Aiku: Looks like those two...

Shidou seemed to have flaming demonic wings.

Aiku: Are a match made in heaven.

Ryu: More like hell.

Announcer1: WHAT'S THIS?! U-20'S NUMBER 13, RYUSEI SHIDOU... ALLOWS THEM TO TAKE THE LEAD WITH A JAW DROPPING GOAL!!!

The crowd cheered wildly for the teen, as he seemed to revel in it.

However there was also another source to the bliss on his face.

INCOMING ZEST!!!!

Shidou: Awwww yeah. Here comes the dopamine!! I'm gonna come, shit! That's the stuff~!

Ryu: O_O Forget Horny, this Demon's gone straight to freaky.

Sae: The game isn't over. Don't blow your load just yet.

Azure: W-We're still talking about soccer right?

Keith: -_- I'm impressed, but scared to see what happens when we in the game.

Bachira: Aw, heckie. That one was just unfair.

Niko: They just wouldn't stop... That was Sae Itoshi and Ryusei Shidou's Chemical Reaction.

Ryu: You gotta admit, it was one hell of a way to take the lead. 'Sae's Metavision is just insane. He knew Chigiri would try and stop the play, and passed to where he would be barely unable to reach. He might have the best reflexes on the field. But hey, I guess you'd HAVE to be good if you taught me how exactly to be a midfielder.'

Shidou: Nice one, underlashes senior!! I like you, give me your number later!

Ryu: 'If we don't put a leash on those two, we're through.'

Sae: Huh? I'll consider it if you can score a hat trick.

Shidou: I'll hold you to that!!

Keith: You know part of me just wants to troll so he actually gets it.

Chigiri: Kh...

Chigiri fell onto the ground, shocking Ryu and Isagi.

Isagi: Chigiri, are you good?!

They both ran over to him.

Ryu: Is it...?

Chigiri: I'm fine... It's just a leg cramp...

When he was about to take a step, Niko fell as well.

Niko: Even though I'm only just getting started...

Ryu looked at the two, before sighing.

Ryu: You guys take a rest.

Chigiri: What?! But-

Ryu: Not my call anyway. Four eyes is probably thinking the same thing. Besides...

Ryu began to help Chigiri stretch.

Ryu: It's obvious to see that you're completely out of stamina.

Chigiri: ...

He looked the other way, seeing the ref hold up a change sign.

Ryu: Trust me, I'll run enough for the both of us.

The numbers 14 and 16 came up on the screen, as it was revealed that Reo and Hiori would be put onto the field.

Announcer1: Number 4 Hyoma Chigiri, and Number 3 Ikki Niko are being subnet out... And Number 14 Reo Mikage, and Number 16 Yo Hiori are taking their places!!

Reo: Good job Niko.

They high five'd, as Reo ran onto the field.

Hiori: That was some nice runnin', Chigiri.

Chigiri slapped his hand, as Hiori ran in.

Hiori: You can rest easy.

Chigiri: ...

Ryu: Hiori, Reo, what's the new format?

Hiori: A 4-3-3. You're still at the top, Reo's replacing Niko's spot, and Nagi's moving back with Karasu, and I'm gonna be on the right wing.

Nagi: Right.

Ryu: We can still use you to score on offense.

After going over everything, the teens finally started their offense. Ryu kicked the ball to Isagi, as his eyes went slitted.

Ryu: 'I can't do this two much, but I told Chigiri I would run for the both of us.'

Ryu ran forward, with Neru guarding him.

Neru: You're fast, but so am I.

Ryu: Please.

Ryu's eyes glowed, as veins appeared on his legs.

Ryu: There's a difference between simple speed and what I've got.

Ryu went even faster, running up the field.

Ryu: 'Loki gave me inspiration to grow my speed. So now even if it's for a little...'

A streak of red light was behind Ryu. Sae and Keith were thrown off by this.

Ryu: 'I become a player on the field that can't be stopped!!'

Keith: 'Seriously?! He's got a top speed as high as the Red Head?!!'

Keith ran, trying to catch up, but failing.

