[22] Tempest

During the clash between the two teams, the seniors managed to hold the ball, performing their usual strategy of quick passes.

They've even gone so far as to get the ball away from Izumo as much as possible.

He isn't Barry Allen after all, he couldn't just zip from one end to another in an instant.

However, the flaw of this was the vulnerability of their defense...

With the constant long passes and crosses, the distance between one another widens thereby leaving players to have man-to-man contests.

The freshies as they were naturally took advantage of this and didn't miss the opportunity that was presented.

"Hah!"

Saiki yelled out and slide-tackled the ball beneath his opponent's feet, kicking it away while tripping the senior to the ground at the same time.

With the distance between each other, the other seniors couldn't provide support in time as they watched the ball fly away on an empty spot.

"Foul!"

The senior who was tackled stood up immediately and protested but was sadly met with denial since Saiki was aiming toward the ball and not him.

This elicits a frustrated groan from the senior while Saiki merely smirks secretly in response, hiding the devious expression on his face.

Meanwhile, the loose ball was picked up by Izumo which was unfortunate for the old-timers as they hurriedly ran toward their side of the field and set up defenses.

Seeing this, Kousuke who was watching seemed to pick up on something and hurriedly shouted toward the team.

"The flanks!"

The team hearing their coach was confused, pondering the intent behind his words...

All except for one person that is, Izumo himself.

"Osaki, Haru! Work with me"

Izumo yelled out toward their team's right and left wing, requesting cooperation between them which took the two by surprise.

Not waiting for their response, Izumo instantly rushed toward the seniors with the ball, leaving Osaki and Haru behind.

With no choice, the two of them merely glanced at each other for a moment before they shook their heads and sped up despite their confusion, following Izumo's movements in tandem.

On the other hand, the seniors who watched Izumo charged toward them, tensed up as several of them started converging towards him.

But for Izumo, this was nothing but Tuesday.

"Hmm... I'll indulge that man's order for now"

Izumo commented, glancing at Kousuke from the corner of his eye who by the way was staring at him deeply.

Dribbling the ball, he soon confronted four seniors and danced the ball back and forth while moving from left to right, confusing the heck out of them.

But before they could realize it, the ball beneath Izumo's feet somehow disappeared as three other senior players arrived later afterward and were confused by the situation.

"Where did-"

It was only through a cry of their goalkeeper did they realized the ball was passed along to Osaki without them knowing.

Thankfully, they were cautious enough to leave players behind to defend.

"Oh, boy..."

Osaki smiled wearily, seeing a defender block his way and attempt to steal the ball through a tackle.

Obviously, he contended through a battle of physicality but seeing that he was losing, Osaki stepped back and made a quick cut inside the penalty area, taking the defender aback by the sudden move.

But just as he passed the guy, the goalkeeper appeared in front of him, taking Osaki by surprise this time.

So out of response, he kicked the ball away and passed it toward the left side where Haru was positioned.

"...!!"

Seeing the ball fly toward him, Haru received and tapped it with his feet, trapping it before proceeding to dribble forward.

But before he could do so, two defenders lined up in front of him before surrounding him from both sides, left and right.

Feeling restricted by his movements, Haru gritted his teeth and spun, swapping position between him and the right defender before speeding up, trying to put some distance away from them.

But alas, he was tightly marked despite his attempt to run away, leaving him no choice but to pass back to Osaki.

And as the ball closed in toward Osaki, the goalkeeper ran and chased after it, attempting to intercept it mid-way.

"This one's mine!"

Taichi, stretching his legs forward, managed to intercept the pass and smiled smugly as he then pulled his legs back before kicking it toward the goal.

"Damn!"

The goalkeeper grumbled, recognizing it too late that they were focusing too much on the wingers and Izumo to realize that there weren't any more defenders left to stop the other freshies.

Through a leap, the goalkeeper lunged himself to the side with his arms stretched in an attempt to block the ball.

But the speed of the ball was too fast as he solemnly watched it graze his fingers before thrusting itself into their net.

Whistle!

A whistle resounded, echoing through the field as the scoreboard for the freshies changed from one to two.

"E-Equalizer!"

A freshman player screamed in shock, seeing the score between the two teams equalize.

On the other hand, the senior players had their faces crumpled with expressions of disbelief, astonishment, alarm, and frustration.

Unconsciously, everyone on the field seemed to turn their heads toward Izumo as he happened to be the one to initiate the play.

No...

Every goal the freshies scored was initiated by him...

Every play or sweep, he was always there, emerging out of nowhere.

And the moment he grasps the ball, the field appears to be hit by a storm, no...

A tempest, an unstoppable force that swept every player on the field.

He was like the eye of the storm with chaotic winds revolving around him.

"Who exactly is this guy?"

Every player on the field asked themselves, wondering the identity of this young man.

It was too bad that they couldn't hear the audience's chatter or they would have the answers to their question right now.

Whistle! Whistle!

A whistle suddenly blew repeatedly, gaining their attention as they looked upon Kousuke who lazily stepped inside the field while yawning.

"Okay, the game's over. Let's all go home now"

"???"

The players were dumbfounded and dazed for a moment before Akai stepped forward since the freshmen were more familiar with him.

"There are still 11 minutes till the game ends, coach"

"Oh, I know"

"Then why?"

"Well, If you happen to look up, you will see the Sun about to go to bed"

Hearing his words, they all simultaneously looked up just to see the sky begin to darken without them noticing.

"You lots took too long to finish the game"

"But a match takes 90 minutes to-"

"Doesn't matter, it's a mock battle, not an official one"

"..."

Listening to his rambles, the players were too tired to argue with the man so they merely shook their heads and decided to just keep silent, listening in peace.

"I would have ended the match sooner if there was a big gap in the score"

"..."

"But since someone didn't play seriously in the beginning, the match was stretched out instead"

Kousuke said, giving a stink eye toward that certain someone before looking away and turning around.

"Pack your things now and start heading home since tomorrow's going be another long day..."

"..."

"So, be prepared"