[Blue Lock] Chapter 10 - Shadow (I) (Patreon)

Chapter 10 - Shadow (I)

Split into teams of two, Naruto and Nishioka were playing against Isagi and Bachira in a game where they had to score against the same goalkeeper.

To make things challenging, the players weren’t allowed to step foot inside the goal area (the “six-yard box”). Also, if they retrieved the ball from the opposing team while they were in the penalty area, the man with the ball would have to come out of the box first before being allowed to go back inside to shoot.

“I told you, now that I’ve read you, your dribbling won’t work on me,” Nishioka said.

Although Nishioka wasn’t actively trying to take the ball away from Bachira, he was positioning himself in a way that allowed him to react appropriately to whatever move Bachira was going to make.

“We won’t know until I try it!” Bachira said resolutely as he burst into action at his top speed, trying to cut inside with his sprint.

But Nishioka saw through his move, and although Bachira gained a bit of ground, Nishioka kept up with him in the same manner as before: not tackling him but keeping an awkward/annoying distance/closeness that stopped his advance and severely limited his passing routes.

Preoccupied with finally getting a win in a one-on-one encounter against his rival, it was too late when Bachira saw Naruto running towards him. He didn’t have time to react to his sliding tackle.

On the other side, having anticipated that Bachira would lose the ball if Naruto and Nishioka tackled him together, Isagi started running straight towards the goal area instead of following Naruto.

Isagi’s efforts didn’t amount to much in the end because, although he had cut in front of him, the blonde passed the ball to Nishioka, who proceeded to score effortlessly.

⁂

“Hey, Naruto, we’re about to go grab some lunch. You coming with us?” Nishioka said.

Having become more familiar with each other during the previous 2 vs 2 matches and done with their training for the first part of the day, the three boys decided to go have lunch together.

But while the three of them were done, Naruto grabbed a ball and started a solo training session, working on his control and speed with the ball as he dribbled through a line of cones on the pitch.

At their question, Naruto’s immediate reaction was to refuse straight away at first, but then the words that Ego told him after the match against Team Z rang in his mind:

"Being a skilled striker is definitely important, but your Emotional Intelligence and your behaviour on the pitch are vital as well.”

Although he would have liked to continue training by himself, he decided to listen to Ego’s advice.

‘Maybe my previous teammates wouldn’t have all listened to that Wanima jerk and isolated me if I had at least tried to be buddies with them.’

If the first selection had been all about finding their weapon and turning 0 into 1, the second selection was all about turning that 1 into 100. It was about knowing one’s teammates and creating a chemical reaction with them. That would not be easy to achieve if he stayed aloof and kept his teammates at arm’s length.

‘We won’t be teammates for long, so I should do my best to get to know them as well as possible in the short time we have.’

Bearing those thoughts in mind, he stopped his training and smiled.

“Sure, why not?”

“Awesome!” Nishioka said.

As the four of them headed towards the canteen, they started making small talk.

“You know, I was a bit on edge when you guys first chose me for your team. I mean, I heard so many rumours about Naruto,” Nishioka said. Turning towards the blonde, he explained: “Things like how you’re selfish and never pass the ball or how you’ve beaten someone to the point where they were hospitalized. I should’ve known not to trust those rumours. You’re so chill and an awesome teammate to have too!”

“...”

“But he did knock someone out cold with a punch,” Bachira said.

“...Eh?! You’re pulling my leg.”

“No, he really did. It was actually one of our former teammates; Bachira and I were there when it happened. They took him out on a stretcher,” Isagi also said, greatly enjoying how Naruto started scratching his cheek awkwardly.

“And he also never passed to his former teammates either,” Bachira added too.

It was hilarious how Nishioka’s expression turned worried at a visible pace.

“Stop scaring the poor kid and tell him the whole story while you’re at it!” Naruto said, grabbing them both by the back of their necks, threatening them playfully.

The worried look on Nishioka’s face gradually faded away as they filled him in on what had really happened, but the three of them still shared a laugh at his expense.

