Blue Lock: Beyond Greatness

"Yo, long time no see, genius," Karasu greeted Shinichi with a smile as he stepped onto the field.

Shinichi, however, was far from enthusiastic. With a half-hearted wave, he replied, "Ah, it's the mortal crow. You don't have Ants-san to protect you this time. Why not just surrender and save yourself the trouble?"

"Tch, even mortals have their pride," Karasu shot back, unfazed. He grabbed Otoya, who was standing silently to the side. "We, the mortals you've trampled into the dirt, aren't planning to just give up."

"Yo," Otoya greeted Shinichi with a curt nod, his face as expressionless as ever.

"Hey! Don't ignore me, you guys!" Nishioka, left out of the declaration of intent, fumed and shoved Karasu aside. "I'm definitely going to beat you, and I'll make you use that obnoxious mouth of yours to finally say the words you held back the other day! Just wait, you jerk!"

The three troublemakers noisily made their way back to their side of the field, and it was then that Shinichi's teammates approached him.

"Yo, nice to meet you, Shinichi. During the first stage, Isagi and Kira mentioned you a lot," Bachira said, stepping forward first. "How strong are you, really? What kind of monster are you…? I want to know."

"Boring… Are you just a kid who never grew up? Wandering around looking for playmates because you're lonely?" Irritated by his fatigue and early wake-up, Shinichi responded curtly, not bothering to mask his annoyance.

"I don't have time to play your little games. Go play house with the monster in your head for the rest of your life."

In an instant, an invisible pressure spread through the air. Even the "monster" in Bachira's mind seemed to shudder under the weight, unable to show itself.

"Yo, Shinichi." A calm voice suddenly cut through the suffocating atmosphere.

Kurona stepped past Bachira to stand before Shinichi, and the oppressive feeling vanished as if it had never existed.

Shinichi smiled in acknowledgment and then turned his gaze to the remaining two players.

"I will… move with the flow," Saramadara muttered softly to himself, his head lowered as he took a deep breath.

Meanwhile, Gagamaru retreated several meters, eyeing Shinichi like a startled animal—both curious and wary, with no intention of approaching.

Beep! Beep!

The sharp sound of the referee's whistle broke through, cutting off any further conversation.

Whatever else they had to say was forced back into their minds as everyone moved to take their positions.

Beep!

With everyone in position, the whistle signaling the start of the match finally blew.

Karasu took the ball forward, only to be met head-on by Shinichi.

"Come on, little crow, show me what progress you've made to think you can talk big in front of me," Shinichi taunted, stepping in to press.

"Tch, still as oppressive as ever," Karasu muttered, struggling to evade Shinichi's relentless challenges.

He kept his foot on the ball, retreating and pulling it back repeatedly to maintain control.

"Hmm, so your new weapon isn't just about arm movements anymore. You're now focusing your entire body on maintaining the perfect distance to maximize ball protection?" Shinichi quickly analyzed Karasu's changes, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Not bad. Looks like you've been thinking hard about how to counter me and have even put those ideas into practice."

"Of course! Don't underestimate the ingenuity of us mortals. We evolve too!" Karasu shot back defiantly, though he could do little more than evade.

He awkwardly danced away from Shinichi's continuous presses, barely staying in control.

As he retreated once more, Karasu spotted an opening and passed the ball away. Breathing heavily, he muttered to himself, "I managed to hold my own for a couple of moves… but five seconds is probably my limit. What a monster… even with his strength, he's evolving faster than we are!"

"Oh, nice! I was starting to wonder how long you'd keep clinging to the ball," Karasu's target, Hajime, said as he faced off against Kurona.

Lowering his body and stopping the ball with his heel, Nishioka suddenly flicked it up with a swift motion.

"Step aside. I'm going to get past you."

"An aerial battle, huh? But your height isn't much greater than mine," Kurona said, his eyes locked on Nishioka's every move.

He knew the reputation of this player—someone who had earned national recognition in high school football wasn't going to be an easy opponent.

What's more, Nishioka had claimed at the dining hall that he had faced off against Shinichi before.

With that in mind, Kurona wasn't about to let his guard down. "Bring it on. I'll stop you."

The ball steadily rose higher, nearing Nishioka's waist.

Just as it reached the right height, Kurona made his move.

Closing the gap between them in an instant, he lifted his leg to intercept the ball. "Clear it! Clear it!"

"Heh…" Despite Kurona's perfectly timed challenge, Nishioka didn't panic.

Instead, a small smirk crept across his face.

With a sudden high lift of his leg, Nishioka used his knee to flick the ball even higher, narrowly avoiding Kurona's interception.

Then, as the ball flew upward, Nishioka skillfully used his chest to bounce it over Kurona's head.

Kurona instinctively turned to chase, but in a swift counter, Nishioka reached out and pulled the ball back with his foot, regaining control.

"You've got to be kidding me. Changing the ball's trajectory that quickly with consecutive touches?" Kurona was stunned.

Though his extensive practice sessions with Shinichi had trained him well enough not to fall for Nishioka's dribbles, the sheer speed of the moves still managed to shake him off.

He could only watch helplessly as Nishioka broke free and ran ahead.

"Wow, your dribbling is amazing!" Bachira, who had anticipated trouble from Nishioka's actions, arrived just in time to intercept. "Mind letting me join the fun?"

"Annoying guy!" Nishioka clicked his tongue in frustration.

With Kurona still recovering behind him, it was only a matter of time before he found himself surrounded.

Time wasn't on his side.

"Fine, I'll just take you out quickly… Just kidding!" Nishioka feinted another breakthrough.

As Bachira lowered his center of gravity to brace for the move, Nishioka suddenly lifted his leg and passed the ball to the side, sending it sailing past Bachira.

From behind Bachira, Otoya appeared out of nowhere, catching the pass and sprinting forward with the ball.

"Huh? I thought we were in that kind of vibe..." Bachira froze momentarily, caught off guard by Nishioka's sudden pass.

But before he could react, a blur of motion streaked past him, too fast for the eye to follow.

Even the wind struggled to keep up, and it wasn't until a second later that the gust stirred by the speed finally ruffled Bachira's hair.

"As I thought… you're a monster I still can't begin to understand!"

…

"Combining other parts of your body with high-frequency touches on the ball, along with off-the-ball movement in the defender's blind spots—you've done well," a familiar voice sounded beside Otoya.

That chillingly calm tone made it all too clear who was speaking without even needing to look back.

Shinichi, effortlessly controlling his speed, was now running alongside Otoya. "Is that all you've got? Have you prepared anything else for situations like this?"

"Show me what you've got!"

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