"Come on! Form a tighter wall!"

"Jui, you are the perimeter! Everyone, move according to him!"

"Don’t let any gap exist! We cannot afford the leak!"

It was a free-kick situation, only three meters in front of the penalty box. The angle was quite difficult, since Hiroshi fell slightly closer to the flank. However, it was still on the left side, allowing him, the right-footed player, to shoot directly at the goal.

"Five players as a wall, three of them are taller than Jun-senpai..." Kenji whispered solemnly at Hiroshi as he glanced at the human wall in front of him. "Do you need me to act as a distraction?" He asked. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The distraction, while it looked a bit silly, was very helpful when facing a thick wall like this. Even a moment of crack could be taken advantage of by a good taker, and right now, it looked like Hiroshi needed one to get through this.

The boy himself took a deep breath, glancing at the space above the wall while also calculating how high he should take the kick. It couldn’t be too high that it would float above the goal, but a slight miscalculation would also make the ball hit the wall, wasting such a good opportunity. Everything had to be perfectly executed here.

"No, no need for a distraction." Hiroshi finally shook his head after pondering for a moment. "Just get ready behind the wall. I will make sure that it will pass the wall, but the direction will be weak."

Kenji nodded silently when he heard that, giving up the spot next to Hiroshi so that he could join the crowd in the penalty box.

’Five tall players forming a wall together... That means I only have one way to breach it, right?’ Hiroshi glanced at the space above them subtly, but not enough for those in the wall to not notice it.

The boy did it deliberately, hoping that he could give the impression that he would send the ball above them. By how they squirmed to get closer to each other, it seemed the deception worked. As a result...

FWEEE!

The moment the referee blew the whistle, he made a slow run-up, approaching the ball at a relaxed pace. All the Hannan University High players in front of him were tense, ready to jump. The moment they leaped in the air, though...

Thud!

The ball was low, piercing the snow on the ground before getting through their legs. Everyone was so stunned, not expecting that Hiroshi would go down this route. Poor the goalkeeper, he couldn’t even see where the ball was with the huge wall in front of him. As a result, the boy could only stare helplessly as it rolled toward the edge of his goal, giving Hakodate Nishi the first point of the game.

"YEAH!" Hiroshi didn’t even run around, just punched the air to celebrate the goal. "Come on!" He spread his arms wide to receive all the hugs from his teammates.

"Damn, Hiroshi! I know we can always count on you!" Makino laughed as he hugged the boy fondly.

"Good job, Senpai! Not as cool as what I would do, but it is acceptable!" Kenji joined the bear hug.

"Yes! Come on!"

After this, everyone followed, just expressing their happiness quite moderately. At this point, they were not new in the tournament anymore, so not every goal had to be celebrated like the end of the world. If anything, they needed to save their energy a little bit more because after every goal, the team would face a round of fierce attacking from the opponent’s side.

"Good job, Hiroshi-kun." Usami offered a high-five quietly.

"Yeah, that’s thanks to your effort, Usami." Hiroshi’s grin was small but genuine. "We haven’t been able to get through that bastard Taiga Nagai’s defense at all since the beginning, so your penetration from the middle really helped us a big time earlier. Be bolder and do it more in the future."

The boy didn’t show it on his face, but his ears perked up like a dog getting praised by its owner. Hiroshi couldn’t help but snort, knowing that his friend was always too shy to accept blunt praise like that.

While they were coming back to their own area, all the Hakodate Nishi players also received a round of applause. After all, it was quite a good goal, and it was rare to see a low free-kick aimed at the ground get into the goal.

"Damn, that free-kick was nasty..."

"After Ryusuke Higo and Kenji Makabe, they still have that number 8 and number 10... It seems Hakodate Nishi is a trove of treasure here..."

"It is a pity that they play a conservative defense style, or we will not be able to see more from them."

Meanwhile, on the opponent’s side, the atmosphere was quite depressing. The five people who acted as the wall, including three of the tallest players on the team, were so embarrassed after they suffered from this goal. It was probably the first time a player dared to pull such a trick in front of them.

"Okay, no need to be that depressed." Kei Murakami, the team’s captain, clapped loudly here, trying to encourage his teammates. "The goal has already happened; no need to lament on it too much. Just accept everything silently, swallow your grievance, and get them back as quickly as possible!"

Taiga Nagai, the vice-captain of the team, couldn’t help but nod. "While it is embarrassing for us, for me, to get fooled like this, it is not our first time conceding a goal first. Let’s just move on and think of how we should attack after this, because I am sure they will pull their usual iron-clad defense again."

The atmosphere was so solemn immediately as all the players stared at each other with grim expressions. If there was one thing that Hakodate Nishi excelled at the most, it should be this kind of situation, where they only needed to dump more players in their own box to clear everything. Even Shohei High could only score from a controversial penalty, and honestly, they weren’t that confident that their offensive power was as good as that of the Saitama team.

So, now... That begged a question. What should they do?