Rin Itoshi walked up to Ryūma Banjō, staring at him coldly.
"What's there to be proud of? Scoring two goals against a bunch of ants? End the game already, you little brat."
Rin walked away without giving him a chance to respond, leaving Ryūma Banjō frozen for a couple of seconds before snapping out of it.
"Huh? Little brat? And who are you to talk, you ice-cold, sharp-tongued schemer with those weird lashes?"
Stung by Rin's taunt, Ryūma Banjō shouted back, frustrated.
"Ahem! Don't let it get to you, Ryūma! Get back in position—they're about to kick off! Rin's right about one thing: let's finish this quickly!" Yo Hiori stepped in with a smile to calm him down.
Ryūma Banjō nodded, eyes burning with fighting spirit.
"Got it! I'll score this one! I'll crush Rin's arrogance!"
...
Team W possession.
"Don't give up, everyone!" Shingen Tanaka shouted. "Play like this is your last match! If we lose and get eliminated, your soccer careers are finished!"
"Don't give up—we still have a chance! We just need to tie it!" Kyohei Shiguma echoed.
"We're going for it, Shiguma! This time, all six of us push forward. The rest of you stay back and defend!" Tanaka's voice carried desperate resolve.
"Oh? Getting desperate, Big Hair? Not sending anyone to mark me? Better protect that ball!" Ryūma Banjō smirked.
"Save your breath! Shiguma, one-two!"
Tanaka called to Shiguma, but when he noticed Ryūma's attention shift toward him, he quickly passed to a teammate on the wing and sprinted past.
By the time Ryūma turned his head back, Tanaka was already behind him, charging toward the box with the return pass.
"Oh? Using my blind spot while I was watching Shiguma? Not bad, Big Hair."
Ryūma chased after him.
"This distance—I can take the shot! If I score, it'll flip the momentum!"
Tanaka lifted his right foot to strike.
"No way! I'll take you down with a slide!"
Out of nowhere, Putian Daiwa came crashing in with a sliding tackle, clearing the ball!
Ryūma stared in surprise at Daiwa, who lay on the ground with a smug grin.
(Not bad, Daiwa. Other than his size, the only thing he's good at is sliding tackles. That's why I told him before the match: defense is his job. If anyone tries to shoot, take them down. Didn't think he'd actually be this useful.)
"How's that, partner? I stopped him!" Daiwa shouted excitedly.
Ryūma chuckled, half-exasperated.
"Yeah, nice tackle. Good job."
He honestly hadn't expected putting Daiwa in defense would pay off.
"Damn it, didn't notice him! Get the ball back and attack again!" Tanaka yelled angrily.
But the ball had bounced near Yo Hiori. Though not physically strong, dispossessing him was no easy task.
Seeing Hiori secure the ball, Ryūma grinned.
"Let's go, Hiori! Time to finish this! Speed up!"
He dashed toward Team W's penalty box, but Hiori was quickly surrounded by four defenders.
(No choice—I'll have to force a passing angle, or they'll steal it!)
Hiori thought quickly and launched a pass—but the pressure made him slip up.
"Damn! Shouldn't have rushed that! Sorry, Ryūma!" he shouted.
Ryūma saw the pass coming and knew it was off, but he didn't blame Hiori. Even under pressure, getting it roughly to his area was impressive enough.
With the ball dropping and defenders closing in, he knew there was no time to adjust—he had to shoot immediately!
Using his earlier off-ball run as momentum, Ryūma struck the ball mid-air as it descended.
(Damn, bad angle. But with their skill, they shouldn't be able to stop it!)
"Don't think you can shoot so easily every time, you heterochromatic brat!"
Kyohei Shiguma suddenly appeared in front of goal, blocking the shot with his face.
As Team W prepared to counterattack, the deflected ball landed perfectly at Rin Itoshi's feet, right as he was set to shoot.
"Thud!"
The goalkeeper had just started to cheer when Rin Itoshi smashed the ball into the net without mercy.
GOAL!! Team V 4:0 Team W
Shingen Tanaka stared at Rin in disbelief.
"How was he already in that spot? Luck? Coincidence?"
Kyohei Shiguma muttered in fear.
"Just like when he stole the ball from me… Did he really anticipate this? That's impossible… how?"
Watching their bewildered faces, Ryūma thought to himself:
(Heh. Can't blame them. Rin's nickname is 'Puppet Master.' He analyzes everyone's actions to see the future of the field.)
(When he gets serious, he subconsciously controls both allies and enemies—dragging them into the future he's already mapped out.)
(He must've seen it all from the moment Hiori got the ball.)
(He knew Hiori's type—even if he messed up a pass, he wouldn't want to lose possession. And in Rin's view, once I got it, with my confidence I'd definitely force a shot.)
(As predicted, I messed up. And he foresaw Shiguma charging the goal too.)
(In Rin's plan, my shot would be blocked by Shiguma—and Rin was already waiting in the perfect spot for the rebound.)
As Rin strolled back, Ryūma sighed.
"You manipulated and predicted everything, didn't you? Annoying bastard."
Expressionless, Rin replied while walking back to position.
"Cut the chatter. Let's end this."
...
Team W possession.
Seeing Shingen Tanaka at a loss, Kyohei Shiguma declared,
"I'll take kick-off. All the goals we've conceded were because I got intercepted! So I'll win this one back myself! Follow me, Shingen—let's go all in!"
"That's right, Shiguma. We've already broken through their defense once."
"And we've figured out how to limit that heterochromatic brat! If we stop his off-ball runs and prevent Hiori from passing to him, his shots are dead!"
"As for Rin Itoshi—yeah, he anticipates a lot. But if the two of us stay tight and cautious, we can break through him too!"
Tanaka turned and shouted to the others,
"We're at a huge disadvantage, but we've found their weaknesses! From here on, this is an even match! Let's go!"
Deep down, Tanaka knew victory was impossible. But they had to score at least once—to bring back momentum, or it would hurt them in the next match.
With that, Shingen Tanaka and Kyohei Shiguma pushed forward, one leading, one following. Behind them, Team W either stayed back to defend or focused on marking Ryūma Banjō and Yo Hiori to shut them down.