025 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

The match began, with Team V kicking off. Karasu Tabito took the ball and charged forward without hesitation, Aryu Jyubei followed closely behind, while Otoya Eita had vanished into the crowd at some unknown moment.

"Careful, Shinichi."

Worried about Otoya Eita's off-the-ball runs and surprise attacks, Hiori and Shinichi did not step up directly as usual, but instead held the back line together. During the gap as Karasu Tabito broke through the defense and approached, Hiori Yo quietly warned Shinichi.

"Karasu relies on sharp analytical ability to lock onto the weakest player in the opposing team, then concentrates all his strength to attack him until the match ends. That's Karasu's style."

"You need to be careful of him targeting your weakness."

Even though Hiori had played football with Shinichi for so long without knowing what Shinichi's weak point was, he still cautioned him like this.

After all, even if Shinichi hadn't been playing football for very long, any areas where he wasn't good enough were merely unremarkable at worst. At least in Hiori Yo's eyes, the current Shinichi was a perfect player at the high school level.

But that was from a teammate's perspective, and Karasu Tabito was even better than Hiori Yo at this kind of analysis. Maybe he really could discover something that had been overlooked.

"Provided he can do it… he's coming."

Watching Karasu draw closer, Shinichi cut off the conversation. He didn't rashly step up to press, instead choosing to maintain his defensive positioning.

'He's observing the surroundings? There's no threat detected within my domain (defensive range). This guy—did he roughly analyze my defensive range just from watching footage?'

What Karasu said next confirmed Shinichi's guess.

"When you're defending, you're completely like a monster. No matter the opponent's movements, your teammates' cover positions, or the butterfly effect your own actions might cause—almost everything is under your control."

"It's truly despair-inducing strength. But when I was watching the footage, I noticed that when actions suddenly happen a little farther away from you, you always seem to react half a beat slower."

"Even so, your reactions are still amazing, but compared to how you perform inside your 'domain,' it's far inferior… like this!"

Karasu suddenly swung his leg and sent a lateral pass. Shinichi reacted instantly and tried to intercept, but just like in the previous match against Isagi Yoichi, no matter how absurd his speed was, as long as a certain distance was maintained, there was no way he could intercept this kind of pass.

'Right side? There shouldn't be anyone there—damn it, Otoya Eita!'

An unexpected chess piece suddenly barged into Shinichi's board. Otoya Eita actually sprinted wildly with consecutive changes of direction, weaving past Shinichi's teammates one after another, and by the skin of his teeth received the sudden lateral pass.

'This "ninja" has been hovering around the edge of my extreme defensive range the whole time, only relying on his powerful off-the-ball movement and agility to close in when needed. That's how he avoided the surveillance of my ultra–limit vision!'

"Damn it, so my field of vision control is still too small."

Shinichi chased back in irritation. His terrifying speed made his figure like an arrow released from the bow, instantly crossing several meters and intercepting Otoya Eita just as he took his first step after receiving the pass.

Shinichi jammed his shoulder tightly against Otoya Eita, trying to disrupt his ball control and look for a chance to steal. However, Otoya Eita had no intention of clinging to possession. Seeing that it couldn't be done, he directly flicked the ball with his heel and passed it out again.

"It's really not easy—do the two of us have to cooperate like this just to get past this monster?"

Karasu rushed out from Otoya Eita's right rear, leapt into the air, and received the pass mid-charge. Just as he was about to go in one-on-one, a flippant yet utterly terrifying voice sounded by his ear.

"Who told you that you've already gotten past me?"

Jet-black hair fluttered at the edge of his vision. Shinichi exploded forward, forcefully changed direction, and charged. After forcing Otoya Eita to stop, Shinichi actually burst again and was about to capture this offending "crow."

Even Karasu couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

"What kind of monster are you? Being fast is one thing, but you don't even need to rest after such a sudden stop and explosive start? Are your knees really okay?"

"They're fine. If I had to defeat you head-on, that would really be troublesome—but there are many victory objectives on the football field."

"So from the start, we never planned to break through you!"

Karasu raised his right hand and pressed it against Shinichi's chest, barely forcing some distance between them. However, due to the difference in strength, Karasu's body tilted uncontrollably.

Under such intense pressure, Karasu Tabito actually kicked the ball in this posture, even though he was still far from the goal.

Perhaps because the shot was too forced under these circumstances, even kindergarten kids could tell at a glance that this ball had no chance of scoring. Not only was the power insufficient and the speed slow, but the angle was also far off. The football's upward trajectory was clearly too high.

"Too high? No—Hiori!"

However, looking at this terrible shot that ordinary people would think was a complete mis-kick, Shinichi's expression changed drastically and he shouted.

"Noticed it? That's normal. But at this point, even you can't stop it anymore, right?"

Karasu, who had suddenly changed posture at high speed to deliver a long pass, was half-kneeling with one hand on the ground, barely maintaining his balance to avoid falling. Even so, despite his awkward state, his lips were filled with an uncontrollable smile.

"Because our goal was passing all along. Go, Jyubei!"

"Don't call me by surname!"

Aryu Jyubei sprang up from the ground under Hiori Yo's horrified gaze. His already tall body looked even more astonishing with that outstanding jump.

"The only thing I'm insecure about is that outdated, samurai-style, rustic name. It's not trendy at all!"

Amid an incomprehensible cry, Aryu Jyubei violently whipped his head. As his jet-black, glossy long hair flew up, the football turned into a white streak, sailed over Hiori Yo's head as he also jumped to contest it, and without any suspense smashed into the goal.

Gooooooooal!

1:0

"But this goal of mine is extremely trendy."

Aryu Jyubei landed in a superhero-like pose, intoxicated as he raised a hand and flicked his long hair.

Shinichi's Team X, since entering Blue Lock, had their goal breached for the first time—and likewise, fell behind in score for the first time.

"How could it be… the target… was… me?"

Completely defeated in his brief clash with Aryu Jyubei, Hiori Yo stood there in a daze with his head lowered, then clenched his fists tightly.

That's right. Even Karasu Tabito truly couldn't find Shinichi's weakness—or even if he did, it would be hard to exploit. So in this match, the one who was treated as the breakthrough point and constantly targeted...was him, Hiori Yo!