Tendou's body shot out like a laser beam, mercilessly tearing through Mikage Reo's defense.
What did he do?
A touch of the ball, a change of direction, an acceleration.
That was all.
But Mikage Reo couldn't even react, eaten alive by Tendou's speed.
"This feeling... is so different from watching the recording!" Mikage Reo thought.
Tsurugi Zantetsu was already the fastest player he had ever seen in terms of initial acceleration. But even with him, Reo could keep up.
Facing Tendou? He couldn't even react.
Of course, speed was one aspect. The other aspect was...
"Should this kind of footwork even appear on a 193cm tall center forward?"
The scene from just now flashed through Mikage Reo's mind. Tendou's change of direction involved two movements: first, a feint to the right with the outside of his right foot, and then, the inside of his right foot pushed the ball to his left, and his left foot smoothly tapped it forward before he finally accelerated. The set of movements was as smooth as flowing water. It looked simple, but it was extremely deceptive, leaving the defender with too little time to react.
"Stop him!" Reo turned and shouted.
Without needing his reminder, the members of Team V, seeing Tendou charge up, were already on high alert. This leader of Team Z was not only the top scorer but also the assist king and the dribbling king. He was the primary target of Team V's defensive focus.
Facing Tendou's charge, the members of Team V were very pragmatic, reaching out their hands to try and pull him back.
But then.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Tendou shook off the opponent's claws and continued to sprint with the ball.
"Monster!" the opponent cursed under his breath. He couldn't even pull him back; how was he supposed to defend against that?
Fortunately, Reo had anticipated this and had prepared a targeted defense before the match. Team V's two defensive midfielders arrived, one in front and one behind, one on the left and one on the right, to meet him.
Seeing this, Tendou's Six Eyes instantly rotated, as if they had turned on, and locked onto the two of them. He had been in contact with football for a very short time, but his talent was perhaps truly high, or maybe his own physical stats were just that solid. During his time in Blue Lock, his football level had been improving almost every day. He was integrating his own abilities into football at an extremely fast rate.
"This position."
Wild thunder erupted from under Tendou's feet. This was a special effect exclusive to his second activation.
A two-man defense, one on the left and one on the right, one in front and one behind. The ultimate goal was a pincer attack from the front and back. Once Tendou got past one, the defender behind would immediately fill the position, and with a little cover, they could complete a sandwich-like pincer attack with their teammate in front.
In addition, Mikage Reo was also rapidly closing in on him. The rich second-generation Mikage Reo was taking the defense of Tendou very seriously. He felt that Tendou was a genius on the same level as Nagi Seishiro. And he, of all people, knew best just how unreasonable such a genius could be.
Defend against Tendou one-on-one? Reo had never even considered it. From the very beginning, he had prepared at least three people to surround and annihilate him.
However.
"Pīlì Yīshǎn! (Thunder Breathing, First Form!)"
What?
The pursuing Mikage Reo's pupils suddenly contracted violently. In a daze, he seemed to hear a clap of thunder, and then the Tendou in front of him erupted with flashes of lightning, moving in a "Z" shape through the gap between the two defenders, tearing open his carefully arranged defensive line in one breath.
"Ni Ren! (Second Form!)"
The lightning around Tendou's body dissipated, and at the same time, he tore Team V's defensive line to shreds.
He did it. Even though his technical attributes hadn't yet reached the point where he could fully unleash the limits of "Thunder Breathing," he had still successfully broken through the opponent's defensive line.
He stomped his foot on the turf and charged into Team V's territory. About 30 meters from the goal. Bachira and Chigiri were already making high-speed forward runs along the wings.
"Here, Tendou!"
"To me!"
The two of them waved at the same time, confirming their positions. Three people were now threatening Team V's goal from three different directions. The defenders of Team V saw this and, for a moment, didn't know what to do. In the end, they still followed their instincts and made a choice, jointly moving forward to surround the ball-carrier, Tendou.
"Big Data Statistics..."
Tap!
Tendou threaded a diagonal pass. He looked in Chigiri's direction but sent the ball to Bachira's feet.
Bachira instantly broke into a childlike smile. At this moment, in his world, a pitch-black monster was standing in Team V's penalty area.
"So it's there!" Bachira received the ball and moved forward, accelerating into the left half-space of Team V's box, and immediately sent in a cross.
That position. Near Team V's six-yard box.
The moment the ball was about to drop.
Tendou burst out through the crowd, unstoppably knocking aside a Team V defender, and met the ball with a furious shot.
"Dismantle!"
...
A shot release speed of over 17 m/s. The goalkeeper couldn't even react.
BAM!
The ball was violently deformed by the immense force, then transformed into a streak of white light and quickly crashed into Team V's goal.
"GOAL!!"
The four letters immediately flashed on the screen on the wall. The score was 1:1!
Less than 20 seconds after falling behind, Team Z had tied the score with lightning speed.
"This..."
At this moment, the players of Team V, including Mikage Reo, were all agape. Even Nagi Seishiro, who had been listless since the start of the game, had a glint in his eyes. This kind of match, this kind of opponent, he had never met before.
"That impact... no matter how many times I see it, it's still so breathtaking." Anri Teieri's eyes shone as she stared at Tendou on the screen.
...
The visual impact brought by this ultimate speed, with every dribble Tendou made, continuously stimulated the dopamine in her body, making Anri tremble with excitement.
"Why didn't you pass the ball to me just now?"
"My speed is definitely faster than Bachira's!"
The "young lady" came over to celebrate the goal with Tendou, but he was still complaining. He felt that his speed and Tendou's were the best combination.
"Bachira's crosses are much better than yours."
Tendou said nonchalantly, which made the young lady extremely annoyed. Then he reminded Chigiri, "Also, watch your distance with that four-eyed guy. His initial acceleration is faster than yours."
Four-eyed guy?
Tsurugi Zantetsu?
It was indeed the first time Chigiri had ever met someone so fast. This place, Blue Lock, was truly full of talented people.
...
"Reo, that Tendou... he doesn't seem to be joking." Tsurugi Zantetsu came to the center circle and said something very strange. As if worried his companion wouldn't understand him, he then asked, "Can you understand what I'm saying?"
"You idiot, Zantetsu. Stop trying to act cool when you have nothing to do," Reo shot him a sideways glance, his eyes fixed on Tendou. "In the six months since Nagi and I started playing, we've never met a character like this."
Six months?
What is this guy talking about?
He's saying they've only been playing for half a year?
Isagi's heart, which had just settled down a bit, suddenly became uneasy again, and then it returned to calm. Because he suddenly remembered that Tendou had also only recently started playing football.
Only playing for half a year to be like this... seems just so-so.
...
Get 30 chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"