely turning around coldly.
“Talk big like that after you’ve actually pulled it off.
Now, go back and rest.
If your training from tomorrow doesn’t meet the standards, I’ll kick you right out of the starting lineup just the same, even if it’s you.”
“Tch, boring man.”
Kazuki withdrew his hand, cradling the back of his head with both arms, and whistled as he turned to walk toward the exit.
Just as Kazuki was about to step out the door, he suddenly halted, waving his hand back at Noa over his shoulder.
“Oh, and by the way, Noa?
You’d better use this time to get your form up to peak condition.
Don’t end up losing so miserably you can’t even find an excuse.”
The heavy doors slowly closed, cutting off Kazuki’s arrogant figure.
Inside the empty training ground, only Noa remained alone.
He looked back toward the screen displaying Kazuki’s data, gazing at his various numerical ratings.
“A monster that requires no teaching…”
Noa murmured to himself, then shut off the screen and turned into the dark depths.
“Then let me see just how big a tear your ‘irrationality’ can rip open in this rational world.”