Blue Lock: Beyond Greatness

"Mr. Ego, were you serious about what you said earlier? That mastering a weapon can completely ignore defenders?" After listening intently to Ego's entire lecture, Anri asked with great interest.

Ego, however, gave her a disdainful look as if to say, What nonsense are you talking about?

"How could something like that exist? The defenders aren't corpses, you know. Even someone like Noel Noa doesn't score every time he completely shakes off his marker and faces the goalkeeper one-on-one."

"Wait, what? Then why did you even say that earlier?" Anri looked utterly incredulous, while Ego calmly grabbed a bottle of water to make instant noodles.

"I was just giving them a direction to explore, pushing them to aim for the best they can achieve. Football isn't mathematics; there's no single correct answer to every problem."

"But players can work hard to get as close to the answer as possible. That means honing themselves to become more well-rounded and capable."

"There's no ability that guarantees a 100% chance of scoring. However, weapons that are effective in most situations do exist—like Loki's speed or Noel Noa's finishing."

"Hmm… what about your earlier point, then? About disrupting the opponent's structure? That seems plausible, right?"

"Well, kind of. The essence of football tactics is to create numerical superiority or position the ball for the strongest player to break through the defense at the right moment."

"Tactics, in essence, are about allocating resources on the field effectively—matching your aces against their weaker players. The issue with Shinichi is that he focuses too much on his strengths. He's always thinking about how to maximize his advantages, playing as if his only move is the trump card."

"For example, if he's physically strong, he'll focus on contests of strength. If he has great aerial ability, he'll engage in air duels. This works against lower-tier opponents, but in an evenly matched game, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture."

As Ego broke apart his chopsticks, he added a generous amount of seasoning into his noodles while stirring. "Football isn't just about addition. Even if your 'absolute value' of ability isn't as high as your opponent's, you can use subtraction to weaken them. Disrupting their structure is a way to achieve that."

"And beyond tactical considerations, as a forward, the goal is to prevent the opponent from doing what they do best, lowering their score to win the overall comparison. I want Shinichi to realize this for himself."

"Hmm… then why not just say it outright? Your explanations to the others are already pretty cryptic, but this one feels outright misleading."

"Only by realizing it on their own can they maximize their potential. Taking the wrong path isn't necessarily a bad thing—it might even lead to discoveries more rewarding than the 'correct answer.'"

"Well, who knows? Maybe he really will create some kind of miracle," Ego said as he gazed through his glasses, fogged up from the steam of his instant noodles, toward the training field monitor. "After all, some people are called geniuses precisely because they can achieve things beyond what ordinary people can imagine."

"Now then, show me—let me see just how far you can go when your talent is pushed to its limit!"

"Kanzaki Shinichi!"

...

"Ah-choo! That gloomy guy Ego must be talking about me," Shinichi muttered irritably, rubbing his nose while stepping on a soccer ball. "So, what is it you're trying to say? What's my flaw, Hiori?"

"Umm, that's hard to say," Hiori replied, stretching his body. "But I always feel like you're... kind of slow sometimes."

"Slow?" Shinichi found this strange. Ever since he came to this world, he'd always left everyone else in the dust. No one had ever called him "slow" before.

"Umm, it's hard to explain. If I had to put it into words, I'd say it's your reflexes. It feels like you overthink things a bit too much when you're dribbling."

"It feels like a lot of the time, you're dribbling just for the sake of dribbling. With your ability, you don't actually need to rely on so many feints. All you really have to do is change direction and charge forward—no one would be able to stop you."

"For example, take the 'prodigy' Loki. He rarely uses flashy dribbling moves and relies purely on his speed to dominate opponents," Hiori said, pulling out his phone, which he had retrieved using 3 goal points, and loading a recording of Loki's match.

"Well, you're not wrong…" Shinichi nodded thoughtfully.

When Loki played during the second selection round, his blistering speed and sudden changes in direction tore through Rin's team's defense in an instant.

Shinichi couldn't help but envy that kind of ability.

"But when I try it myself, it doesn't really work. Even though I'm faster than most players I face, the difference in speed at higher levels isn't that big. Plus, physical contact slows me down, and when I'm marked closely, speed alone isn't enough to make a decisive impact."

Shinichi scratched his head in frustration.

In previous matches, whenever defenders kept closing in on him and he didn't have enough space to accelerate, he had no choice but to rely on his dribbling skills to get past them.

"Well, in sprints, runners can often create a significant gap right from the start. Maybe you just haven't figured out how to integrate your physical abilities with your football skills yet," Hiori suggested while scrolling through match recordings.

"Look here. Whether it's starting or changing direction, you tend to let the ball move first by kicking it ahead and then chasing after it. This limits your speed to the ball's speed."

"If you can make the ball move in sync with your steps right from the start, you'll be able to fully unleash your explosiveness."

"So, I need to improve my ball control. That's not something that can be mastered overnight," Shinichi sighed. "Now that I think about it, a lot of Loki's changes in direction feel like a return to basics. They seem simple but are actually quite intricate."

He let out another sigh.

As expected, there wasn't going to be some magical moment of enlightenment where he suddenly unlocked an invincible skill.

"So, it's about spending 24 hours a day with the ball until it becomes second nature. What about you, Hiori? What are you focusing on?"

"Me? I need to catch up to your physical abilities and improve my vision. Basically, foundational physical training and studying match footage."

"Alright, let's settle on that plan for now. We'll test our progress in the final match against Team V. By the way, that striker, Tabito Karasu—he's from the same place as you, isn't he?"

"Yeah, we have a bit of history," Hiori replied casually.

"Then, for your sake, should we go for an 11-0 scoreline?" Shinichi teased.

"If it's for my sake, shouldn't we aim to score as much as possible? Crush him completely."

"Whoa, didn't expect you to be this ruthless. Also, about this training plan you made for me—are you some kind of sadist?"

"I'm the world's top-tier sadist," Hiori replied with a smirk.

"Ha, terrifying."

The two chatted idly, letting the banter distract them from the grueling training. Time passed quietly, and before they knew it—

The time had come. Team X versus Team W!