[Blue Lock] Chapter 9 - Rival (II) (Patreon)

Chapter 9 - Rival (II)

"We ended up against a really tough opponent," Isagi said, the look on his face betraying how worried he was.

"Chin up, Isagi. Our team isn’t worse in any way," Bachira encouraged him with a smile.

The moment Shoei Baro noticed Naruto, an intense look appeared on his face.

"Yo. We meet again. Ready to bend the knee once more, king?" Naruto said with a grin. His voice was dripping with mockery.

"Bastard!" Baro cussed as a form of greeting.

Powerful long-distance shooting, high pace, a strong physique, and a hunger for goals—Naruto and Baro were not that different when it came to their skills on the pitch. It was also one of the reasons why the two of them had developed such a rivalry.

"Things won’t go like the last time, mark my words. This time around, I will crush you!" Baro said before turning towards his two teammates. "Listen up, all you extras need to do is pass me the ball. Don’t do anything unnecessary. Pass me the ball and we’ll win this match."

While Shoei Baro and Hajime Nishioka (also known as ‘Messi of Aomori) started arguing, Naruto told his teammates:

"I’m the most comfortable playing as a winger because I can make full use of my pace, and I’ve gotten really good at cutting inside. If I can get within a distance of 25 metres from the goalpost, I'll score for sure. My maximum range is about 40 metres I think. What about you, guys?"

"My special skill is dribbling. I’m good at passing too," Bachira said. "I would like to be the centre-forward but I could play on the wing too."

"What about you?" Naruto asked, turning towards Isagi.

The boy in question didn’t reply right away.

‘What am I good at? What is my weapon?’

It was, by far, not the first time he had asked himself that question since he came to Blue Lock.

‘I’m not tall or strong. My dribbling can’t be compared to Bachira’s. My shooting isn’t like Kunigami’s. My speed isn’t like Chigiri’s. I can’t jump like Kuon either. I’m just… average.’

He had always been honest when it came to assessing his own skillset. He was painfully aware of how much he was lacking. However, after several hard-fought matches, he had gotten a glimpse of what he considered a hidden talent of his.

"He can smell goals!" Bachira answered instead after several seconds passed without Isagi saying anything.

"Smell… what?"

The blonde’s confusion was so genuine that Isagi felt his face flush with embarrassment.

‘Damn it, Bachira!’

What his friend said wasn’t wrong, but, boy, did it sound embarrassing when spoken out loud.

Fortunately, Isagi was spared from any further embarrassment when the VAR’s voice rang and urged everyone to go to their positions and kick off the game.

⁂

‘The field is much smaller. It’s about 50 or 60 metres long?’ Naruto wondered as he tried to gauge the distance from halfway to the opposite team’s goal.

He didn’t dislike it. Not at all. With each half of the field being only about 25 or 30 meters long, his shooting was going to be even more dangerous than before.

‘But the goalpost is probably smaller too, so the hologram keeper will be able to defend it better.

As Isagi and Bachira went to the centre circle and were about to kick off, Naruto suddenly came close and said:

"I just got an idea. Would you guys let me try something?"

Isagi and Bachira looked at each other for a brief moment before shrugging.

"Um, okay… What do you want to do?"

"Let me start with you instead of Bachira. Give me a gentle pass. Sorry, Bachira."

"No worries!" Bachira said and gave him a thumbs up before leaving the centre circle.

Once the VAR’s whistle was heard, Isagi passed the ball to Naruto slowly, as he had asked.

In the next moment, it wasn’t only Baro and his team that were stunned; Isagi and Bachira were caught completely off-guard by his move too. Naruto’s left foot smashed into the ball from the centre line, kicking it straight towards the goalpost like a rocket.

"...What the hell?!" Nishioka swore in disbelief.

Although the hologram goalkeeper had reacted and jumped in time, it was unable to reach the ball as it was smashed into the top right corner of the goalpost.

"Goal for Team White, 1 - 0."

The VAR’s robotic voice announcing the score broke the spell that everyone seemed to have been placed under.

As Isagi and Bachira started cheering in excitement, Naruto looked at Baro with a feral grin.

"It’s one nill, king."

"Shut your trap, retard!" Baro shouted at him, a vein on his temple pulsating with anger. Naruto’s obnoxious laughter only made him grit his teeth harder.

Now, it was Team Red’s turn to kick off from the centre. Once Nishioka passed him the ball to start, Baro suddenly swung his foot back and let out a loud grunt as he kicked the ball with all the strength he was capable of.