“Since that teammate of yours was kicked out of Blue Lock, how did you guys beat Team V when you were missing one player? From what you told me, they were the strongest team in your group,” Nishioka said.

“Ego made one of the players from Team V sit out in that match to make things fair,” Bachira answered.

“Didn’t the other teams complain about it?”

“Well, whether we won or lost, Team Y and Team X were going to fail regardless. The only ones who were going to be affected by our result were Team W, Naruto’s former team. But since they were also the ones who tried to fix the results of the match together with Kuon, their opinion became irrelevant. So we played 10 vs 10 against Team V and we won.”

“Come to think of it, what happened to your goalkeeper?” Naruto asked.

“Ah, the one whose hand you broke?” Isagi said. “He’s okay now. I heard he passed the first stage of the second selection too.”

“First you knock someone out, and then you break other people’s arms too? Jesus, is Blue Lock for football or Rugby?” Nishioka laughed at him.

“I didn’t break his arm, goddamnit. It was just a sprain! You guys are looking for a beating…” Naruto started as if he was annoyed but they knew he was joking and laughed.

⁂

“What team should we challenge next?” Bachira asked as he helped himself to a large bowl of curry.

“I think we should decide based on what kind of player we need in order to improve our team,” Nishioka said.

“Then, what are we missing now?” Isagi asked deep in thought, momentarily stopping eating.

“I’d like to get a tall teammate. We need someone who can receive my crosses inside the box and score headers,” Naruto said before ripping into a chicken leg like a famished hobo. “Odrwis deres no-”

“Sheesh, finish chewing before speaking, man.”

“Otherwise, there’s no point in me passing the ball to you from the wing,” Naruto said after swallowing the food in his mouth.

“Hm, you’re not wrong,” Isagi agreed with him. “Your passes were excellent-”

“Damn straight they were!” Naruto cut in.

“-But we couldn’t turn those chances into goals. The three of us are too short… But how about this: what if you played as a centre forward instead and let one of us on the wing? If I recall correctly, your jumping power is crazy good too. Even with three players marking you in the first selection, you still scored a header from the corner against us,” Isagi came up with a suggestion.

“That could work. But if we do that, who else are you thinking about getting into our team?”

“I’d like to challenge the team made up of ranks Number 2, Number 3, Number 4, and Seishiro Nagi,” Isagi said.

“Nagi’s team lost?” Bachira said in surprise.

“Yeah, Nagi and Reo played against Itoshi Rin’s team, the Number 2 ranked guy, and lost. They lost badly, 5-2 I think. After that, Nagi got chosen by them.”

“Nagi is together with three out of the Top 5 players? What a strong team!” Bachira exclaimed.

“Is this Nagi guy you’re talking about good?” Nishioka asked. As he had been in a different group, he was not familiar with Nagi. “How does he compare to me?”

“He’s a different type of striker. He’s not as good at dribbling as you, and you’re also faster than him. But his ball control is incredibly good. He’s a genius,” Isagi spared no effort in praising his skills. “As long as he gets a pass inside the box, it’s a guaranteed goal. He can shoot from any position.”

⁂

It was evening. After several hours spent on the football field training, Naruto was now sitting on a bench at the side of the pitch, drinking water.

But he didn’t linger because he knew he would end up becoming lazy if he stayed a moment longer. He still had to get some dinner and have a shower too, and he had to do that rather quickly because he needed to go to sleep early that night.

Taking his phone out, he opened the contacts app, but when he was about to dial Saeko’s number, he stopped. It was quite late already,, and tomorrow he had a big match. Knowing how much he liked chatting with her, their call might take even more than an hour.

‘I can’t call her tonight. I should get to bed early.’

As much as he would have liked to hear her voice, his priorities were clear to him. He liked Saeko - he liked her a lot. However, finding success at Blue Lock took priority for him.

‘I wonder, would Saeko even talk to me anymore if I failed to become a professional football player?’

