On the other side, Yoichi Isagi clenched his fists, agreeing fiercely in his heart.
(That's right! Making the starting lineup isn't the goal!!)
(I… no, we!)
(We're going to win. We're going to push further. We're going to the world!!)
Jinpachi Ego flashed a wild, arrogant grin as he looked over the group.
"This is the kind of ego I want to see—the Blue Lock Eleven!"
"The Ultimate Training Camp starts now!"
...
Meanwhile, at the U-20 Japan National Team training camp...
Inside a classroom-like room, rows of boys in white casual tracksuits sat facing forward.
All of their eyes turned toward Hoichi, who stood alone at the podium.
"The decisive match is in two weeks!"
"To secure that victory, you've been specially called into the U-20 Japan National Team!"
"And this time, we even have the long-awaited, first-time selection of—"
Hoichi extended his right arm toward the door.
"Player Sae Itoshi!"
At his announcement, Sae Itoshi stepped inside wearing a matching white training suit, his face emotionless and cold.
Seeing that it was truly Sae Itoshi, several of the boys lit up with awe—some even blurted out:
"Whoa, it's really him!"
"He's so cool! Are we seriously gonna play with him?!"
But then, a discordant voice—tinged clearly with jealousy—cut through the buzz.
"Huh? Really?"
"He looks like some annoying princeling."
The boy next to him panicked. "Hey, he can hear you!"
Someone in the back pointed to a silver-haired boy sleeping face-down on his desk. "Who's that?"
"No clue."
"Probably Sae Itoshi's little tag-along."
And yes—that silver-haired boy fast asleep was none other than Ryūma Banjō, who had been coaxed and tricked here by Sae Itoshi himself.
Why he was sleeping… that started back when Sae dragged him into the training facility.
...
"Whoa—Sae? This is the training facility you were talking about?!"
Ryūma stared at the massive room packed wall-to-wall with equipment. The scariest part was that he didn't recognize a single device.
"Mm. Most of these are top-of-the-line testing machines."
"Speed, physical contact, vertical leap, reaction time, prediction, explosiveness, stamina—basically every player metric you can measure is here."
"Uh… Sae-san, I don't seriously have to test on all of these, right?" Cold sweat trickled down Ryūma's neck.
"Yes. Exactly all of them."
"But Sae-san, it's already four in the afternoon…"
"I know. Is that a problem? We're on a tight schedule. I need full data on you to give you the right guidance."
"So—any other questions?"
"…No." Ryūma answered hopelessly.
"Good. Start testing. The instructions are posted on each device."
"Oh, and when you're done, the printer over there will spit out a chart. Bring it to me."
With that, Sae turned and walked out.
Once he was gone, Ryūma stared at the roomful of machines, his mouth twitching. He finally sighed.
"Man… I'm starting to miss life in Blue Lock."
As time went on, Ryūma slowly realized how dire the situation was.
By 10 p.m., he looked at the ten remaining machines and fell silent.
"Nobody told me these things take forever! T﹏T"
"How are there still ten left?! Am I even gonna sleep tonight?! T﹏T"
By around midnight, Ryūma finally finished everything.
When he reached Sae's door, he found a note stuck to it:
[Leave the chart on the table by the door. I'm sleeping. Do Not Disturb!]
Seeing it, Ryūma nearly kicked the door down and dragged Sae out of bed to yell:
"I was testing till midnight while you were sleeping like a baby?! T﹏T"
But he restrained himself. After all, he was a good, model youth—he wouldn't do something like that.
By the time he washed up and returned to his room, it was already past 1 a.m. The next morning, he was dragged out of bed early again for assembly.
Which was why Ryūma was too exhausted to keep his eyes open. When he arrived at the gathering point and saw almost no one around, he immediately flopped down and went back to sleep.
...
Back to the present.
At the podium, Hoichi raised his fist excitedly.
"As you all know, our opponent is the Blue Lock team!"
"This match carries the pride of the U-20 Japan National Team—we absolutely cannot lose!"
He finished, then bowed toward Sae Itoshi with an inviting gesture.
"Sae! Say a few words to fire everyone up!"
"Hmm…" Sae stayed silent for several seconds, then looked over everyone with icy indifference.
"You should consider it an honor to play with me."
"I'm not particularly interested in any of you, but you probably won't get an opportunity like this again in your lifetime—"
"Just try not to piss me off. That's all."
"Huh? That's…" Hoichi was stunned speechless.
"Hah, talk about overconfident."
Hearing that mutter, the boy who'd disliked Sae from the start stood up, visibly irritated.
"Don't look down on people, genius!"
"You might be world-famous, but in the end you're just youth-academy level, aren't you?"
"I'm a starting striker in the domestic top league!"
"Watch your mouth. In terms of progression, I'm doing better than you."
This loudmouth was none other than U-20 forward Shuto Sendoō.
"Oh? And what of it?" Sae stared at Shuto Sendo expressionlessly, eyes full of disdain.
"In a few years you'll be chasing the domestic scoring title, making the national team—"
"Earning around fifty million yen a year, marrying a gravure idol, building a happy little family—"
"And that will be the peak of your entire career."
Shuto Sendo flushed bright red—he was already imagining the gravure idol marriage scenario.
"But I'm only interested in becoming the best in the world."
"Our ambitions aren't even close."
"With your level, if even a part of you thinks that dream life sounds nice—"
"You'll never be number one. Get out of my sight."
...
(The entire series is already available on Patreon)
patreon.com/GhostParser