‘No way!’

‘Is he trying to score in the same way?!’

Naruhaya and Nishioka thought in alarm.

A loud clang was heard as the ball smashed into the crossbar. Baro’s first shot from the centre line missed, and Bachira took possession of the ball.

"Nishioka, be careful of his dribbling!" Naruhaya shouted in warning when ‘Messi of Aomori’ started running towards Bachira.

Unfortunately, his warning came too late, and Bachira easily dribbled past Nishioka with a Rivellino trick. Right as Baro started charging at him like a mad bull, Bachira passed the ball to Isagi. But his offensive was quickly halted as Naruhaya cut in front of him.

"It’s one-on-one, Isagi. Try me. Show me what you can do!"

But Isagi wasn’t goaded by his words, and he quickly passed the ball to Naruto, who was unmarked and just outside the box.

A moment later, the VAR’s robotic voice was heard again:

"Goal for Team White, 2 - 0."

"FUCK!" Naruhaya screamed.

"Nice pass, Isagi," Naruto said, patting him on the shoulder. "With your passes and my shooting, we got this in the bag."

⁂

With the score being 2 - 0 for Team White, Baro and Nishioka went to the centre circle to kick off again. However, this time around, instead of passing the ball to Baro, Nishioka passed it backwards to Naruhaya.

"What the hell are you doing?" Baro yelled at him.

He already wasn’t an even-tempered person in general, but with his rival having a lead of 2 goals over him, his fuse was shorter than usual.

"Why should I pass the ball to you? So you could lose possession again?" Nishioka said, not intimidated in the least by Baro’s bigger build and aggresive behaviour.

Although he was surprised by the sudden conflict that broke out between his teammates, Naruhaya didn’t have time to dwaddle because their opponents were not going to wait for them to solve their internal issues. Isagi was right onto him.

However, with them having a rather similar level of general skills, Isagi and Naruhaya were locked in a stalemate for a few seconds.

"Don’t try to dribble, Naruhaya!" Nishioka said as he ran away from Bachira’s marking and made himself available to receive his teammate’s pass.

The moment Nishioka escaped from Bachira’s marking, Naruhaya passed the ball to him and then started running towards the opposite team’s half of the court.

With Bachira running very close behind him and Naruto suddenly appearing ahead of him, Nishioka was trapped between two opponent players and the touchline.

Left with no other choice, Nishioka swung his foot back, seemingly about to shoot a cross. But when Naruto lifted his foot to intercept the ball, instead of kicking the ball, Nishioka dragged the ball back between his feet and made an abrupt turn.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ was Naruto’s first thought when Nishioka dribbled past him a Cryuff Turn. He had never seen anyone perform that move in front of his eyes.

Due to his high school football team never passing the prefectural qualifiers, he had never faced a high level of opposition until he arrived at Blue Lock. And even at Blue Lock, due to the incident with Kuon, Naruto did not have the chance to play against the elite Team V. Shoei Baro, Meguru Bachira, and now Hajime Nishioka were the only players who had impressed him with their skills.

Living up to his nickname, "Messi of Aomori", it wasn’t only his dribbling skills that were superb; his speed was on another level as well. He left Bachira in the dust and Naruto, who had been fooled by the sudden Cryuff Turn, couldn’t catch up from behind either.

The moment he entered the penalty box, the result was set in stone. The hologram goalkeeper never stood a chance. A low, strong, and precise shot towards the far corner of the goalpost—it was Team Red’s first goal.

"Goal for Team Red, 2 -1."

"Take that!" Nishioka shouted and pumped his fist into the air. Naruhaya also started yelling in excitement, sharing his joy.

⁂

"Are you going to shoot again?" Isagi asked as he placed the ball down in the middle of the centre circle.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea. Look, Nishioka is standing in front of the goalpost with the keeper."

Afraid of Naruto scoring another easy goal, Nishioka decided to risk giving the opponent team more space instead of leaving the goalkeeper alone.

"He’s right. I won’t shoot this time. The two of you can kick off."

As the VAR’s whistle rang, Bachira passed the ball to Isagi.

Energized by the goal that his team had just scored, Naruhaya started pressing right away.

"Isagi!" Naruto shouted as he ran past him on the right wing.

However, the moment the blonde shouted, Baro - who had been marking Bachira until then - suddenly started running towards Naruto.

It happened in a split second: before Baro even completed his first step, Isagi’s brain collected that information and anticipated his next course of action.

