"Hey, Isagi, over here!" In front of the café, Bachira and Chigiri waved to Isagi. Isagi quickly walked over, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.
"Whoa, you're here too!" Isagi exclaimed in surprise, noticing a group of familiar faces near the next storefront. Chigiri followed his gaze to find none other than Karasu and his crew.
"Oh, Isagi, you really made a fool out of me in the match," Karasu pouted as soon as he saw Isagi.
Meanwhile, Bachira showed no hesitation. "Since we're all here, why not hang out together?"
"Sure, why not? By the way, what about Shinichi?"
Hearing that, Jyubei turned to Karasu curiously. "It seems like we haven't seen him since the match. You have Hiori's number, right? He might know how to contact Shinichi."
"Hmm, he said he doesn't know either." Karasu showed the group his message thread with Hiori.
Meanwhile, Isagi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Shinichi… could he still be training?"
"…"
A strange silence fell over the group. Yukimiya let out a dry laugh. "He… probably isn't, right? I mean, he stood out so much in the last match."
As he spoke, Yukimiya scrolled through his phone and found a recent headline. "Look, 'A rising superstar emerges, dominating the U-20 team.' His screen-filling talent is making clubs worldwide lose their minds. He's monopolized the headlines, leaving only a tiny section to the success of the Blue Lock project. The difference is huge."
"Exactly. He's already such a monster that it's hard to imagine him feeling the need to push himself so hard," Karasu agreed, but even as he said it, everyone's thoughts seemed to converge on the same idea—
"If even Chigiri's sister used 'I want to be the best in the world' as a reason to turn someone down, then it's hard to imagine Shinichi doing anything other than training during his downtime…"
"Aaagh! That's it! I can't relax anymore after hearing all this," Reo groaned as he downed his coffee in frustration. "I'm going back to train too!"
"Yeah, if someone like him never slacks off, then unless we've given up on our own dreams, we really have no reason to relax either," Karasu said as he stood. "Since everyone's here, why don't we find a place to play some football together?"
"Sounds good to me."
Just as they were about to set off, they ran into the U-20 team having a group outing, as well as Barou hauling his own bowling ball.
They even dragged Nagi away from the arcade. What was supposed to be a rare day away from Blue Lock turned into yet another intense match.
…
By evening, as everyone headed home, they all instinctively pulled out their phones. That familiar logo appeared on their screens—the notification announcing that Blue Lock was back in action.
"It's here again… Seriously, just when I thought we had a rare break, you guys dragged me into another game, and now it's straight back to that hellhole."
Karasu rolled his shoulders, still feeling a slight ache, yet there wasn't the slightest trace of impatience in his expression.
Instead, his eyes burned with a fierce determination. "This new phase—I'm not going to be just a background character for you guys again."
"Then it'll come down to our own skills," Chigiri said as he tied back his long hair, loosened from the game. "But the one who'll beat Shinichi and become the top scorer…"
"Is me!" xN
...
With a variety of resolutions in their hearts, the group boarded a helicopter and returned to Blue Lock.
Just like the first time they entered, the waiting area was packed with players.
This time, however, nearly every face was one Isagi recognized.
"Will the U-20 members be participating as well?" Isagi asked, a hint of surprise in his voice. Beside him, Bachira grinned mischievously and elbowed him playfully. "Don't forget, you were also on the U-20 team before, you Blue Lock traitor."
"Ha, that's true." Isagi gave an awkward laugh, but his attention was soon drawn to the man standing in the middle of the field.
"Shinichi…" Just standing there, Shinichi's mere presence caused a heavy weight to settle over Isagi's heart.
He was certain that Shinichi wasn't exuding any deliberate pressure right now, yet Isagi felt an entirely different kind of fear emanating from him—something on a whole other level.
"Shinichi seems even stronger now."
Bachira's voice snapped Isagi out of his thoughts. The two exchanged glances, silently confirming the same realization. "So you noticed too."
"Yeah, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what's changed, but I can feel it—Shinichi's not the same as before." Isagi clenched his fists with excitement. "That's just like him—never slacking off, no matter what."
"Well, well, my little rough gems, did you enjoy your break?" A familiar, irritating voice interrupted their exchange. Ego's face appeared on the large screen.
"As you can see, the U-20 team will be training alongside you in the next phase to determine the final roster for the U-20 World Cup."
"And with only 100 days left until the World Cup, do you really think the current you could step onto the field and take the championship?"
The unexpected question broke Isagi's train of thought. Everyone around him fell into deep contemplation. But Ego didn't wait long before delivering his answer. "The answer is: absolutely not! Other than Shinichi, not a single one of you is at championship level yet. That's why I've devised a way to accelerate your evolution."
"There's an old saying: 'If you play chess against weak players, you'll only get worse.' The environment is one of the most crucial factors in shaping a person. You started out as mere high school players from a country weak in football, but you've come this far precisely because you entered this merciless Blue Lock. Here, just to survive, you've been forced to push yourselves to constantly evolve."
"Therefore, if we are to push you further, we must once again transform your environment. This is the new phase and theme of Blue Lock."
"The world's top-tier European leagues. I'll recreate such an environment within Blue Lock and let you choose one of them to join, where you'll hone yourselves further." With that, Ego's smirk deepened as the logos of the top five leagues shifted on the screen, followed by the appearance of an entirely new logo.
"In addition, I've established a special environment separate from the top leagues—a unique Blue Lock setting. At the moment, this environment includes two players."
As the Blue Lock logo appeared alongside the five major leagues, a side door opened in the waiting hall, and two figures emerged.
"All of you have been part of Blue Lock's surface-level project. However, sudden changes don't always reflect a player's true abilities. That's why I set up an underground channel for those eliminated. Originally, I intended to use them as raw materials for an experimental creation of mine. But due to certain unexpected outcomes, I decided to train them into tools that could assist the world's greatest striker."
"Come in now, the two survivors of the revival match. The one who awakened his vision and completely redefined himself as a defender—Niko Ikki."
A boy with long bangs that completely obscured his eyes calmly walked into the hall without greeting anyone. He moved straight to the front of the screen and stood motionless.
"And the one who stubbornly held onto his forward ideals in the revival match, surviving through sheer will—our indestructible winger—"
Ego hadn't finished speaking when a buzz-cut boy covered in band-aids strolled out from the passage with a grin, arms wide open. "Hello, everyone. It's me."
"Igarashi Gurimu."
"Igarashi?!" Even Isagi couldn't remain calm, exclaiming in shock.
It wasn't that he looked down on the guy, but Igarashi's skill level had always been… questionable.
Yet Ego didn't give him much time to process it, continuing to announce:
"And, the coach for the Blue Lock team—"
"Kanzaki Shinichi."
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