Blue Lock : Second Selection. Match 1.
Team White (Isagi, Bachira, Reo) vs. Team Red (Rin, Aryu, Tokimitsu).
Score: 1 - 3 (Team Red leads).
The digital scoreboard loomed over the field like a tombstone. 1-3. One more goal for Team Red, and it was over.
Rin Itoshi stood near the center circle, his chest barely moving. He looked bored. He looked like a man who had already read the ending of the book and was just flipping pages to get it over with.
"You're done," Rin said, his voice flat. "Your logic is broken. Your team is disjointed. You are nothing more than a spectator in my game."
Isagi Yoichi stood frozen for a moment, the weight of Rin's dominance crushing down on him. Rin wasn't just faster or stronger; he was manipulating them. He used his opponents' own instincts against them, guiding them into traps like a spider pulling strings.
He sees the battlefield, Isagi thought, his breathing stabilizing. He is the General. He stands in the mud and blood, directing the soldiers to their deaths.
Isagi closed his eyes. The darkness behind his eyelids was comforting.
If I fight him on the ground, I lose. He is the best soldier.
So, I must leave the ground.
Isagi opened his eyes. The panic was gone. The hesitation was gone. The blue aura that usually surrounded him flared white-hot, expanding outward until it covered the entire pitch.
I don't need to be a General. I need to be a God.
A General reacts to the enemy. A God dictates the reality.
"Reo. Bachira," Isagi whispered, not turning his head.
The two looked at him. Reo was sweating, looking defeated. Bachira was panting, his monster seemingly quieted by Rin's control.
"Don't think," Isagi commanded. "Rin is manipulating your thoughts. If you think, you die. Just look at me. I am the only signal you follow."
Reo gritted his teeth. "Can we even win, Isagi? He's a monster."
"He's a human," Isagi corrected coldly. "And humans have habits."
The Rewrite of Reality
Restart.
Team White kicked off. Isagi took the ball.
Immediately, Rin stepped forward. The pressure was immense.
"Struggling is ugly," Rin said, closing the distance.
Isagi engaged Metavision. But this time, he didn't just look at positions. He looked at Rin's eyes.
Rin is looking at Reo. He expects me to use the Copycat to bypass the midfield.
Rin is positioning his body to cut the passing lane to the right.
He is guiding me to the left, where Aryu is waiting.
I see your script, General.
Isagi feinted his body toward Reo. He threw his entire weight into the fake.
Rin's eyes shifted. He took the bait. He's passing right.
Rin stepped to intercept.
Snap.
Isagi stopped his motion instantly. He didn't pass. He didn't dribble left.
He drove straight through the center—the path Rin had just vacated to chase the shadow of a pass.
"What?" Rin's eyes widened slightly. "He didn't pass?"
"I cut the string," Isagi whispered as he breezed past the Number 1.
Aryu Jyubei panicked. "Not stylish!" He rushed to cover the center.
Isagi saw Aryu coming.
Aryu has long limbs. He intercepts aerial balls and tackles from a distance.
If I shoot, he blocks it.
If I pass to Bachira...
Isagi looked at Bachira. Bachira was making a run.
Aryu saw Isagi looking at Bachira.
He's passing to the Monster! Aryu shifted his weight.
Isagi didn't pass. He used the outside of his boot to slice the ball back to the right side.
Reo Mikage.
Reo was standing exactly where Isagi had "faked" the first pass. He was wide open because Rin had moved to intercept a pass that never happened, and hadn't recovered.
"Shoot, Copycat!" Isagi ordered.
Reo didn't hesitate. He channeled his frustration, his anger at Nagi, his hatred of Rin.
He saw the ball coming perfectly.
I can do it. I have 99% stats.
Reo mimicked Rin's earlier shot.
Copy: Curved Shot.
The ball bent viciously around the keeper and slammed into the net.
GOAL.
(Isagi Assist)
Team White: 2 - Team Red: 3
"Two," Isagi said, not looking at the goal, but staring directly at Rin. "Your script had a plot hole, Rin."