Despite his body being positioned in a way that looked as if he was going to pass the ball to Naruto, Isagi left both Baro and Naruhaya stupefied when he kicked a long cross to Bachira, who was now sprinting towards the corner of the penalty box. The monster that only he could see had already shown him where the ball was going to land next.

Recognizing the dangerous play that had just taken place, Nishioka left the goalpost and started running towards Bachira.

It was a battle between two highly skilled dribblers. A battle that Bachira momentarily could not win now that Nishioka knew what he was capable of. As an elite dribbler himself, Nishioka knew all the tricks Bachira was trying to pull on him.

A fake pull back trick, a step over dribble, Bachira even tried to perform an elastico trick against him, but he couldn’t get rid of him. Although Nishioka wasn’t going in for a tackle, he was still blocking his way, stopping his advance.

Nishioka’s solid defending bought enough time for his teammates to come to his help. Bachira had been so absorbed in trying to dribble past his opponent that he didn’t notice Shoei Baro sprinting at full speed towards him from the side.

"Bachira! Watch out!" Isagi shouted, trying to warn him, but it was too late.

Having finally recovered possession of the ball, Baro broke into a mad sprint towards Team White’s goalpost. As the pitch was so small now, he quickly reached the perfect distance for his middleshot. It was an absolute belter of a goal, from over 20 metres away.

"Goal for Team Red, 2 - 2."

⁂

Although they started strong, with a lead of two goals, Team Red had caught up to them, and Naruto was starting to get a feeling of urgency now. Unlike before, when he didn’t care whether his team won or lost, this time around, his fate depended on the result of the match.

‘Bachira is a great dribbler but that Number 10 seems to be just as good as him. He’s also fast as hell. Baro and I aren’t that far apart in skill either… does it boil down to who is better between Isagi and the other short kid?’

"Pass the ball to me this time," Naruto said as Isagi and Bachira were about to kick off. "I’ll sprint on the wing as far as I can. Trust me, no-one will get the ball from me. Run straight to their penalty area."

"Are you sure?" Isagi asked. It was quite risky to just mindlessly run into their penalty box, especially when playing with such a small team. The probability of a counterattack transforming into a goal was too high. But, at Naruto’s confident look, he stopped insisting.

"Alright, let’s give it a try."

As the VAR’s whistle signalled the start of the game, Bachira passed the ball sideways hard, and Isagi let it go through his legs straight to Naruto, buying a little time by confusing the opposite team for a moment.

"Shit! Baro! Don’t let him shoot!" Naruhaya shouted when Naruto shot past him along the touchline. He was like a speeding train.

"Shut up, loser! I don’t take orders from you!" Baro yelled, but he still did as told and cut diagonally across the field to get in front of the blonde. It wasn’t easy, but he managed to get in front of Naruto just as he was about to close in on the penalty area.

"You won’t go past me!" Baro shouted and slammed into him rather violently with his shoulder.

However, current Naruto’s physique couldn’t be compared to that from when they first clashed during the Team W vs Team X match. Due to the healthy nutrition and intense physical training at Blue Lock, he had undergone significant changes. When Baro slammed into him, he felt as if he had crashed into a concrete wall.

For the second time since he started playing football, in spite of his outstanding physique among his peers, Baro lost his balance and crashed into the ground from the collision with Naruto.

"Bachira!" Naruto shouted, and before Naruhaya had the time to catch up to him and intercept him, he shot a deceptively fast cross towards the penalty area.

Bachira, Isagi, and Nishioka all jumped for the ball… However, all three of them were short, and their jumping capabilities were nothing to write home about. The ball ended up in the hands of the goalkeeper.

⁂

The match had been going for 25 minutes already, but despite the low number of players on the pitch, it was still not over.

‘If I only had someone good at scoring headers…’ Naruto thought.

His teammates had failed to score after another perfect cross and, if that wasn’t enough, ‘Messi of Aomori’ scored another goal from the counterattack that followed after that.

But Bachira redeemed himself after that by scoring a solo goal, dribbling past Baro and Naruhaya one after another.

Now, the score was 3 - 3.

⁂

"Foul. Team White, indirect kick."

Due to Baro tackling Bachira too aggressively, the VAR offered Team White an indirect kick, 25 metres away from the goal, in the middle of the field.

Considering that that free kick could not be shot directly on target, Naruto chose to leave it to one of his teammates, especially after he realized that the two of them were weak when it came to aerial battles.

