Blue Lock: I, Kira Ryosuke, Obtained Thunder Breathing at the Start

Uncle Aida: But if you make my precious Reiko unhappy, I won't just butcher you—I'll use your head as a racket #basketball

Kira Ryosuke looked at the message Aida Kagetora had sent, a smile appearing on his face as he quickly replied:

"Got it, Uncle. I'll bring Reiko back later!"

About two hours later, Aida Reiko and Kira Ryosuke chatted and took a walk together before the latter escorted her home.

"Dad, I'm back!"

Aida Reiko pushed open the door with a radiant smile on her face, her steps so light that she practically skipped inside.

"You're back. Why do you look so happy?"

"It's nothing. But Dad, why are you wearing shoes? You look like you're about to go out. And what are you doing holding a knife?"

"Haha, it's nothing."

"Mm."

Aida Reiko did not ask any further questions. She immediately rushed into her room, eagerly shut the door, and started a long phone call with Kira Ryosuke.

"Honestly, that brat at least got to keep his head."

Aida Kagetora smiled and shook his head.

Early the next morning, Kira Ryosuke got up bright and early. It was time for him to return to Blue Lock.

But the moment he opened the door, he found Aida Reiko standing outside, looking as though she had been about to knock.

"Reiko, good morning. What are you doing here? Don't you have class today?"

Kira Ryosuke asked curiously. Aida Reiko was an exemplary student at school.

"I took the morning off. I already studied this morning's lessons last week—after all, you're going back there today, so we came to see you off!"

Aida Reiko said with a smile, pointing behind her. A car was parked by the roadside, with Aida Kagetora in the driver's seat.

"I also prepared some things you'll definitely need over there, and—and a lunchbox I made myself! You haven't eaten breakfast yet, right? I also brought you some homemade snacks. You can eat them there too!"

"Wow, thank you so much. But Mr. Eikoku probably won't let us bring these things inside, will he?"

Blue Lock was managed very strictly. Other than absolutely necessary items, nothing else could be brought in.

"My dad said it'll be fine. He's already taken care of it, so you can just bring them in."

"Uncle took care of it?"

Kira Ryosuke felt a little doubtful. He turned toward the car window and saw Aida Kagetora inside, glaring at him with a vicious expression as though he wanted to kill him.

Kira Ryosuke, Just What Kind of Background Do You Have?

A few hours later, Kira Ryosuke arrived at the entrance to Blue Lock in Aida Kagetora's car.

"So this is Blue Lock? It's so impressive."

Aida Reiko got out of the car and could not help but marvel when she saw the five connected pentagonal buildings before her.

"Then I'm heading in."

Kira Ryosuke had a large bag on his back and two smaller bags in his hands, all filled with snacks and nutritional supplements Aida Reiko had prepared for him. There were even small snacks she had told him to share with his teammates.

"Thanks for the trouble, Uncle!"

"No need to thank me, brat. I'm only doing this because my precious Reiko told me to."

Aida Kagetora still wore a ferocious expression.

"And even if you die, you'd better finish the lunch my precious Reiko made for you by hand, understand?!"

After saying that, Aida Kagetora's mouth twitched slightly, as though something unpleasant had come to mind.

"Even if I die... Yeah, I understand."

Kira Ryosuke turned to look at Aida Reiko. Her gaze had never left him.

"Then I'm off, Reiko."

"Mm, it's a deal! You have to come watch during the round-robin matches! So hurry up and score another ten goals!"

"Sure, sure. I'll score twenty and come out to hang around for two days, okay?"

"Do it first, then talk! Go on!"

Aida Reiko said with a smile. She watched Kira Ryosuke leave, only departing with Aida Kagetora after his figure had disappeared beyond the gates.

Aida Kagetora, meanwhile, stared solemnly at the cluster of buildings with his arms folded across his chest.

"Kid, since Reiko thinks so highly of you, you'd better perform well."

Meanwhile, Kira Ryosuke had already returned inside the building.

"I'm finally back."

The large screen suddenly lit up, and Ego Jinpachi appeared on it once again.

"Mr. Eikoku, you've made yourself seem like an AI..."

Kira Ryosuke remarked. After all, ever since entering Blue Lock, Ego Jinpachi had only ever appeared on the giant screen.

"By the way, Mr. Eikoku, can I bring these things into Blue Lock?"

"Yes."

Ego Jinpachi pushed up his glasses and nodded very quickly.

"But only you can."

"Only I can?"

"No more questions. Hurry back to your room. There'll be another match soon."

"Understood."

Carrying several large bags, Kira Ryosuke returned to Team Z's room, while Ego Jinpachi remained silent.

Theoretically, these things absolutely could not be brought into Blue Lock.

However, he had received orders from the Football Association chairman above him. Since that man held Blue Lock's budget in his hands, Ego Jinpachi chose to turn a blind eye to such an insignificant matter.

At the same time, he was deeply puzzled. Why was Kira Ryosuke receiving so much attention from the Football Association chairman?

Kira Ryosuke's ability and background had both exceeded Ego Jinpachi's expectations. None of this had appeared in the previous investigation.

At Football Association headquarters, chairman Furannami Hirotoshi was currently pondering a question similar to Ego Jinpachi's.

