Chapter 5: The Genius Itoshi Sae
On the third day after entering the dormitory, everyone was continuously training various abilities inside the training room.
While Naruhaya Asahi was training his stamina, he discovered that Blue Lock's selection of people wasn't completely random.
For example, the loud guy next to him named Raichi Jingo, ranked 294th — in the 20 km/h running endurance test, he lasted about 1 hour 12 minutes, whereas Asahi managed 1 hour 36 minutes.
In the jumping test, the 293rd-ranked squinty-eyed Kuon Wataru was stronger, reaching 68 cm, which was equal to Asahi.
After a series of tests, Asahi also gathered some physical information about the other members of Team Z.
Overall, besides himself, when he digitized everyone else's physical data, the numbers indeed matched their rankings.
Asahi didn't care about rankings anyway. They were useless—just something for show…
No—useful! The rankings were absolutely useful!
After eating nothing but salad for three days, Asahi stared at Gagamaru Gin's dumplings beside him. If not for the "behavioral standards," he would've snatched the food already.
No, I can't steal food from others.
But those dumplings look so good, just look at how they were pan-fried—so fragrant at first glance.
Damn it!
I have no standards! I want to steal them!
No, no!!
Think about Mr. Arthas. He would never steal dumplings.
Inside Asahi's mind, a devil and an angel were brawling nonstop.
"Hey, shorty. Give me back my dumpling."
Hearing that line, Asahi snapped back to reality—he had already stolen Igarashi's dumpling and was currently chewing it.
Facing Gagamaru's accusation, Asahi remained perfectly calm and said directly:
"When my ranking goes up later, I'll treat you to something delicious."
Then he waved his hand lightly and went back to training his stamina…
I'm sorry, Mr. Arthas.
I'm just a trashy person who can't control his appetite…
But that dumpling was so delicious~ (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
Hearing this, Gagamaru indeed stopped being angry and went back to his seat to keep eating.
After all, in Gagamaru's mind, that little shorty had shown amazing strength these past few days. It was only a matter of time before his ranking improved—and he even promised to treat him to good food.
Thinking of that, pretty sparkles floated around Igarashi as he began imagining what he might eat in the future.
On his way back to training, Asahi saw the 300th-ranked "Pickled Radish" and the 299th-ranked "Natto." Observing how Igarashi protected his own food, Asahi said speechlessly:
"I'm not going to steal that little food from you."
At night in Team Z's dorm, Asahi couldn't sleep. His body seemed to be constantly urging him.
How could you sleep at your age?
Mr. Arthas played in the World Cup at 14!
You're already 15 and lazier than him—
How dare you sleep at a time like this—?!
Similar lines scrolled endlessly in Asahi's head.
Unable to sleep due to these thoughts, he walked barefoot to the indoor training facility to continue training.
"Be it Messi, Ronaldo, Noel Noah, or Arthas—every great player carries a monster within them. That must be the mark of a true striker. I've always believed that. So, Isagi, I'm glad I came to Blue Lock… because I met you."
Hearing Bachira Meguru's speech at the training room entrance, Asahi was moved for a moment.
Does Mr. Arthas… have a monster in his heart too?
Forget it. I'll think about that when I become the ace of a team someday.
Immediately after, Asahi dashed forward like lightning, eyes locked on the ball rolling between the two boys. Wind seemed to surge beneath his feet as he charged onto the pitch, executing a clean, beautiful sliding tackle.
The ball Bachira controlled was kicked high, drawing an arc through the air and flying straight toward him. Asahi was already prepared—he adjusted his posture and extended his foot calmly, catching the ball with ease.
The entire sequence flowed smoothly like water, as if everything was under his control.
"Wanna play, Conjoined Twins?"
"We play!" ×2
Just as Asahi enjoyed bullying the two of them, the speaker overhead chimed.
[Stamina test results are out. Please return to your rooms to check the updated rankings.]
Back in the room, Asahi saw his ranking had indeed changed—now 265th.
"Isagi, look! I improved a lot from 300th. See—275th!"
The chestnut-headed boy in the room was proudly showing off his new rank.
Asahi stroked his chin and quickly calculated: this chestnut head went up by 25 ranks. Isagi was now 274th—also up 25.
Two players from the very bottom moving up the same amount could mean only one thing:
Those who moved up did so because others were eliminated earlier.
He had counted before—one room had 11 team members and 1 eliminated player, making 12 total.
300 divided by 12 equals 25 exactly.
Meaning, aside from Team Z, there were 24 more teams in Blue Lock waiting to be defeated.
Thinking that, Asahi could no longer tolerate how the stupid chestnut head kept grinning, completely unaware that he was still dead last.