Keith: 'He's gonna get to that space before either Sae Aiku or I can stop him!'

Hiori: 'Right open.'

Hiori kicked the ball, giving Ryu a pass with a bit of backspin.

Ryu: 'That's nice. While his vision isn't really up to snuff, his passes are pretty on par with Sae's.'

The ball landed further in front of Ryu, hitting the ground, and spinning a bit back to him. Having seen this coming, Ryu already prepared to shoot.

Ryu: 'A Dragon Strike is pretty expected right now, so let's do something unexpected!!'

Ryu kicked the ball, as the Goalie believed it would be in a straight path. However when he jumped to block it, the ball even though it came fast curved right, and hit the net.

Score: 3-3

Ryu: 'My lightning Trivela. It sacrifices a lot of speed, but if you expect something else? You're screwed.'

Ryu smirked, as the crowd went wild.

Ryu: 'I think I'll go for a Hat Trick too.'

Keith: 'Shit, was this guy really a Midfielder? Being good at everything is one thing, but he's been making moves like a Striker this entire time.'

Sae: Hey, what are you gawking at?

Keith: What? Game's gotta recognize game. I'll tear apart half their defense this next possession though.

Shidou: You? By yourself?

Keith: I wouldn't try and make a bet though.

They got into position, as Sae kicked the ball to Keith, who glowed.

Keith: Here I come.

Keith dribbled forward, with everyone somewhat shocked.

Isagi: 'This guy is about to go on a solo run?!'

Azure was the first to come up, ready to go against the Ace.

Azure: 'Come on U-20 Ace. Show me what you've got.'

Keith: Ah ah, too many weak spots.

Keith did a two touch, getting the ball forward. Azure reacted and turned to defend. However as soon as he did, Keith did an Elastico with his left foot to nutmeg Azure.

Azure: 'Crap!'

Isagi: 'Azure got nutmegged?!'

This allowed Keith to get further up, as Rin and Bachira went to mark him as well.

Keith: 'Seriously?'

They both went in, but Keith held the pair at bay with his arms out.

Rin: 'I'm not falling for that!!'

At the last second, Rin pushed Keith's arm away. However instead of helping, this served to distract Rin long enough for him to be nutmegged as well.

Rin: 'That was just a diversion?!'

Hiori: 'This guy's even better than I thought!'

Keith: Come on, at least make me work a little harder for this!!

Isagi came up next, on full alert.

Isagi: 'What'll he do next? This guy's options are practically endless!'

Keith went forward, before doing a rainbow flick to get the ball in the air.

Isagi: 'Oh come on!!'

Isagi turned around to try and get to Keith, but found he wasn't there. The ball had actually gone directly in front of Keith, and behind Isagi. With this, he managed to dribble around him without being deterred.

Keith: Gotta pay more attention to the ball next time!

Sae: 'He wasn't kidding when he said he'd tear the defense apart.'

Keith: Anyway, hard part is done!

He passed the ball to the side, getting it to Sae.

Sae: It seems like you aren't all talk after all.

Keith: Who the hell do you think I am New Gen? You really shouldn't get cocky.

Keith's eyes glowed brightly looking at Sae.

Keith: I don't need any fancy titles to prove that I'm the best. Now don't lag behind.

Sae seemed surprised by these words, before looking back forward.

Sae: Oh please. I'm not gonna be the one lagging, Striker.

The pair ran forward, with the defense now on high alert. Keith moved along, searching left and right for the best spot. While that happened, Sae had met both Hiori and Karasu.

Karasu: Not so fast genius!!

Sae stopped dead in his tracks, with the two stopping as well.

Sae: Your attention's diverted.

The two were confused, as right then and there, Keith had used his silent steps to sneak behind Hiori and Karasu, with Sae passing right to him.

Isagi: 'What the hell is happening?! Keith Toshiki... Wasn't going all out before?!!'

Ryu watched, trying to understand what was happening on the field.

Ryu: 'Forget it!! With Sae and Keith working together like this, Blue Lock has no chance to understand what they're going for!!'

