2 Blue Lock

'In order for Japan to win a World Cup... We will create the best striker in the world. Which is why 300 of the best high-school forwards... have been gathered for this project.'

'The only thing we were told is that we would be moving into some kind of lodging... So now we're on a bus, going through mountains... And then, we arrived. Blue Lock!'

...

"Next... Keisuke Takeyama."

'Things like our wallets and phones were all confiscated. One by one, they gave us all uniforms.'

'Hm? 245...V...? Is this ranking? What a joke.'

"All right, now each of you will go to the room matching your uniform's letter. We'll notify you when to change into uniform." Said the woman in charge.

'Blue Lock, Get ready here I come!'

...

"Oi..."

"Isn't that...?"

"That's Takeyama Keisuke, right?"

"I thought he was in Spain already."

"That was true..?"

"Wait, really..?"

As Keisuke walked in he saw all 11 people looking at him as if he was a god amongst men.

'Well, compared to them I really am so much better.'

The last person came in after him as soon as he was changing into uniform.

"Um, are you Takeyama Keisuke by any chance...? Sorry, I'm Hiori Yo by the way." Asked the boy with cyan colored hair.

"Well, if my name is Takeyama Keisuke, which it is, then you are be correct, nice to meet you cyan-kun." Answered Keisuke as he held out his hand.

Hiori then slowly held out his hand as he muttered," Cyan-kun...? Ah right nice to meet you too."

"So is it true that you're going to join Real Madrid just like Itoshi Sae?" Asked Hiori.

"Well, yes it is true I'll be joining Real Madrid just like Sae-kun it was meant to happen after nationals, but I'll have to try this out first." Said Keisuke while laying down stretching.

"Ah, really... wait what number did you get? I got 250." Asked Hiori while also getting down to stretch.

"Well, if you count everybody up in this room then I would be the best out everybody here, though I don't know why I'm 245 if anything I should be Number 1." Keisuke said as he finished stretching.

BOOP!!

"Are you done changing, you unpolished gems?"

'Jinpachi Ego...!'

"Hey, Hey... The people in your room will be both your teammates... And your rivals."

"Represented by your ranking. We have estimated your potential based on my judgement and my peers' calculations... It is the number attached to your uniforms. With it, you can gauge your position among the 300 players in this facility."

'Rank 245... What a fucking joke.'

"Your ranking will change daily based on several factors. For example, going up or down based on your training or the results of your games. And unconditionally, the top five players will participate in a certain tournament six months from now... They will become the selected strikers for Japan's U-20 National Team playing at the World Cup."

"Huh...?!"

'Eh? The U-20 team. Does he have the power to do that?'

"Also... Those who are defeated at Blue Lock... Will be permanently barred from Japan's National Team. We are looking for one crucial component here: 'Ego'. That is what we will measure as you live here in this facility."

"Well now... It is time to play 'TAG'." Ego said a ball dropped from the ceiling.

"The time limit is 136 seconds. The player with possession is 'it'. Whoever is 'it' when time runs out... Can get the fuck out of here."

'Tag?'

"And of course, no using your hands. Those are the rules..."

'Rank 256 Nishida Yuji... is the Oni.'

'Interesting!'

"Wha...?"

"'Tag' is but one of the many exercises pro players warm up with. This 'Egoism Test' I hjave devised will provide great insight into the selfishness behind these strikers... Prepare, and attack. This isn't your average game of 'Tag'."

BOOP!!

~2:15~

"Oi, What the fuck??!!"

"The door won't open!!"

"Ehh? Why am I 'It'? FUCCK!!"

"Fine, I'll surive this!! LET'S GOO!!"

"Whoever gets expelled don't hold it against me..."

"W-wait a sec... That thing about Japan's U-20... Do you really believe what that guy said?! That must've been a bluff!"

"Of course it wasn't a bluff..."

"H-hey, how would you know?"

"I mean you could see it in his eyes, but that doesn't really matter does it because obviously I'm the one who is gonna be on U-20 team." Keisuke smirking from the corner of the room with his back against the wall.

"Tch..."

"Fucking genius..."

"Fuck this!!! GRAAAAAAH!!!"

"Wait...Don't all come HERE!!"

"Gh..."

"Spread out, you FUCKS!!"

"I'm coming for you, Genius!!!"

"Maa, maa then... come at me you shitty runt!!" Keisuke taunted with a smug smirk on his face.

Nishida shot out as Keisuke jumped out of the way as everybody ran away.

"AH!"

"SHIT! This is way too hard! Fine, I'll go for everybody else!...C'MON!!"

The running around went around for while until the mark hit the 30 second as Nishida was eventually tired. Up until when the ball skimmed Hiori just barely.

"Shit...!"

"I DID IT!!! I finally got rid of the ball!!!"

Hiori got up and started running charging at everybody trying to hit somebody. But everything was going downhill because the timer had hit 10 seconds. Then Keisuke spoke up.

"Hiori, I'll help you, just pass me the ball and I'll show how strong I truly am."

"Fine.." Replied Hiori as he passed the ball to Keisuke.

Once he recieved the ball with such ease he immediately started charging at Nishida, the Bottom Rank.

"C'mon you shitty runt!! I'll show you and everybody else how strong a true genius is!!"

Keisuke started swerving past everybody with such fluid movement incomprehensible to the untrained eye with ball stuck to his feet like a magician. Although Keisuke hadn't noticed yet that he was practically a shadow of Kaka the Brazilian Legend. But it didn't mean that Ego hadn't noticed it.