Grabbing his bottle of water and his phone, Naruto dragged his tired body towards the dorms.

‘She didn’t strike me as the type of girl who’d cut all ties with me because of something like that… …but I still don’t know her that well. And even if she were to want to keep in touch with me after that, would her father let her do that?’

He snorted in self-deprecation.

‘She comes from a rich family, and she’s a celebrity too. Meanwhile, if I got kicked out of Blue Lock I’d be just a street rat, struggling to make ends meet from one day to another. She’d be way out of my league…’

In the end, all his worries and doubts stemmed from his inferiority complex, a complex born out of poverty. Nonetheless, in his mind, everything would be solved if he were to become a successful football player.

Even now, years after his father died, Naruto could vividly recall the words that his father often used to say whenever he had one too many drinks:

“Listen, Naruto. A broke man is like a broke hand. Can’t do nothing with it.” (1)

As a kid, he used to dismiss that as drunken talk, but after becoming an orphan and being faced with the cruel reality, he understood the truth in his father’s words.

‘World Cup? Best striker in the world? I couldn’t care less about any of that.’

It was not like he had some deep feelings of love and pride for Japan or a dream of becoming the best in the world. All he wanted was to be successful.

His mind going to what he’d do if he was rich, Naruto suddenly began to feel energized.

‘I’m going to have pizza every day.’

Unknowingly, he started grinning as he daydreamed.

‘I’ll buy 5 pairs of superstar Adidas sneakers in 5 different colours. Then, I’ll buy a black biker leather jacket and a motorcycle too. A Honda maybe? No, Kawasaki are faster and cooler. Yeah, I’ll buy a Kawasaki! ’

‘And maybe a nice house at the foot of a mountain in the countryside too. Then, I’ll buy two dogs and three cats. [...]’

They were the amusing, honest dreams of a teenager. But those puerile dreams were the driving force that was giving him the strength to endure the gruelling training that he was putting himself through every day.

Whenever he was exhausted, whenever he felt like he couldn’t do it anymore, whenever he felt too lazy and wanted to lay down and chat with the girl that he had a crush on instead of training, he would remind himself that all his pain and effort, all his hard work, was for the sake of a better future.

Having reached the dorms, Naruto woke up from his daydreaming and took out his phone. Although he couldn’t call Saeko that evening, he could still send her a text message.

Naruto: Hey. I can’t call you tonight, I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I need to be fully rested and in perfect condition. Sorry.

Less than 20 seconds passed from the moment he sent the message until he received an answer. It was a minor thing, but it always filled him with joy to see how quickly she replied to his texts. It made him feel as though his feelings for her were not one-sided, that she desired his company just as much as he craved hers.

Saeko: Heyy, you don’t have to apologize. Blue Lock comes first! I hope you do well tomorrow! I’m rooting for you! Fighting!

Following that text, she also sent a praying emoji, a hugging emoji, and a kissing emoji.

Naruto: Thanks. But I have some good news too. I convinced Ego-san to give me the chance to buy a ticket out of Blue Lock with the same system from the first selection.

Saeko: Really???

What came after that was a wall of heart emojis. It made him chuckle at how expressive she appeared to be in texts as opposed to how she had been in person.

Saeko: So when exactly are we seeing each other?

Naruto: I’m not sure. I had 5 points left from the first selection after I got my phone. Then I scored 3 more goals in the match from yesterday. So I have a total of 8 points now. I need to score 2 more goals tomorrow, and then I’m all set.

Saeko: You better score those goals tomorrow, mister, you hear me? God have mercy on you if you raised my hopes up for nothing!

Naruto: Hahaha

Saeko: I’m serious!

Naruto: I’ll do my best. Promise.

⁂

“Aaaahhh, what am I going to do? We’re going to play against the Number 1 ranked player! I heard he’s a violent ape and a thug too. Ahhhh, I don’t think I can do this!”

But while Aoshi Tokimitsu was having an anxiety meltdown, his three teammates were as calm and cool as ice.

