"Damn Shinichi, to have such a top midfielder willingly cover for you!" Faced with Hiori's pass, Kaiser didn't rejoice; instead, his face displayed even more terrifying jealousy and resentment, but it was soon replaced by a murderous intent. "But here, I will tear off your clown mask and take everything from you!"
As Kaiser's voice, filled with murderous intent, rang out, he lifted his right foot in response to Hiori's pass.
Indeed, it was hard to completely defeat Lorenzo, who could command a price just under a billion less than Kaiser—a man with world-class shooting skills—simply by virtue of being a defender. This naturally spoke to Lorenzo's exceptional capabilities, as his defensive skills could lock down anyone on the level of the top eleven players.
This was also the case in the original story during the Bastard Munchen vs. Ubers match in Germany, where Lorenzo almost completely neutralized Kaiser. Kaiser's only goal came from Isagi distracting Lorenzo, allowing him to sneak one in, which highlights Lorenzo's defensive prowess.
However, there was one aspect where Lorenzo could not match up, which was also Kaiser's proudest ability—his right foot's release speed!
This was the one aspect Lorenzo could never fully contain. Although Kaiser alone couldn't exploit this advantage due to Lorenzo's close marking, which wouldn't allow him an easy shot, Hiori's pass unlocked this weapon, sending the ball just right in front of him, stopping right ahead on his right. Seeing the ball positioned perfectly, a deep blue flame ignited in Kaiser's eyes.
"Submit to me!!!"
With Kaiser's roar, his right leg furiously kicked out at the ball. Lorenzo, anticipating this, lifted his foot to block, but reality seemed to glitch at that moment.
To the bystanders, it appeared as though someone had cut out the middle of Kaiser's motion from kicking to touching the ball.
Lorenzo didn't even fully see the process of Kaiser's shot as the ball had already burst forth, his belatedly raised body serving as a backdrop to the shot's incredible speed.
"Kaiser—Impact—!!!"
Bang—Crack!
However, as Kaiser's shot was followed by two sharp sounds, his spirits plummeted. He retracted his premature celebration gesture, jerked his head up, and stared in disbelief at the ball rolling in front of the opposing goalkeeper—
His Kaiser Impact... was blocked...?!
"The ball's still in play!"
But the cruel field didn't give Kaiser much time to be shocked. With a loud shout snapping Kaiser out of his disappointment, Isagi had already rushed to the front of the goal and was about to take a follow-up shot.
"Enough with your little tricks," Isagi said. Unfortunately, at the moment Isagi raised his foot, Shinichi, who had galloped over, stepped in just in time, deflecting the ball away before swiftly collecting the loose ball with his speed.
"Well done, Canali." However, Shinichi, having secured the ball, didn't immediately counterattack but turned to look back at the goalkeeper with blonde hair. The goalkeeper named Canali, with dazzling silver-white lightning in his eyes, gave Shinichi a thumbs up. "You think I've been stopping your cannon shots these days just for this moment?!"
"And me, I've limited Kaiser's shooting angle too," Lorenzo added, not to be outdone. He joined the two, earning a playful kick from Shinichi, then looked towards the fully regrouped Bastard Munchen players, his lips curling slightly. "So, let's stop always playing on the counter, Ubers!"
"Get ready to show the audience what we can do in a positional battle."
...
"Wow, Bastard Munchen's fluid passing is really effective, and ultimately the ball has fallen to Kaiser's feet—it's his signature Kaiser Impact! Lorenzo couldn't block it! Ah—"
"But the goalkeeper! Ubers' goalkeeper has made a crucial save, stopping Kaiser's shot! But Ubers isn't pushing for a counterattack right away; are they planning to give up their strongest tactic of defensive counterattacking and let the game move into a positional battle?"
As the commentator mentioned, Ubers, learning from Hiori's slow advance, now moved the ball forward cautiously.
Shinichi passed it to Lorenzo and then swiftly began to move into position. As Shinichi skillfully maneuvered past several players, Kaiser was eventually brought alongside him for marking.
"What's the matter? Our emperor isn't planning to say something like before?" Shinichi teased, looking at Kaiser beside him.
Though provoking first was petty, it was Kaiser who had started the provocation, so Shinichi, who usually felt a second of guilt when forcing his fun on Rin Itoshi, felt entirely justified in mocking Kaiser this time, "Or is it that, because your pride was so easily dismantled, you've lost some confidence?"
"Don't get too smug, clown; that was just a fluke! I'll show you what a real emperor looks like soon!" Kaiser retorted strongly, even though he was visibly shaken.
Shinichi simply smiled at him, opting not to say more.
More often than not, he preferred to strike with actions first and then let his 'world's number one nasty mouth' do the talking afterward.
"Enough talk; how can a king slack off while his subordinates are fighting hard?" Just after their verbal duel ended, the ball was precisely intercepted from Lorenzo's pass by Aiku, who then passed it back to Shinichi, who easily controlled the ball and looked towards Kaiser, "So, watch carefully."
"This ball will be the last straw that breaks you."
Almost the instant Shinichi finished speaking, he suddenly began moving the ball dramatically side-to-side.
The moment Kaiser's balance was disrupted, Shinichi swiftly pushed the ball forward. Then, both feet danced back and forth above the ball. Kaiser's eyes widened in disbelief at the first sight of this move, his defensive footwork instantly falling into confusion.
'Step-overs? No, the stride is far too wide. The rhythm and footwork are completely chaotic—I can't even predict when he'll touch the ball or which direction he'll go!'
Shinichi's body swayed broadly from side to side, his feet swinging repeatedly without touching the ball. This was something far beyond ordinary step-overs—Shinichi's continuous, exaggerated movements resembled lateral hops more than anything.
Combined with his unpredictable rhythm changes, Kaiser had no choice but to keep backing away helplessly.
Shinichi's dribbling was exactly like… a relentlessly swaying pendulum!
Only Ronaldo's step-overs were worthy of this legendary title: the "Pendulum Feint"! This nearly lost technique had just been flawlessly recreated by Shinichi in his State of Flow.
Caught completely off-guard, Kaiser's steps grew increasingly chaotic until he finally stumbled backward and fell.
"Careful there," Shinichi said teasingly, grabbing Kaiser's jersey just in time to prevent him from falling.
Knowing the VAR system of Blue Lock's world was quite lenient on such actions, Shinichi acted confidently.
But Kaiser, ignoring Shinichi's goodwill, shook off his arm and immediately lunged toward the ball at Shinichi's feet.
However… it was as though the motion between Shinichi's swing and the kick itself had been entirely skipped.
By the time Kaiser realized, the ball was already whistling toward the goal.
Shinichi looked down on Kaiser as if he were a god gazing disdainfully at a mortal attempting foolishly to defy divinity.
"Enjoy it. This premium seat was specially prepared for you."
GOOOOOOAL!!!
Gagamaru Gin, who couldn't even clearly see Shinichi's shooting motion, had no chance to react. The wildly spinning ball pierced the net instantly. This was… Kaiser—No!
This was the true "Emperor's Impact!"
Italy's Ubers 2:0 Germany's Bastard München!!!
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