"Ahh!! Get away from me!!" Nishida yelled out as he tried to run away and fell down to the ground.

Keisuke immediately stopped the ball under his feet, then moved it to his right and pulled back his leg with maniacal smile on his face that was full excitement.

"GOOOLLLL!!!!" Keisuke yelled out as he hit the ball with so much power that he broke Nishida's nose.

"AAGGGHH!!!"

DUN!!

~0:00~Oni: Nishida Yuji~

"How is it??!! How do you feel to have been hit in face by the Strongest!" Yelled out Keisuke as he got in front of Nishida's bleeding face.

"FUCK YOU!!" Nishida groaned out as spit out blood.

DUN!!

Clap, Clap, Clap

"Good job, you unpolished gems. Let us continue to the results." Ego said as he appeared on the screen again.

"The player we will get rid of is Yuji Nishida! YOU ARE EXPELLED!!"

"WHATT THE FUCK!! What's even the point of this stupid game?! Tag ain't fucking football!! So why're we even doing it?!" Nishida yelled out as he stood up from the ground.

"Yes, I would also like to know the objective of this game... although I have some sort of idea, Mr. Ego." Asked Keisuke as he put on sunny smile as if nothing has happened.

"At Blue Lock... Everything you do is related to Football. Have a good look of your surroundings, you unpolished gems."

"Huh...?"

"The area of the room... 16.5 x 40.32 meters... The exact same proportions as a penalty area. About 75% of all goals are scored from this little area. You could say it's the domain of a striker. In other words, in this small space, the positional skills of a striker mean everything."

"Therefore, those unable to survive under such conditions... Can hardly qualify to be talented strikers."

"So... SO WHAT?! Okay sure, the room's width is exact or whatever! But tag's got nothing to do with FOOTBAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!"

"The skill required by the fleeing side... is tactical awareness. In other words, positioning. As for the pursuer, what they need is not only accurate dribbling... But the precision to make shots that will hit their target. That's what makes optimal Football training. Jeez..."

"That's... That's... How do you expect me to know all of that in just two minutes?! A game lasts more than 90 minutes!!"

"I kind of figured it out..." Interjected Keisuke softly.

"The average time a player possesses the ball during the match is... About 136 seconds. You were given the exact same opportunity you would have in a real game."

"Th-then, what'd you expect me to do in just 10 seconds...?"

"Is that what you would if this were a match?"

"Remember from the time the ball hit you, until the clock ran out... You still had about three seconds left. There was plenty of time to survive by shooting it at somebody else. And yet, you wasted that chance."

"Imagine this. You are in the middle of a match, standing in the penalty area... It's the very last play of the game... Your teammate's shot doesn't reach the goal and instead hits your body. When this happens... You had already given up inside. Which is why you didn't notice... That by sheer luck, the ball had fallen... right before you."

"And if you had just kicked that ball towards crowded group you had been saved from your own mistake."

"The one who is 'IT' in tag... That is, the one who has the ball, decides who they want to 'WIN'... But also gets to decide who they want to 'LOSE'."

"A striker carries all of the responsibilities on his back. A striker is one who keeps on attacking until the very last second. Keisuke Takeyama, who waited until the very last 10 seconds to take the initiative to attack and took out Nishida in a perfect way. Is the perfect example of a person who, rather than do what was best for the team, had the tenacity and courage to pursue their own will... That is exactly... The 'Egoism' that I am looking for."

"And that is why... This your loss, Yuji Nishida. Now Fuck Off."

"That's... He... Suddenly... Takeyama... Came so fast, it..."

"Hehe!" Laughed out Keisuke.

"F-fuck you, this so wrong." Nishida said panting out of breath as he walked out of the room with a broken nose.

'HAHAHAHAH!! That was FUN! That feeling, the exhilaration of destroying his determination was... AMAZING!! So desperate that shitty runt!'

"Hey, Takeyama-san why did you that? I mean you could have easily let me lose." Hiori asked as he walked towards Keisuke.

"Hmm, why, well because I dislike the weak and he was the weakest link to me, so he wouldn't have been useful, unlike you."

"And besides, watchin his face full of desperation and determination to turn into despair so quick was entertaining to watch." Keisuke replied with sunny smile.

"Ah... I see..."

"We... did... it"

"It's... over"

"Finally..."

"Don't get too excited over your mediocre successes, true strikers... Tread a path of winning or losing everything... Every single day, in order to keep on surviving."

"How was it? Since you were born... Wasn't this the first time you felt true danger? Were you scared? Shocked? That... was just a taste of Blue Lock's essence. You understand that much, right? The Football you've played all your lives is for weaklings! Didn't you get those shivers? 'Nice... I Survived...!' That is the feeling of 'VICTORY'! So shove it in those brains of yours!"

"Since each time you rejoice in the feeling your 'Ego' will steadily grow. And you'll need it to climb to the top and be the best striker in the world. Congratulations. You have passed Blue Lock's entrance test!"

"Your room was designed for no more than 11 people... So from now on you'll cohabitate together. You Fated Eleven... You may cooperate with each other...And also betray each other... You, and the rivals you'll have to trample...

Are Blue Lock's 'Team V'."

'Interesting!'

~~~

Hi, I decided to move up the upload schedule to the May 28th if Real Madrid win the UCL, but the reason I uploaded this chapter was to see if you preferred too see Blue Lock in a different Stratum or if you want see the MC in Isagi's Stratum. Because it's a whole lot easier to write based off of Isagi's Stratum.