The referee was hesitant for a second, wondering if he had to give a talk to Hakodate Nishi’s captain and head coach first. However, before he could do that, the fourth referee had already given him a warning to start the game, and in panic, he finally blew the whistle.

FWEEE!

The whistle was also the sign to start the second half. Both Kuroki and Hiroshi, who stood on the center line, passed the ball quickly, before starting to rush to the opponent’s half without hesitation. Not just them, but the twins and Usami were also doing the same, putting at least five players to attack Esashi’s side.

"Don’t panic, everyone! Be careful!" One of the Esashi’s defenders, the one with the jersey number four, shouted on the back, commanding his teammates to make a move. "Don’t worry, just keep your eyes on them and clear the ball as far away as possible!"

At this point, Esashi High also knew about Hakodate Nishi’s infamous blitzkrieg attack. They all moved together, all eleven players backing down on their own half to repel this tactic. They believed that once this attack subsided, the threat posed by Hakodate Nishi would drop further for the rest of the game.

’So, you think that by knowing what we are doing, you will be able to stop us?’ Kazawa snorted incredulously. ’Well, then, let me show you how unstoppable we are!’

Right as the ball landed on his feet, he didn’t send a quick long ball like the usual. No, the boy noticed that no one was bothering him, as all the opponent’s players dropped back to prepare for his ping pass. So, instead of doing that, the boy sped up, dribbling the ball forward with his best pace.

"Shit! No one is guarding him?!"

"Don’t worry, I get this!" Nishimura rushed, trying to mark Kazawa.

The boy didn’t even flinch, though. Instead of passing the ball or trying to avoid the marker, he continued dribbling forward, not even bothering the players around him. There was no fancy dribble or combination pass, just the boy using his big body to repel all the attack like a fucking tank.

It didn’t matter how Nishimura charged his shoulder or even tugged his jersey to bring him down; Kazawa couldn’t be swayed from his rampant path. Hell, if anything, it was Nishimura who lost his balance, stumbling behind like a fool.

"Shit!" The captain scowled as he brought himself down to the ground. However, instead of pain, all he felt right now was panic. "Hey, Mochi! Cover him for me!"

Well, Mochizuki didn’t need to be told twice. In fact, he had already made his move even before Nishimura was down, realizing that his senpai couldn’t hold his own ground for too long. Now, he was just two steps away from Kazawa, and unlike Nishimura, he and Kazawa had a comparable height and weight, so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed in this situation.

Kazawa himself also noticed that. So, while on the run, he didn’t hesitate to let go of the ball.

Yeah, after dribbling past the center circle and even getting rid of Nishimura, he finally gave up the ball on his feet. However, it wasn’t to Takaaki close to him or even Makino behind him, but a diagonal pass splitting through the half-space area before it finally landed on Denki’s chest.

"Yes, Senpai! What a pass!" The boy grinned widely as he received the ball.

"Shit! Close him down! Don’t let him run rampant!"

"I get him! I get him!" Esashi’s left back rushed immediately, standing in front of Denki with his stance lowered for any possible move. Even if this was just the beginning of the second half, the boy was sweating already, not wanting to be the reason the team conceded a goal again.

Denki himself was quite relaxed. Not only was he confident in his skill, but this was also a deliberate tactic from Kumiko to target this area. The boy could still remember quite well what the girl said before the game began.

"Their left back, the one with the number 18, is a slow-starter. It doesn’t matter if it is the beginning or the first-half or the second-half, but his concentration is always at its lowest at that moment, making him the most vulnerable target for us to kill. So, if they have the kick-off, put pressure on them to force the ball there before killing him, and if we have it, get to that flank as quickly as possible. If everything works well, we will have two goals just based on this tactic."

’Yeah, I don’t know how you deduce this information, Kumiko-senpai, but based on the success in the first half... Let’s repeat it again!’

That left back was tensed the moment Higo made a move. His eyes also caught Hiroshi’s movement to open up the space on that flank, causing his center mass to move slightly toward that space. It only happened for a split second, but that was enough for Denki to make his move, cutting back to the middle while also getting rid of that defender.

"Oh, fuck! Anyone, cover me!" That left back cursed when Denki managed to get past his defense.

"Shit! Shut down the shooting space! Don’t let him space!"

When Denki recoiled his left foot as if he was about to take a shot, two defenders jumped immediately, wanting to block it. Little did they know, though, that the boy was a right-footed player. So, it was just a genuine fake, enough to fool them. Instead, he just pushed the ball lightly to the center right outside of the box, where Takaaki had already made his run.

Then, with a scalpel-like precision, the glasses boy took his shot, not even giving anyone a warning here.

Thud!

It was a gentle shot with weak power. It didn’t even get high, just staying low like cutting the grass. However, it moved so beautifully, making a sharp curl like a painter brushing a blank canvas, before, in the end, it hit the back of Eshashi’s net.

Just like Kumiko wanted, the team scored from this blitzkrieg attack, adding one more goal to their lead right now.