(Perhaps even he hadn’t realized it—Hiori, who was desperately sprinting to the best position to support my shot...)

(...was already standing in the perfect shooting spot!)

A surge of violet energy flared in Ryūma Banjō’s eyes as he planted his foot hard and drove it into the center of the ball.

“Here it comes! You two—one cover the left, one cover the right! Leave the rest to me!”

“Got it!”

“No problem! We’ll give it everything we’ve got!”

After barking his orders, Tabito Karasu was the first to step forward. His eyes locked on Ryūma’s right foot, carefully timing its descent. Only when it reached the perfect point would he move to intercept.

The two Team X players beside him saw Ryūma’s foot come down and instantly leapt out, without a shred of hesitation.

But in the next instant, Tabito Karasu’s sharp gaze faltered in confusion. On the right flank of the backfield, Rin Itoshi’s expression also shifted.

Because Ryūma’s kick wasn’t a shot—it was a pass toward the left side of Team X’s penalty area.

At that moment, Ryūma’s roar rang through the field:

“Hiori—shoot!!!”

Yo Hiori, who had just reached his spot, was still thinking about how to return the ball to Ryūma—or, if he shot, how to find the best angle.

But the moment Ryūma shouted, his mind went completely blank. Blue light flickered in his pupils as four rows of numbers began to scroll rapidly.

Rushing up to the ball, he said only one word:

“Alright.”

【Thud!!】

“Block him, Otoya!”

Eita Otoya dashed into the shooting lane at Tabito Karasu’s frantic command.

(He’s probably going to change direction midway, right? With my flexibility, if it’s a curve, I can block it.)

(But even if it’s straight, that’s fine. Our keeper can handle most direct shots!)

(It’s fine. I’ll stop this one for sure!)

As the ball came flying toward him, Eita stopped thinking and threw himself at it. Sure enough—the ball suddenly curved without warning.

Exploding with all his strength, Eita twisted midair, forcing his body to follow the new trajectory to cut off the ball near the goal.

Seeing his own goalkeeper leap beside him, Eita cursed silently—idiot.

Still, he was confident this one would be blocked.

But the next second, the unexpected happened—the ball suddenly lost all power and dropped straight down.

“Crap!”

With Eita’s shout, the ball rolled comically into Team X’s goal.

GOAL!! Team V 4:2 Team X

Everyone on the field froze, replaying the image of Yo Hiori’s shot in their minds.

His shot was different from Ryūma’s or Rin Itoshi’s. The ball seemed alive, changing direction at will to dodge Eita’s interception each time he was about to block it.

Ryūma was the first to react. He sprinted toward Yo Hiori, threw his arms around his shoulders, and laughed.

“Haha! That was insane, Hiori!”

“Your shot wasn’t just good—no, it was incredible!”

“Does that move have a name?”

Yo Hiori slowly came back to his senses. After that shot, he’d just stood there, his mind racing with questions about what had happened.

He realized he’d entered that strange state again—when he did, his mind became calm and crystal clear.

He could control the ball freely, almost as if his remote-controlled football had evolved to another level.

Listening to Ryūma’s stream of excitement, Hiori blinked and instinctively shook his head.

Ryūma rubbed his chin, thinking deeply, then suddenly clapped a hand on Hiori’s shoulder with a grin.

“That shot of yours... it’s like you completely controlled the ball—or even gave it life!”

“Let’s call it... the ‘Life Control Triple-Stage Explosive Shot’! ⁂((✪⥎✪))⁂”

“Uh...”

Seeing the sparkle in Ryūma’s eyes, Hiori scratched his head awkwardly before muttering,

“Whatever you like, Ryūma. As long as it makes you happy.”

“See? You think it’s an awesome name too, right?”

“Actually, I’ve got even cooler ones—Hiori, listen, I’ll tell you—”

“Alright, alright, Ryūma,” Hiori quickly interrupted. “We can talk about names after the match. Look—the other team’s ready to restart.”

“Let’s get back to our positions.”

“Fine, but after the match, I’m telling you a few more super-cool move names!”

Team X’s ball—Tabito Karasu kicks off from center!

Watching the carefree Ryūma Banjō, Tabito felt a flicker of anxiety.

(The match is already more than halfway through. We’ll need three goals in no time to catch up.)

(Hah... Against the ‘monster’ Ryūma Banjō, the ‘genius’ Rin Itoshi, and this newly awakened Yo Hiori... that’s practically impossible.)

“But! There’s no such thing as impossible for me—Tabito Karasu!”

With that, Tabito kicked off, passing the ball to Eita Otoya on the left side of the center circle, while charging straight toward the middle of Team V’s front field.

Eita received the pass, lowered his stance, and burst forward down the left flank.

Just as he entered Team V’s half, the triplet brothers closed in to intercept.

They knew the match was nearing its end, their gazes sharp and focused on Eita.

But Eita didn’t care—he charged straight at them without slowing.

The triplets were anything but calm. Having been beaten by him several times already, they couldn’t help but tense up.

Still, they barely managed to hold him back just as he entered the left midfield zone.

Whether it was their defense working or Eita’s slip-up, somehow they stopped his advance.

But before they could even celebrate, Eita shifted his stance and deftly passed the ball toward the center of Team V’s midfield.

At that spot, both Ryūma Banjō and Tabito Karasu converged on the ball.

“Getting a little desperate, Mr. Tabito Karasu~?”

“The game’s almost over—you don’t really think you can turn this around now, do you?”

“Heh, you’re annoying, Mr. Monster!”

Tabito quickly extended his arm to block Ryūma and slammed his back into him.

“Oh? Physical play? So you’re feeling gutsy now, huh?”

Tabito didn’t catch Ryūma’s real tone, but it was clear he wasn’t looking for a body clash.

As the ball approached, Tabito threw his full weight backward to hold Ryūma off—without any intent of trapping the ball himself.

(No-touch turn?)