“Say, Rin, who should we choose after we win?” the tall and long-haired player asked.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Rin said indifferently.

“I say we get Isagi Yoichi,” Nagi suggested.

“Who is that?” Aryu asked.

“The short one with short black hair.”

“Him? He doesn’t look glam at all,” Aryu said as he flicked his long hair over his shoulders. “Actually, none of them is glamorous enough to be in our team. That guy with the number 9 on his shirt intrigues me though. Is he really a high-schooler like us?”

“He’s the Number 1 ranked in Blue Lock now. He cleared the shooting stage even before Rin. I saw some of the footages of his matches during the first selection. He’s very good, so don’t look down on him,” Nagi tried to advise him.

⁂

As luck would have it, Naruto’s team was going to kick off first.

“Are we going ahead with the plan?” Bachira asked as he and Naruto went inside the centre circle to start the game.

“Yeah.”

“Okay~”

As the VAR’s whistle rang, Bachira passed the ball slowly to Naruto. Team Red could only watch in stupefaction as the Number 9 player scored a goal from the centre circle in the third second of the match.

“He may not look glamorous, but that shot was a thing of beauty,” Aryu said, dropping his arrogant act for once.

“Goal for Team White. The score is 1 - 0,” the VAR's voice rang.

That goal not only took Aryu by surprise and sent Tokimitsu into another anxiety-induced meltdown, but it also erased the look of boredom on Itoshi Rin’s face. One thing became clear in Team Red’s minds:

‘If he can score from the centre circle, he can score from anywhere on our side of the field.’

Only 10 seconds passed from the start of the game, but Naruto had already gotten the opposite team’s aggro.

⁂

After seeing Naruto score that goal, Rin’s first thought was to do the same. But when he looked at Team White’s goalpost he saw that one of the players was defending the goal together with the keeper. Nishioka had anticipated what Rin was about to do and decided to risk leaving the midfield empty for the sake of preventing him from scoring an easy goal.

In the end, Rin had no other choice but to kick off by passing the ball to his teammate, Tokimitsu. The moment he did that, both Aryu and Nagi broke into a sprint towards the opposite team’s goal.

In an unspoken agreement, Isagi fell back and pursued Nagi deep into their defence, and Nishioka left the goalpost and headed towards Aryu while Naruto and Bachira started pressing Tokimitsu together for the ball.

The burly boy didn’t even try to dribble the two players charging at him and passed the ball to Rin in a panic. However, in spite of his mannerism, his pass was clean and his teammate had no trouble receiving it before advancing into the other side of the field.

As Rin advanced with the ball diagonally across the field, Bachira started running after him.

‘He won’t catch up to him in time!’ Nishioka thought, growing restless by the second when he saw that Bachira couldn’t catch up to him fast enough.

Nishioka had been in the same group as Itoshi Rin, so he knew just how good he was everywhere. Itoshi Rin was an all-rounder, a striker good at everything. Whether it was dribbling, positioning, vision, speed, or shooting, he was top-tier.

‘I can’t let him get into shooting range!’

As Rin arrived at only 3 metres outside the box and swung his foot back as if he were about to shoot, Nishioka felt forced to leave Aryu unmarked and jump into Rin’s range.

However, it had been a feint. As Nishioka threw himself in front of the ball, instead of shooting at the target, Rin kicked a lobbed pass towards Aryu. It was a picture-perfect assist and a perfect header too. The hologram goalkeeper never stood a chance.

“Goal for Team Red. The score is 1 - 1.”

“Damn, they had us,” Nishioka said in frustration. He had known that leaving Aryu unmarked wasn’t wise, but it would have been even dumber if he had not tried to stop Rin from shooting.

In the end, the problem was that Rin and Tokimitsu had penetrated the midfield too easily.

“Sorry, he was too fast, I couldn’t catch up,” Bachira apologized.

“Don’t mind it, we’re tied. It’s not the end of the world,” Naruto said encouragingly.