In the end, it was Bachira who took it. Seeing that the blonde was being marked by Baro and Nishioka at the same time, he kicked the ball towards Isagi.

Bachira’s pass was on point, and Isagi managed to receive it well. As Naruhaya and Baro started charging at him, Isagi got a strange feeling.

‘I can smell the goal.’

But it wasn’t his goal. It was Naruto’s goal. He could practically see it in his mind’s eye: if he passed the ball to Naruto, he was going to score, guaranteed.

However, he didn’t do it. He didn’t pass the ball.

‘Every match until now, ever since I came to Blue Lock, I had to rely on my teammates to score.’

He had never scored a solo goal. He had barely scored any goals at all. He couldn’t even recall the last time he had successfully dribbled past someone. Even now, after qualifying for the next stage of the second selection, he realized that he was still not doing much.

‘I can’t keep going on like this.’

He wanted to change. If he wanted to continue staying at Blue Lock, he needed to change.

‘How can I become the best striker in the world if I can’t even beat someone like Naruhaya in front of me?’

Thus, in spite of his instincts telling him to pass the ball to Naruto, Isagi cut inside, intent on dribbling past Naruhaya with speed. Alas, his pace wasn’t overwhelmingly better than that of his opponent. Merely two seconds later, Isagi found himself face-planting on the ground after Baro stopped marking Naruto and tackled him.

"Damn it, Isagi, I was free! We could’ve scored!" Naruto shouted in frustration as he started chasing after Baro.

"Baro! He’s coming! Pass!" Nishioka shouted from the wing.

"Shut up, midget!" Baro screamed, but, from the intense look on his face, it could be seen that he was giving it his all.

Nishioka’s request had not been unreasonable, but someone as selfish and arrogant as Baro would never see it. And he paid the price of his arrogance this time as Naruto caught up from behind and pushed the ball away from his possession with the tip of his foot before cutting into his face.

In desperation, Baro grabbed onto Naruto’s shirt to stop him and gain back the ball, but that action only led to him being out of position and unable to react in time when Naruto suddenly stopped his sprint and performed a Ronaldo Chop.

Nishioka started running at Naruto when he saw Baro losing possession, but he couldn’t arrive in time to stop him from passing the ball to Bachira.

With Naruhaya the only Team Red player left to defend, Bachira made quick work of him before scoring his second goal in that match.

"Goal for Team White, 4 - 3."

⁂

Ten more minutes passed without either team being able to score again. The game had been so intense that most of the players on the pitch were starting to run low on stamina. However, for a particular player on the field, the mental strain was far more damaging than the physical one.

It was Shoei Baro. His frustration at Naruto bullying him in all of their physical exchanges, coupled with how uncooperative his teammates were (from his point of view), were driving him up a wall. He was getting so worked up that his tackles were getting increasingly violent as time passed.

Eventually, that aggression was punished by the VAR, and Team White was offered a free kick.

Only 18 metres away from the goalpost, just outside the penalty arc. It was a direct kick.

"Fucking hell, what’s wrong with you, man?" Nishioka screamed, finally having had enough.

"Huh? You have a problem with me, pipsqueak?"

"You know how crazy his shooting is; why would you foul him so close to the goal? Are you retarded?"

Naruhaya got between the two of them, trying to stop them from getting into a fistfight, but, with his build, he wasn’t very successful at it. It was only the VAR’s warning that stopped them from doing something stupid.

"All players take your positions. You have ten seconds to comply unless you wish to forfeit the game."

Naruto chuckled inwardly as he placed the ball carefully on the ground with his hands.

‘Look like Ego-san won’t tolerate any bullshit from anyone in the second selection. He’s ready to make them lose the match over something as small as this.’

In the end, Baro and Nishioka stopped their argument and got back in position. Baro chose to become the wall - a single player wall - while Nishioka and Naruhaya marked Bachira and Isagi, respectively.

Nevertheless, even before Naruto kicked the ball, the three of them knew deep down what the result was going to be - if Naruto could score from the centre circle on this pitch, what stopped him from scoring from only 18 metres away? Nothing.

And nothing stopped him, indeed. A one-man wall was simply useless, and the hologram goalkeepers were still not as good as professional players. As the ball smashed into the bottom left corner of the goalpost, a whistle blew, and then the VAR’s voice rang:
"Goal for Team White. Team White wins with a score of 5 - 3."

"Hear that, king?" Naruto said, grinning. "What were you saying again? Ah, yes, something ‘bout crushing others and whatnot?"