Rin glared at Isagi. The boredom in his eyes was replaced by a flicker of genuine irritation.
"You got lucky," Rin spat. "You guessed right once."
The Despair of the General
Restart.
Rin didn't pass. He took the ball and charged. The aura around him turned jagged and dark.
"I will crush you until there is nothing left but dust."
Rin didn't manipulate this time. He destroyed.
He used a Roulette to spin past Bachira.
He used a Heel Lift to jump over Reo's slide tackle.
He was a storm of technique.
Isagi stood in the defense. He saw Rin coming.
He's coming alone. He's angry.
He's going to shoot from the right side.
Isagi moved to block the shot.
But just as Isagi committed, Rin's leg snapped back.
It wasn't a shot. It was a pass.
A laser beam through the legs of Isagi.
Straight to Aryu Jyubei.
"Glamorous Goal!" Aryu jumped, using his insane reach to head the ball before the keeper could react.
GOAL.
Team White: 2 - Team Red: 4
MATCH POINT.
The automated voice announced the score. The air left the room.
Reo fell to his knees. "It's impossible... even when we score, he just scores back instantly. He's on a different dimension."
Bachira wasn't smiling anymore. His monster was silent.
Rin walked back to his half, bumping shoulders with Isagi.
"Did you see that?" Rin asked quietly. "I knew you would read the shot. So I used you as a screen to pass. You are nothing more than a prop in my movie, Isagi."
Isagi stood there. The score was 2-4. One mistake, and he loses Reo or Bachira. One mistake, and his ego dies.
Most players would crumble. Most players would accept that Rin Itoshi was unreachable.
But Isagi Yoichi smiled.
It was a terrifying, unnatural smile. It was the smile of someone who had realized that the cage he was in wasn't locked.
He used me as a screen?
He read my read of his read?
Amazing.
Isagi's heart pounded. Not with fear. With excitement.
He is the ultimate test subject. If I can devour him... I become the world.
"Reo. Get up," Isagi commanded. His voice was different. Deeper. Heavier.
Reo looked up. "Isagi?"
"Bachira. Wake up."
Isagi walked to the ball.
"He thinks he's the director of this movie," Isagi said, his eyes glowing with an ethereal light that seemed to warp the air around him. "But he's just an actor. And I'm about to rewrite his lines."
The Divine Intervention
Kickoff.
Isagi passed to Bachira.
"Don't dribble, Bachira. Pass and move. Become liquid."
Bachira nodded, sensing the shift. "Okay, Isagi."
They began a rapid exchange of passes. Tick-tack. Tick-tack.
Rin watched them, analyzing.
They are playing keep-away. Trying to find a gap. Useless.
Rin moved to intercept. He saw Isagi making a run for the box.
He's going for a Direct Shot. I'll crush him there.
Rin sprinted to the penalty spot, cutting off Isagi's route.
Isagi saw Rin move.
He thinks I want the goal.
No, Rin. I want you to be out of position.
Isagi stopped his run abruptly. He ran away from the goal, back toward the midfield.
"Reo! Long ball!" Isagi yelled.
Reo, possessing the ball, launched a high pass toward Isagi.
Rin paused. Why is he running back? Is he resetting?
Isagi trapped the ball with his chest. He was facing his own goal.
Rin was behind him. Tokimitsu was in front of him.
Isagi was trapped.
Or so it seemed.
Isagi sensed the pressure from Rin behind him.
He's close. He's trying to steal it from my blind spot.
Blind spot...
That's where the God lives.
Isagi didn't turn. He didn't pass back.
He performed a No-Look Backheel Pass.
The ball rolled perfectly between Rin's legs.
"What?!" Rin gasped, looking down.
The ball rolled into the penalty box.
Into the space Rin had vacated to chase Isagi.
And running into that space was the Monster.
Bachira Meguru.
"Thanks for the present, Isagi!" Bachira laughed.
He was 1-on-1 with the keeper. He did a double-scissor feint and rolled it in.
GOAL.