As they placed the ball on the centre mark, Bachira asked:

“Are you going to shoot again?”

“Nah, look, they’ve caught onto it.”

Itoshi Rin fell back to the goalpost for the sake of helping the keeper defend if Naruto decided to shoot again.

“Alrighty, we’ll play like usual then.”

Seeing as in their previous match, Bachira and Isagi had both been unable to receive Naruto’s passes in the penalty area due to them being short, they changed their positions in the field this time around.

Instead of playing on the wing, Naruto was a centre-forward together with Bachira now, leaving Isagi and Nishioka to play the roles of both defenders and wingers.

As Naruto kicked off by passing to Bachira, Bachira was immediately tackled by Tokimitsu.

Despite the insecure look on his face and his visible anxiety, Tokimitsu was built like a tank. His body was packed with muscles, and his charge was like that of a freight train.

Nevertheless, Bachira easily dribbled past him with one of his favourite moves, an elastico. But he was greatly surprised when Tokimitsu caught up to him again and tried to tackle him from the side with a sliding tackle.

It took Bachira performing a rainbow flick to avoid his sliding tackle, but even after styling on him like that, Tokimitsu still recovered and caught up to him again somehow. His explosive movement on short distances was out of the ordinary.

As the saying goes, third time’s the charm, and Bachira lost the ball when Tokimitsu tackled him again, his high dribbling skill becoming useless when Tokimitsu slammed his shoulder into his, sending him flying and rolling on the ground.

Naruto let out a cuss under his breath upon seeing their attacking plan crumble from the get-go. The original strategy had been for Bachira to use his weapon to dribble past as many players as he could to clear the defence before passing him the ball. He hadn’t expected someone as good as Bachira to fail in dribbling past the least dangerous-looking member of the opposing team.

Isagi attempted to tackle him, but Tokimitsu was like a juggernaut. Isagi was flung away by his shoulder check like a broken kite. Having passed by Isagi as well, Tokimitsu reached the edge of the penalty area. Now, only the goalkeeper stood between him and the goal.

At least that’s what he thought before Naruto appeared at his side like a ghost.

‘Oh no! This tuggish yankee somehow caught up to me! He’s going to steal my ball!’

He had just reached the penalty area! He was so close, he couldn’t lose this chance!

‘Football is what had given me the confidence to stand up for myself! I won’t lose! I can’t lose! I have to score! I can’t go on without scoring a goal!’

But the words that he was screaming to himself like a mantra didn’t affect the real life. His prayers were denied, and the sliver of confidence that he had gained until then due to football was shattered when Naruto slammed his shoulder into his while sweeping the ball away from his feet.

For the first time since he had started playing football, Tokimitsu found himself rolling on the ground like a barrel.

“To think that Tokimitsu lost in a physical battle against anyone. Unbelievable!”

Aryu’s thoughts were mirrored by Nagi as well. Although he knew Naruto had a strong physique after seeing the footage of his clash with Baro during the first selection, it was still hard for him to believe Tokimitsu would be sent tumbling like that. Of all the players he had trained with or played against, Tokimitsu had the strongest physique.

“Nishioka!” Naruto yelled after he took possession of the ball and broke into a sprint.

“Yes!” Nishioka said in acknowledgement before starting to run as well. He was running so fast that it appeared as if his legs had become a blur.

Aryu tried to charge at Naruto, but even his long and lanky limbs weren’t enough to catch up to his burst of speed.

Having flatlined Tokimitsu and dribbled past Aryu with his crazy pace, the blonde now entered the opposite team’s side of the field. As he passed the centre line, Team Red’s sense of urgency increased exponentially with every step he took.

But Nagi was there to block his trajectory. Naruto pretended to shoot, but Nagi didn’t bite on his feint and charged at him with a tackle instead which forced him to stop in his tracks, bring the ball back, and shield it with his body by placing himself between it and Nagi.

Football was a sport played as a team, however. By the time Nagi stopped him, Nishioka arrived at the penalty area as well so Naruto quickly passed him the ball.

