Blue Lock 0

Chapter 9

The game was restarted with another kickoff. Until the end of the first half, there were still 20 minutes, which was a lot of time. No one on Team Z was worried yet; they had a lot of time to turn around the score.

Isagi received the ball from Kuon again, and he redirected it to Kai, who for the very first time had it at his feet. Kai wasn't going to give it away; he could walk around and see how the opponents respond. The first line of opponents was three strikers, including Barou; they were pressing as he expected.

Barou stood in front of him, "Why aren't you ahead? You are playing better than anyone else on that trash team. The strikers who don't attack are worthless." Only Kai could hear what he was saying, and to be honest, he could explain the situation, but that would be a waste of precious time. So, the number 10 of team X got ignored; it's not like he gave it much thought. Shoei particularly didn't mind.

'Raichi, don't do something stupid again.' The white-haired boy was calmer than the previous time.

Slowly and slowly, Team Z was building up its playstyle, which was more dependent on the flanks. Raichi realized that if he wanted to create the chance for himself, he must pass it around to open up the space. Everyone tried to accomplish just that. Gurimu and Immamura got to play on their flanks, and they interacted with Chigiri and Bachira.

Every time those two wingers moved toward the goal or to the center of the box, Gurimu and Immamura would run up to the corners and either receive a pass in absolutely open space. Kai was a genius for coming up with this strategy. Due to this, they had time to move the rest of the team for the crossing.

Kuon and Kunigami were the tallest of the bunch, and they were good for the crosses, and if the cross was unsuccessful, there was Kai outside of the box waiting for his chance to strike.

"I'm crossing!" Those crosses were particularly welcome for team Z, since there was an equal chance for everyone to score. It's a good way to tame Jingo Raichi and their team's egotistical strikers. Imamura launched the cross at the closest bar and hoped for the best.

Swish!

The ball breezed through the air and landed on the white hair. Raichi previously burst out of the crowd and jumped to the ball; it was a slight tap from him, but it changed the direction of the football in their favor. He brandished his sharp teeth in midair and shouted, "Let's go! I told you fuckers!" He shouted as the ball went into the farthest post.

Everyone slapped him on the head or messed with his white hair, "Nice one, Raichi! You can play when you want, can't you?!" Even Kai didn't hold back his congratulations. This was a fantastic goal and play that should be recognized.

"Let's do it again, boys; we can definitely do it!" Team Z returned to their half and waited for Team X to kick off the ball. "The other team will work harder to keep us from scoring; that guy has probably figured out our strategy by now." He will tell them to press on the flanks harder, so we have to think of something different.'

This battle was starting to resemble a professional football match rather than just a teenager's hustle. Barou was a beast; he carried an entire team on his shoulders. He played basically everywhere and got past everyone on Team Z. Kai didn't have direct confrontation with him yet,

However, it was clear that both avoided taking risks next to each other. Barou, just like Kai, considered him to be a dangerous footballer. 'Barou Shoei... Physically, he is a tank; he has speed and flexibility as well. He reminds me of Ibrahimovic a bit.' There was no football fan who doesn't know Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

And Kai was playing with a similar replica, even the ego of that guy was eagerly resembling Zlatan, which made it even funnier. Barou, though, couldn't draw any resemblance between pros and Kai. He was still a mystery.