The "TAG" Game

After getting off the bus, he finds himself at the Blue Lock dormitory. Arata, along with the other participants, receives their uniforms, with his specifically featuring the number 222 printed on his arm and the letter Z underneath. Upon entering the dormitory, he notices a room with the letter "Z" printed on it, assuming it to be where Team Z will gather. Inside the room, he observes that most of them had already arrived, with Bachira sleeping on the floor and Kunigami getting ready in his locker.

"Arata-Kun," shouted Kira. "Hey, Kira, how's it going?" Arata replied. "Well, nothing's happened so far, so we're just waiting," he said. "Look over there, Isagi is coming..." observed Kira.

They greet each other and chat for a while until they are interrupted by someone.

"WOW, you guys are Ichinose Arata and Ryosuke Kira, the two most famous prospects in Japan. I am Igarashi Gurimu."

He told the story of how he was destined to inherit the Buddha temple but gave it up to pursue the dream of becoming a professional player, until Jinpachi Ego appeared on television.

"We estimate your potential based on my judgment, and it's the number attached to your uniforms, and this ranking will change based on your training and game results," said Ego.

"Furthermore, the top five players from Blue Lock will be selected to represent the Japan U-20 team in the World Cup, and those who are eliminated will no longer be able to attend the Japanese team. Besides that, it's time to start the 'TAG,' and the player who ends up being 'It' will be eliminated."

Just like in Canon, the ball starts with Igarashi Gurimu, who runs to where Isagi and others are clustered, hoping to tag Isagi and naturally misses the mark until he notices Bachira lying on the ground, thinking he's an easy target. However, he receives a surprise kick to his face from Kunigami, who defends himself from Gurimu, saying that the rules only state no hands, and Gurimu takes advantage of this distraction to tag Kunigami, who, infuriated, delivers a beautiful kick to Isagi's stomach, who desperately tries to tag Arata, who is the closest to the scene but easily dodges Isagi's kick.

"HEY, NOT TODAY!! COME BACK LATER," shouted Arata to Isagi, laughing.

Later, Isagi focuses on tagging Igarashi Gurimu, who is sitting on the ground after colliding with Bachira, who steals the ball and heads towards Kira, lifting the ball high in the air, which ends up with Isagi hitting the ball into Kira's face, thus eliminating him.

"THE PLAYER WE'RE GETTING RID OF IS RYOSUKE KIRA, YOU'RE OUT." Kira, as expected, freaks out, saying it doesn't make sense to eliminate a talented player like him and end his career in an activity that didn't make sense to him, and Ego explains that he had enough time to tag someone else after being tagged or even using his knee. After the explanation, Kira storms out of the room extremely angry, and Ego says they have passed the Blue Lock entrance test, and from now on, they would be living with each other because the "Team Z" was formed.

Three days passed, and all they did were physical tests such as treadmill running, jumping tests, and the like, which weren't very challenging for Arata due to the physical tests he had done every day of his life in this world. He took the opportunity to get to know and talk to the members of Team Z, and the most receptive was Wataru Kuon, who, from what he remembered, was the one who betrayed the team some time later. However, he believed it wouldn't happen in this world, as it was highly unlikely they would have any trouble with the initial teams, one of them being Barou, whom he was already accustomed to facing and winning against. But despite that, Arata was excited to face Seishiro Nagi, who in his past life was one of the characters he admired most for his style of play.

During his break time, he decided to practice a bit to get used to the place. Firstly, he started with some free kicks. Arata wanted to expand his arsenal and reproduce Cristiano Ronaldo's free kicks. He really liked how Cristiano used to strike his free kicks, hitting them with the side of his foot, and the ball flew towards the goal like a bomb. So he took a bit of distance from the ball and, like Cristiano, struck the ball with the side of his foot, and the ball went just below the corner of the goal. It wasn't perfect, but Arata believed that with a bit more practice, he could master that kick.

Arata heard a whistle behind him...

"Nice shot," it was Bachira, along with Isagi by his side.

"Hello, what are you guys doing here?" Arata asked.

"We came to practice a bit, but we saw you and stopped to watch your shot. Hey, why don't we have a friendly match?" Bachira suggested.

"Okay, come on, both of you against me," Arata said confidently.

"I know you're good, but do you think you can take on both of us?" Isagi asked.

"Just come," said Arata.

The first to come was Bachira, who ran towards him, standing in front of him. Then, Arata started doing various stepovers until Bachira tried to tackle to steal the ball, and Arata lifted the ball over him.

Now it was Isagi's turn, who quickly stood in front of him. Firstly, Arata made some quick feints to confuse Isagi, and then he performed an elastico and ran to the side of the field with Isagi following him, trying to close the gap between them.

"Okay, we're on the side of the field, there's no way he can shoot from here," thought Isagi.

Arata continued moving towards the side of the field until he made a chop, cutting inside, and Isagi couldn't keep up, and he shot with a finesse shot that perfectly entered the corner of the goal.

"Arata, what a cool shot was that, we were more than 30 meters away from the goal!!" said Isagi.

"And your dribbles were of high quality, what's your true weapon?" asked Bachira.

"Let's just say I'm a complete player, hehe," Arata said convincingly.

After the "Mini-Match," they returned to their beds and went to sleep.