028 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

"Why? Aren't you falling back to defend?" Karasu Tabito asked in disbelief.

Shinichi turned his head and glanced at him:

"You're far too naïve. Those were just words I used to guide you into acting that way. On the football field, how can you trust an opponent's words, or even change your own thinking by following an opponent's judgment?"

"If we really have to say it, among all those words, only two sentences were actually true."

"First, this is a gamble I won't lose. Second..."

"I believe in Hiori!"

Shinichi suddenly sprinted forward, and at the same time, Karasu Tabito discovered in horror that although he had already observed Aryu Jyubei's position before making the pass, at this moment, the one who stood in the receiving position first... was Hiori Yo!

'Ball landing point confirmed, position correct. Aryu is still 3 meters away from me and will arrive before the ball lands. Pin him behind me? No, Aryu's abnormal limb length means he might still touch the ball even from behind me.'

On the field, Hiori Yo's hollow eyes spun wildly. Information from all over the pitch poured endlessly into his mind, gradually converging and transforming, forming a brand-new path!

That's right. Through his cooperation and training with Shinichi, Hiori Yo had also revealed his talent earlier. Although he had not directly awakened a complete Meta Vision, he had still discovered how to use a fragmentary Meta Vision.

However, unlike Shinichi's Meta Vision, which controlled everything within his own defensive range, Hiori Yo's Meta Vision controlled the ability to process the information that entered his eyes.

For example, when he scanned the front, he could grasp all the situations ahead and roughly predict them, but information from behind would fall outside his control. And when he looked backward, his control over the front would gradually weaken to nothing. The time limit for this was two seconds.

In other words, as long as he didn't look in a certain direction for two seconds, that position would slip out of Hiori Yo's Meta Vision. At present, lacking sufficient match experience, Hiori Yo was still the type who needed to constantly absorb and process information.

However, at this stage, it was completely enough.

"I can't just rely on positioning and think I can deal with this guy. That only puts me one step ahead of him. And if that step can't widen the physical gap between us, then... I'll surpass him by two steps, three steps!"

Despite already standing in the optimal receiving position, Hiori Yo suddenly began to retreat, directly blocking Aryu Jyubei's path forward.

"Ugh! What's with this guy?" Aryu Jyubei, who unexpectedly slammed into Hiori Yo's back, pondered in confusion.

"Is he afraid I'll snatch the ball from behind in a gorgeous move? So he plans to give up competing for the ball himself and focus solely on blocking me, letting his teammate gain possession?"

"Haha, someone as stylish as me really does make everyone wary. In that case, I'll smash your scheme even more gorgeously!" Aryu shouted confidently. However, under the clash, Hiori Yo stood completely unmoving, like a wall.

'What! Unlike his looks, this guy's strength is insane!' Under Aryu 's shocked gaze, Hiori's center of gravity kept shifting backward, almost leaning his entire body against Aryu Jyubei.

At the same time, Hiori Yo's legs kept lifting upward. His whole body was like lying flat in midair. With this inhuman posture, he forcibly pinned Aryu Jyubei two more positions back, then fiercely swung his foot at the ball that was dropping at just the right moment.

It was hard to imagine that Hiori Yo could still generate enough power in such a posture to deliver a long pass. Even harder to imagine was that, despite so many prerequisites already being met, this pass was still so precise as it flew toward the constantly sprinting Shinichi.

"That's really surprising, Hiori. If I hadn't read a bit of manga, I'd almost think you were the protagonist of this Blue Lock."

Pushing his speed to the limit, reaching a position no one else could, Shinichi stood still and watched the most peak pass of Hiori's life so far.

"Hiori, at least for this ball, you really did catch up to my speed." Murmuring softly, Shinichi suddenly leapt up. His powerful core strength made his body twist exaggeratedly in midair, forcibly rotating 180 degrees.

Gooooooooooooal!

Originally with his back to the goal, Shinichi turned and struck a volley in midair, unstoppable as it shattered the goal.

1:2 → 1:3

...

"So... so smooth. To make such an ultra-precise long pass over more than half the field in that situation, and neither side even stopped the ball. That's incredible."

Inside the control room, Anri Teieri couldn't help but praise them. Then she quietly looked up to observe Ego Jinpachi's expression, only to see his eyes unfocused, staring intently at the screen as he muttered to himself:

"FLOW? Did Hiori evolve under your stimulation? But why him? Shinichi, in a situation like this, why didn't you enter FLOW?"

"It shouldn't be like this. Why? There's pressure, but it's also an achievable goal. In a one-versus-many situation, when the opponent relies on numerical advantage to surround and attack, breaking through them alone—Shinichi, you can do that. So why, why can't you enter that state? Why don't you fully release the potential in your body?"

"Too much pressure? No, that shouldn't be it. By my judgment, you should be able to do it. Or is it that..."

"These guys can't become your targets, not even in the short term? Oh... I see."

After a bout of irritable and hurried self-talk, Ego Jinpachi returned to his usual dead eyes, indifferently watching the people running on the screen:

"A self-important little brat. I even went to so much trouble thinking of ways."

"When your eyes only see one final goal and can't see anyone else, idiots like that either give up because the goal is too distant and, without setting intermediate goals, they never get the sense of achievement needed to reach it—so the brain can't release dopamine, can't get stimulated, and eventually quits."

"Or they charge forward recklessly at any cost, only to smash into a wall because they lack proper planning. Shinichi, a striker needs stimulation. Life-or-death battles, the thrill of scoring to win, even the pleasure of destroying opponents... once you get used to that stimulation, a striker becomes like an addict, eternally hungry, and will answer that call to explode at the most critical moment."

"Shinichi, dreaming of becoming a god while forever ignoring all others is impossible. If this continues, you'll only end up ordinary because of a lack of stimulation."

"As expected, my previous approach was right. It has to be done this way. Shinichi, you who already sit on the throne must be knocked down from it once. Perhaps my original plan was even a bit conservative. Hmm... I need to let that inhuman guy push a little harder."

"Let me redeem you—through judgment."