Team V

'It's been three days since we came to Blue Lock.'

Team V had been put through endurance tests with Keisuke being the main stand out along with Hiori not being too far behind him. With Kurona and Ishikari being the only ones to be able to even near Keisuke's results.

"Ahh... Keisuke... don't you get tired of these... test...?" Hiori asked as he panted out of exhaustion.

"Yeah... Don't you get tired of these things...? We've been doing these all day. Ahh! My legs!" Kurona yelled out as he laid flat on the ground after the running test.

"To me this is warm up after all, in order to be the best in football you have to also be the best physically. Anyway let's move onto the next." Replied Keisuke as he hopped off the treadmill with at time of 1:29:47 at pace of 20km/h.

"Giant-kun, pass me the water... Thanks, anyway shouldn't I be asking you if you're okay with these tests?" Asked Keisuke while drinking the water and threw it back to Ishizaki.

"C'mon Ishikari, let's let these two rest for while we do the jumping test." Called out Keisuke.

"Yes, let's all follow the Genius."

"It's not genius, but 'The Strongest'."

"Whatever..."

Both Keisuke and Ishikari got ready for the jumping while Hiori and Kurona took a break lying down.

"Get ready, GO!"

Both jump as a Ishikari got vert of 65cm while Keisuke got one of 70cm.

"Woah... although Ishikari is taller than him he still got up higher. That's amazing..." Kurona said while staring up at Keisuke.

...

"MMHH! That's so good! Ahhh! I love food!!" Mumbled out Keisuke as he quickly ate his yakitori along with his rice and miso soup.

"Hey, what'd you guys get?!" Asked Keisuke as the rest of the group consisting of Hiori, Kurona, and Ishikari came back.

"Well, I got some soba..." Ishikari replied taken aback by the excitement.

"I got some ramen. What about you Hiori?" Kurona asked as Hiori took a seat.

"I got some curry rice, though I don't really like it..."

"I'll trade you my soba for your curry rice." Suggested Ishikari.

"Thanks..."

"Anyway, I have question for you guys. Your answer will determine your future on the team." Keisuke started out as he finished his food.

All the other three looked at each other seemed to agree on something. They all nodded.

"So, for the past three days I've been on the lookout on who would best fit to be my actual teammates on the pitch, and you three are the only competent players on the team I can rely on if need to. So what I'm asking is whether you want risk your future by not following my rules or you can win this whole thing by following my lead?" Keisuke asked he completely stood up staring at them.

Although they were all confused at first and wanted to refuse but then they remembered how Keisuke defeated Nishida.

"That's fine as long as you can assure us the win." Replied Ishikari hesitantly.

"I was going to follow your lead anyway." Hiori simply shrugged.

"Yeah, he's right who else will we follow other than the genius himself." Kurona smirked.

"Hahaha! That's right who else would you follow! The rest are just shitty runts! By the way it's The Strongest not Genius, okay?" Keisuke laughed smugly.

"Yes... Whatever you say Takeyama-sama... whatever shall we do without you..." Kurona sarcastically replied.

"Hehe..."

...

~Rest Time~

"OIIII, YOU SHITTY RUNTS!!!"

"Wha..."

"Huh..."

"Shu... up..."

"People are still... sleeping..."

"I don't care, so now WAKE UP!!!" Keisuke yelled out as he got in front of people's faces waking them up in the process.

"Anyway, I wanted to make an announcement..."

"From now on I'm your King and you guys are my servants... While Ishikari, Hiori, and Kurona are my royal knights under my command." Keisuke stated with a maniac smile on his face with Ishikari, Hiori, and Kurona standing behind him.

"WHA!!!"

"You can't do that!!!"

"FUCK YOU!!"

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!!"

The screaming lasted for a while until Keisuke decide to kick the nearest locker make the room silent with a loud bang.

"Anybody who refuses will be isolated from the team and will eventually lose their future because they're too stupid to not know when an actual opportunity fall onto your hands. Because if you do join I'll promise you that you'll make out of here with a career in tact." Keisuke coldly stated with a sneer on his face.

"Why should we listen to you?!"

"Yeah!"

"SHUT UP."

"Hah...?"

"Don't you shitty runts get it, if you join me as my servants you'll get to win, after all I'm the Strongest." Keisuke frustratedly replied.

"Plus, you guys are the weak links, and I hate weak people..." Keisuke finished with a sneer.

"Ding, dong, dang, dong... Shut up you unpolished gems... Ahem... We have finished compiling the test results from the last days... So hurry back to your room and have a look at your new rankings."

"Would you look at that? I told you, you shitty runts I am the Strongest, I am now rank 221." Keisuke said smirking at the rest.

"And guess what? My royal knights are the highest ranked after me, so now make your decision."

"Tch..."

"Ghh..."

"Fine..."

"Shit..."

"Fuck... really..."

BOOP!