"I don’t think it’s wise to provoke him any more than that," Isagi said, trying to make peace. "Anyway, as per the rules, who do you want to pick out of those three?"

"Definitely not Baro," Naruto said. "We’re playing with small teams now, so every member counts. If even one of us acts retarded, the whole team will be dragged down. His skills are great, but he’s a selfish dipshit. We’re better off without him."

The two of them couldn’t refute his words. They saw only a few minutes ago how Baro refused to pass to Nishioka and ended up losing the ball to Naruto, which in turn led to Bachira scoring a goal.

"What do you think, Bachira?" Isagi asked.

"I think I agree with Naruto. Baro is very good, but he’s not a good teammate. Football wouldn’t be fun on a team with him."

"Well, I guess that settles it," said Isagi. "Oi, Nishioka. Come, join us."

⁂

Half an hour later, after showering and changing their clothes, Naruto and his new teammates made themselves comfortable in their new dormitory. As Ego had promised before, now they all had beds. They weren’t sleeping on the floor anymore.

"Maaan, that was a tough match," Isagi said as he let himself fall on his back on the bed.

"But we won in the end. Good job, Isagi, Naruto," Bachira said, showing a thumbs-up to both of them.

But Naruto didn’t hear him; he was wearing a pair of earbuds and watching something on his smartphone.

"Thanks," said Isagi. "You too. You scored two goals. You were amazing, Bachira."

"Haha, thank you," the boy said, a sunny smile on his face.

"I didn’t do much in comparison. I even wasted a big chance…"

"You’re being too harsh on yourself."

At that moment, Naruto took his earbuds off and stood up from bed.

"I’m going for a walk; I’ll be back in half an hour. Maybe we can talk then and make some plans for our next match. Are you okay with that?"

"Sure." "Ok."

But, right after Naruto left the room, Isagi suddenly sat up from the bed and followed him out.

"Hey, Naruto!"

"Oh, Isagi. What’s up?" the blonde asked, not having expected him to follow him outside.

"I just," he paused for a moment before continuing. "Sorry for not giving you that pass. It was such a great chance, and I blew it."

"That’s what was on your mind? Don’t worry, mate. We all make mistakes sometimes."

"I can’t call that a mistake. It was intentional. I wanted to score myself despite knowing I couldn’t from that position."

"It’s better to take the shot and regret it after you miss it than to chicken out and regret later on that you didn’t take it," Naruto said, shrugging his shoulders.

"No, it’s different. I knew I wasn’t able to score. You see, Bachira was right; I really can ‘smell’ the goals. I can tell when someone has a very high chance of scoring from a certain position. I was 100% certain that you would score if I passed the ball to you, but I wanted to be selfish. I am a striker."

Naruto let out another sigh.

"Come, walk with me."

"Where are you going?"

"On the pitch." At the look that Isagi gave him, Naruto laughed. "I’m not going to train; I’m tired too. I’m going to have a phone call. But we can talk until I get there."

As they started walking together, Naruto broke the silence that had been instilled between them.

"It’s okay to be selfish; that’s what Blue Lock is all about, isn’t it? But I think there’s a difference between being a selfish striker and being a cunt or an idiot. For example, Baro was the cunt who preferred to lose the ball rather than pass to his teammate, and you were the idiot who took the shot despite having zero confidence in scoring, and despite that I was in a great position to receive your pass."

"If you think you can score, and if you’re confident in your skills, then be selfish and shoot. But you need to know your limits and what your weapon is. If you shoot just for the sake of shooting, despite having no confidence in it, you’re just wasting chances and giving the opponents the ball to counterattack. You become a deadweight."

"...You’re not being kind with your words," Isagi said with a weak chuckle.

"Our future depends on how well we play. Neither of us can afford to play nice. So, if I were you, I wouldn’t try to do things I suck at. You can’t dribble like Bachira; you don’t have my physique or my pace either. But we all have different things we’re good at. I noticed you have good vision. Your "goal-smelling" thing is probably related to that too. Focus on that for now. At least, that’s what I’d do if I were in your shoes."

After he said that, the two of them walked in silence for nearly half a minute.

"By the way, how did you get so good at shooting?"

At this point, Naruto realized Isagi was just trying to make conversation. But he didn’t hate it. Unlike his previous teammates from Team W, Isagi and Bachira were much better and more likeable.

"I’m older than you. I’ll be 18 in a few weeks. Other than that, practice. Lots of practice. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how many hours I spent just playing passes with the wall or shooting at empty soda cans… Thousands of hours."