Ego Jinpachi understood every single one of the 300 young forwards present. All the uncut gems here had been personally selected by him; they were the young men he believed had the greatest potential to succeed.
Initially, Tendou was not part of Ego Jinpachi's plan. But plans can't keep up with changes.
In the match against Kokuo, the athletic ability Tendou displayed moved Ego Jinpachi. It was a kind of innate talent, visible to the naked eye. Even without being on the sidelines, he could feel the terrifying energy contained within his body just by watching through a screen.
It was like the elf of the green pitch, Ronaldinho. From the moment this Brazilian emperor stepped onto a football field, he was destined to become the most eye-catching superstar of his era. Such a genius was like O'Neal, Duncan, James, or Wembanyama in the basketball world. The kind of super genius you would pick with your eyes closed.
And Tendou, in Ego Jinpachi's mind, was 0.5 of such a super genius. The other 0.5 would depend on Tendou's rate of progress after joining the program. After all, the world of football is not short of examples of players with explosive physical talent who, despite a lifetime of effort, could not become top-tier players.
However, for Japan, even 0.5 was already astonishing. After all, a genius like Ronaldinho was an era-defining superstar they had never possessed.
Anri Teieri was also observing Tendou. Like Ego Jinpachi, she believed that Tendou was one of the geniuses among these 300 individuals with the best chance of standing out. Especially with a personality like his. Anri Teieri's gaze swept over the 299 people below the stage who were still hesitating, while Tendou had already taken the first step.
At least in terms of self-confidence, he has already surpassed the others.
"No second thoughts? I'm telling you in advance, once you join the program, there's no turning back," Ego Jinpachi threatened.
"What nonsense are you talking about? There are plenty of roads in front of me. I'll walk whichever one I want."
Tendou felt like laughing. The other guy was actually worried that someone with a cheat system would have no way out?
Ego Jinpachi didn't know this; he only felt that the kid in front of him was exactly the person he was looking for.
A perfect egoist!
"I see." Ego Jinpachi adjusted his glasses and laughed loudly. "Abandon common sense and become the person who lives only for the moment of scoring a goal!"
BOOM!
As his voice fell, the screen behind Ego Jinpachi opened to both sides, like the gates to a new world.
Tendou had no doubts. He walked past Ego and stepped through.
Below.
Isagi Yoichi, who had been restless for a long time, saw this and immediately rushed up.
No one had ever taught him like this before! The team's coach always had "all for one, one for all" on his lips. Football is a team sport. But that wasn't what he wanted.
The player he wanted to become was someone like Tendou.
In a trance, the image of Tendou from that day's match appeared in his mind once again, driving his body forward, making it impossible for him to stop.
"I am... a striker!"
The actions of Tendou and Isagi successfully ignited the atmosphere of the scene.
"If we're going, let's go! Who's afraid of who!"
"Me too!"
For a moment, the crowd surged with emotion, and more than two hundred people rushed towards the world outside the gate like a swarm of bees.
Before long, only Ego Jinpachi and Anri Teieri were left.
Anri Teieri walked out from the shadows and praised, "That was a wonderful speech. But the provocation method you used was very low-level."
"It doesn't matter if it's low-level or not." Ego Jinpachi returned to his usual calmness. He said, "What's important is making these kids understand that a striker's duty is to score goals!"
"So, what arrangements do you have for that kid?" Anri Teieri was referring to Tendou.
"We'll take it one step at a time. Let's see what he's made of first before making a decision."
Tendou was a talent they were focusing on cultivating. Also receiving their close attention were Itoshi Sae's younger brother, Itoshi Rin, as well as geniuses like Shidou Ryusei and Nagi Seishiro.
However, the most important one was still that kid named Tendou Kageyoshi. He was confident that geniuses like Itoshi Rin could undergo a magnificent transformation under his guidance. But their talent still had a gap compared to Tendou's. Tendou... he had the chance to become a football emperor like Ronaldinho.
...
On a large bus.
Tendou looked at the system with a blank expression. The recent events hadn't brought him a particularly large number of popularity points. However, judging from the discussions in the bullet comments, he had successfully attracted the audience's attention. The next step was to convert this attention into popularity points.
"Tendou, why did you walk up first just now?"
Next to him was Isagi Yoichi. The two of them were the first to get on the bus.
"Then why did you follow up second?"
"Well... I just yearned for the world that Ego Jinpachi described."
Abandoning everything, breaking traditional rules, only needing to consider how to score goals. Also, he was a fan of Noel Noa.
"In that case, why are you asking me why?"
"That's true."
Isagi no longer dwelled on this question. In the end, the reason he, Tendou, and the other 298 people had boarded the Blue Lock bus was actually just one.
The ambition to become the world's number one!
After an unknown amount of time, the bus stopped. The door opened, and Tendou, carrying his backpack, got off first and walked into this Blue Lock facility, which was modeled after the Pentagon. The design inside was very distinctive; all around were cold metal surfaces, and the overall color scheme was gray, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
Tendou had never been to prison, but he felt it was probably something like this.
After getting off the bus, everyone was quickly separated. Tendou received a set of clothes and walked towards his room.
"Room Z?"
Good luck.
After Tendou took the uniform, his eyes noticed the letter on the chest.
"In that case, I should be able to collect popularity points sooner."
Room Z was the room where the protagonist, Isagi Yoichi, was located. In other words, in the first stage of elimination in Blue Lock, he would be with Isagi and get a lot of screen time.
...
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