"Hello, and nicely done. All of you unpolished gems. Are your enjoying your lives here ate Blue Lock?" Ego said as he appeared on the screen.

"Mr. Ego..."

"Shove it up your ass! How can anyone enjoy this shit?! Is living in this fucking hellhole supposed to make us better?!"

"That's right... I wanna eat a proper meal..."

"Shitty Football calls for a shitty environment, capiche, dickhead?"

"HUH?"

"But... Let's talk about Blue Lock, now. This facility is arranged into five different stratums. We have 25 teams, ranging from 'B' to 'Z', with each set of five teams in a stratum living in the same conditions."

"By the way, since 25 players, one from each team, were eliminated during our game of tag... There are a total of 275 players currently residing in Blue Lock."

'Huh? So the ranking didn't change much, and why the fuck is it so low?!'

"Also, each team is formed by the ranks of their players. In other words, Team's B players are from 1st to to 11th, Team's C from 12th to the 22nd, and so on. While you Team V, are in the worst stratum of all: Stratum Number Five. Yours is the team made up of players between 220th to 230th position."

'Fuck...!'

'The bottom of the barrel...'

"Oi, doesn't than mean that you're trash also...?"

"Hah? Maybe I am, but I'm the best here and if you're gonna want out of here then you'll listen to me, because if I'm trash then all of you are just meaningless space." Keisuke replied back sneering.

"Players of higher ranks from the other blocks have the better meals and training equipment... Which are meant to represent the lifestyle of those strikers at the very top."

"Here is where the finest football players get to live like kings. Win, so you too can seize such a lifestyle! This is what it means to be in Blue Lock. Let the first selection begin."

"Oi, follow my lead and I'll make you into my royal knights!" Keisuke said smirking.

"YES, SIR!" The rest of the team yelled in sync.

"Now, onto the details of Blue Lock's... First Selection, starting next week. The First Selection will be between you, the 55 players of the fifth stratum... Consisting of a round-robin of the five teams within it. When all said is done... Only the top two teams will advance to the 2nd Selection. It's all-or-nothing."

"Huh? You're saying us 11 players from Team V are playing together? But aren't we all forwards...?"

"Looks like we'll have to cover other positions too! How about being our goalkeeper?"

"W-what? Why me...?"

"Shut up, everybody listen to me, I'll be the striker along with Ishikari, and Kurona with Hiori will both be on the wings. And the rest of you shitty runts will be the defenders, all you have to do is pass the ball." Keisuke stated with a tone that suggested that it was obvious.

"What...!"

"No...!"

"Did you forget who you're talking to? I'm the one in charge of you shitty servants." Keisuke finished with a condescending tone.

'But... What is the point behind a team of 11 forwards...?'

"Isn't that fine? Football is, at its core a sport where one scores goals. It would only be natural for all of you to play as forwards. You may have the positioning system and tactics that come with it ingrained in your foolish heads, But that is simply one part of football's long history. In the beginning, football was a sport played with every member as a forward."

"So our football will begin from that starting point. And from there, fix your knowledge of Football from scratch. For nearly 25 years, Japan's National team... Has time and time again, evolved itself exponentially on a global level."

"That was thanks to the dream we yearned for together as a country. In 1992, the J-League was founded. In 1997, we earned a spot in our very first World Cup. In 2002, we reached the Round of 16 in the WC held by our country and South Korea."

"In 2010, we managed yet again to get past the group stage despite all the naysayers. And in 2018, we drove the contending Belgium to a corner... We had reached closer than ever... Yet it was so painful... We had fallen just one step short of being among the very best countries in the world."

"But it also meant that football fans acknowledged us... They had seen that Japan was a force to be reckoned with. With that said, if we want to cross that very last step... The state of Japan's National Team cannot continue as is."

"Our predecessors has their eyes set on the World Cup's glory. They wanted Japan to 'Carve out their part of the football world,' and... They backed up that will. When did we turn away from the dream we had so strived for...? Thus, I proclaim this to be the time for the Japanese Football dream to be revived!"

"Throw out what you think of as 'common sense'. Reject it. And cram this new mentality deep down those brain of yours. The most important thing for Japan to become the best country in the world, is not 'The teamwork between 11 players'. It is to have... A 'Hero' among them. Messi, C. Ronaldo, Neymar... The sheer presence of player like them have changed the sport forever."

"New defensive systems were created for the sole purpose of stopping them, and to overcome these systems, they evolved ever-newer tactics."

"Just like that one player, within one team... From One Country! Was able to change the world! That is the sport of football! From now on, Japan's football... Will enter a new stage! One not lead by adults who have lost sight of that dream... But by the star from the chosen 300 high school students!"

"When we refer to the 'World Cup'... Do we have the courage to look at this new dream? Can we prepare ourselves to compete for it? Everybody in Blue Lock is now primed." Ego finished off with a smirk.

'I'll destroy anybody who gets in my way!'