At this moment, Isagi's eyes were burning with fire.
In this instant, just as the match was about to end, he had finally stepped into the realm of Flow once again.
The moment Shidou Ryusei took his shot, he, unlike the others who were crazily rushing towards the penalty area, had turned and sprinted towards the other half of the field. This made him the player with the greatest chance of scoring for Team A!
It wasn't that he had seen through Tendou's actions, but that he simply believed. He believed that Tendou would clear the ball and would notice him.
"Isagi?!"
"Damn it!"
"Get back on defense, quick!"
Chigiri, Otoya, Imamura, and the others also noticed Isagi's figure at this time, sprinting towards the other half of the field. But their entire line had pushed up too far; at this moment, it was impossible to catch up. The only thing to do now was...
"Don't let Tendou pass the ball!"
Chigiri and Otoya subconsciously pounced on Tendou. Shidou Ryusei, with his monster-like instincts, also stuck close to him with all his might. The three of them formed a triangle, enclosing Tendou in the middle for a pincer attack.
But.
BAM!
Tendou kicked out a long pass, the ball practically grazing their cheeks as it flew past. The trio from Team B could do nothing about it.
Chigiri looked at Tendou's azure eyes, a wave of despair in his heart.
This was the Six Eyes. A pair of eyes that could see the future and change it. In front of these eyes, all offense and defense would be nullified.
The ball lifted off from the penalty area, drew a rainbow arc, and landed in the opponent's half. That position... was neither far nor near. The goalkeeper couldn't come out, and Team B's players couldn't catch up.
This was a long pass that looked ordinary. There was no God's-eye-view, space-cutting through-ball, nor was there an incredibly cool no-look pass. But as Hiori Yo, who was extremely good at passing, he felt a sense of "greatness in simplicity" from it.
This ball seemed simple and unadorned, yet it had severed all of Team B's lifelines. The landing spot of the ball was impeccable. At the same time, it allowed Isagi to immediately enter a "combat state" upon receiving it, and even guided Isagi to burst out with more potential, pushing him to his limit.
This was a flawless long pass, a single strike that could pierce the opponent's defensive line. Unless Isagi himself missed this one-on-one, Tendou had already done the best in Hiori's mind.
Would Isagi waste this opportunity?
Of course not!
The moment the ball landed, he kicked it forward. His feel for the ball was not as good as Bachira's, and his athletic ability was only at a mid-tier level. This way of receiving the ball could maximize his speed.
On an empty field, Isagi galloped freely, his feet on the turf, like a horse sprinting.
And then.
BAM!
A powerful kick, heavily striking the ball. The ball transformed into a streak of white light and, with a thud, blasted open Team B's goal.
"BEEP!"
5:0!
The match was over. Isagi had scored the winning goal, ending this match with his own hands.
"Isagi!"
"That guy!"
Chigiri and Otoya, seeing the ball enter the net, stopped running. In that instant just now, he had once again become the player on the field closest to Tendou.
"Just how... did he do it!" Itoshi Rin clenched his fist. In the 4v4 match against Isagi's team in the second selection, Isagi was also like this, his state suddenly rising by a large margin, and then defeating him to snatch the victory.
Before this goal, his own performance had been above Isagi's for the rest of the time. But in this instant, he had lost again.
If he couldn't even handle a single Isagi, how could he challenge Tendou Kageyoshi? How could he defeat his bastard brother?
He was full of curiosity about Isagi's current state.
"Match over. Score 5:0. Team A wins."
The final whistle blew. Two short, one long.
Team A had shut out Team B and had won this match. But again, in this adaptability test, victory was not the key. Although they had won the match, Hiori and Nanase couldn't be happy at all. The role they had played in this match was far too limited.
"I knew I shouldn't have chosen Team A. No, I shouldn't have chosen Tendou as a teammate." Nanase Nijirou was numb. Winning the match felt the same as losing. He said, "With Tendou on the team, there's no chance to show yourself at all."
Offense, defense, organization. Tendou had completed all the tasks by himself. No, it should be said, he alone could complete all the tasks.
Even...
"Is he even stronger without teammates?"
Hiori stared at Tendou's figure and took a deep breath.
'Why do I get an Akashi-like feeling?'
'So it's not just me who thinks that. This is just like the first-personality Akashi.'
'There is a similarity. As long as his teammates don't drag him down, Akashi can complete everything by himself.'
'Yeah, even without Isagi, Tendou could have ended the match by himself.'
Isagi had scored the winning goal, but the audience was not as excited as one might imagine. With the jewel of Tendou before them, the brilliance of others was overshadowed. If Tendou's personality were a little colder, a little more chuunibyou... the audience would even think that Akashi from the set next door had run over.
...
"For you, that was not bad."
The match was over. Tendou gave Isagi a small compliment. This was compensation for choosing Otoya over him back then, giving people the illusion that I didn't choose you for your own good.
"Remember this feeling. Slowly get used to it, and then completely master it."
Tendou was referring to the Flow state.
After speaking, without lingering, Tendou turned and walked into the passage, returning to the preparation room.
Isagi watched Tendou leave and nodded forcefully. For him, Flow was a super weapon that could make up for his lack of physical talent. To catch up, he had to completely master Flow. To be able to freely control Flow, just like Tendou.
...
"You won this time, Isagi. But don't get too happy too soon. Next time, you won't be so lucky," Chigiri said, glaring fiercely at Isagi.
It was just a simple compliment, yet it had aroused Chigiri's jealousy. Because besides Isagi, Tendou hadn't said a single word to anyone else. Didn't this mean that only Isagi had received Tendou's approval?
"Uh..." Isagi felt uncomfortable being stared at by him. He scratched his head and then also exited the field.
The audience, seeing this, all had a good laugh. They were all amused by Chigiri's inexplicable hostility.
...
"This child... this is the third time, right?"
In the control room, Anri Teieri looked deeply at Isagi on the screen. This was already the third time Isagi had entered the Flow state. If this continued, he might one day be able to completely master this state.
"Yeah. This was originally something I planned to teach them in the third selection. I didn't expect Isagi to have come into contact with it so early."
"But what I'm more curious about is, when on earth did Tendou grasp Flow? He's been playing football for a shorter time than even Nagi and Reo."
Ego couldn't figure it out. Someone who had only been playing football for a few months had so easily mastered Flow.
"Maybe this is just exceptional talent?"
"I'd rather use 'monster' to describe him," Ego complained. Such talent was too heaven-defying.
...
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