“Charge, dammit!”
Accompanying Kazuki’s furious roar that sounded ready to tear his throat apart, the football slammed precisely into the open space of the frontline carrying heavy spin.
Itoshi Rin didn’t need to look back.
As a top-tier hunter, he could clearly feel the wind pressure rushing from behind.
That was the signal that his “weapon” had arrived.
Even though the one delivering the pass was that foul-mouthed goalkeeper he hated most, he had to admit that the dropping point, speed, and spin of this long ball were comfortable to the absolute extreme—it was practically fed right to his mouth through precise calculation.
“Hmph.”
Rin let out a cold snort.
Lightly cushioning it with his left foot mid-sprint, he tamed the cannonball—which carried enough power to knock someone out cold—and brought it to a soft rest half a meter ahead of him.
No deceleration whatsoever.
Trapping, adjusting, sprinting, executed in a single smooth motion.
However, the exact second Rin took off, a blue figure pressed up tight against him like a phantom clinging to his bones.
“I see it, Rin.”
Isagi Yoichi’s voice rang out right in Rin’s ear.
“Your thoughts, your line, and even the position where that bastard brother of yours might appear…
I see it all.”
“Out of my way, Isagi.” Rin’s eyes were icy cold.
Far from feeling happy about his teammate’s support, a look of profound disgust surfaced on his face.
“Are you looking to get killed by me?”
“Cut the crap.” Isagi’s eyes burned with green aura—the flames known as ‘Egoism.’ “I’m here to devour you.
The main character of this final goal is me!”
At this point, only a little over two minutes remained in injury time.
Blue Lock 3 : 2 Japan U-20.
Though they held a one-goal lead, as long as the match hadn’t ended, anything could happen.
For the U-20, this was their final chance at a counter-strike; and for this bunch of egoists in Blue Lock, this was the ultimate stage to display their value.
Two players from the same team, each harboring their own hidden motives.
Neither wanted to pass to the other, yet both were forced to use the other to rip open the defensive line.
This twisted relationship unexpectedly birthed the ultimate chemical reaction.
“Stop them!!” U-20 defender Miroku Darai bellowed as he lunged toward Rin.
Facing the defense, Rin faked with his right foot, his upper body executing a frighteningly convincing shooting feint.
The split second Darai’s center of gravity shifted, Rin suddenly chopped the ball to change direction.
And right along his new path, Isagi happened to sprint past as if he had predicted the future, drawing away another defender who had slid over to cover.
This was “devouring each other.”
Isagi used Rin as a decoy to hunt for open space, while Rin used Isagi as an obstacle to block off defenders.
Like two entwined tornadoes, the pair instantly swept across the perimeter of the U-20 penalty box.
“Damn it!
These two have zero order to their coordination—it’s complete chaos driven purely by individual talent!” Aiku gritted his teeth, cold sweat drenching his forehead.
Precisely because there was no order, it was impossible to predict!
Right at that moment, a terrifying wave of pressure surged from the rear flank.
It was the sole existence on the pitch capable of keeping up with the tempo of those two—Itoshi Sae.
The treasure of Japanese football had finally abandoned his elegant midfield orchestration, sprinting back on defense with blinding speed.
He knew all too well that if they didn’t stop this ball right here, the U-20 was completely finished.
“How pathetic, Rin.”
Sae’s voice remained flat, but his speed was staggering, instantly locking down Rin’s inside cutting lane.
“Shut up!!” Seeing his brother’s figure, the dark aura in Rin’s eyes flared violently, his rationality completely consumed by rage in this split second.
He didn’t choose to pass to Isagi, who was in a far better position, nor did he choose a safe dribble.
In this flash of lightning, Rin chose to force a shot!
Right here, at this distance, right in front of Sae’s face, he was going to crush everything with a goal!
“Watch closely!
This is my football!!”
Rin roared, his lower leg whipping out like a lash.
However.
“Too naive.”
Sae’s expression held not a single ripple.
A fraction of a second before Rin struck the ball, he had already accurately predicted the timing and angle of the shot.
Rather than blindly sticking out a foot, he utilized legal body contact to squeeze Rin’s shooting space.
*BOOM!*
Rin’s boot struck the football square, but due to Sae’s interference, the shot didn’t carry its full power, and the angle was completely sealed off.
The football whistled as it flew toward the goal, only for the well-prepared U-20 keeper to throw himself out and parry the ball away—the shot was blocked!
“Bastard!!” Rin let out a guttural roar as he watched the blocked ball.
It didn’t go in.
The football bounced high into the air, soaring above the penalty box.
The U-20 defensive players breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to contest the header and clear it out.
But right at that instant.
A flash of blue lightning ripped through the crowd.
“I knew it, Rin.”
