"Yoichi Isagi... you—" Kaiser stared in disbelief as Isagi leaped into the air, celebrating his goal. But before Kaiser could say anything, Ness had already stormed over to Isagi, angrily confronting him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why didn't you pass the ball to Kaiser? He was in the perfect position! As his subordinate, how could you—"
"What are you even talking about? Who said I'm his subordinate? As a striker, of course, I'm going to follow my instincts in front of the goal. And in the end, I scored, didn't I?" Isagi cut Ness off with a look of genuine confusion, then turned his gaze to Kaiser. "If anything, your pass wasn't that bad. Was it really worth going through all that trouble just for a stat boost? Seems like Shinichi's hat-trick really got under your skin, huh?"
"How dare you question Kaiser?! We were the ones who took you in, you clown! Kaiser even gave you a chance to score in the first match to welcome you! This is betrayal... this is—"
"Shut up, Ness." The real clown, Ness, was interrupted once again as Kaiser stepped forward, his face dark as he loomed over Isagi. "It seems not only are there clowns outside, but one has even snuck into my team, trying to steal the spotlight."
"Your team? Isn't it Noel Noa's team? Your lackey said you 'took us in,' and for a moment, I almost believed you were the one who put us in the starting lineup. And you 'gave' us the chance to score? That goal was the result of my and Isagi's teamwork. What does it have to do with you?"
Hiori stepped in at that moment, ruthlessly tearing away Kaiser's last shred of pretense. Though Kaiser immediately shot him a murderous glare, Hiori, having already weathered the overwhelming presence of Shinichi, didn't flinch. Instead, he glared back with equal intensity.
Nearby, Chris, noticing the commotion and temporarily setting aside his anger at being outplayed, joined Hiori in taking shots at Kaiser.
"Haha, what's wrong? Can't the fake king even control his own underlings? Oh, wait, that's because they're actually the real king's men, just here on a diplomatic mission to gather intel. By the way, they're here to scout Noel Noa, not you. After all, it's obvious you're just a pretender. No need to investigate that, hahaha!"
"You all—!" Kaiser's veins bulged on his forehead as he was about to explode, but Noa cut him off. "Enough, Kaiser. This is getting ugly. Drop that arrogant attitude of yours. Isagi has no obligation to pass the ball to you when you're playing your little games."
"Even if it wasn't the most logical decision, if he hadn't scored, he would've faced the consequences. But he did score. That's the reality. If you want to dominate your opponents, do it with skill, not these cheap tricks. Acting without grace only makes you look like a clown."
"Fine, fine. It seems you all have a lot of faith in that clown who relies on theatrics. In the next match, I'll tear off that hypocritical mask of his," Kaiser sneered, first glaring at Hiori, then turning his gaze to Chris and Noa. "You old fossils, and you, Noa. After I use this stepping stone to leave Bastard München, I'll surpass and crush every single one of you. Don't think just because you were born earlier, you can keep me down forever."
"And you, Isagi! Since you refuse to submit to me, let's settle this in the next match. I'll treat you as a proper opponent and show you the insurmountable gap between us. Then, I'll make you kneel before me willingly."
"Bring it on," Isagi shot back, unfazed.
...
"Even so, do you have a plan?" As the tension on the field subsided, Hiori and Isagi walked toward the locker room together.
Along the way, Hiori brought up the topic of their strategy for the next match. "He might be arrogant, but Kaiser's individual skills are undeniable. Whether it's physicality or technique, he's far ahead of you. Especially with his Kaiser Impact—that's a super move that's hard to counter."
"I know. That's why I need to improve even more," Isagi nodded. After the U-20 match, he had carefully reviewed his performance and identified his weaknesses.
His direct shooting style was too one-dimensional and easy to predict. He needed a model to guide his improvement, and when he thought about the strongest players he knew, two faces came to mind simultaneously—Kanzaki Shinichi and Noel Noa!
"The most important thing these two have in common, aside from their incredible physicality—which is hard to replicate—is that they're both ambidextrous! But when I deliberately looked back at some of Shinichi's old matches in other sports, I realized he wasn't naturally ambidextrous. In the past, he was a complete right-hander."
"Oh, so that's why you've been working on your left foot?" Hearing Isagi explain his thought process, Hiori finally understood why Isagi had been spending so much time in Noa's room.
Although Noa's ambidexterity was innate, he could still provide valuable guidance. And it was this effort that allowed Isagi to make such a decisive impact in the match.
"Exactly. So, moving forward, I need to further improve my proficiency with left-footed shots. I want to make it a regular weapon, even in high-intensity matches. This time, I only succeeded because Chris didn't have any information about my left-footed shooting. He was caught off guard, and I managed to sneak one in," Isagi clenched his fist, his eyes filled with determination and ambition.
He didn't want to remain a supporting character in someone else's story. He wanted to step onto the main stage, to become one of those chasing the title of the world's best, to become... the protagonist!
"Tch, everyone's so full of ambition these days... Anyway, it's not like we're in a rush. Let's go watch the next match."
"This one's Italy's Ubers vs. Spain's FC Barcha."
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