Keith: 'When was it?'

Keith kept moving, feeling his heart beat loudly.

Keith: 'When was the last time I wanted to put everything I have into this game.'

FLASHBACK!!

A young Keith was dribbling up the field, with players swarming to keep him in check. He kicked in the penalty box, scoring another goal.

Score: 7-3

Keith pumped his fist, as his team cheered for him.

Keith: Ever since I was a kid I was the best player where I went. Kindergarten, Junior high, hell I even had skill since I was on the playground. However in the Nationals of my Junior High year... Something clicked.

Time passed, as Keith was in the tournament finals of his Junior High school.

#2: What are you doing Keith?!! Pass it up!!

Keith: 'Is he fucking blind?'

Keith did a chop dribble to his right, and this caused everyone to look in his direction. As a result of that, his teammate saw that a defender was in his blind spot.

Keith: 'More mistakes like that would've lost us this game!!'

He kicked, before scoring the winning goal.

Score: 5-4

Everyone cheered, however Keith seemed to have more of a realization.

Keith: '... Am... I the only one who can see these spots on the field?'

His eyes had flashed into that of a target, as everything on the field has clear to him.

Keith: Without realizing it I unlocked an incredible ability while playing. It's also when I finally realized another thing...

As time passed, Keith dominated the games he played in, unable to lose even with his teammates being inadequate.

Keith: I had become too strong. No one was able to understand my play. It was like I was playing 1v11.

The fire in his eyes was all but extinguished, as he seemed bored, scoring another goal.

Keith: Soccer became so boring that I wasn't even sure if I wanted to keep going.

Coach: Toshiki, you strayed from the play again!!

Keith: Coach...

Coach: Eh?

Keith: Why even bother with all the "We win as a team" bullshit? Not a single person on the team has ever managed to give me a pass that I didn't have to force open.

Coach: What?!!

Keith cracked his neck, unbothered by the reaction.

Keith: If the team wins, it's usually because of me. The rest of them can stay on defense the entire game and I'd still score on the opponent.

He turned around and started walking away.

Keith: The Strikers mass produced in our country are shit. If I can't find something worthwhile, I'll leave Japan to wither away without a second thought. The one thing I'll never allow is to be turned into what the rest of these losers will become.

Some time later, and Keith had entered the U-20 Team Room.

Coach: This is Keith Toshiki! He will be joining the Japan U-20 Lineup as a Forward!

They all looked at him, not very suspecting.

Sendo: 'A kid? He's got height on him, however there's not much else.'

Coach: Keith, anything you want to say to the team?

Keith: ... Who's this team's current ace?

Sendo: That would be me.

Keith: -_- You filled your purpose, so I'll be usurping that spot from you.

Everyone was shocked at the blunt claim of the 16 year old striker.

Sendo: HUH?!!! What was that you little punk?!! You think you can come in here and make a claim like that?!!

Niou: That prick has a mouth!

Neru: Uh- Hey now guys!

Keith: Want me to show you then?

Keith held up a soccer ball.

Keith: I'll show you the difference between me and a mass produced Striker with zero originality.

Keith: They didn't realize the gap between me and them at the time... For approximately 10 minutes. But there was one guy that was interesting.

On the field, Keith scored goal after goal against the U-20 defense, with the only one even slightly capable of keeping up being Aiku, who was in awe.

Aiku: 'Is... Is this kid who I've been waiting for?'

Aiku tried his best to defend against Keith, almost able to steal the ball from him. Keith was shocked at this, but lobbed the ball over Aiku.

Aiku: 'No... I can't believe it, but he's been tracking just well on his own.'

Aiku smiled, as Keith scored a Volley Shot, scoring his fourth goal. Aiku looked up, seeing a light around Keith.

Aiku: 'Keith is a miracle. He's a Striker who's own talent and ego have allowed him to bloom without help.'

Keith looked at Aiku, somewhat surprised.

Keith: You're the first person in a while who made me slightly try for a goal.

Aiku: ... Ha. You're one lucky kid, you know that?

