[43] The First Battle Ends

Chapter 43: The First Battle Ends

"Not good... The overwhelming gap in strength." Tanaka placed his hands on his hips, panting heavily.

The rapid passing between those two small players was troublesome enough, not to mention that ghost-like guy who moved like he was flying.

"Ugh, we're going to lose... They definitely won't pick me. And if we lose another round... No! I knew I shouldn't have been in the first match!" Tokimitsu fell into a slump, mumbling to himself with a gloomy expression.

"Shut up! If you're going to give up, get out of my way and stop blocking me!" Rin shouted angrily at the two dispirited players, his eyes filled with a murderous glint.

For a moment, it felt as if an ugly monster deep within Rin's soul was roaring and clawing its way out. "Damn it! I won't let it end like this!"

Tweet!

The whistle blew. Rin charged forward with the ball, completely ignoring any clear attack route, instead taking a detour to the outer side to find Kurona.

"You... I'll destroy every single one of you, and then I'll take out that bastard..." Rin muttered under his breath, his words inaudible but his movements unaffected.

The ball danced nimbly at his feet, shifting left and right with precision.

'This guy's weapon is his quick, agile movements. Then I'll use a speed you can't keep up with.' Rin suddenly accelerated, kicking the ball towards Kurona's right side.

"A mistake? Can he reach it?" Kurona judged the distance and instinctively raised his right foot to intercept the ball. But before he could touch it, Rin had already tapped the ball away again.

Fearing he might foul Rin by kicking him, Kurona had to pull back his leg mid-action, losing his balance and falling to one knee. "Impressive. He baited me into shifting my body and lifting my leg, only to touch the ball first."

"Next, it's you, blue hair." After bypassing Kurona, Rin turned his gaze to his next target: Hiori.

'A pawn of Shinichi Kanzaki. Your strengths lie in your vision and calculated decision-making, using cool logic to find the best options.' Rin's mind quickly replayed scenes of Hiori's prior actions. 'Then I'll throw your judgment into chaos!'

"Not good... A true monster has locked onto me as its prey." A bead of cold sweat slid down Hiori's forehead as his heart pounded under the pressure of being targeted by a stronger opponent.

"But I'm not about to give up!" Hiori gritted his teeth, his radar-like eyes faithfully scanning and analyzing the data ahead, his brain working overtime. "Come on, let me see where my limits lie right now!"

The distance between them shrank rapidly. Rin still hadn't made a move.

Five meters, four meters—here it comes! Hiori took a deep breath.

But just then, Rin, charging forward with the ball, suddenly performed a passing motion, aiming towards his right, where Tokimitsu had been trailing behind him.

"Wha—? Passing to me now?" Tokimitsu exclaimed in surprise.

A pass? Impossible, right? At this moment?

Hiori's eyes widened, his train of thought completely thrown into disarray by Rin's unexpected action.

Hiori's every idea and prediction crumbled.

Rin's single move had left him with only two options: would he pass the ball, or keep going himself?

Hiori had to decide between these two possibilities in the split second available.

'Life or death, a 50% choice. Which one is it?' Hiori thought frantically.

At the beginning of the match, he would have been sure that Rin would pass the ball.

But Rin's current state wasn't normal—would he really pass now?

'He won't pass!' Hiori clenched his jaw, snapping himself out of the mental trap Rin had set.

Rin Itoshi was not the type to hand the decision-making to someone else.

If passing to Tokimitsu guaranteed a 100% chance of bypassing Hiori, Rin might have made the pass, as it would be a chance entirely created by his own actions.

But now, in this 50-50 scenario, Rin would never leave the outcome to another.

But now, passing to Tokimitsu only had a slim chance of success.

If Rin decided to handle it himself, even if Hiori guessed correctly, Rin could still rely on his superior individual ability to overpower him.

This wasn't a 50-50 choice—it was a false dilemma where the odds were more like 10% for the pass and 90% for Rin taking it himself!

Hiori solidified his resolve.

He remained unfazed by Rin's motion to lift his leg for a pass, staying firm in his defensive position.

'The next step is figuring out what Rin will do after realizing I've predicted his intentions. Will he use his speed to overwhelm me? Or... wait! What?!'

As he pondered, Hiori's eyes widened sharply. Rin completely ignored Tokimitsu on the side, just as Hiori had predicted, but at the same time, he showed no intention of altering his forward momentum or feinting the pass.

Rin was charging straight ahead without hesitation!

Rin's right leg lifted high, his body leaning slightly to the left.

His gaze was locked beyond Hiori, staring intently at the space behind him…

Rin chose neither option!

"This guy… He never even brought the full problem to the table… Whether I guessed he'd pass to Tokimitsu or not, both options were wrong. Rin Itoshi, this egoist, only aims for outcomes that guarantee a 100% victory!"

"He's going to shoot directly from this position!"

"You're one step too slow again, Hiori." A calm voice came from behind him.

Shinichi was standing there, meeting Rin's frenzied and provocative gaze with an unyielding calmness. "Looks like your training has been lacking lately. You've got to step up."

With his hands casually in his pockets, Shinichi took a single step to the right.

Just that one small step was enough to drastically alter Rin's expression.

The strike point of Rin's raised right leg shifted ever so slightly.

The ball exploded off Rin's foot, curving with an exaggerated arc that bypassed Hiori and headed straight for Shinichi at the goalfront.

But Shinichi didn't move to block the ball.

He simply stood there, letting the ball skim past his cheek.

Smack!

A crisp sound echoed—the Blue Lock goalkeeper dove forward and successfully parried the shot.

Shinichi, hands still in his pockets, stared down at Rin, who had fallen to the ground after twisting his body forcefully to increase the ball's spin.

"In just an instant, he read every thought in my mind. With a single step, he cut off my final path to the goal… He saw through everything about me…" Rin looked up weakly, watching as the grotesque monstrous figures behind him shattered and dissipated one by one, leaving only faint traces of black mist retreating into his body.

"Why would you think the scenery you see is invisible to me, mediocrity?"

"And why avoid facing me head-on? Do you really think these shortcuts will satisfy you?" Shinichi shook his head regretfully. "What a waste. If the half-baked football you stole from your brother once had some value, then your current ugly style…"

"…doesn't even deserve to be taken."

The Blue Lock goalkeeper tossed the ball to Shinichi, who was jogging forward.

Catching the ball with ease, Shinichi's eyes briefly flashed with an intense fire.

Like a bolt of lightning, he crossed the entire field in an instant and delivered a powerful strike into the goal.

3:0 → 4:0

"Wh-What?! That monster wasn't even going all out before? We're doomed—he's really going to destroy us!"

"Ha… ha… This is insane… This guy…"

Tokimitsu and Tanaka stood off to the side, breathing heavily in defeat.

Only Rin stubbornly got back on his feet, clutching the ball as he slowly made his way toward the center of the field.

"Damn it! Damn it! I'm not running away!" Rin gritted his teeth, refusing to give in.

He tried to keep fighting, but that nightmarish figure appeared once more.

The overwhelming force left him utterly powerless.

Shinichi effortlessly used his physical strength to shove Rin aside, brutally snatching the ball from under his feet.

"I've had enough of this farce. Let's end it already."

Rin barely registered the words before the figure vanished from his reach.

Helpless, he collapsed onto the ground, staring blankly at the woven white lights of the dome above him.

The whistle signaling another goal rang out once again.

Shinichi exhaled softly and turned his gaze to the fallen Rin.

"Hey, how much longer are you going to lie there?"

"Get up. Consider this your reward for that amusing struggle."

---------------------

Want to read 20 advance chapters ahead?

Go to my patreon: patreon.com/Kinglass