Jujutsu Kaisen, Round Two

Huang Kaiwen struck the ball with a curled shot that had about eighty percent of Figo's power.

The ball rose off the ground, sailed over the charging Valdes, and flew into the goal.

3:0

San Siro fell silent for a moment before erupting into its loudest cheers of the day.

"Kevin!!!"

"Kevin!!!"

"Kevin!!!"

Milan's fans roared like mad.

They weren't just seeing a goal. They were seeing the future of Milan.

Whether it was Kaka's long-distance dribbling or Huang Kaiwen's string of dazzling moves, both would be deadly weapons for the team.

Most teams were lucky to have one player who could dribble past opponents with ease. Milan had two. How were the other teams supposed to survive?

Ancelotti swung his arms back and forth like the Hulk, shouting something no one could make out.

Huang Kaiwen was celebrating with his teammates when he saw Ancelotti's antics. He couldn't help worrying about him a little.

Ancelotti was always buying things from those Southeast Asian con artists. Had he taken some fake medicine?

"That goal..."

"Brilliant!!!"

"Simply incomparable! Huang Kaiwen made the ball dance at his feet, showing off his skills in front of Barcelona, the most technically gifted team in the world. He's clearly very fast, but—would you look at that—he chose not to beat his man with speed, but with technique. You can see just how confident Huang Kaiwen is."

Coach Zhang spoke with a grin.

Puyol thought the same thing.

He'd known from watching Huang Kaiwen's match footage that the other man was very fast.

But in today's match, he'd chosen to beat his opponents with changes of pace instead. What the hell, was that a provocation? Was he saying he didn't need to go all out against Barcelona?

And he'd nutmegged him earlier, too. Damn it.

Watching Huang Kaiwen's back, Puyol clenched his fists, ready to teach the kid a lesson later.

A few minutes later, Rijkaard brought on 20-year-old Iniesta for Ronaldinho.

As Ronaldinho came off, his expression was sour.

Ignoring the manager's outstretched hand, he went straight back to the bench.

"Rijkaard and Ronaldinho clearly aren't on the same page. Ronaldinho hasn't been at his best today, but I think Rijkaard should have shown him more faith. After all, Ronaldinho scored 19 goals last season."

"Like Xavi, young Iniesta is a talented player from Barcelona's La Masia youth academy. Bringing him on might just make a difference."

"Ronaldinho has been a bit too selfish on the ball today."

When Iniesta first came on, he was a little nervous, but after playing for a while, he found his rhythm.

In the 76th minute, Barcelona launched another attack.

After turning in place to shake off his marker, Xavi played a through ball to Iniesta.

Huang Kaiwen hadn't expected that he'd end up facing both Iniesta and Ronaldinho in the same match.

Iniesta took the ball and dragged it back with his foot. Huang Kaiwen's eyelid twitched.

Don't think I won't know what you're planning just because you're a youngster.

Croqueta!

Huang Kaiwen knew Iniesta far too well.

As Iniesta moved the ball from his right foot to his left and pushed it forward, Huang Kaiwen stuck out a foot and hooked it away.

Then Huang Kaiwen quickly copied Iniesta's move.

He nudged the ball forward with his right foot, right in front of Iniesta.

The moment Iniesta reached for it, Huang Kaiwen shifted it from his right foot to his left, swayed his body, and beat him with a Croqueta.

Beautiful!!!

Kaka, who had been hovering nearby, ready to support him, saw Huang Kaiwen beat his man and hurried forward with him.

He'd thought Huang Kaiwen was going to pass.

He hadn't expected Huang Kaiwen to give Iniesta a taste of his own medicine.

Rijkaard kept shaking his head on the sidelines. Iniesta was still too green.

Just look at the way Huang Kaiwen pulled off that Croqueta. There wasn't a trace of effort.

Next to Huang Kaiwen, Iniesta's Croqueta wouldn't sell for a penny.

Milan counterattacked again, making Rijkaard's heart tighten.

On the pitch, Huang Kaiwen carried the ball down the right wing.

Facing van Bronckhorst, he used the Croqueta again.

The Barcelona manager's eyebrows jumped.

Was he hooked on the Croqueta now?

But he did it so well.

His shoulder and center of gravity worked together perfectly, the whole movement flowing like water.

In a single exchange, he'd beaten the Dutchman, Barcelona's first-choice left back.

This time, Huang Kaiwen didn't take the ball into the penalty area.

Seeing Puyol move toward him, he twisted on the wing and crossed.

Thwack—

The cross curled high through the air. Shevchenko went for it in the middle but couldn't reach the ball, having misjudged its flight.

But Inzaghi had followed up at the far post. Near the left post, he slid in and sent the ball into the goal.

Boom—

San Siro erupted again.

Inzaghi leaped onto Huang Kaiwen, making Ancelotti's eyelid twitch.

He quickly turned back toward the bench and beckoned Seedorf over with a finger.

Seeing this, Huang Kaiwen had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, two minutes later, Seedorf replaced him.

As he took the towel Ancelotti handed him, Huang Kaiwen suddenly felt an urge to strangle the manager with it.

But Ancelotti meant well, so he could only return to the bench in a foul mood.

Seeing an open seat beside Rui Costa, he asked Crespo to sit there and took the spot next to Ambrosini himself.

Huang Kaiwen had no desire to discuss philosophy with Rui Costa.

After he came off, Milan didn't score again.

Huang Kaiwen, who had scored once and assisted three goals, was named man of the match.

At the post-match press conference, Barcelona manager Rijkaard praised Huang Kaiwen without reservation. "We knew Milan would be tough to face. Kevin and Kaka are both super-talents, and Milan having two players like them had already decided the result. Kevin's style of play is so varied. The preparations we made for him before the match were no use—that was the biggest problem. Kevin dominated the game today, but when we return to Camp Nou, we'll definitely do better."

Huang Kaiwen didn't attend the press conference. He wasn't very interested.

He was the future boss's man, which meant, give or take, he was Milan's owner. What kind of club owner showed his face in public all the time? Inzaghi, whom Huang Kaiwen had dragged along to take his place at the press conference, was deeply moved.

He thought Huang Kaiwen was a real gentleman.

Not only had he set him up with an assist, he'd also handed him the chance to bask in the post-match attention.

Inzaghi had plenty of good things to say about Huang Kaiwen at the press conference, too.

After dinner with Kaka and Caroline, Huang Kaiwen went home and turned on the TV, bored. He was stunned.

Barbara was back!

And a TV station was broadcasting her arrival live.

Even Huang Kaiwen hadn't known the young lady was coming home today, but the TV station did.

Then again, they were both under Berlusconi. Finding out about the flight Barbara had booked would've been easy. She'd probably thought she'd be back late and hadn't bothered to tell him.

On TV, Barbara looked as poised and impressive as ever.

But a group of strange-looking people followed behind her.

One wore a mask and was covered in body paint, with a wooden spear in his hand.

One carried a huge black pot and was dressed all in black. A sack made of fiberglass hung over his shoulder, with the Chinese characters "UREA" printed boldly across it.

One held a wooden staff in his right hand, with a coconut tied to the top. His tattered robe was made of animal skins and feathers, and bits of metal dangled from it.

The last had fingernails about ten centimeters long. One hand was painted in a colorful pattern like a spider. A small crocodile-skin pouch hung at his left hip, and a dagger of unknown material was tucked into his right.

Anyone who didn't know better would've thought they were a tribal delegation.

Huang Kaiwen knew his good days were over.

Jujutsu Kaisen, Round Two, begins!

Thanks to Cao Cao's Illness, Chen Xiaoran Heng, and Fragrant Snow on a Cool Night for the tips.