Chapter 169: Hat Trick Reappears
“Hmph, how dull.”
With that, Rin Itoshi didn’t bother replying to Ryūma and simply walked back to his position without looking back, waiting for the restart.
“When will that kid Rin learn to be a little more honest?”
Ryūma rolled his eyes in irritation, then also headed toward the center circle.
Meanwhile, Tabito Karasu stood inside the circle, ignoring the sweat dripping down his face as he stared fixedly at Ryūma, anxiety boiling in his chest.
(How are we supposed to keep our attack routes away from him? No one can get past him one-on-one!)
(Long passes—read instantly. Otoya’s off-ball breaks—also read instantly!)
(Speed, anticipation, physical strength… all five of us are being crushed in every aspect?!)
(At this rate, how is this any different from already losing?)
(Damn it… fine! No way he can slip past all three of us at once!)
“Otoya, Yukimiya—we go together this time.”
“Mm.”
“Alright.”
Once Kenyu Yukimiya and Eita Otoya agreed, the fighting spirit in Karasu’s eyes reignited.
“Let’s move!”
Team C in possession—Tabito Karasu kicks off!
Right after kickoff, Karasu immediately passed to Eita Otoya.
Otoya sprinted forward a bit, then sent the ball over to Kenyu Yukimiya.
Watching the coordinated movement among Yukimiya, Karasu, and Otoya, a strangely familiar sensation stirred within Ryūma.
(Hm? This is… a triangle attack?)
(Interesting. Their coordination is shaky, but their individual skills are strong enough to compensate.)
(So after one-on-ones and long passes failed, they switched to a three-on-one strategy?)
(But the problem is… I have teammates too.)
As Ryūma neared the trio, he finally understood where their confidence came from.
(Oh, I see. Whenever someone pressures them, they reset the ball to Karasu, using his strong Ball protection as the core.)
(He drives forward while Otoya and Yukimiya move around him. Not a bad formation.)
(Alright then… time to play.)
Ryūma accelerated sharply to intercept Otoya—right as the ball arrived at his feet.
But they had anticipated this. In fact, the three of them had waited for Ryūma to step in.
Otoya dodged him with a move no ordinary player could perform, while Karasu and Yukimiya moved simultaneously.
(Oh? Otoya and Yukimiya swapped lanes, and Karasu is stationed right in front of me.)
(They’re using the basic triangle shape to try and box me in.)
(Heh… so that’s your plan.)
“Too bad—I see right through it~”
Ryūma stopped advancing and deactivated Slow-Motion World. He didn’t need it anymore.
(Nice idea. If you successfully encircle me, then no matter who I block, the other two can escape and avoid danger.)
(But for that to work… you’d need to actually catch me first.)
The next instant, Limit-Breaking State activated.
Ryūma shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Karasu reacted—but too slowly. The ball meant for his feet was stolen cleanly.
Before Karasu could even step forward to fight for it, Ryūma spun and kicked the ball ahead to the right.
“Tsurugi! Fast break! Get that ball inside for me!”
Ryūma burst forward again, sprinting directly toward Team C’s side.
Zantetsu Tsurugi caught the pass and didn’t hesitate, charging straight toward Team C’s defense.
But his situation quickly worsened—Hyōma Chigiri was chasing him down relentlessly.
Tsurugi knew very well: the longer the sprint, the more Chigiri’s speed advantage would catch up.
Reaching the right side of Team C’s midfield, Tsurugi struck the ball toward the goal area.
He had no choice—Chigiri was now less than a body length behind.
“Sorry, I—”
Before Tsurugi could finish, he suddenly noticed Ryūma already tearing into Team C’s defensive third—right toward the goal.
His original intention had been to pass to Seishiro Nagi. He even adjusted the arc for a spinning pass that would sharply change direction right before reaching the goal.
He and Nagi had practiced this countless times, so he trusted Nagi to receive it perfectly.
But with Chigiri on him, he had no time—if he didn’t pass immediately, he might not even get the chance.
That’s why he chose Nagi.
But he severely underestimated Ryūma’s speed.
Tsurugi assumed Ryūma would run deep into the box and wait for a return ball.
He never imagined Ryūma would outrun the pass itself.
Nagi appeared in the curve of the pass—but Ryūma beat him to it.
Ryūma dove forward, body stretched out, and unleashed a mid-air strike—
—a powerful Blitz Shot blasting the ball directly into Team C’s goal.
GOAL!! Team A 3 : 1 Team C
“Niiice, Ryūma! This is called… what was it again…?”
Nagi ran over, excited, only to stop and think hard. Ryūma couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.
“Why are you asking me?”
“It’s a hat trick, Nagi.”
Reo Mikage walked over calmly, answering for him.
“Yep, that’s it! A hat trick!”
“But seriously, man—you’re too strong! We can’t even get a chance to show off!”
“Well~ true. I’m kinda done playing around. I’ll start passing more.”
Ryūma shrugged casually.
After all, he was completely disappointed with Team C’s overall level—and had already lost interest in the match.
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah. As long as you don’t mess up. Otherwise, you won’t see any more passes from me.”
Reo nodded earnestly, then turned to Nagi.
“Nagi, watch my positioning, okay?”
“Mm!”
“Let’s go!”
...
Meanwhile, on Team C’s side, the atmosphere had sunk to an alarming low. Since the first goal, Ryūma had scored three times in a row by himself.
Anyone would mentally collapse after that.
Especially Aoshi Tokimitsu, who was now crouched on the ground with his hands over his head, despair written all over his face.
“What do we do? We’re going to lose, aren’t we? The top two really are too strong… there’s no way we can beat them!”
“No… it’s worse. We can’t even stop TOP.1 alone. Someone like me—if I lose, I’ll never get selected!”
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