The atmosphere in the cafeteria was very strange.
Tendou's 4-man team and Itoshi Rin's 3-man team were sitting at a table eating breakfast. Around them, not a single person dared to approach; they all chose to squeeze into the corners.
Here in the fourth stage, these two teams were undoubtedly the strongest in the eyes of the others. Rin's team had the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ranked players, plus Bachira, who was ranked in the top twenty. They looked to be the strongest in terms of overall strength. But Tendou's team, with a No. 1 and a No. 5, plus two in the top twenty, was not to be outdone in terms of overall strength.
And.
Blue Lock was indeed full of talented people emerging.
The incident last night where Tendou had instantly defeated Itoshi Rin in a one-on-one... someone, somehow, had found out, and it had spread to all the teams in the fourth stage. They all knew that this No. 1, Tendou, possessed the strength to instantly defeat the No. 2.
Comparing them this way, Tendou's team might actually be the strongest.
...
After the meal, Karasu tried to invite some of the teams with higher overall rankings. But without exception, the other party chose to avoid them nervously. Not a single team was willing to play against them.
"How did it go?"
In the training ground, the members of Tendou's team were practicing as usual. Seeing Karasu return, Reo and Chigiri looked at him with expectation.
"Same as always. I don't know who, but someone leaked the story of our General instantly defeating the No. 2."
"Thanks to that guy, we've become the strongest team in the eyes of everyone in the fourth stage. No one is willing to play against us."
Karasu had given up. Right now, no one dared to play against them. They could only continue to wait, to wait for those teams who were confident enough in their own strength to come up.
"Are we really not going to play against Rin's team, General?"
Karasu acknowledged the strength of Rin's team. Putting aside the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ranks, that Bachira's strength was also quite remarkable. Having him partner with Chigiri on the wings could still achieve the effect of "two wings flying together."
"I remember we've already discussed this matter."
SWISH!
Tendou kicked the ball hard with his left foot, and it went into the net.
"Alright, alright. I hope the guy you want shows up soon." Karasu gave up trying to persuade Tendou and could only step onto the field to join the practice.
And Tendou, after finishing his training, walked to the sidelines and closed his eyes to rest. The others didn't disturb him, carrying on with their own training content. Chigiri tried to move his position from the right wing to the left. This process was not easy to complete. Changing from a right winger to a left winger was not as simple as just changing positions. Otherwise, Vinícius and Mbappé wouldn't be fighting to the death over one position. Chigiri still needed a lot of time to adapt.
Tendou closed his eyes and silently started to watch the "show."
...
A day passed. Isagi and Nagi, without stopping, started their next match.
This time, their opponents were old acquaintances from the original story: Barou Shouei and Isagi's former teammate.
The pace of this 2v2 match was even faster. A team with only two people has extremely limited combination plays. This was a great test of a player's individual ability.
As soon as the match started, Barou used his own individual ability to break through the defense and score. Then, Nagi returned the favor. In the penalty area, he used a gorgeous trap to tap the ball into the six-yard box. The ball flew over his and Barou's heads like a rainbow. Finally, Nagi scored with a shot to tie the score.
The subsequent match was like a direct confrontation between the two. They continuously used their own abilities to score, one chasing the other. The score quickly reached 3:3.
"It's going to be difficult for Nagi and Barou to decide a winner. Their strengths seem very close. To decide a winner, it can only depend on Isagi or his former teammate," Shuiping muttered during his live stream.
And it was true. When the score reached 3:3, the match began to be taken over by Isagi. "Puzzle piece" bro pieced together the puzzle bit by bit and finally put together the pattern of victory. The result was exactly the same as in the original story. Isagi's former teammate failed to "devour" Isagi and was in turn "devoured." Isagi learned off-the-ball movement from this opponent.
Protagonist's weapon arsenal +1!
"Even if I'm a mediocre talent, as long as I stack the two together, I can still compete with geniuses."
Isagi found his own path of evolution and used it to score the decisive goal. The final score was 5:4! Isagi and Nagi had passed by a hair's breadth. And their final choice was the player with extremely outstanding individual ability, Barou Shouei.
...
At the end of the latest episode, Tendou saw a very interesting scene. Isagi's team, having returned to the third stage, encountered Otoya's team, who had also returned to the third stage.
At the end of the camera shot, the two teams were staring at each other without backing down, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder.
...
"Are these two teams going to fight?"
Tendou opened his eyes, ending his "peeping." This production team really knew how to create drama. To actually have these two teams meet. In the original story, Isagi's team's opponent in the third stage was Chigiri, Kunigami, and Reo. Now, Chigiri and Reo were both on Tendou's team, and who knows where Kunigami had run off to.
"How interesting."
Tendou began to look forward to the next episode's content, even though he was also one of the "actors" in this show.
After an unknown amount of time, the four of them stopped their practice. Reo reminded them that it was time for lunch. The group stopped and went to the cafeteria for their meal again.
Just like in the morning, when the other teams met them, they avoided them like the plague, not daring to get close. After the meal, the group could only continue to return to the field to train or watch match recordings.
And so.
Another day passed.
Tendou finished his practice and, timing it just right, began to "follow the show" in the world of the anime series. Doing this seemed strange, but he just did it. He even, very rarely, exchanged his goals for some snacks and drinks.
As expected.
Isagi's team and Otoya's team had both chosen each other. They both believed that the other's lineup was strong enough, and that if they won the match, they could strengthen their own lineup. And then... take revenge on the guys who had defeated them.
This match was, as before, extremely intense.
Isagi, at the beginning, was still trying to integrate Barou into his team. But the result was him shooting himself in the foot. His Majesty the King would not allow anyone to be more awesome than him; he was toxic to the core.
Left with no choice, Isagi could only give up on Barou and team up with Nagi to tie the score. He even contributed a famous scene. The sadist cells inside Isagi's body awakened again. He said to Barou with a cold face, "Pass the ball, you trash!"
At that moment, the viewers watching the show were all thrilled.
...
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