Chapter 38: Transformation

Charging into Team Y’s backfield, Rin Itoshi stayed calm as he swung his right foot back in a shooting motion.

“Don’t underestimate us!”

Team Y’s attacking midfielder suddenly appeared in front of Rin, blocking his shot path.

“Heh, ants should know their place.”

【Thud!】

The midfielder was left speechless. Rin hadn’t just dismantled their entire passing formation and dribbled past seven players on his own—he’d chosen to pass at the final moment!

The ball went to Rin’s right.

“Quick! He messed up—no one’s there!”
“Kobayashi, it’s on you! Get to that ball!”

Hisakawa Mii shouted anxiously, pinning his hopes on Kobayashi Shima, the closest to the ball.

But in the next instant, Kobayashi’s determined look twisted into shock. Ryūma, wreathed in purple flames, appeared right in front of the ball.

“The pass was…”
“Perfect!!”

【BOOM!!】

GOAL!! Team V 6–4 Team Y

After scoring, Ryūma sprinted toward Rin as if ready to tackle him to the ground again.

This time Rin sidestepped deftly, glaring with disgust.

“I told you not to get near me. Are you really that thick-headed?”

Ryūma, who landed face-first in the grass, didn’t care. By now, Rin’s barbed insults bounced right off him.

“Hey, that pass was beautiful~”
“My suggestion? You pass more, I score more. Together we’re unbeatable!”

Rin’s expression grew darker.

“Don’t misunderstand. That pass was just paying you back. I’ll score with my own ability. There won’t be any more ‘teamwork goals.’”
“If you think otherwise, it just shows you don’t understand yourself.”

“Yes, yes. Please keep feeding me passes then.”

Ryūma, as usual, filtered Rin’s words into something else entirely.

Rin sighed inwardly. He knew this much: goal-scoring Ryūma and goalless Ryūma were two different people.

“Get up, Ryūma. Let’s finish this in one push.”
“Yeah, Hiori. This match is already ours.”

...

Team Y’s possession. Hisakawa Mii takes the kickoff.

Despite being two goals behind, what struck Ryūma as odd was that Y’s players showed no panic. Some even wore fierce, determined smiles.

This time, they abandoned their earlier formation—three on the left, two in the middle, three on the right, with two defenders deep.

Instead, all ten players surged forward at once in a full-on attack. No set structure. Just chaos and pressure.

(Huh? Looks like they’ve thrown tactics out the window.)
(Or… is this their last gamble?)

Ryūma shook his head, grinning with confidence.

“No matter how hard you push, you’re not beating us!”

The moment the words left his mouth, he burst forward toward Hisakawa Mii, who carried the ball.

Hisakawa reacted quickly. As Ryūma closed in, he swung the ball out to the left.

Kobayashi Shima received it, triggering a flood of Off-the-Ball Movements from Y’s players.

Shima then cut it diagonally ahead to Matsutani Kageaki. The triplets charged to intercept, but Y’s left midfielder and left attacking midfielder blocked their sightlines.

By the time the triplets refocused, the ball was already gone—Matsutani had passed it back to Y’s right midfielder positioned behind him.

Without hesitation, Y’s right midfielder fired a pass straight into the middle of Team V’s midfield.

Only then did Ryūma realize: this wasn’t desperation. They’d been saving another system all along.

A second formation—executed with blistering speed and flawless positioning. Ten men in perfect sync.

As he sprinted back into midfield, Ryūma’s face lit up with excitement. He loved opponents like this. Only against the strong could his football evolve faster!

As the ball descended, Ryūma coiled his legs, ready to leap.

But Kobayashi Shima beat him to it, heading it across toward Team V’s right-center midfield.

(Hmm… strange. He’s not just reading my movement—something else is at work here.)

Ryūma couldn’t make sense of it. Y’s play didn’t look too different from before, only faster. Yet the feeling they gave him was entirely different.

At the ball’s landing point in right-center midfield, Yo Hiori and Y’s attacking midfielder arrived at the same time.

(I’ll beat him to it! Don’t worry, Ryūma—I’ll send it your way!)

Hiori pushed toward the ball, but then saw the Y midfielder leap ahead from behind him.

【Thud!】

Hiori froze as the ball flew past—redirected into a pass toward Hisakawa Mii. His eyes widened in surprise.

(A low bicycle kick? Didn’t think he had that in him.)

【Thud!】

Another strike snapped Hiori out of it—Hisakawa, without pausing, had launched the ball long to Team V’s left backfield.

Ryūma, sprinting the right wing, had to slam the brakes.

(Exhausting… Maybe I should just wait in the box to intercept the shot?)
(No… Y’s speed means they could fire at any moment.)
(I don’t have Rin’s anticipation. How can I read their shots like he does?)
(Speaking of which—where is Rin?)

As he raced back, Ryūma swept the field with his eyes. It took two, three glances before he finally spotted Rin strolling calmly into his own penalty area.

(Heh… that sneaky bastard. Hiding in the shadows again.)

The ball dropped to Matsutani, who trapped it smoothly. The instant he did, Y’s entire team burst into fresh runs.

Something clicked in Ryūma’s mind.

(Why is everyone moving at once? What’s the point?)

Before he could think further, Matsutani had already played the ball toward the edge of the penalty box.

“Mine!”

Putian Daiwa  lunged to intercept—but Y weren’t letting him.

Their right midfielder killed the ball with his right foot just before it reached Putian. He spun, shielding with his back, then laid it off.

The pass went to Y’s left midfielder breaking wide—but Rin was already there.

The left midfielder had half a step on him.

So Y’s right midfielder pivoted, shoving back with his body to block Rin’s path.

Seizing the opening, he whipped the ball across into the left side of the box.