Soon.
Under Tendou's leadership, all 11 members of Team Z arrived at the central area. At this moment, a group of unfamiliar faces was already standing in front of them. These were all the players who had advanced to the second round. But strangely, they were all panting and standing in their own groups, wary of the newly arrived Team Z.
"Yo yo, you uncut gems of strikers."
Once everyone had arrived, the four-eyed Ego Jinpachi appeared on the screen again. After all, with a battle royale-type theme, explaining the rules was unavoidable.
"Thank you all for your hard work in physical training. The smart ones among you should have already realized that there is no one from Buildings 1, 2, 3, or 4 among you."
"Because in Blue Lock, there have never been Buildings 1, 2, 3, or 4. From the very beginning, there was only Building 5."
After saying this, he even gave Tendou a special look. This kid was the first one to discover his trick.
But the members of the other teams wore expressions of sudden realization, followed by, "Are you kidding me?! Were you tricking us from the very beginning?"
"You bastard! Do you know how we've spent the past few days?!"
"That's right! I was on edge the whole time! I couldn't even sleep well!"
The players who learned the truth were indignant. They were very dissatisfied with Ego for leading them around in circles. God knows how desperate they were when they learned they were the weakest among the 300 people.
But Ego acted as if he didn't see it, saying with a cold face, "This was to destroy your so-called self-confidence. To cultivate the hunger that will drive you to become the world's number one."
It was exactly as Tendou had predicted. The members of Team Z looked at each other; their expressions were the calmest of all.
Mikage Reo noticed their abnormality and walked over to ask, "How come you guys look like you knew all along?"
"Ah, that... it's because Tendou figured it out from the beginning, including that our rankings weren't the real rankings," Isagi explained simply.
Hearing this, Mikage Reo's eyebrows twitched灵性ly.
"That guy knew from the beginning?" He found it a bit hard to accept. It was one thing for him to be stronger than him and Nagi, but how was his brain also better than his? If he wasn't mistaken, wasn't he the elite talent cultivated by a 700 billion yen fortune?
...
"Listen up, you bunch of half-wits who only know how to complain. Only by constantly maintaining a hunger for victory and success do you have the right to become the world's number one striker."
"And now, the second selection is about to begin."
"The purpose of the first selection was to turn a '0' into a '1,' that is, to make you understand what kind of creature a forward is."
"Next, you will fight in the most cutting-edge training facilities to turn yourselves from a '1' into a '100.'"
"The second selection is divided into 5 stages. Only those who clear a stage can enter the next one, until you have completed all the stages."
"Next, those who pass the second selection will have the opportunity to participate in an intensive training camp with the top players from various countries that I have selected."
What?
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall was in an uproar. If this four-eyed guy wasn't lying, then after passing the second selection, they would have the chance to play with football stars they usually only see on TV, and even participate in a training camp. This temptation was too great; no one could refuse.
"The explanation ends here. Next, you need to face the test individually. Those who are ready may step through the door in front of you."
Beep~
As the rule introduction finished, a door in front of everyone opened.
"Individually?"
"Aren't we all going together?"
This arrangement caught many people off guard. Especially those players who had relied on clinging to the strong to get by; they were now extremely nervous.
"Isn't this a matter of course? Those of you who were lucky enough to have good teammates and stay behind, prepare yourselves."
"In the second selection, I will mercilessly clean out all you trash."
Hearing this, Igarashi Gurimu swallowed hard. It seemed that continuing to cling to Tendou's thigh to advance was no longer an option.
He was not the only one who was nervous. Even though the selection had begun, no one dared to take the first step, wanting to wait and see first.
Itoshi Rin did not. This younger brother of Itoshi Sae, with a foot on the ball, was prepared to make his presence felt.
But then.
Tendou walked in a step ahead of him.
"Tendou?"
"Hey, Tendou, are you crazy?"
Chigiri and the others reminded him, telling him to let others go in first to see the situation before making a decision. After all, if you were eliminated, you could never be selected for the national team in the future. Of course, it was better to be as cautious as possible.
"Does a goalkeeper wait for you to be ready to shoot before making a move?" Tendou asked them in return, leaving Chigiri and the others speechless.
Then, he turned his gaze to Itoshi Rin, who had been preparing to move but was a step slower than him. In the calmest tone, he uttered words that made Rin the most unable to remain calm.
"You're that guy Itoshi Saa's younger brother, right? You look somewhat similar. I just don't know how much of his skill you have."
Itoshi Sae!
The moment these three words were spoken, Itoshi Rin indeed became agitated. He wanted to ask for clarification on the spot.
"Who are you..."
Clack!
The door closed. Just as Rin was about to ask clearly, Tendou had already disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Tch!"
Itoshi Rin was very displeased, his expression murderous. Right now, he was desperate to know what relationship that guy had with his older brother. And so, without giving anyone else time to react, Rin followed right after him.
...
On the other side, Tendou let out a secret laugh. The Itoshi brothers were just like Sasuke and Itachi from Naruto. On the surface, it's a life-or-death struggle, always talking about killing you. But in reality, their concern for their brother (older or younger) is even greater than their concern for themselves.
Both Tendou and Rin had entered the door, but the others were still in place. They had also been attracted by Tendou's words. As people who played football, it was impossible for them not to know of the genius Itoshi Sae. At this moment, they were very curious about the relationship between Tendou and Sae.
This included the audience watching the show. Seeing the reactions of Isagi and the others, Itoshi Sae didn't seem to be a simple character. What was the connection between Tendou and Sae?
... Not long after.
Tendou arrived in a sealed room. There were only walls on all four sides, and under his feet was a turf field. Then, a mechanism in the wall opened, and a black and white soccer ball shot out.
Just as Tendou caught it, a holographic projection of a person with an iron collar around their neck appeared in front of him.
"Your taste really is as hard to describe as ever," Tendou couldn't help but complain, then asked, "What's the content of the assessment?"
"You just have to shoot the ball into the goal within the time limit. How about it? Pretty easy, right?"
Ego Jinpachi explained specifically for him. At the same time, under Tendou's feet, a red circle was rapidly shrinking.
"The time limit is before the circle finishes shrinking. You have to shoot the ball into the goal. You now have 3 seconds..."
BAM!
Ego Jinpachi stopped talking. He had wanted to see Tendou flustered. But Tendou, having learned the rules, had already sent the ball into the goal a step ahead.
The time was 90 minutes. He needed to score 100 goals within this time. But this selection wouldn't be so simple, because the balls would be shot out from different directions, and the position of the goal would also move.
For Tendou, who possessed the Six Eyes, this was no difficulty at all.
"This is the selection you painstakingly came up with?"
"It really is as simple as your brain capacity!"
BAM!
Tendou turned and met the rebounding ball with a powerful shot. By the time the virtual goalkeeper reacted, the ball had already been kicked into the back of the net by him.
"What an arrogant little brat." Behind the scenes, Ego Jinpachi raised an eyebrow and ordered, "Anri, raise his test to the highest difficulty."
"Eh?"
...
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