"Just came to visit you. Besides, your place isn't far from here. The cafeteria here is just so-so. I feel like it's not as good as what you make, so I came back to taste your cooking!"
Kira Ryosuke replied with a smile.
"Um..."
Hearing Kira Ryosuke's words, Aida Reiko's hand slowly clenched into a fist. She lowered her head shyly, pressed her lips together, then quickly smiled and turned her gaze toward the screen.
"Sure! I'll wait for you to come back! You have to score ten goals!"
"Got it! Don't worry!"
"And one more thing!"
Aida Reiko's expression became extremely serious. She leaned forward and lightly touched the screen with her finger, as though touching Kira Ryosuke's forehead.
"You have to win in the end! Show that arrogant guy!"
"Yeah. It's a promise."
Kira Ryosuke nodded.
"Then you'll probably have to train later, so I won't bother you! Contact me if anything happens! When do you think you'll be back? I'll prepare lots and lots of delicious food for you!"
After finishing his call with Aida Reiko, Kira Ryosuke arrived at Team Z's private field. Everyone else immediately turned their gazes toward him.
He keenly sensed the envy among them.
"Um, Reiko isn't my—"
Before Kira Ryosuke could finish explaining, Imamura Yuudai stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
"I understand. After all, Brother Kira, you're something of a minor celebrity. If the media found out, it would definitely cause quite a bit of trouble. I'll definitely keep it a secret for you."
After saying that, Imamura Yuudai gave Kira Ryosuke a thumbs-up, looking as if to say, You can completely trust me.
"..."
Kira Ryosuke sighed helplessly. At this point, explaining would be useless.
"Everyone's tired today, and there's no need to push the training intensity too much. Let's practice some basic coordination and tactics for now. Tomorrow, we'll go to the monitoring room and look at the footage to see where we performed poorly today. We also need to watch Team Y and Team V's match. Although the score was heavily one-sided, Team V and Team Y will both be our opponents in the future, so we can't let our guard down."
According to the original storyline, their next opponent would be Team Y.
Although Team Y had just been defeated 8–0 by Team V, that didn't mean Team Y was weak.
Two of their players were worth paying attention to. One was Oogawa Hibiki, who possessed outstanding scoring ability.
But one of his teammates held a higher tactical position than Oogawa Hibiki—Niko Ikki.
He was the true brains of Team Y, devising plans for the entire team and executing counterattacks after defending.
Their first-round opponent, Team Y, was the strongest of the five teams.
In the original story, three of their players scored a total of eighteen goals in the first four matches.
Mikage Reo, who excelled at both passing and controlling the ball; Tsurugi Zantetsu, who possessed incredible acceleration.
And the genius Nagi Seishiro.
He possessed unparalleled physical talent and the absurd ability of Super Ball Control, allowing him to trap and shoot the ball from all kinds of angles and in all kinds of ways.
Most astonishingly, Nagi Seishiro had only been in contact with soccer for six months, yet he had already reached a height ordinary people could hardly hope to attain.
Their match was very likely to be a tough battle.
However, Team Z's match against Team V would be the last one. Kira Ryosuke knew that he had to focus on the opponent before him, and he also needed to further improve his strength during this period.
Team Y's locker room.
The atmosphere throughout the team had already dropped to freezing point.
In fact, under Niko Ikki's leadership, Team Y had quickly completed their tactics and had not fallen into the same chaos as Team X.
But in the face of absolute talent, their efforts were meaningless. Team V's three aces easily blasted open their goal again and again.
Even the strongest, Nagi Seishiro, had not broken a sweat. It was as if soccer were merely a job he clocked into, allowing him to score effortlessly before standing off to the side and resting.
Even so, Team Y had failed to score a single goal, leaving everyone on the team extremely unwilling to accept the result.
"Since we've already lost, there's nothing we can do about it."
Niko Ikki clapped his hands, his heavy bangs covering his eyes.
He wanted to ease the chilly atmosphere in the locker room, but he also had to encourage everyone and prepare them for the next match.