Just who was Kira Ryosuke?

Not long ago, the Basketball Association chairman had contacted him and asked him to pass a message to Ego Jinpachi, telling the latter to give Kira Ryosuke certain privileges.

Although the Basketball Association chairman and Furannami Hirotoshi held positions of equal rank, they had a good relationship. Moreover, maintaining connections by helping each other out was necessary if one wanted to survive in politics for a long time. It was an utterly trivial matter to Furannami Hirotoshi, and doing someone a favor cost him nothing.

In truth, this was because of Aida Kagetora. He had once been a key member of the National Team and held considerable prestige in the sports world. He was close with the Basketball Association chairman, so he had asked the man for a small favor.

Aida Kagetora doted on his daughter immensely. He absolutely could not accept Blue Lock refusing the lovingly prepared bento that his precious daughter, Aida Reiko, had made herself.

Although it was only a trivial matter, it made Furannami Hirotoshi curious. How did Kira Ryosuke have such influence?

Not only that, even Itoshi Sae seemed to be particularly interested in this person named Kira Ryosuke. He had asked his agent to contact Furannami Hirotoshi and request Blue Lock's match recordings again—except this time, he only wanted footage of matches and training sessions involving Kira Ryosuke. It was clear that Itoshi Sae had developed an interest in him.

"How strange. Kira Ryosuke does have a bit of a reputation, but it shouldn't be to this extent, should it? Does he have some other background? That Ego Jinpachi fellow also seems to value him greatly. How strange..."

Furannami Hirotoshi muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, inside Blue Lock, Kira Ryosuke had already returned to his team's room.

The moment he pushed open the door, the members of Team Z rushed over impatiently.

"Ryosuke, you're finally back!"

"I'm so jealous! You got to go out just for scoring ten goals. And hey, Ryosuke, what's all that in your backpack? Are you here to camp?"

"Ryosuke, what did you go out to do? You definitely went to hang out with your girlfriend, right?"

"Ah, that's right."

Kira Ryosuke smiled and nodded. Taking out his phone, he saw the several messages Reiko had sent him.

Reiko: We're leaving! Come out early! I need to prepare for the competition these next few days too!

Reiko: Remember to share the snacks with your teammates!

Reiko: And the bento I made myself! You have to finish it all, okay! Dad said it tastes great!

After replying to her, Kira Ryosuke immediately took out all the snacks and distributed them among everyone present.

"Your sister-in-law specifically asked me to bring these for you."

"Thanks, sister-in-law!"

"They're delicious!"

"Is there more? Is there more?"

The large bag of snacks was quickly divided among the other ten people. After eating almost identical meals for half a month, these little snacks were practically gourmet treasures to them.

Watching the others enjoy their food, Kira Ryosuke took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and took out the love-filled bento Aida Reiko had prepared for him.

The moment he opened it, Kira Ryosuke was stunned by the sight before him.

The bento was supposedly arranged in the shape of a little bear, but perhaps because the ingredients had been overcooked, it looked more like a vicious demon.

"Is that sister-in-law's love-filled bento!?"

Imamura Yuudai curiously came over for a look. Then his brows furrowed, and he silently walked away.

"Give it a try... Maybe it tastes pretty good—Bleurgh..."

That night, after returning to Blue Lock, Kira Ryosuke began training again with the other members of his team.

Although they had already won three straight matches and secured qualification, with only the final match against Team V remaining, Kira Ryosuke had no intention of merely qualifying.

Since he had made up his mind, he absolutely could not lose a single match.

After all, Kira Ryosuke had made a promise to Aida Reiko as well.

While undergoing endurance training, Kira Ryosuke also considered how they should deal with their next opponent.

Team V was, on paper, the strongest of the five teams, on a completely different level from the others.

Especially Nagi Seishiro. He was a once-in-a-generation genius who possessed the formidable skill Super Ball Control, capable of receiving all kinds of unbelievable passes before adjusting his posture to shoot.

What was more, Nagi Seishiro had two helpers at his side: Mikage Reo and Tsurugi Zantetsu. One was an almost omnipotent all-rounder, while the other possessed the fastest explosive speed in Blue Lock.

It could be said that this match against Team V would not be easy. In terms of average ability, Team V was far stronger than Team Z.

The first thing they had to face was how to defend against the combined offensive of the three aces.

They absolutely could not lose in terms of momentum.

"Um, everyone, gather up. We all know the next match against Team V will definitely be a tough battle. But we've already secured qualification, and the result of this match won't affect our standing—I want to hear what you all think."

Kira Ryosuke gathered everyone together, his gaze sweeping over the group as he tried to gauge the attitudes of the other players.

"Qualifying isn't nearly enough. We're going all the way."

"Since it's the last match, Team Z has to finish with a perfect record!"

"That's right! Those Team V guys are on a winning streak—they must be insanely arrogant right now! Let's go take them down a notch!"

The ten people on the team gave the same answer without any prior discussion.

Kira Ryosuke nodded in satisfaction. He could clearly see the flames of battle burning in everyone's eyes.

Every member of Team Z now wanted more than simply qualifying. They wanted to go further and greedily seize even more victories.