"Where's that guy named Tendou?"
Itoshi Rin's face was cold as he scanned the three people who had appeared before him. He was like Sasuke now, single-mindedly wanting to defeat his older brother. Beyond that, he had no other thoughts. Therefore, he was very concerned about Tendou, who might have a connection to his brother.
"Tendou? He hasn't arrived yet?"
Isagi and the others were stunned upon hearing this. Tendou was the first person to enter the stage; it was impossible for him to be behind them.
Was he eliminated?
They had never considered such a possibility.
"Could it be that he stayed behind in the training room for extra practice?" Bachira felt that this possibility was higher than Tendou being eliminated.
"How is that pos..." Isagi wanted to refute, but the words died on his lips. After all, he was also aware of the special privileges Tendou had in Blue Lock. The meticulously prepared nutritional meals, and a tablet with internet access. In short, Ego Jinpachi's attitude towards Tendou was different from his attitude towards others.
Itoshi Rin got his answer just by looking at their expressions. He didn't ask any more questions and just quietly observed the three in front of him.
...
The content of the third stage of the second selection was simple.
A 3-on-3 match. The first team to score 5 goals wins.
And.
The winning team has the right to select one person from the opposing team to join their own. The losing side has no right to refuse.
And right now, there were only Itoshi Rin, Aryu Jubei, and Tokimitsu Aoshi's three-man team, and Isagi, Nagi, and Bachira's team.
"In other words, we don't necessarily have to play against them?"
"That's right. Choosing who to fight with is the key to clearing this stage. For your reference, I will now announce the new Blue Lock rankings. Of course, this time, the rankings are real!"
Hearing this, Isagi and the others immediately turned their gazes to their shoulders. This time, his true rank was 15th, one place higher than Bachira's 16th. Nagi was 7th.
However.
When Isagi instinctively looked at the shoulders of Rin's group, he saw these numbers.
"~||2," "3," "4"!
"A team made up of the second, third, and fourth-ranked players?!"
This was basically the strongest three-man team in Blue Lock at this stage, right?
"What do you say, Isagi?"
Bachira and Nagi both looked at Isagi, as if he were the leader.
Isagi fell into thought, doing what he did best. Playing against Rin's team had both rewards and risks. After all, it was a team composed of the second, third, and fourth-ranked players. If they won, no matter who they chose in the end, it would greatly help their team's strength, and passing the second selection would naturally be no problem.
Of course, if they lost the match, the price would be very heavy. They would have to play a 2-on-2 match against other losing teams, and if they lost again, they would be eliminated.
How should they choose?
...
"Beep~"
Hmm?
On the other side.
Tendou's team.
On the way to the third stage, they also noticed the change in their rankings on their shoulders.
Tendou's rank was "1"!
"Number one?"
Chigiri was surprised, then felt it was a matter of course. He would be more surprised if someone was ranked higher than Tendou.
Chigiri looked down at his own shoulder. His rank was 18th, and Reo's was 20th.
"In other words, besides Tendou, there are still 16 people stronger than me!"
How annoying!
The "young lady" couldn't quite accept this ranking. He thought he should at least be in the top ten. Otherwise, how could he have the face to stand with Tendou?
"Didn't I tell you before? Don't worry about the rankings. Focus on the present and play the match well."
Tendou didn't waste words. He walked to the end of the passage and was the first to enter the waiting room for the third stage.
They weren't late, but Rin's and Isagi's teams were already gone.
"Has the match already started?"
Tendou silently opened his "power plant" and, sure enough, saw the two teams, a total of 6 people, facing each other across a clear divide.
"Yo yo, you uncut gems of strikers."
Ego Jinpachi appeared once again, like a lingering nightmare.
"Next, you will face the third stage of the second selection."
"It's a 3-on-3 team duel."
"The rules are simple. The first team to score 5 goals wins. The goalkeeper used will be a Blue Lock Man, the same one you met in the first stage."
"Next is the main point of this round of selection."
Ego deliberately paused here and said with ill intent, "The winning team can unconditionally select one person from the opposing team to create a new 4-man team."
"Steal a player?" Chigiri's eyes widened. The rules were simple, but for them as players, it was a bit too cruel. He didn't dare to imagine what would happen if their team lost. The other team would definitely choose the No. 1, Tendou, right! Then the remaining him and Reo...
"...Finally, the team that forms a 5-man team can pass the second selection."
In other words, if everything went smoothly, as long as they won two matches, they could advance to the next round.
"The match can only proceed if both sides agree to the rules." Reo had already figured out the rules. "This isn't a good situation for us!"
If the goal was to advance, the most pragmatic approach was to play against a lower-ranked team. This way, they could easily advance to the next round. The problem was, the other teams weren't fools either. They would also deliberately avoid high-ranked teams in order to advance.
"Chigiri's and my rankings are okay, but Tendou is NO.1!" Reo could already foresee that the upcoming selection would be very troublesome. If their rankings were all around the 20s, it would be easy to find an opponent. But with the addition of the No. 1, Tendou, it was a different story. Those people would be wary of Tendou and choose to avoid their team.
If they wanted to advance, they could only find a team that was very confident in their overall strength to play against. But this way, he and Chigiri might drag Tendou down.
"Tch! To reveal the real rankings at a time like this." Reo hated Ego's deviousness.
"However, it's not like there's no way to advance. As long as we're patient enough, the last team left will have to play against us. This is a hidden way to advance."
Chigiri had to admit that this was indeed the safest way.
But...
"Tendou? How should we choose?"
"Does that even need to be asked? Of course, we challenge the strongest!"
Tendou didn't hesitate; he had already seen his target.
"But..."
"No buts." Tendou glanced at Reo, making the latter's heart tremble for some reason. "Your goal is to make Nagi Seishiro regret it, right?"
Mikage Reo was speechless.
"Since that's the case, then let's wait." Chigiri, seeing that Tendou had already made a decision, leaned against the wall with a smile, waiting.
...
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