They explained their situation to the three warlords plus Taiyou in detail. Afterwards, Shinsuke went up to the blue haired man with a frown.

"Do you have a second Liu Bei?"

"Hm? What is it, Shinsuke?"

"Um... Back there, you were a failure as a goalkeeper."

"Failure? What do you mean?"

"It's important for each person to fulfill their given role in soccer. Especially the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper needs to protect the goal properly!"

Kimiko had an awkward smile on her face. Well, not that I don't agree, but seeing Endou-san in some of his matches...

Liu Bei isn't Coach Endou, though. Her friend pointed out. He's a stranger to us and soccer, so we can't trust him about it that easily.

True...

"Protect, eh?" The man suddenly smiled. "Alright, leave it to me!"

Shinsuke didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but left it be for the time being. They then entered another room, this time with platforms all separated by deep holes. The doors had suddenly closed itself behind them too, leaving them with no way out.

Before them, there were...

"A ball made out of rope... A blazing fire... And I guess that's... a candlestick?" Tenma said, pointing at them one by one. "What does it mean?"

"Not a clue."

"Don't fret over it." Liu Bei said. "If there's a fire going, we just have to put it out."

"I was just thinking that we should extinguish it too!"

They all decided to just ignore Zhang Fei's self-corrections from then on.

"Wait!" Shindou called. "Then what about the ball and candlestick?"

"No idea."

"Eh?!"

"That's so irresponsible!" Shinsuke protested.

"But if we keep hesitating, we'll be stuck here. Zhang Fei!"

The man clad in red twirled his spear and sent a gust of wind flying towards the fire, putting it out. And right that second, the platform beneath them disappeared.

They slid into a large underground tunnel and suddenly found themselves flying out a trap door.

When they came to, Midori was first to get up. "Hey, we got dumped right back to the front door!"

"Appears that way!" Liu Bei laughed.

Shinsuke was not pleased. "This isn't funny! Now we're taking even longer to get inside!"

"So what? All we need to do is start over."

"The goalkeeper―"

"That again?"

Swallowing his anger, the small boy looked down. "The goalkeeper is the last point of defense. That's why he has to be cautious."

"There's no point being cautious if you won't be active about it."

"What I'm trying to say is―!"

"Alright, alright."

After several minutes of walking, they returned to that room. Shinsuke told Liu Bei to stay back while they solve the problem, not wanting a repeat of what just happened. The man only smiled and kept his head up.

Fei picked up the ball of rope and stared at it for a while before turning back to them. "Maybe this ball has a trick to it?"

Tsurugi turned to the ball and his eyes widened when he noticed it and both the fire and the candlestick's heights were lined up incidentally. "I see... Fei, give me the ball."

He did, and he placed it on the ground in front of him. Then, with a particularly hard kick, he shot it through the fire, lighting it up before it hit the wall on the other side and landed on the candlestick. In that instance, a pathway appeared before them, leading to a newly opened door.

"Nice, Kyousuke!"

"You did it, Tsurugi!"

"Alright, let's move on to the next one!"

Once they made it, they found a ton of statues lined up in the dark.

"What are these?" Nishiki asked.

"They look like dolls made out of clay..." Fei said.

"They're terracotta warriors." Guan Yu replied.

"Terracotta?" Kirino repeated. "Aren't those clay figures of warriors and horses buried inside a mausoleum?"

"Why are they in here?" Tenma asked.

"In any case, let's keep moving." Liu Bei said, making his way through the gaps between them.

They followed suit, trying to ignore how creepy they are. They made it halfway through the room before Kurama and Kariya let out a scream. They looked back and found the statues moving closer and closer. Liu Bei ordered them to run to the next room to escape, only to be surrounded right when they got there.

"What do we do?" Though just as Tenma said this, something came flying and hit Wondeba, who was beside him. He caught the thing before it fell and blinked. "Wha... This is a soccer ball!"

The lights suddenly lit up on their own, letting them see that they were standing behind a soccer field.

"I see! This is another one of the fortress' traps!" Fei said.

"In order to move on, we need to win against these terracotta puppets in a soccer match, is that it?" Shinsuke said.

"Has Kongming been watching our soccer battle from somewhere?" Liu Bei asked.

As they got themselves ready, Liu Bei volunteered to be a goalkeeper once again. Shinsuke tried to protest, but he was grabbed by the other two warlords.

"Let go! We... Raimon can't afford to lose!" He shouted as he struggled to break free. "We have to protect our soccer!"

In the end, Liu Bei still became goalkeeper. Another terracotta warrior became the referee, and another became the score keeper.

"We can't afford to lose..." Shinsuke muttered. Kimiko gave him a look, but said nothing.

It started with the terracotta puppets' kick off. They got past Nishiki and shot with a hissatsu called Gear Drive, its speed and power surprising Kinako, who ended up avoiding getting hit by it. Liu Bei held his hands out to catch it, but it had more power than he thought and it pushed a hand back.

"I'm not done yet!" He brought the loose hand back and properly tried to grip on the ball, slowing it down to a stop. He turned to Shinsuke, as if asking if that earned his approval of him, before turning back to the team. "Alright, it's our turn now! Go!"

"Okay!" Kirino trapped the ball and passed it to Tsurugi, who headed it to Taiyou.

Let's do this! It's my turn to be useful!

Kimiko couldn't help a smile. "You can do it, sunshine!"

A cluster of shadows came out of his back, forming an orange giant. "Taiyou Shin Apollo!" Taiyou jumped up and made a power shot, getting through the puppet's Beam Fist easily and scoring the first goal of the match.