Isagi Yoichi’s figure materialized right where the ball was dropping.
There wasn’t a trace of surprise in his eyes, as if every bit of this fell right within his script.
“A shot driven by impulse like yours was guaranteed to be blocked by Sae.
And this…
is the ‘luck’ I’ve been waiting for!”
No, this wasn’t luck.
This was the sharp instinct of someone constantly prepared to devour the strong!
The ball was falling from the sky.
All around were panicked U-20 defenders, the goalkeeper who hadn’t even touched the ground yet, Itoshi Sae whose face was filled with rare shock, and Itoshi Rin whose face was painted with absolute unwillingness.
In this chaotic world, Isagi’s vision was crystal clear.
No need to trap it.
Trapping it meant getting cleared.
Right in mid-air, in this exact split second, put a period on this match!
“Direct…
Volley!!!”
Isagi launched into the air, engaging his core as his left foot traced a perfect arc through the sky, striking the falling ball with clinical precision.
*BANG—!*
A crisp detonation.
Like a cannonball leaving the barrel, the football carried an unstoppable momentum, passing a single centimeter above the fingertips of the U-20 keeper before smashing violently into the back of the net!
*Swish!*
The white netting billowed high into the air.
4 : 2!
The whistle blew.
Match over.
After experiencing a brief second of absolute deathly silence, the entire stadium instantly erupted into a mountain-shaking, ocean-roaring wave of cheers.
IT’S IN!
IT’S IN!!!
ISAGI YOICHI!
THE FINAL GOAL!!”
“BLUE LOCK!
THEY HAVE DEFEATED THE U-20 NATIONAL TEAM!!”
Isagi landed, gasping heavily for air, before violently swinging his fist and roaring out loud, venting all the pressure pent up inside his body.
On the other side, Itoshi Rin knelt on the turf, his hands clutching the grass so tightly his knuckles turned white, his eyes filled with rage toward himself and intense jealousy toward Isagi.
Meanwhile, Itoshi Sae stood frozen in place, looking at the ordinary boy currently celebrating, a flicker of an emotion he had never possessed before flashing through his eyes.
On the pitch, a thousand different reactions played out.
And at the far opposite end.
The goalkeeper who had orchestrated this entire comeback spectacle with one hand was currently leaning against the goalpost, looking utterly relaxed.
Kazuki held half a bottle of sports drink he had swiped from who-knows-where, watching the distant celebration like a bystander in a park watching old men play chess.
He didn’t sprint up to embrace his teammates, nor was he moved to tears of excitement.
In fact, his expression even carried a slight hint of “reluctance.”
“Tsk.”
Kazuki smacked his lips, looking at the replay of Isagi’s volley on the stadium’s giant screen.
“This goal…
it’s so-so, I guess.”
Nearby, Raichi Jingo, who was sprawled out on the turf from pure exhaustion, nearly choked to death hearing those words.
Struggling to lift his head, he yelled: “HA?!
That was such a gorgeous volley!
Can anything decent ever come out of your mouth?!”
“Gorgeous?”
Kazuki raised an eyebrow, casting a glance at Raichi with the eyes of *you noobs haven’t seen the world*, before pointing up at the big screen.
“His movement was too stiff, his point of impact was slightly off-center—if the keeper’s reaction was even 0.1 seconds faster, he would’ve touched it.
Plus, his landing posture was hideous; zero aesthetic value whatsoever.”
Kazuki shook his head, looking deeply pained.
“It only went in because this match is just a bunch of kids playing house.”
Speaking up to this point, he paused slightly, looking at Isagi surrounded by his teammates in the distance.
The corner of his mouth hooked up into an imperceptible, extremely faint arc, which was instantly covered up by his signature playful mockery.
“Well, considering this goal was produced under my ‘elite education’…”
Kazuki stretched his arms, casually tossing the empty bottle aside in a motion that mimicked a precise swish from the three-point line.
“I’ll give him a barely passing grade.”
He brushed the dust off his gloves, turned around, and walked toward the player tunnel, leaving behind an arrogant (and incredibly punchable) back view for everyone, as a light evaluation drifted from his mouth:
“This level of play is pretty much what I was pulling off back in the third grade of elementary school.”
Hearing this line, the Blue Lock squad—who had just been immersed in the joy of victory—all had popping vein symbols simultaneously appear on their foreheads.
The heartwarming atmosphere shattered completely into pieces.
“That bastard…” Isagi’s lip twitched, his clenched fist tightening hard.
“I really still want to punch him.”
“Agreed,” Rin growled, pushing himself up off the turf, his expression dark.
“In the locker room later, nobody stop me.”
Regardless, this match that overturned the entire Japanese football landscape drew to a close right behind Kazuki’s infuriating back view.
The era of Blue Lock had begun.