Takumi Minamino's Provocation

Barcelona.

Rain poured down.

Indoor training hall.

The LED screen replayed the match between Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen.

Accompanied by the commentator's excited voice.

The staff members applauded and cheered as well.

Assistant coach Unzue blew the whistle for a break.

Suárez moved closer to the big screen and asked in confusion, "Why are you watching a Bundesliga match? Hey! That kid's through balls are really good! Leo! Come take a look!"

A staff member turned around and said with a smile, "He's Big Sister Sofia's adopted son! He's really made something of himself now—Bayer Leverkusen's starting midfielder!"

Mascherano stepped forward and exclaimed, "He keeps turning his head to scan the situation on the pitch, and his movement off the ball too... He's so much like Xavi."

Neymar nodded in agreement. "His playing style is indeed somewhat similar, but he's still far behind in other aspects. His physicality is quite strong, though!"

Rakitić bent over, studying the big screen closely as he muttered, "No, look—his passing with both his left and right foot is excellent. He's a Balanced Feet player! This kid has a lot of potential! He's got my former club completely helpless!"

"Bayer Leverkusen seems to be one of our Champions League group-stage opponents?"

None of them had come through La Masia's youth academy, so naturally, they had never met Auntie Sofia's adopted son.

Iniesta and Busquets exchanged a glance and could not help smiling wryly.

Even before the Champions League draw, the two had hoped that the mute Chinese boy would return to Barcelona.

Messi looked at Bayer Leverkusen's number 10 on the screen, deep in thought.

Unzue said, "All right, it's international break this week. Get back to your home countries quickly."

Spanish Football Federation headquarters.

Spain National Team manager Del Bosque frowned.

"The 19-man squad for the UEFA European Championship has been finalized! But choosing the remaining four spots is really difficult!"

"What a fucking wonderful problem to have!"

Assistant coach Miñano held a stack of documents and suggested:

"Juanfran and Saúl from Atlético Madrid, Vázquez from Real Madrid."

"And Asensio from the youth national team has been performing exceptionally well too!"

"There's no need to rush the squad for the UEFA European Championship qualifiers."

"I don't think we need to send a full-strength lineup against the Japan National Football Team. We only need to call up a few youngsters from the youth national team and Olympic team. It's just an international friendly, after all."

Del Bosque considered it for a moment before saying, "Then handle it as you see fit! Mind the impact! Mind the friendship!"

With that, he left the office.

Miñano was thrilled.

He spread stacks of player profiles across the table.

Like he was playing a card game.

Rubbing his hands together.

He arranged the squad list according to formation while muttering to himself:

"Little Denis? Villarreal's super talent! He has to be in!"

"Leo Kang? Asian, Bayer Leverkusen's starting midfielder! He's not bad either!"

"Their positions seem to overlap a bit!"

"Forget it, put them both in! Let's see what kind of chemistry they can create!"

"Damn! I forgot the forwards... Forget it! Spain didn't have a striker when they won the 2012 UEFA European Championship either!"

"This lineup should be able to go toe-to-toe with the Japan National Football Team!"

Bayer Leverkusen.

Völler looked helplessly at the call-up letter sent by the Spanish Football Federation.

"Our Leo is only seventeen this year, and he's already been named in the Spain National Team squad? And he has to fly all the way back to Asia for a friendly? What if he gets injured? Is the declining Matador Dynasty still looking for Xavi's successor?"

The young assistant looked troubled. "It is international break, after all. I suggest the club cooperate as much as possible. Leo Kang himself doesn't seem too resistant either."

Völler sighed. "All right."

At the same time.

The Spanish Football Federation officially announced its squad for this week's international break on social media.

Leo Kang's name was prominently listed.

Related news quickly spread across China's online platforms.

<Chinese talent from Bayer Leverkusen named in Spain National Team squad!>

<Spain deploys a strikerless formation again! Recreating the dynasty at its 2012 UEFA European Championship peak!>

<Who exactly is Xavi's successor? The international break will reveal the answer!>

The number of comments, likes, and reposts soared.

It was now 2015, and the influence of the Spain National Team's three consecutive major tournament titles had not faded.

-

[Something's off. Most of Spain's lineup consists of youngsters from the youth national team and Olympic team. They're probably just testing players. As for Xavi's successor? Little Denis is more similar, while Leo Kang is tough, after all!]

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[Can this lineup even beat those Japanese brats living such nice little lives? They've got their full European-based squad! It'd be absurd if Spain could win.]

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[Japan isn't using their full-strength lineup either. Some Europe-based players, along with young domestic players from the J League.]

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[Traitor! Instead of coming back to play for the China National Football Team, you ran off to the Spain National Team! You've disgraced your ancestors! Race traitor!]

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[Play for the China National Football Team? Bro, don't you know how fast modern football develops and evolves? One person can't carry a team. Even if Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo came together, they couldn't carry it!]

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[Add Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets and Modrić, and they still couldn't carry it. Seriously.]

-

[Why even discuss this? It ruins the mood.]

The next day.

International break got underway.

China vs. Japan.

The match was fiercely contested.

The stands on all four sides were dead silent.

Japan's number 18 broke through frantically down the left wing.

"Japan's young player Takumi Minamino has been performing very well! The former J League Rookie of the Year, Red Bull Salzburg's starting forward!"

"Hey, what's going on? That move was clearly provocative!"

"The referee isn't giving him a card?"

China's center-back cleared the ball out of bounds.

Takumi Minamino looked somewhat angry and strode forward.

He slammed his left shoulder hard into his opponent.

Spitting filthy trash talk.

The referee showed no reaction whatsoever.

China's players rushed forward one after another.

Wataru Endo stepped in front of Takumi Minamino and stopped him.

The scene began to descend into chaos.

The fans in the stands also furiously condemned Japan's players for their provocative behavior!

"Let's see how the referee handles this!"

"Huh? Why did our player get a yellow card?"

"The controversy here is obvious!"

The netizens were furious too!

-

[If this were the China National Football Team from Li Weifeng's generation, Takumi Minamino would already have been grabbed by the throat!]

-

[Wataru Endo would get a flying kick to the chest too!]

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[Fuck! Why is there no fighting spirit at all? You go in so hard in the Chinese Super League! Why are you so calm when facing Japanese brats?]

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[There's no need to stay calm in a situation like this! It's a friendly! Just go at them!]

-

[What else is there to say? Being bad is the original sin!]

Post-match press conference.

Faced with the media's furious condemnation.

Takumi Minamino smiled dismissively.

"I don't want to answer any questions."

"The scoreline says it all."

"Football depends on strength!"

I have to work overtime, so I don't have time to thank everyone who voted and tipped. I'll thank you in the next chapter.

As for Takumi Minamino and Wataru Endo's characterizations, this isn't some forced wish-fulfillment face-slapping trope. These two are really like this in real life; you can search the keywords, and the incident was real too.

At the time, plenty of domestic fans were even defending those Japanese brats. I don't dare write about that—it would genuinely poison a whole bunch of readers with normal values.