The Lion's den

The stadium exploded with cheers as Murano scored his third goal of the game.

Reaching the corner flag, Murano didn't grab it. Instead, he stopped, and with a flourish, he swept his right arm across his body in a grand gesture, bowing deeply at the waist, as if acknowledging the cheers of an adoring audience.

The noise from the stands grew even louder as they recognized the iconic celebration—none other than Neymar's famous bow.

___

Meanhwile on the sidelines, Anri's eyes began to fill with tears as she realized that they were actually winning the game. She couldn't believe it.

Anri's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke in disbelief, "This is insane, we're actually winning."

Ego let out a sigh and scratched his head. "Are you convinced yet? When it comes to top-tier performances like this, the egoist always delivers."

Anri's voice wavered as she held back tears. "Y-yeah, I never doubted them! Everyone's been incredible...especially Murano!"

"Yeah, the game's practically won," Ego said, "but we do have one remaining substitution slot, right?"

"Huh?" Anri was surprised because it was not necessary at this point in the game.

Ego snapped his fingers as he said, "Guess, it's about time to open the lion's den."

Anri's eyes widened. "Don't tell me..." she stammered, surprised that Ego was thinking of bringing him in.

"The embodiment of the Blue Lock philosophy... The world needs to witness our Joker card." With a wide grin, he turned toward the bench and pointed to Barou.

"It's your turn, Shoei Barou!"

___

"What a superb offense and defense!! What a series of counters! This is a death match... We can feel the heat from the field over here." The commentator said.

"I was expecting a 2-1 or maybe 3-0, but 5-2? against the U-20 team? I can barely control myself! How do you feel, Natsuki-san?" The commentator turned to his co-commentator for her thoughts.

"This match has been beyond my expectations. Blue Lock is dominating. They've practically buried the U-20 team," the co-commentator responded.

"Let's talk about Itoshi Sae's performance." The commentator then moved on to another topic, specifically focusing on Itoshi Sae.

Not wanting to speak ill of Itoshi Sae, the co-commentator cautiously said, "Itoshi Sae has been solid as the core of the U-20 attack, but Blue Lock has simply been too strong."

The commentator then shifted to discussing Hayashi Murano, who had just scored a stunning bicycle kick goal to complete his hat-trick.

"Yeah, that kid is phenomenal. To be able to go up against a genius like Itoshi Sae and not falter is impressive. First, he feints Sae with a dazzling roulette move and then nutmegs him clean! That nutmeg probably shaved at least 30 million yen off Sae's market value!" The co-commentator responded.

"What can't this kid do? He can score from way out on the field, score from long range, bag a solo goal, and pull off a bicycle kick goal all in the same game! His athleticism is off the charts." The co-commentator gushed over Murano's skills.

"Can the U-20 team recover from this?" He asked jokingly.

"We'll have to wait and see as they restart the game once again!" The co-commentator replied. "But with less than 10 minutes left plus injury time..."

Suddenly, their attention was drawn to a substitution being made by Blue Lock. "Wait, it looks like number 4, Ikki Niko, is being replaced by number 19, Shoei Barou!" exclaimed the commentator.

The commentators speculated on the reason for Niko's substitution, perhaps a tactical move due to his earlier yellow card.

___

"I'm sick and tired of waiting," Barou said as he walked onto the pitch. he wasted no time in making his presence felt on the field.

"How was it warming the bench?" Murano mocked him.

"Get lost!" Barou yelled back in frustration.

As he stepped onto the field, he couldn't even bring himself to criticize or trash-talk Murano's performance. Because he had been nothing short of extraordinary.

Blue Lock now set up in a 3-4-3 formation, with Barou positioned on the left wing.

___

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U-20 Japan Nation Team vs. Blue Lock Eleven

Minute 82'

U-20 Japan 2-5 Blue Lock

"Just give me three minutes, I'll do what you couldn't do in the past 80 minutes, useless little brother," Itoshi Sae told Rin.

"I'll increase the game level. Only the idiots who can follow me get to see the scenery that comes next." Itoshi Sae said as he kicked off.