They had already lost one game. Only two of the five teams could advance, and they were already standing on the edge of a cliff. Another loss would mean complete elimination.
"We should find a way to identify our mistakes in this match, while shifting our focus to the games ahead. Team X and Team Z have also finished their match. We'll definitely face both of them later, so we can go to the monitoring room and watch the footage of their game today to learn about our future opponents in advance."
Chapter 27: New Function Unlocked, Combat Space!
In the monitoring room, Niko Ikki watched Team Z and Team X's match with Oogawa Hibiki and the rest of his teammates. Expressions of surprise appeared on everyone's faces.
Without a doubt, Barou Shoei possessed extremely powerful technical skills and physical abilities, giving him formidable offensive power. Even Oogawa Hibiki, who had once been the top scorer in his area, felt inferior to him.
But even so, Team X had still lost.
It was not only because the team had turned against itself and ultimately collapsed, but also because of Kira Ryosuke's presence.
"That Kira Ryosuke... I've heard of him. Many people call him the Treasure of the Football World. I watched one of his matches before, and he was indeed incredible, but I never expected him to have reached this level in Blue Lock..."
Oogawa Hibiki sighed involuntarily, his voice even trembling slightly.
"Oogawa, can you perform that kind of shot?"
Niko Ikki extended a hand toward the screen. The large display was paused on the scene of Kira Ryosuke dribbling past Barou Shoei and taking a shot.
"N-no, I can't... His first shot was with his right foot, but the second time he used his left foot with astonishing skill... That's already an incredible level."
Oogawa Hibiki swallowed.
"And he was able to maintain that speed and power. The goalkeeper clearly didn't even react in time... Barou is already a monster, but Kira is a monster among monsters."
"Not only that, unlike Barou, who insists on fighting alone, Kira chooses to pass at the appropriate moments. That's what makes him frightening. He practically controls the entire field by himself."
Niko Ikki raised a hand and lightly rubbed his chin, seemingly considering how to deal with such a situation.
"However, against an opponent like this, the defensive method we came up with earlier should be effective."
He lowered his hand, his tone becoming utterly resolute.
"Kira is Team Z's absolute core and brain. As long as we pin him down completely, Team Z won't be difficult to deal with. We will win—we have to win."
"When the time comes, just like in the first match, after the forwards cross midfield, Raichi, you and the others will press forward according to your rotating positions..."
At Team Z's field, Kira Ryosuke had already finished basic tactical practice with everyone, and the others soon went to rest.
Kira Ryosuke stayed on the field alone, preparing to continue with some specialized training.
He had not yet had the chance to test the effect of the newly unlocked Thunder Breathing, Second Form. Moreover, what he was most curious about was the so-called Combat Space.
As he pondered, Kira Ryosuke opened the System Interface once more.
[Combat Space: 10 Combat Points/1 hour]
Kira Ryosuke now had exactly ten Combat Points left, so he could test what this so-called Combat Space was.
[Exchange successful. Entering Combat Space] [Three, two, one...] [Entering]
Kira Ryosuke felt the scene before his eyes change. The surrounding food gradually shattered like scattered puzzle pieces, then reassembled before his eyes.
In the next instant, Kira Ryosuke had arrived in a new space.
A green field appeared before him, while a soccer ball lay quietly at his feet.
[This Combat Space provides all sports equipment related to soccer. If needed, open the System Interface to select equipment manually.]
Following the system's instructions, Kira Ryosuke opened the System Interface. Various kinds of training equipment appeared before his eyes: dummies, obstacles, weighted balls... even equipment he had never seen before.
Not only that, the size, style, and even color of the equipment could be changed according to Kira Ryosuke's wishes.
A huge number suddenly appeared in midair above the field.
60:00 59:59 59:58
Kira Ryosuke immediately realized that the numbers were the countdown for the remaining time in the Combat Space. This opportunity had cost ten points, and this precious hour had been bought with an entire day of hard training. He absolutely could not waste it.
He immediately went to the goal, entered the state of Total Concentration Breathing, and used Thunderclap and Flash to take a shot.
