[120] A Corner Kick Defense Full of Twists

"This isn't good. Ever since Itoshi Sae started going all-in on the attack, their offense has suddenly become so fluid and incredibly dangerous. Just in that brief moment alone, they took several shots on goal—their attacking power has skyrocketed by several levels."

Karasu walked to the goal, wiping the sweat off his face with a raised hand. "What do we do next? If it's a corner kick, Shidou is going to be a huge threat. Should we focus on blocking him?"

"I'll take care of Shidou. Raichi, Zantetsu, you two lock down Isagi's movement. Bachira, you block that U-20 ace. Chigiri, mark Hayate. Karasu, keep an eye on Aiku. The rest of you, just form a wall—our main objective is to prevent Sae from going for a direct shot. As for you two..." After quickly assigning everyone their roles, Shinichi looked at the two stubborn wildcards left and couldn't help but sigh, rubbing his forehead. "Just don't make things worse. Run wherever you want, as long as you don't mess up our defense."

"Tch. That was my plan anyway."

"Crush them... Crush them all..."

...

As the defensive positions were quickly set, Sae walked to the corner flag, holding the ball. His face remained expressionless as he scanned Blue Lock's defensive setup. Suddenly, his eyes sharpened, and after a quick run-up, he swung his foot at the ball.

Boom!

The curved ball soared high, arching like a full moon toward the goal. Immediately, Jyubei and the others forming the defensive wall focused their attention, leaping high to block any possible direct shot from Sae.

"There's no space left! The ball's curve has reached its limit—this shot is impossible to—wait, what?!"

Instead of a direct shot, the ball's arc continued to widen, its landing point unexpectedly right in front of the defensive wall.

With a sharp clang, it struck the goalpost and rebounded outward, landing in an empty space on the right side of the field—an area where neither U-20 nor Blue Lock players were positioned.

And the very moment he had taken that corner kick, Sae had already sprinted toward that exact spot.

"No way… That wasn't a shot! He deliberately aimed for the post, calculated the ball's rebound, and controlled its landing—he passed the ball to himself!"

Gagamaru's pupils shrank as he immediately adjusted his defensive stance, locking his gaze onto Sae. "The defensive wall was forced into the air by his fake shot—now I'm the only one left facing his strike!"

"Where will it be?"

With the defensive wall just landing, they had no chance to organize a quick second jump. That meant the most likely target for the shot would be the upper part of the goal.

"Left... or right?"

"I only have one chance to make the right call. Focus. Read his movements!"

Gagamaru widened his eyes, absorbing every detail of Sae's motion—the way he raised his right foot toward the goal, the subtle body tilt that barely revealed his intent just before striking the ball…

"Left side… No, that's exactly the wrong assumption!"

"Itoshi Sae is clearly on a completely different level than me. He wouldn't take a shot so simple that I could read it. If this obvious left-side shot is just a feint… then—"

"His real target is the right side!"

Making his decision in an instant, Gagamaru twisted his body and leaped toward the right. And just as he had predicted, Sae's body initially leaned left, but at the very last moment, his ankle snapped sharply, striking the ball toward the right corner of the net!

"I read it—it's going to the top right corner!"

Just as Gagamaru thought he had successfully predicted the shot, his peripheral vision caught sight of another face rapidly closing in.

"Huh? Why is Aryu—"

Before he could finish processing the thought, he and Jyubei, who had also leaped, crashed into each other mid-air. The pain from the collision barely registered in Gagamaru's mind—his focus remained locked onto the ball, now soaring through the air.

However, instead of flying straight into the top right corner as expected, the ball suddenly dipped sharply, heading downward. And in that instant, Gagamaru finally understood what Sae had done.

"Wait… Did he calculate from the start that Aryu, with his physical ability, could make a rapid second jump? Was this entire sequence designed to make us believe he would aim for the upper part of the goal?"

"So the whole left-or-right decision was just a distraction… Just like Shinichi, for players of his caliber, an uncertain result is meaningless. Itoshi Sae doesn't play for lucky goals—his real aim was to bait us into jumping, then strike with a falling leaf shot toward the lower goal!"

"No way… This is beyond anything I ever imagined. His ability to assess opponents, control their psychological responses, and calculate every possibility in mere moments—Itoshi Sae is playing on an entirely different level, manipulating all of us like chess pieces!"

As Gagamaru and Jyubei reeled from the sheer brilliance of Sae's play, a slightly garbled but unmistakably defiant voice reignited their hope—

"I saw through all of it, you arrogant bastard of a big brother!"

Rin came rushing in from nowhere, sliding toward the lower goal area to block the shot's trajectory. But at the same moment, another figure was also charging forward.

"As expected of you. I knew if it was you, you'd be able to read Sae's intentions. But your actions were also within both my and Sae's predictions."

Shinichi's eyes burned with determination as he sprinted to the goal, raising his right leg. The ball, still falling through the air, dropped even lower—landing perfectly at Isagi's feet. It was another pass!

Just as Isagi prepared to take the shot before Rin could complete his block, Shinichi suddenly dashed into the goal area. Behind him, desperately trying to catch up but unable to match Shinichi's speed, was none other than Shidou.

"So, did you predict my move as well?"

Isagi's eyes widened as Shinichi leaped mid-air, intercepting the ball before it could reach its intended target.

"No way… he blocked it even at this height?!"

Isagi's heart pounded as he rushed forward, trying to reclaim possession.

However, despite his superior positional awareness, his physical defense was lacking. His defensive style relied on vision and interception rather than direct confrontations, making him ill-suited for one-on-one duels.

Shinichi, on the other hand, barely needed any fancy maneuvers. A simple quick turn was enough to shake off Isagi, before seamlessly executing a step-over and a smooth elastico, completely fooling Shidou and sending him stumbling to the ground. Without waiting for Sae to close in, Shinichi launched a powerful long pass forward—right into the path of the sprinting Barou.

"Counterattack time, boys!"

---------------

Want to read 20 advance chapters ahead?

Go to my patreon: patreon.com/Kinglass