"Alright!"

"Nice shot!"

"Yeah!" Alright! I can do this!

"That attack just now was made possible by my honorable brother's defense." Guan Yu stated. "You do admit to that?"

Shinsuke gave a reluctant nod. "Yes..." And that was when he noticed Liu Bei holding his right arm. "Huh...?"

It was the terracotta puppets' kick off again. They got past Tenma and Nishiki before shooting with Gear Drive again. Liu Bei tried to do the same trick he did before, but he seemed to have a harder time. Luckily, he managed to bounce it back and clear it before another could shoot.

"Liu Bei-san hurt his hand from that last catch!" Shinsuke exclaimed.

"What?!"

"Are you serious?"

"No way..."

"Liu Bei-san! That arm won't be enough to get by!"

"I still have my left!" He replied confidently.

"Why... are you going so far..."

"Once I've decided on something, I do it to completion!"

When the puppets came to shoot again, Liu Bei wasn't able to gather his strength because of the pain. He narrowed his eyes before bringing his whole arm up, supported by his left.

"It may not be able to catch, but it can act as a shield!" And he successfully deflected it. "I won't let it happen!"

"Wow..."

"Once he's decided on something, he goes through with it no matter what." Zhang Fei stated. "Even if it means having to travel through hell and back."

"That is Liu Xuande." Guan Yu continued. "My brother has seen many suffering people. When our people were hit by droughts and floods, response from government officials was slow even after it was brought to their attention. By the time they even bothered standing up to address it, it was already too late. Seeing the cycle of tragedy repeat itself continuously, my honorable brother decided that he himself would take action. He would save the people, before all was lost. For that, he would rule the country. After deciding that, it was the only goal he has lived for. If he needs someone like Kongming to help rule the country, he will keep going to Kongming with his head bowed low so that he may be heard."

"That is our honorable brother!"

"That is why we are able to entrust our lives to him."

Shinsuke's respect seemed to be returning bit by bit.

When the enemy made another shot, both of Liu Bei's arms gave in, leading him to using his head to deflect it. He ended up kneeling on the ground, and realizing his limit, he asked for Shinsuke to switch with him.

"My will has not yielded. I only protect what I can, that's all." He said, making his way over. "I have something I want to protect, just like you. I leave it to you, Shinsuke."

"Okay."

Shinsuke switched to his keeper jersey and went to the goal.

The puppets had the ball once again. They got through Nishiki using Transfer Move and got to the front of the goal.

"I'll stop it no matter what! I'll stop it!"

The puppet used Gear Drive once again, but this time, it got into the goal. Shinsuke didn't move an inch.

"Shinsuke! Are you planning to put my brother's efforts in vain?!"

Tenma ran back to his friend. "Shinsuke?"

"Sorry..."

"It's still a tie. Don't worry about it." Shindou said, giving him a reassuring smile.

Nishiki put a thumb up. "We'll win it back soon enough."

"O-Okay..."

I couldn't tell where it would come from... I'm supposed to stop it...

Kimiko frowned. She didn't like the sight one bit.

It's Raimon's kick off. Kurama passed to Tsurugi, who passed to Nishiki. He used Denrai Houtou to shoot, but it was deflected by Beam Fist. A puppet trapped it and went for the goal. It shot with its technique and Shinsuke jumped to stop it, but was a second too late.

"Mochi Mochi Kinako Mochi!"

Kinako had run back and stopped it with her own hissatsu. The ball stopped on her head and she cleared it.

"That was awesome, Kinako!"

"I didn't know you came up with that technique!"

"I can make progress too, you know!"

Shinsuke went up to her with his head low. "Thanks..."

"Don't worry. I was able to get it because you touched the ball, Shinsuke!"

"Yeah..."

Kimiko's frown only deepened.

For the next few shots, Kirino and Shindou began helping Shinsuke in guarding the goal. The little boy was stiff in his spot, watching them do his work for him.

"What's wrong with Shinsuke?" Midori asked.

"All of that tension is making him hesitant." Liu Bei said.

"Humans have personal ticks, so after watching them a number of times, you are eventually able to predict their shoot course. But the terracotta puppets have no such trait." Wondeba explained.

"That's what's causing him to be indecisive..." Akane said.

"What's more, the large amount of strain that Shinsuke is under right now is affecting his judgement for the worse."

Aoi turned back to the tiny goalkeeper worriedly. "No way..."

A puppet managed to get past Kirino and Kariya. Shinsuke, in his panic, closed his eyes.

"If you're feeling indecisive, then fly!" Liu Bei suddenly yelled.

"Huh... Eh?!"

"No matter which way it comes, thinking about it first only wastes time! So leave it all to luck and fly!"

"Leave it to luck?! That's so irresponsible!"

"It isn't! I'm telling you not to let time go by! If you don't make a decision, you'll lose everything!"

Kimiko narrowed her eyes on him. Come on, Shinsuke. Don't be a hypocrite.

"Shinsuke! Isn't there something you want to protect?!"

"Shinsuke!"

"I... will protect soccer!"

Just as another Gear Drive was shot, Shinsuke disappeared from the front of the goal, reappearing far on the side near the line. He then dashed forward and punched the ball.

"Buttobi Punch!" The ball was deflected upwards, slowing down, and landing right in his hands. "I stopped it..." A wide grin appeared on his lips before he quickly stood up and passed the ball to Tenma.

The brunette passed it to Nishiki, who then passed it to Taiyou. He summoned Taiyou Shin Apollo again and shot with Sunshine Force. The match ended with their win, 2 to 1.