046 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

"We should go too, Reo."

For the first time, Mikage Reo felt that Nagi Seishiro beside him was so unfamiliar. Those eyes flickering with excitement, that overflowing desire to win—expressions he had never seen before. At the same time, Nagi Seishiro's fighting spirit gradually infected his own emotions.

"Oh, of course. How could we let them look down on us like this."

A smile reappeared on Mikage Reo's face as he took the ball handed to him by Nagi Seishiro.

"We only lost once by accident before. I don't want to add another defeat in this Blue Lock."

Beep—!

The whistle sounded. After quickly scanning the pitch, Mikage Reo passed the ball to Tsurugi Zantetsu.

"Zantetsu, open things up here first with your speed."

Tsurugi Zantetsu received the ball on the flank, leaned his body forward, and shot through the pitch like a bullet fired from a cannon. Ranze Kurona failed to react in time and was beaten in a single step.

"I noticed you were pretty fast during the earlier defense, but this impact is really something."

Unexpectedly, Hiori Yo managed to keep up with Zantetsu's speed. Abandoning his marking on Nagi Seishiro, he rushed out from a blind angle and blocked Tsurugi Zantetsu's sprint with his body.

"Too bad, it's still within what I can handle. Do you think I've been sparring with just any kind of Monster lately?"

"Back pass, Zantetsu!"

Mikage Reo's voice came from the other side. Before being dispossessed, Tsurugi Zantetsu followed the sound and crossed the ball, barely resolving this crisis.

"But what do we do next? Zantetsu's advance is harder than expected. That shark-mouthed short guy took the chance to switch defense over to Nagi's side. Right now, I'm the only one left completely unmarked…"

"So they really look down on me! If that's the case, I'll do it myself!"

Mikage Reo steeled his heart and actually carried the ball forward himself—one meter, two meters!Ranze Kurona couldn't sit still anymore. He subconsciously moved two steps closer to Mikage Reo so he could cover in time if needed. But that was exactly the gap Mikage Reo needed!

"That's exactly what I want you to think—go, Nagi!"

The instant Ranze Kurona moved, Mikage Reo passed the ball in sync. He seized this fleeting opportunity perfectly. The ball roared toward Nagi Seishiro like a cannonball, and Mikage Reo still wore a look of absolute confidence. He believed that with Nagi's talent, he would definitely receive this ball!

"Sure enough, without that white-haired guy, you're nothing."

The carefully envisioned beautiful future was crushed underfoot by Itoshi Rin, who suddenly dashed out and intercepted the pass between the two.

"To act on emotions like this on the battlefield—disgusting enough to make one want to puke. Get off already."

Itoshi Rin coldly tossed out those words and dribbled toward the front field. Mikage Reo, wearing a face of terror after the pass was cut off, shouted at the only one capable of tracking back:

"Stop him, Zantetsu!"

Watching Zantetsu sprinting toward him from the side and the others chasing from behind, Itoshi Rin remained expressionless, only a hint of boredom flickering in his eyes.

Itoshi Rin lifted his foot and passed. The ball skimmed past Tsurugi Zantetsu's body. Hiori Yo, who had been ignored while trying to stop Itoshi Rin, received the ball and raised his foot to shoot.

Hiori Yo lifted his right foot high, then whipped it down hard. But just as the Blue Lock goalkeeper made a save, Hiori Yo suddenly turned his foot sideways, changing the contact point from toe to instep. The ball was pushed horizontally, slipping past the goalkeeper whose center of gravity had been shifted by the feint, and scored easily.

Beep—!

1:0 → 2:0

"What a waste of time. Finish them quickly and move on to the next stage."

The score on the screen changed again. Mikage Reo stood there in a daze.

No, we can't win. We absolutely can't win. All my thoughts have been seen through by that guy with the lower eyelashes… Nagi and I… are we going to lose?

"Hey, Reo, kickoff…"

Nagi Seishiro jogged over and kicked the ball to Mikage Reo, but the other just stood there blankly, letting the ball hit his calf and roll aside.

"Reo, what's wrong?"

"Nagi… we… might be going to lose."

"Yeah, probably. They're really strong. But as long as we score 5 goals first, it's fine, right?"

Nagi Seishiro didn't catch Mikage Reo's meaning and jogged over to pick up the ball again.

"Kickoff, Reo."

"It's meaningless, Nagi. That guy is far stronger than me. All my ideas are completely seen through by him… And they're only playing 3 versus 4 right now. Even if we barely score one goal, there's still another guy who might be even stronger who hasn't even come on yet."

"We're just something they use for entertainment, Nagi… We're not as strong as we imagined…"

Mikage Reo recalled his parents' words in his mind.

"Maybe I really can't become the world's number one football player."

...

Unlike the Z Team that lost to Isagi Yoichi in the original work, although they were also outnumbering the opponent at the time, even if Kuon Wataru joined, it wouldn't have made any difference. Most of their teammates were just there to make up the numbers and couldn't participate in the attack at all.

From the standpoint of absolute strength, they were still the stronger side. Losing the match wouldn't make them doubt their own ability; they would only think that they hadn't done well enough in certain aspects.

Just like Tsurugi Zantetsu's speed being much faster than his, Mikage Reo wouldn't feel inferior, because he had many other things he was stronger at than Tsurugi Zantetsu. Shortcomings could be made up for with strengths in other areas. Even losing to Shidou Ryusei in the original story would only make Mikage Reo recognize his own weakness, but not despair, because they weren't the same type of football player.

But Itoshi Rin was different.

Whether it was vision, dribbling, shooting, speed, and so on—every single attribute of this guy was above his. For an All-Rounder like him, this kind of opponent was the worst nightmare, because there was absolutely no way to see any possibility of surpassing the other.

"Nagi, I'm weaker than that guy… I might not be able to beat him…"

Mikage Reo clenched his teeth and looked at Nagi Seishiro, but the only response he received was an extremely cold face.

"So what do you want me to do? Comfort you? Or lie to you and say you can do it?"

Nagi Seishiro looked at Mikage Reo expressionlessly.

"Wasn't becoming the world's number one striker the dream you gave me? And now you're the first one to give up? You—are you afraid, Reo?"

"No, Nagi! I just—"

Mikage Reo only felt that the current Nagi Seishiro was unbelievably unfamiliar. Each sharp sentence stabbed straight into his heart. Only then did he realize how unbearable his own behavior was. He hurried to explain, but was directly interrupted by Nagi Seishiro.

"That's enough! Reo. From the moment we lost to the Z Team, you should have understood this—we're not the strongest. And it's precisely that regret that pushes me to keep moving forward."

"We will lose—of course I know that. But I still have to keep moving forward, to become stronger. No matter how many times I lose, as long as I can still get stronger, I'm constantly getting closer to the dream of becoming the world's number one striker. I always thought our dream of becoming the world's number one together was absolute…"

Nagi Seishiro no longer passed the ball to Reo. Instead, he walked to the center line himself, a faint flame burning in his eyes.

"But if you're going to stop here, then do whatever you want. I'm done with you."

"The dream of becoming the world's number one striker—I'll achieve it by myself."