(Isagi Assist)
Team White: 3 - Team Red: 4
"Three," Isagi whispered, turning to face the stunned Rin. "You chased the decoy, Number 1."
The Collapse of Logic
Rin's face twisted. The mask of boredom shattered completely.
"You... you little..."
Rin was furious. For the first time, he wasn't in control. He was reacting.
Restart.
Rin took the ball. He didn't pass. He entered Flow.
The aura around him turned into a hideous monster.
"I WILL KILL YOU!"
He charged Isagi.
Isagi stood his ground.
Rin did a feint. Isagi didn't move.
Rin did another feint. Isagi didn't move.
Why isn't he reacting?! Rin screamed internally.
Isagi was watching the intent.
He wants to destroy me 1-on-1. His ego demands it.
That narrows his options to zero.
Rin cut right.
Isagi stepped in. Interception.
He stole the ball cleanly.
"Impossible..." Rin stumbled.
Isagi looked up.
"Counter."
He launched a long ball to Reo.
Reo headed it down to Bachira.
Bachira flicked it back to the center.
Isagi was sprinting.
Tokimitsu tried to block him. "I'm strong!"
Isagi didn't dodge. He used his hand to push off Tokimitsu's shoulder, using the leverage to launch himself forward.
"Out of my way, anxious muscle."
Isagi met the ball in the air.
Direct Shot.
GOAL.
(Isagi Goal)
Team White: 4 - Team Red: 4
The Final Scene
Tie Game.
Next Goal Wins.
The stadium was silent. The air was thick with bloodlust.
Rin Itoshi was panting. His eyes were wide, the pupils shaking.
Isagi Yoichi stood calmly, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.
"One play," Isagi said. "One play to decide who is God and who is trash."
Team Red Kickoff.
Rin passed to Aryu. Aryu passed back.
Rin dribbled. He was focused. He was lethal.
He got past Bachira. He got past Reo.
He was at the edge of the box.
I will shoot. I will end this.
Rin wound up his leg. The path was clear.
FLASH.
Isagi appeared.
He hadn't been marking a player. He had been marking the dangerous space.
"I knew you'd come here," Isagi said.
Rin didn't stop. He turned his shot into a pass.
To Tokimitsu.
But Isagi stretched his leg. He barely touched the ball.
Deflection.
The ball popped up into the air.
High. Spinning.
It was a loose ball.
Rin chased it. Isagi chased it.
They ran shoulder to shoulder toward the goal.
"I WON'T LOSE!" Rin screamed, grabbing Isagi's jersey.
"GET OFF!" Isagi roared, shoving Rin back.
They were both off balance. The ball was falling.
Isagi was falling backward. Rin was falling forward.
I can't shoot, Rin thought. I can't reach it.
But Isagi wasn't trying to land.
He used the momentum of his fall. He rotated his hips in mid-air, upside down.
He locked his eyes on the ball.
I see the line.
I see the victory.
Direct Volley.
While Falling.
His right foot connected with the ball.
BOOM.
The ball flew over the desperate hands of the Blue Lock Man.
It hit the underside of the crossbar with a metallic CLANG.
And bounced down.
Into the net.
GOAL.
(Isagi Goal - Final)
Team White: 5 - Team Red: 4
GAME OVER.
Isagi crashed onto the turf, his back hitting the ground hard.
He stared up at the digital ceiling lights. They looked like stars.
"Hah... hah..."
Silence.
Total, absolute silence.
Isagi slowly pushed himself up.
He looked to his side.
Rin Itoshi was on his knees. His forehead was pressed against the grass. His hands were gripping the dirt so hard they were bleeding.
He wasn't moving. He was broken.
Isagi stood up. He walked over to the defeated King.
He looked down at Rin.
"Rin," Isagi said.
Rin looked up. His face was a mask of pure devastation. "How...? How did a tweak like you... read me?"
Isagi's blue eyes glowed with the residue of his divinity.
"Because you fight on the ground, Rin," Isagi said softly, pointing a finger at the ceiling.
"I fight from the sky."