Keith: Huh?

Aiku: You've got all the talent in the world and then some. If only you could enjoy yourself.

Keith: You guys are too weak for that, sorry.

Aiku: Yeah, but eventually if you search...

Aiku got up, holding a hand out to Keith.

Aiku: By destroying the ordinary Strikers in this Country, you can find and nurture the ones that can give you what you look for.

Keith: ... You're an odd dude.

Aiku: Ha, I get that sometimes!

Keith looked at his hand, before grabbing and shaking it.

Keith: What I want most, are opponents that excite me, and make my heart dance.

FLASHBACK OVER!!

Keith glowed in a gold and black aura, grinning.

Keith: 'And today they've appeared right before me!!'

Reo: *Sigh* 'Just like Ego said. I've been playing close attention to this game for a reason.'

Reo ran in towards Keith while he was ready to get a pass from Sendo.

Keith: 'No no.'

Sendo passed, with Keith turning and stopped the ball with his foot, while Reo used a body block.

Keith: 'Using Niou's pressure defense on me?'

Keith back heeled the ball to Nutmeg Reo, turning and spiriting in.

Reo: W-What?!!

Keith: Please, I know the weaknesses of my teammates better than anyone.

Keith went right past, as the ball got to Sae. Upon getting it, he was pressed by Azure, who snuck down to defend.

Azure: NO YOU DON'T!!!

He reached to kick the ball away, however Sae did a Cross-Elastico to nutmeg Azure.

Sae: 'Alright, I admit it.'

Sae's eyes glowed, as he prepared to send a pass.

Sae: 'The scoring capabilities of Keith Toshiki are nothing short of World Class. Better than me.'

Sae kicked the ball, as it headed towards the box with a data like aura surrounding it.

Sae: Score it. Striker.

???: Not so fast

Before Keith was able to score, Ryu appeared before him.

Ryu: You didn't forget about me did ya Super Ace?!!

Keith: 'It's you. We're more similar than you realize. I could tell when I watched films. You were bored as well.'

Black wings appeared on Keith's back, as his eyes became crystal like.

Keith: 'TRY TO SURPASS ME HERE AND NOW, BLUE LOCK CAPTAIN!!! RYU KAIZEN!!!!'

As Ryu stepped out to block Keith's shot, he saw a single opening.

Keith: 'TIME TO THREAD THE NEEDLE!!!!'

Keith kicked the ball, as it went in between Ryu's legs, shocking everyone.

Ryu: 'There's no fucking way!!'

The ball bounced off the ground, and as Gagamaru went to block, he was just a few centimeters too short, with the ball going into the net.

Score: 4-3 Japanese U-20

Announcer2: GOOOOOOOAL!!!!! KEITH TOSHIKI ONCE AGAIN PROVES WHY HE IS THE JAPANESE U-20 ACE BY SCORING YET ANOTHER DAZZLING GOAL TO TAKE THE LEAD!!!!

Keith knelt on the ground after the shot, before rising up and bowing.

Isagi: He was right there... Th-That reaction time... How in the world is someone like this still playing in Japan?!

Reo: H-How?! Does he have no weakness?!!

Ryu: ... That's just insane. It must be what Ego talked about.

Ego and Anri watched, with the man watching keenly.

Ego: So, the first one to get into the Flow wasn't anyone on team Blue Lock, or even Ryusei Shidou... But one of the best Strikers to ever come out of Japan. Keith Toshiki.

Isagi: H-How is something like that even possible?! Aiming through someone's legs right as they're trying to block you?!!

Azure: 'Unbelievable... All those high level moves.'

Azure clenched his fist.

Azure: 'I can't defeat him. Not as I am right now.'

Rin: 'I-Is this the kind of player Sae was talking about?'

He thought back to the last full conversation the two had.

Rin: 'Turns out, there are a lot of guys better than me out there. Keith Toshiki... Has got to be one of those elite players.'

Azure: Oi, Rin!

Rin snapped his head towards Azure.

Azure: Hear me out for a second.

Rin: ...

