"Yo, I'm back. Just in time for 2 PM, right? I'm not late," Charles said cheerfully as he strolled back onto the field just as the players were regrouping. He grinned at Shinichi. "You're not gonna kick me out, are you?"
"...You can join. But since you skipped the morning training, I'll be deducting points from your evaluation score."
"Sure, sure—Charles reporting for duty."
Seeing that look on his face, Shinichi could only sigh silently. Even he had a hard time dealing with someone as eccentric as Charles. If it were entirely up to him, he would've kicked such an undisciplined player out on the spot. But this wasn't a real pro club selection—it was still a public broadcasted program.
Plus, with the deals they'd made with the World Football Association and all the support they'd received, Blue Lock had obligations. They couldn't afford to completely disregard the reputations of these players.
So, reluctantly, Shinichi waved Charles over to the lineup. In the end, talented players always got more leeway—otherwise, Loki wouldn't have tolerated Charles for this long either.
"Alright, let's start the scrimmage. Including Charles, there are 17 of you. With me, that makes 18. We'll divide into two teams of nine. After the first match ends, I'll switch to the other team. To even the numbers, I'll sub out two players from that side, turning the match into 8v8. The rules are the same as those in the first round of the New Hero Battle. That's all."
Without wasting time, Shinichi brought up the big screen on the side of the field and ran the team randomizer app.
In the first match, his teammates were revealed to be: Dada Silva, Charles, Kaiser, and several lesser-known players.
"You might've survived that insane training, and sure, that's impressive," Dada Silva muttered, still as brash as ever. "But don't think that means I acknowledge you as a coach. Show me what you've got, if you're really all that."
Shinichi didn't even respond—just gave him a glance before walking straight to the center circle.
As soon as the whistle blew, he launched the ball directly toward Charles, who had been casually watching from the side.
"Here it comes!"
The moment Charles received the pass, Isagi tensed up. But Charles had entered a strange state. His eyes glazed over for a brief instant—then, silver-white lightning erupted from his pupils, the glow so intense it dyed the ball in front of him silver.
"What the hell… this feels amazing! No way, even a contrarian like me can't resist following your lead?"
Charles let out an exaggerated laugh—and shockingly, before any of his teammates had even finished positioning, he launched a powerful long ball forward.
"Wait—no! Shinichi!"
Isagi quickly checked the positions of Dada Silva and Kaiser, but when he saw they were too far from the ball, he suddenly realized what he'd missed.
Activating Meta Vision, he scanned the field more thoroughly—and finally spotted Shinichi sprinting without the ball, weaving past defenders and steadily closing in on the ball's drop point.
"He picked a route that deliberately doesn't track directly with Charles's line of sight… That way, he doesn't show up in our field of vision alongside the ball, cutting off the connection in our perception. That's why I instinctively focused on Kaiser—his run was clearly headed toward the drop point, so I factored him in as the primary threat and completely overlooked Shinichi!"
Shinichi's route, while simple in concept, was masterfully executed: misdirecting the defenders' vision through other players' movements and slipping through blind spots.
It worked perfectly. Isagi was a step behind, and even as he launched into a sprint to intercept, the distance between them was merciless—like a looming deadline, it wouldn't wait.
"No good, I won't make it!"
Just as Isagi was about to despair, two legs suddenly crossed into Shinichi's path and blocked him.
Zantetsu: "Shinichi, it's been a while. Not gonna say hello?"
Kurona: "Agreed. That's just rude."
"Didn't we already say hi this morning? You're a little late for that line," Shinichi replied coolly.
Faced with their coordinated block, he didn't try to force his way through. Instead, he faked a shot with his raised right leg—letting it skim just past the ball.
Then, with a sharp brake, he stopped the ball using the heel of his right foot from the front, immediately pivoting to the right to dodge Isagi's sneak attack from behind.
He then dragged the ball left with the outside of his foot and began to spin—
'Left drag, right spin? A Marseille Turn-like combo dribble? In this kind of tight space?'
Isagi instinctively followed Zantetsu's lateral steps to match the motion—but something felt wrong. The next second, he realized:
"No—it's not a turn! He's using the turning motion as a feint to distract us while he passes mid-spin!"
Snapping his head around, Isagi spotted Kaiser lifting his foot to meet the ball in midair.
Before he could react, Shinichi crouched low beside him—and then the ball shrieked past Isagi's ear, slicing perfectly between Zantetsu and Kurona.
As the goalkeeper rushed out to intercept, the ball hit the ground just before his hands reached it—bouncing up and arcing cleanly into the net.
Tryout Team One: 1 – Team Two: 0
"Facing him as an opponent, I've realized Kaiser's shot is even more terrifying than I imagined."
Isagi stood up, wiping the sweat already dripping down his face—even though the match had barely passed the three-minute mark.
"A top-class midfield trickster like Charles, a prodigy like Kaiser, and a monster like Shinichi… That kind of combination is probably what truly competitive pro-level teams look like. And it's also the standard of strength we'll face in the second phase of the New Hero Battle—now that mentors are stepping onto the pitch themselves."
"This… is the challenge of the new stage!"
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