After completing the shot, Kira Ryosuke carefully felt his legs. This time, he did not feel the slightest soreness.
"This will increase my efficiency by quite a bit!"
A smile appeared on Kira Ryosuke's face. Practicing skills while in the state of Total Concentration Breathing could not only improve the proficiency of two skills at the same time, but also increased their growth rate slightly faster than using the two abilities separately.
After he completed his shot, the soccer ball inside the goal disappeared, and a brand-new soccer ball appeared out of thin air before him.
"Looks like it's pretty considerate. This will save me quite a bit of time."
He quickly took shots with each leg in turn, still without feeling the slightest soreness.
"As expected, there's no stamina limit here. I can practice my skills to increase their proficiency to my heart's content."
Kira Ryosuke muttered to himself. He then temporarily stopped practicing Thunderclap and Flash, turning his attention to the newly unlocked skill.
Second Form: Rice Spirit.
First Form: Thunderclap and Flash increased the explosive power of both legs. Kira Ryosuke was curious about the effect of Rice Spirit.
He maintained the state of Total Concentration Breathing, then moved his body by instinct, following the memories that had entered his mind not long ago.
Kira Ryosuke began to run, and the soccer ball beneath his feet moved along with him.
Then he forcefully stepped on the side of the ball with his foot. The ball bounced off the ground and landed perfectly on Kira Ryosuke's chest.
All of this was done while Kira Ryosuke was running at high speed.
While dribbling, Kira Ryosuke quickly performed a series of flashy movements. The small soccer ball seemed to have come alive, circling around him like a contracted spirit. At times it leaped, at times it spun, moving freely between Kira Ryosuke's feet.
Although these movements were no different from street soccer and looked flashy, they were incredibly fast. If a defender tried to challenge him for the ball, they could easily be tricked into losing their balance and being taken out of position.
"So that's how it is. What an incredible skill."
The corners of Kira Ryosuke's mouth lifted slightly as he stopped. He now understood the effect Rice Spirit brought.
An extremely powerful dribbling technique.
Chapter 28: The Flame Hidden in Chigiri Hyoma's Heart
Thunderclap and Flash gave Kira Ryosuke astonishing explosive power in his legs, while Rice Spirit greatly enhanced his ball-control skills.
The original body's abilities were excellent, and his dribbling and ball-control skills were above average. However, compared with a top dribbling expert like Bachira Meguru, there was still a considerable gap.
Kira Ryosuke had been able to defeat Bachira Meguru earlier mainly because he relied on his physical abilities and speed, which surpassed his opponent's.
The same was true during the match. With the enhancement of Thunderclap and Flash, Kira Ryosuke possessed enough speed to tear through the defense effortlessly, and he also used that explosive power to dribble past opponents and shoot.
The most important factor in all of this was speed, not technique.
Team X's defense had also been completely disorganized. The players had no coordination whatsoever, allowing Kira Ryosuke to charge into the penalty area with ease.
But the next team he would face, Team Y, was completely different. Their coordination was orderly, and they placed great emphasis on defense. Creating a suitable shooting opportunity would not be easy. Furthermore, the other side had surely watched the footage of his match against Team X and knew that he possessed superior speed. They might set their defensive line farther back and make it more compact. That would not only make breakthroughs more difficult, but also make it easy for defenders to block the routes of long-range shots.
With Rice Spirit, Kira Ryosuke had gained another offensive method.
Generally speaking, street-soccer moves were too flashy, with too many unnecessary actions, resulting in a very high error rate. But the dribbling movements granted to Kira Ryosuke by Rice Spirit contained no unnecessary elements and could better throw defenders off balance.
This was exactly the ability Kira Ryosuke needed at the moment. It gave him more chances to score without using Thunderclap and Flash.
Unlike Thunderclap and Flash, Rice Spirit was purely a technique, so it would not show any particularly obvious increase while in the state of Total Concentration Breathing. However, it allowed Kira Ryosuke to possess even greater dribbling ability in his normal state.
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