The time for offense came once again with Ryu being passed the ball to start. He passed to Azure, much like he expected.

Azure: 'I thought so. To get himself open, Ryu will pass me the ball.'

A black and white aura appeared around Azure.

Azure: 'But he's forgetting, even though we may be his technical tools, we don't really have to work the way he wants all the time.'

Azure began to take the ball up himself, as Ryu noticed this. He smiled when seeing this.

Ryu: 'Hey, as long as you don't mess up, I'm all for taking a little break.'

Sae went to guard Azure, which he mostly expected.

Azure: 'As much as I hate to admit it, I won't be able to get by you either. You just have to wait.'

Azure stopped dead in his tracks, before kicking the ball to Rin.

Azure: 'Which is why...'

Azure's eyes went wide as he ran past Sae.

Azure: 'You're gonna be the one to fuel my awakening.'

HIT THE MUSIC!!

Sae kept on Azure, somewhat confused.

Sae: 'What is he up to?'

Rin: Bachira!

Bachira: Aye aye!!

The two began trading passes, with Azure getting closer, bringing Sae as well.

Azure: 'I don't care about scoring at the moment. What I do care about... Is making you my own personal jester!!'

An aura appeared around Azure, as he looked at Bachira.

Bachira: 'I guess that's your way of saying pass the ball right now!'

Bachira passed the ball, as once Azure got it, he stopped when Sae got in front of him. However instead of waiting, Azure immediately moved left, surprising Sae.

Sae: '... Was that just a fluke?'

Azure: 'This sensation...'

Azure dribbled forward, before sensing something. He did a chop dribble to the right, avoiding Sae kicking the ball.

Rin: What the?

Azure: 'It's like my Extreme Spacial Awareness... Has transferred to my dribbling sense.'

Azure smiled, sprinting to the side where he put the ball.

Azure: 'I don't care if it's Flow or just some kind of other awakening, I'm loving every second of this!!'

Isagi: This has got to be it for him...

Isagi clenched his fist.

Isagi: Azure was the second to get it?!

Sae chased after Azure once again, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sae: You won't defeat me by just dribbling around, Azure.

Azure: You're right... But I'm not just doing that.

Azure kicked the ball, as it went over to the Penalty Arc. Up there was Ryu.

Ryu: Not bad at all.

He readied himself to kick, but Keith moved in front of him.

Keith: 'No chance. The key to stopping your shot is to prevent you from getting a clear path in the first place.'

Ryu didn't flinch in the slightest, as he kicked the ball hard anyway, Niou and the goalie had leaped to block the ball, however both of them realized something was wrong.

Aiku: 'Hold on, that angle's off!!'

The ball curved slightly away, as a player that no one realized was still a problem arrived.

???: Argh, did you have to kick it THAT hard?

Nagi jumped in the air to trap the ball, barely stopping it.

Ryu: Oh stop complaining.

Nagi jumped into the air after kicking the ball up, before preparing to kick again. However Aiku had gotten there as well.

Aiku: 'NO GOALS HERE!!!'

Nagi: 'Crap. This place is locked off.'

Azure: NAGI!!!

Azure ran in, with Sae not too far.

Azure: BRING IT!!!

Nagi: Yes sir.

Instead of shooting it towards the goal, Nagi kicked the ball towards Azure.

Azure: 'Just as planned.'

Azure looked up, with Sae and Keith both coming after him.

Azure: 'Yeah, that's right.'

Azure leaped, going past the ball and turning.

Keith: 'The hell?!'

Azure: Wrong Striker.

He kicked the ball, as the one it got to was Rin.

Rin: Good work.

Rin kicked the ball, scoring a curve shot.

Score: 4-4

Aiku: 'These kids... Is there any option that they don't have to score?!'

Ryu: 'Azure you sly bastard. You even strung me along there.'

Azure looked at Sae, sticking his tongue out.

Azure: Thanks for playing along, Jester.

Sae was visibly upset when hearing this.

Sae: Jester?

Ryu: 'Welcome back, Game Master Azure.'

CHAPTER END!!