Chapter 56: The Self-Proclaimed Genius—So This Is All You Amount To
"Stop him, now!"
Chigiri Hyoma had already sprinted into position, planting himself directly in front of Zantetsu Tsurugi to block his shot.
But Zantetsu had no intention of shooting. Instead, he passed the ball—again with tremendous force.
His target: Nagi Seishiro.
"At that angle, there's no way he can possibly receive it!"
Team Z's players immediately closed in around Nagi. This pass was even harder to take than the previous ones.
And even if Nagi used his exceptional ball-trapping ability to somehow bring it under control, he absolutely should not have any room to shoot afterward.
But what Nagi Seishiro excelled at the most—
was creating possibility out of complete impossibility.
He leapt high into the air, catching the ball mid-air—
but in the next instant, the ball only brushed against his heel before bouncing upward again, completely different from the way he had previously stopped the ball as if it had been glued to his foot.
"A mistake!?"
Defender Kuon Wataru thought this was the perfect chance to steal the ball.
But Nagi's expression remained calm and unbothered.
It was no mistake.
He had done it deliberately.
Still suspended in the air, Nagi rotated his body. His extraordinary jumping power gave him enough hang time to perform a series of movements no ordinary person could even imagine.
At that moment, Nagi Seishiro looked as though he were dancing in mid-air.
A spin—
and then a shot!
The position was near impossible to score from, nearly a dead angle, yet Nagi seized the fleeting opportunity.
His powerful strike sent the ball flying like a cannon shell, slicing cleanly toward the goal.
Goalkeeper Iemon leapt toward it, hands outstretched, but the ball slipped past his fingertips at an impossible angle.
No one could have predicted that Nagi Seishiro would shoot from that position and with that trajectory!
In the original storyline, the reason Team Z managed to defeat Team V was not only because they awakened in desperation during overtime—
it was also because throughout the entire first half, Nagi Seishiro wasn't even serious. He only began playing seriously midway through the second half.
If Nagi had played at full power from the beginning, the result could have gone in an entirely different direction.
But now, in this match—
the first half had barely begun, and Nagi had already been provoked into taking things seriously by Kira Ryosuke's performance.
A serious Nagi Seishiro—
was nearly unstoppable.
"No!"
Iemon shouted in regret. If they allowed Team V to equalize here, the match would become much more difficult.
But just then—a figure appeared behind Igarashi.
Kira Ryosuke.
He understood Nagi's ability better than anyone. The position wasn't ideal to intercept the pass, so he had sprinted directly toward the goal area at full speed.
Nagi's shot targeted the only dead angle—
And Kira Ryosuke became the final barrier.
Using the explosive acceleration granted by Thunderclap and Flash, Kira hurled himself through the air, twisting his body horizontally, and at the exact moment the ball was about to cross the goal line—
He blocked it!
Clearance successful!
"Kira!"
Iemon shouted his name as though he had been saved from death itself. Had it not been for Kira Ryosuke, Team V would have tied the score.
"That's impossible! Even that shot can be defended!?"
Reo's voice cracked as he screamed. Kira's clearance belonged in the realm of impossibility.
Even Nagi Seishiro widened his eyes, staring at the ball that had been knocked away.
It was the first time his shot had ever been stopped.
In the previous three matches, no one had ever been able to defend against him.
Kira Ryosuke was the first.
But Nagi did not feel discouraged in the slightest.
Instead, a small spark of excitement ignited inside him.
"Football… might actually be kind of fun."
He murmured to himself.
After Kira's clearance, the ball flew high. The tall Imamura caught possession and immediately passed to Bachira.
Team V's attack had failed—
Now it was Team Z's turn to counterattack!
"We have to stop this no matter what!"
Reo shouted. Despite having been dominant earlier, they were now the team backed against the wall.
If Team Z scored again, the score would become 3–1. Turning the match around in the second half would become nearly impossible.
They had to prevent another goal at all costs.
"Counterattack!"
Bachira had only just crossed the halfway line when he suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. Every cell in his body screamed that something dangerous was approaching from behind.
He turned slightly and saw Zantetsu charging at him with terrifying speed.
"No way I'm letting you attack as you please!"
Zantetsu declared with fierce determination, his body radiating overwhelming pressure.
"What a clingy guy!"
Bachira laughed. The stronger the opponent, the more excited he became. He twisted his body, dribbling skillfully as he pivoted away from Zantetsu's attempted tackle and quickly passed the ball.
In the center lane—
Kira Ryosuke had appeared like a phantom.
"You again!? What position are you even playing in this match!?"
Reo pressed tightly against Kira, breathing hard. Just keeping up with him had already drained a ridiculous amount of stamina.
Kira had just appeared on the defensive line to make a goal-line clearance, and now he was sprinting forward with the attackers.
To Reo, Kira Ryosuke seemed like an omnipresent monster.
What confused Reo even more was Kira's incredible stamina.
From almost his own goal line, Kira had sprinted all the way to the other half, participating in both defense and offense. That kind of activity should drain enormous stamina. Reo was nearly exhausted just from tracking him—
yet Kira looked like he still had energy to spare.
This guy…
was a monster.
Reo finally realized that everything he said earlier had been completely wrong. He had severely underestimated Kira Ryosuke.
Kira was someone who belonged on the same level as Nagi Seishiro.
Kira leaned forward, giving the impression he was about to accelerate again. This made Reo instinctively shift his balance backward.
"This time, I definitely won't let you get past me!"
But Kira did not actually sprint forward.
He only looked like he was about to.
Instead, he placed his foot lightly on the side of the ball, rotating it backward—
revealing his previous move as a feint.
"What!?"
Kira's forward-leaning motion had been so realistic that it completely disrupted Reo's rhythm. Even though he desperately tried to adjust his balance, his center of gravity had already collapsed—
He fell straight to the ground.
Kira glanced down at him coolly.
"It seems that you, who call yourself a genius, are nothing special."
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!