Although he was just at the edge of the box now, Nishioka didn’t have any open angles to shoot as Itoshi Rin got into his face. Furthermore, in the meantime, Tokimitsu had picked himself up from the ground and was running towards him like a mad bull too.

Luckily, Bachira quickly came to his rescue, and before Rin could sweep the ball away from his feet, Nishioka passed it to Bachira who in turn passed it back to Naruto on the other side of the box.

It was a first-touch shot, a volley from inside the box, less than 12 metres away from the goal.

It was an absolute piss missile, aimed at the far corner of the goalpost. The goalkeeper was completely helpless. Even a real, professional goalie would have found it almost impossible to defend against that.

To everyone’s shock, however, that bomb of a shot didn’t earn Team White a goal!

At the very last moment, having anticipated that the blonde was going to shoot towards the far corner, Itoshi Rin threw himself in front of the ball.

Rin wasn’t one to be easily impressed by someone but the power behind that shot left him startled. It had almost flung his leg away!

Right as Team Red was about to blow a collective sigh of relief at having defended against that goal, a Team White player that everyone had momentarily forgotten about appeared outside the penalty area like a phantom.

It was Isagi Yoichi.

The goalkeeper was out of position. Rin was on the ground after blocking Naruto’s bomb. Tokimitsu was next to Bachira and Aryu was behind Naruto. 

Isagi was left all alone, with the goalpost undefended, and a clear trajectory for shooting in front of him.

“Where did that guy pop out from?!” Aryu said in shock.

It wasn’t only the members of Team Red who were completely blindsided by the new development, Naruto and Nishioka had been taken completely by surprise too.

‘Is that his goal-smelling weapon-thing? Or was it just luck? There’s no way he could’ve predicted my shot was going to be blocked, is there?’

Bearing an expression of intense concentration on his face, Isagi didn’t even wait for the ball to land after being reflected from Rin’s foot.

‘I don’t need strength. Focus on accuracy. Be calm.’

It was his direct shot. A skill that he had acquired during the shooting stage of the second selection. 

‘THIS IS MY GOAL!’

For a moment, it was silence. Then, Isagi let out a scream of victory and triumph.

“Goal for Team White. The score is 2 -1.”

⁂⁂⁂

AN: (1) I know there are some spelling errors in that phrase. They are intentional. If you find other typos and mistakes throughout the chapter, well, those weren’t intentional. Lol

[Announcement]
Those of you who have subscribed for Blue Lock in particular, I’d like to inform you that I’m thinking about ending the fic when the anime content runs out. I know there’s a manga for Blue Lock too, but it’s not as good as the anime. I feel like I wouldn’t do the U20 match justice if I didn’t see it animated first.

So I’m thinking of temporarily ending the fic after the match against the Top 5 best players in the world. It’s not set in stone tho. Maybe I’ll continue updating sporadically but it would definitely not be worth it for you to keep your subscription if this Blue Lock fic was the only thing you were interested in.

For those who subscribed recently, do not worry, there are still about half a dozen chapters worth of content left or more. It’s going to take me more than one month to cover all the anime content so it's not like you subbed for nothing. 

⁂⁂⁂

[STORY IDEA - SPIN-OFF FROM THIS FIC]

Someone suggested in a review that I wrote a crossover with Highschool of the Dead. Since I’ve already introduced Saeko Busujima in the fic, I thought to myself, well, it might be interesting if I wrote such a crossover but starting from this fic.

A zombie apocalypse could be triggered while Naruto and Saeko are on a date, right after the match against the TOP 5 players in the world. It has the potential to be really interesting (at least I think so).

That being said, this would be a spin-off. A sort of “alternate universe” that you can consider as not canon to “Blue Lock: Tempest”. Once the anime picks up again, I could continue the main Blue Lock story unaffected by the events from the spin-off fic.

I'm just spitballing tho, it's only a thought for now. Let me know your opinions.