(It must be because of that guy, Ryūma. Every time Hiori moves off the ball now, he keeps track of where Ryūma is.)

(This won’t do, Hiori. If you can’t let go of that mindset, you won’t last long in Blue Lock.)

Tabito Karasu was thinking idly when, suddenly, a figure flashed across his peripheral vision.

“You... What are you doing here?”

“Try relearning how to use your eyes, Karasu.”

That figure was none other than Rin Itoshi!

Snatching the ball, Rin gave Yo Hiori a quick glance before passing it straight back to him, then sprinted toward the center of Team X’s backfield.

The reason Rin chose to pass was simple—Eita Otoya had already rushed up alongside him.

Hiori caught the intent in Rin’s eyes and immediately understood what he meant.

(Alright, Rin, you really get me. With this setup, there’s no way I can pass to Ryūma now.)

Without overthinking it, Hiori sent the ball toward the middle of Team X’s defensive third.

After Rin had helped him recover possession, passing it to Ryūma again would’ve just been rude.

Rin received the ball cleanly and instantly drew back his leg, setting up for a shot.

By now, chaos had erupted inside Team X’s penalty area.

Their four defenders had already fallen back, bracing themselves in the box for Rin’s strike.

Meanwhile, Ryūma was sprinting at full speed from midfield toward Team X’s defense.

He had seen Hiori lose the ball earlier and, panicking, went all out—cutting diagonally from the right flank toward Karasu’s position.

Then came the awkward twist: Rin had stolen the ball back. Ryūma had no choice but to spin around and charge back the other way.

The triplet brothers were already in the box, locking horns with several Team X players. They kept signaling to Rin with their eyes—

as if saying, “Go ahead and shoot! We’ll open the lane for you, or we’ll head it in ourselves!”

But Rin ignored them, planted his foot, and struck.

Inside the box, the triplets threw themselves against the defenders, pinning them down to stop their jumps.

Still, one defender slipped through, leaping right into Rin’s shooting line.

But the ball didn’t fly toward goal as everyone expected—it curved toward the right instead.

Everyone in the box froze, stunned—including the triplets.

Their expressions said it all: “Seriously? Even you’re pulling a fake on your own teammates now?”

“Heh, nice pass, Rin!”

Ryūma, who had just run back, received Rin’s pass perfectly on the right side.

But just as he was deciding whether to take the Direct Shot or cut inside,

Eita Otoya appeared beside him, twisting his body into a strange position to intercept the ball.

Ryūma reacted instantly—shielding the ball between his legs with his left foot while ramming into Otoya with sheer physical force,

forcing him away to create space.

As expected, Otoya had no interest in getting into a body clash with Ryūma.

He backed off, giving up what could’ve been a prime chance to stop him.

Still, he stayed close enough that Ryūma couldn’t easily shake him.

“Whoa, you move like you’re teleporting! What are you, some kind of ninja?”

Otoya frowned, confused by Ryūma’s nonsense.

“Since the match started, you’ve been spouting weird stuff like that. What are you even talking about?”

“Don’t mind it, Mr. Ninja—it’s just some really powerful secret technique.”

Though their banter seemed relaxed, their movements were anything but.

Ryūma kept trying to break through, but Otoya blocked him again and again with his strange, fluid movements.

They were too close—Ryūma couldn’t use many of his usual tricks.

Even when he tried to burst past with raw speed, Otoya’s reaction was quick enough to cut him off.

He couldn’t match Ryūma’s full pace, but he could still intercept at the crucial moment.

(Time’s running out! The Team X defenders Rin tricked with that fake shot are already regaining their positions!)

(Forget it—time to gamble!)

Ryūma made a split-second decision. He quickly pulled the ball back with his right foot,

making Otoya think he was retreating to create distance.

When Otoya fell for it and lunged backward, Ryūma suddenly drove the ball forward again.

But Otoya was ready this time. He adjusted his body mid-move, cutting in to block Ryūma’s advance.

“Heh. After a few exchanges, I’ve figured something out.”

As he spoke, Ryūma’s right foot stepped cleanly over the ball.

At the same moment, he twisted left, his left heel flicking the ball sharply—

cutting it to the right and sending it spinning past Otoya’s back.

Before Otoya could react, Ryūma was already behind him.

“Your flexibility’s impressive, but even you can’t pull off back-to-back impossible moves like that, right?”

Blowing past Otoya, Ryūma charged up and assumed a perfect shooting stance.

Seeing Otoya leap into his shooting line, Ryūma smirked.

“Baka~”

His right foot, which had been about to strike, pivoted inward at the last moment,

flicking the ball toward his left. His left foot met it cleanly and drove it further to the side.

As Ryūma closed in, he took a small hop and lifted his leg again for another shot.

(Tch, a left-footed shot? This feels off...)

(Maybe just go for power. Sometimes brute force makes miracles happen.)

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Ryūma spotted Tabito Karasu—

standing inside the box, perfectly aligned with his shooting path.

(Damn it! Karasu’s timing couldn’t be worse!)

(What do I do? My half-baked left foot’ll get blocked by that guy in no time!)

(Switching to my right’s too late—Otoya’s already closing in!)

(Wait... Rin’s over there? So he’s orchestrating this again?)

Ryūma noticed Rin’s position—it was exactly where the ball would’ve gone if he forced a shot.

(So that’s why he “helped” by blocking Karasu and Otoya, then passed to me...)

(He was setting me up for this moment all along. Damn it, Rin—

I’d rather blast this into the stands than feed you another pass!)

Despite his thoughts, Ryūma wouldn’t actually throw the play away.

He shook his head helplessly, readying himself to take a full-power shot and leave the aftermath to Rin.

But just then, from the corner of his eye, he spotted Yo Hiori—

positioned at the edge of Team X’s left-side penalty area.

(Hiori? Of course... always there, always ready to link up with me. No wonder you’re in that spot.)

(But Hiori, from where you are—you’ve got just as clean a shot as Rin!)

...

(35 Chapters Ahead)

p@treon com / GhostParser