Blue lock: the true egoist

[Jude's POV]

Hiori isn't even playing seriously. 

I knew from my prior knowledge that he wasn't going to show his true potential until much later. 

This much was just an appetizer compared to the full extent of his abilities later on. It was surprising that his abilities weren't recognized until much, much later. A man whose passes were even compared to those of Itoshi Sae, one of the New Generation World XI. 

I often followed every football related news, so I could see that ever since my last meeting with him, Sae grew exponentially more famous. 

If Hiori is this good, I can't even begin to imagine how much stronger Sae is. I already had some prior knowledge, but not only did it fade with the years, it also is nowhere near the same as experiencing it myself. 

I had goosebumps all over my body simply from watching Hiori's play

"So they're really not going to give us an easy win." 

I knew that Karasu and Hiori would both be hard to deal with, but the place where they really shine is in a real match rather than a 3vs3.

I expected it to be rather easy. Yet I was pretty wrong. 

I should've expected that much from Blue Lock. 

I need to throw my common sense out of the window. My past experiences can't be applied here. 

I'm not dealing with children who are playing for fun, but egoists who evolve every single second. And the only way for me to stand above all of them is to evolve at an even more monstrous rate. 

A wide smile unconsciously formed on my face. 

'I wonder how they would react if I suddenly got a new weapon.'

A special weapon might be impossible for me to suddenly obtain in the middle of a game, but creating an artificial weapon which can take people by surprise was still possible — like I once did with my acceleration.

Let's see how they react to this. 

[Shooting power: 54->59

Shooting accuracy: 57->62

Long shot: 55->60]

I used 15 out of my 25 pro points. 

But it'll be worth it. I already made it my goal to screw up the plot. I want to destroy all those monsters who evolve at such an absurd rate. And for that I need to break past common sense.

I'll show them who's the future number one. 

.. 

.. 

//////////////////////

[3rd POV]

"A Chemical Reaction with the three of us?" Yukimiya asked, even after hearing Jude's explanation he was still skeptical. 

A chemical reaction isn't something you can easily plan out or predict, especially when it's with people you never played with before.

"It's pretty simple. The same way I brought out the best out of Otoya's weapon, I'll add you to the mix. Since your weapon is your gyro shot and one on one situations we'll create such a situation for you. Which would in turn allow Otoya's weapons to shine even more. When everyone's attention is on you, Otoya would find himself free." Jude reiterated. 

"So who will score it in the end?" Otoya questioned. 

"The one who has the ball gets a free shot. The first who's able to make his weapon succeed thanks to our chemical reaction will get to score." Jude said as he walked up for the kick off. 

It was a fundamentally simple tactic, but in practice they lacked the teamwork and synergy to be able to confidently say that it'll work. 

But this was the kind of place Blue Lock is. One where talent meets talent and birth miracles. 

That's what a chemical reaction is. It's spontaneous and the effects can't be easily predicted beforehand. That's what makes it so dangerous. 

Everyone on the field understood that. 

If they succeed, they might find a way to even use it to get past the 4th stage of the second selection.

Yukimiya and Otoya soon took their positions, as Jude instructed. 

"Here you go!" The game resumed and Jude immediately passed the ball to Yukimiya. 

His role was simple. 

Advance with the ball and try to create a one on one situation for him to score. 

"This is perfect," Miyata said as he looked at the field's current arrangements. 

They were already able to predict that Yukimiya would try to recreate his solo goal, and they already prepared a perfect way to defend against it. 

If they're able to take the ball from him and launch a quick counter they may be able to secure the win. 

The plan was tailor made to stop Yukimiya. 

Karasu, who would usually guard Jude, was now patiently waiting for Yukimiya who was running up to him. It might've looked like a one on one situation, but Hiori was right behind him. Even if Karasu fails to stop Yukimiya, he'll be able to put him in a bad enough position for Hiori to take advantage of it with his superior football IQ. 

It was a bulletproof defense to stop Yukimiya.

"Don't sweat it. Proceed with the plan!" Jude yelled out while moving to Yukimiya's right and allowing him an easy way out by passing him the ball. 

As soon as Jude got the ball, Otoya moved from behind Jude and sprinted towards the goal. 

Simultaneously, Yukimiya ran past Karasu to the left to force a duel against Hiori. 

They both got in the best possible position which would allow them to make the best use out of their weapons. 

Karasu would struggle to catch up to Yukimiya after being distracted by Jude's [Emperor's Aura], while Miyata didn't even notice Otoya's run until he was already too far from him. 

No matter which way he passed it was an almost guaranteed goal. 

This was their new chemical reaction. 

Yukimiya × Jude × Otoya. 

Everyone looked back at Jude who was the furthest from the goal as he armed his pass. 

.. 

But it wasn't a pass. 

"He's shooting it!!" Miyata yelled out after reading Jude's body language. His armed foot had too much strength for a simple pass. 

And indeed, Jude never planned to cause such a chemical reaction. Whether it worked or failed had little to no impact on him.

His sole intention was to make a nice stage for him to check out the effects of his new stats. 

Karasu tried running up to help block the shot but it was too late. After putting more strength into it than ever before, Jude sent the ball flying towards the goal. 

It wasn't any special shot. The ball didn't curve or change direction. It flew straight in the direction in which Jude aimed, to the place furthest from the goalkeeper. The top right corner. 

And to everyone's surprise, this insane shot lodged itself straight into the net, faster than any of Jude's previous shots. 

4-3.

"This bastard, he did it again..." Karasu spoke through gritted teeth, he immediately recognized it.

Similar to how he suddenly revealed his change in acceleration during the most critical moment. He did the same here. 

Karasu's sharp analytical eyes were almost as accurate as Jude's [Eyes of the Lord], it was Karasu's special weapon, one of the highest ranked special weapons Jude ever came across. 

Karasu was able to determine someone's speed, strength, state of mind, shot power, accuracy, etc. He was even able to see the subtle changes due to the lack of stamina. 

Every single person's weaknesses laid bare in front of his eyes. 

He knew very well that such a shot wasn't something Jude was capable of.

He could usually tell if someone was holding back, but whenever he saw Jude play earlier, he was clearly giving it his all, far from someone who would hold back.

And yet here it was.

The change wasn't extremely drastic, but it was big enough to make the difference between a missed shot and a goal. 

Jude evolved once again. 

.. 

.. 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Author: A longer chapter than usual, to thank everyone for the power stones! Another chapter will be coming out later today to end the 3vs3!