The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 10: Hiroshi’s Brilliant Play!

"Tch! It seems you really have a quality as a goalie, Chibi!" Makino scowled, trying his best to hide his satisfaction. "Well, you have already done your job, so it is time for us to repay the favor!"

Right after he got the ball, Makino didn’t stick with it for too long. No, he only touched it once to make sure that the ball was under his control, and after a quick glance at the middle, the captain passed it straight to Hiroshi.

"DAMN! COUNTER!"

"ONO! SLOW HIM DOWN! DON’T LET HIM GET CLOSER!"

"KEEP EYES ON THE LEFT!"

Esashi High’s players showed their experience in defense by moving coordinately, shutting down any room for Hakodate Nishi to attack. However, in football, formations sometimes didn’t really work, especially when facing a player’s brilliance. This was exactly what happened on the pitch, as right after having the ball in his hand, Hiroshi finally showcased his talent.

With a quick body-feint movement, Hiroshi got rid of the opponent’s entanglement instantly, and without hesitation, the boy dribbled forward, piercing the opposition half by himself.

"SHIT! DEFENDER, COVER!"

"DAMN! DON’T DUMP YOUR RESPONSIBILITY ON ME!"

Even from afar, Higo could see everything clearly, and he was so dumbfounded to witness the scene of Hiroshi tearing apart the opponent’s defense. Based on Kumiko’s story, he saw Hiroshi as an innocent and sunny boy who got teased a lot by his friends. Not in a bad term like bullying, of course, just a friendly banter and some sort of that. Who would’ve thought that the boy would be like a butterfly on the field, flying so freely as if he were weightless?

"Incredible, right?" Someone suddenly spoke to him. When Higo turned around, he saw Jun, a tall and muscular defender who was also the team’s former goalkeeper, staring at Hiroshi in astonishment. "That is exactly what I felt the first time I saw him. Well... That, and anger, because he really humiliated me in the past." He barked out a laugh.

"Um... With such an amazing talent, how could he join our team? I mean, should he be in a better school?" Higo couldn’t help but ask.

Jun glanced slightly at the opposition half before starting to run forward. "Well, that’s a story for another time! Just ask him yourself, Senpai!" Higo blinked in confusion as he saw the boy running away without telling him anything.

However, he could understand why, as somehow, Hiroshi got closer to the opponent’s goal. Jun ran away, not with the mentality of helping the attack, but getting ready to celebrate if a goal happened. It seemed that the boy was confident with this counterattack.

"Come on, Hiroshi! Give it to me!"

"Left side! Push it to the pocket!"

As Hiroshi got closer to the penalty box, the boy slowed down a little, waiting for his teammates to get into a better position. Yuji, a small and quick-footed striker with the bandana on his head, tried to sneak in between two tall defenders, while Takaaki, the left midfielder with glasses, was trying to spread the opponent’s defenders thin.

While some of Esashi’s players were trying their best to rush back, they were too slow to chase the attackers down. It was 3V3 in the Esashi’s half, and Hiroshi had a lot of choices to go right now.

’Now, what should I do?’

As Hiroshi scanned his surroundings to observe everyone’s position, an idea suddenly popped into his head. While all the Esashi’s defenders were busy guarding each other, the room in front of him was quite empty. Of course, that didn’t mean he could shoot directly. No, from the corner of his eyes, Hiroshi could see that the defensive midfielder was so close to him, and with his thin body, a single charge would be enough to knock him down.

So, after dribbling at a very high pace from the middle of the pitch, Hiroshi suddenly stopped the ball, and with a sharp turn, he changed direction to the left. This caught the defensive midfielder off guard, forcing the man to fall to the ground awkwardly.

Brugh!

"Oh! Nice turn, Hiroshi!"

"Get it done!"

"Don’t think about it!"

One of the defenders suddenly rushed forward, sliding to close down the area for Hiroshi to take a shot. However, this time, the boy did another feint, acting like he was about to shoot, just for him to tap the ball once again, getting more room to aim. Now, as no one was able to stop him, the boy had an easy time getting it done, so he didn’t delay the attack anymore and launched his killer shot.

BAM!

The power was not that good, but the direction was tricky. It went straight to the top left, so close to the goal post. Esashi’s goalkeeper leaped toward that side, extending his hands to reach the ball. Unfortunately, his reaction was too late, as it slipped through his finger before hitting the net perfectly.

Thud!

"OH! WHAT A GOAL!"

"COME ON! HIROSHI, YOU BEAST! YOU HUMILIATE THEM!"

"YEAH! THAT’S HOW IT SHOULD’VE BEEN DONE!"

"WE ARE IN THE LEAD! COME ON!"

All the Hakodate Nishi’s players were celebrating wildly, leaving the opponent in a dumbfounded state. No one expected that a first-year student, someone new on the team, could suddenly tear apart everything in front of him so easily.

Higo himself also had his jaw dropped, his eyes following Hiroshi from afar, who was still under the basking of the other’s praises. Honestly, this was the first goal he had ever witnessed from a very close distance, and it would be a lie if he was not surprised. Even though the distance was quite great from one goal to another, he could still see how his kouhai was dancing around so swiftly, and that shot...

’If I were the goalkeeper, would I be able to stop that?’ His mind thought unconsciously. ’Even with my clairvoyance, it should be hard for me to stop. Is that the reason why Kumiko-chan didn’t allow him to take a shot during the last shooting drill?’ He glanced at the girl on the bench with a complicated gaze.

Well, no one cared about that, since all the Hakodate Nishi players were still ecstatic about the goal. After the celebration was over, with the excitement rising to a peak, Makino clapped so loudly, gathering everyone’s attention.

"Okay, we have one goal lead! Let’s do the usual!" He shouted.

"YES, CAPTAIN!" Everyone followed with the same enthusiasm. "LET’S DEFEND IT WITH OUR LIVES ON THE LINE!"