Chapter 143: Candidate for the Throne
Once they hit the training pitch, Snuffy didn't waste any time. He handed out tactical manuals and expected everyone to follow them to the letter. The Ubers academy players moved like they had been doing this since birth, executing complex link-up plays that were a total blur of efficiency.
"This is insane. They're like tactical machines... Are we really expected to turn into robots like that?"
Sendo looked half-impressed and half-terrified. The idea of playing without a single original thought felt suffocating.
"We're here to learn, Sendo. This guy is a world-class ace for a reason. There's a logic to this system, and I'm going to master it," Niko said. His eyes were sharp, already dissecting the formations. He knew exactly why he was here: to evolve.
To speed up the integration process, Snuffy started mixing the groups. He paired the Blue Lock guys with the Ubers veterans for drills. To Kira's surprise, the Italians were actually decent guys. They weren't gatekeeping or acting elitist; they actively worked to help the newcomers find their rhythm. It was a professional environment through and through.
Kira spent the session absorbing the Ubers tactical DNA, feeling out how the gears turned within Snuffy's machine.
By the time the sun went down, the official session was over, but most of the guys looked like they wanted to keep going. Snuffy reminded them that the first match was still ten days away. He was confident that ten days was all it would take to turn them into a cohesive unit.
The living arrangements were just as calculated. Snuffy assigned roommates in pairs—one Ubers academy player with one Blue Lock player. It was a forced social experiment designed to build chemistry off the pitch.
As fate would have it, Kira's roommate was the gold-toothed zombie himself, Don Lorenzo.
Kira didn't see the guy in the room after dinner, though. After a quick breather, Kira geared back up and headed back to the field. He had two fresh attribute Trial Cards—Snuffy's and Lorenzo's—and there was no way he was letting them go to waste.
Back on the pitch, Kira decided to test-drive Lorenzo's style first. He whispered the activation.
[Don Lorenzo Attribute Trial Card activated successfully!]
Immediately, Kira felt a strange sensation in his neck, like it had elongated an inch. His entire gait shifted into something jarring and disjointed. 'Damn, I really am a zombie now.'
He started moving with the ball, and it was unsettling. His limbs felt loose, almost floppy, but the sudden bursts of speed were undeniable. It was a high-level defensive style, but it looked like a horror movie in motion.
'I am never using this unless it is a life-or-death situation,' Kira thought, watching his reflection in the glass of the pitch entrance. 'It's a total vibe killer.'
Ten minutes later, he switched gears and activated the Snuffy card.
[Marc Snuffy Attribute Trial Card activated successfully!]
The change was instantaneous. This was unlike any other world-class card Kira had used before. When he'd used Loki's or Blake's cards, it felt like becoming a sharpened blade—pure, lethal edge. Snuffy's style was different. it was fluid. It felt like moving through water, soft but irresistible.
It was like the pitch had turned into a grappling mat. Kira felt a level of synchronization with the ball he had never experienced. His ball retention skyrocketed, and every pass or shot felt effortless and weighted to perfection. His mind felt sharper, too, processing the field like a grandmaster at a chessboard.
'So this is Snuffy...'
Kira lost himself in the sensation, pushing his body to match the rhythm of a world-class playmaker. He didn't notice that Snuffy had been standing in the shadows of the player tunnel, watching him for several minutes.
"Well, well. That footwork looks awfully familiar," Snuffy said, his voice echoing in the quiet stadium.
Snuffy walked out onto the grass, his eyes bright with genuine shock. The way this kid was moving... the fluid ball control, the effortless transitions... it was a mirror image of his own habits.
'Is this kid actually a superfan?' Snuffy wondered. He felt a swell of pride. Even thousands of miles away in Japan, he had a fan who had studied his tape so closely he could replicate the 'Flow' of his game.
Snuffy had come to Japan with a specific goal in mind. He was planning to retire and transition into coaching after winning the Scudetto with Ubers this season. He wanted to find a successor before he hung up his boots. Lorenzo was elite, but he was a specialist; he didn't have the offensive ceiling Snuffy was looking for.
But the boy standing in front of him... he was something else.
"That's some beautiful technique," Snuffy said, closing the distance. "But tell me something. Are you intentionally trying to play exactly like me?"
Kira stopped the ball, breathing hard. He turned to see his mentor approaching.
"Coach. Sorry, I didn't see you there. I've watched a lot of your matches on TV. I always loved your style, so I thought I'd try to work some of that fluidity into my own game," Kira said. It was a half-truth, but it sounded a lot better than explaining the system.
Snuffy's grin widened. "The data says your finishing is the best in this squad. You're the most efficient striker I've got."
"So, I've got a proposal for you. How would you like to be the King of this team?"
Kira blinked, his brain momentarily short-circuiting. 'Wait, what? I just got here.'
He'd expected Lorenzo to be the weird one, but the coach was moving even faster. They had just met today, and now he was offering the crown?
"I'm honored that you'd even consider me, Coach," Kira said, choosing his words carefully. "But I'm the new guy. If you just hand me the keys to the castle after one day, the locker room might turn into a war zone."
Snuffy shook his head. "Ubers isn't a locker room. It's a company. And in this company, we follow the data. I've seen what you can do. In terms of pure value, only Lorenzo is on your level, and his finishing is nowhere near yours."
"The position is open. But you aren't the only candidate."
Kira raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"That Barou kid. I see something in him. His numbers aren't as polished as yours, but he has a raw aggression that I like. He's got that hunger."
Kira nodded. He knew Barou was likely fuming in his room right now, hating every second of this 'corporate' football.
"Before I put you on the short-list for the throne, I need to ask you something," Snuffy said. He didn't wait for Kira to agree. He just stared him down with a gaze that felt like it was stripping away his layers.
"Ryosuke Kira... let me guess. You think you're a high and mighty genius, don't you?"
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A/n: I know I've been away for a while. Some unexpected urgent matters came up and took most of my time, which is why I couldn't upload new chapters. The good news is that I'm returning to regular updates like before, one chapter every day.
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For advanced chapters (20+): patre o n. com/Demonic_Fiction