With a cold face, he reminded Igarashi:
"Stop laughing, monk. Your rank went up because each of the 25 teams lost one player in tag. So you're still last place."
Thunder struck both Igarashi and Isagi, whose congratulatory smile froze instantly.
The room screen turned on—Ego Jinpachi reappeared before them.
"Ya-ya~ my raw gems of talent, enjoying Blue Lock so far?"
Raichi immediately exploded:
"Enjoy!? How could we enjoy this crap!? Can you really improve under such horrible conditions!?"
Asahi also voiced his long-standing complaint about the food:
"Mr. Administrator, can't you prepare better, tastier meals?"
Ego scratched his head as if confused by monkey noises:
"The terrible environment is because your soccer skills are terrible. What's hard to understand, idiots?"
Then Ego explained Blue Lock's structure.
Blue Lock had five buildings: B through Z — 25 teams total. Each building housed five teams.
Ranking improvements, as Asahi predicted, came from the tag game eliminations.
Rank 1–11 were Team B.
12–22 were Team C.
And so on…
Team Z, which included Asahi, was the lowest among the five buildings — a group composed of the lowest 11 ranks.
To get better living conditions, they had to continuously improve.
"Next, we will begin the first Blue Lock selection."
"Wait!" Asahi cut Ego off extremely rudely.
"You mean… I'm 11th from the bottom!?"
If this were some U.S. or European academy with only 11 players, he might accept being 11th.
But in a 300-person elite training camp held in a soccer weak country like Japan—
How could he possibly be 11th from the bottom!?
Even with memory loss, his muscle memory screamed that he was a genius in soccer. His instincts told him he was strong—very strong.
How could he be only 265th!?
I'm number one! Undisputed number one!
Asahi's pupils suddenly flashed with a five-pointed star. His entire body radiated an aura of "I'm the absolute best."
Everyone felt the sudden pressure and instinctively turned toward the "eye of the storm."
In the monitoring room, Ego grinned:
"Then prove it to me in the first selection, you contradiction-filled little maniac."
Meanwhile, outside Blue Lock, on another "battlefield"—
Inside a luxury hotel built beside a meandering river, in a bright, spacious room, a handsome youth with bean-colored hair sat elegantly on a premium chair, staring coldly at a journalist.
The man sitting opposite him was a black-haired male reporter holding a notebook, smiling bitterly. Judging from the youth's gaze, he felt like he was interviewing a very troublesome big shot. A sense of dread crept up on him.
"I'm football journalist Nihei. Thank you for accepting this interview. Let's get straight to it: not long ago, you were part of Re Al's world-class youth academy. But due to regulations, you had no chance to appear in first-division matches, so you returned to Japan. Does this mean we'll see you in the domestic league?"
Without thinking, the handsome youth responded instantly:
"I'd rather die than join Japan's league. I'd rather play with German college kids than play soccer in this country."
The New Generation World XI midfielder — Itoshi Sae — ruthlessly crushed the reporter's question.
Reporter Nihei forced a stiff smile and continued:
"Uh… Itoshi, you've been selected for PIFA's New Generation World XI. As a midfielder, you're already a rising star chased by clubs worldwide."
"What expectations or ambitions do you have toward wearing the Japan national jersey someday?"
Sae stood up impatiently.
"None. This soccer-weak country can never become number one in the world. My dream is to win the Champions League."
He opened the door and tossed one last line over his shoulder:
"In this country, there isn't a single forward who can receive my passes. I was simply born in the wrong nation."
Then Sae lifted his arm elegantly and waved. Turning slightly, he spoke softly to his agent:
"Good work. I'll leave the follow-up to you."
Nihei responded politely, though inwardly he thought: this genius is overflowing with confidence.
But hearing such confident words reminded him of someone six years ago. He wondered — could Japan truly produce someone who could satisfy this genius who only cared about being the best in the world?
No…
If that person hadn't gone to the U.S…
Beside them stood Sae's glasses-wearing foreign agent, Girolan Dabadie, who tried to restrain him. Seeing Sae leave without stopping, he rushed after him with his notebook, warning that such statements might anger the media.
Sae responded uncaringly:
"This country doesn't matter. I only came back because my passport expired. By the way — did the visit application for the Daigo family go through?"
Hearing that, Dabadie trembled as if recalling some hellish scene.
"Yes~ It went through. Only because your fame reached Japan, and the Daigo family head wants to know about Mr. Arthas's situation in America. Otherwise, there's no way I could've gotten through the high-ranking officials to secure it."
"Japan's high-ranking officials?" Sae was surprised those old fossils still had the right to apply for a Daigo family visit.
Dabadie waved his hands frantically, terrified:
"No, no — I meant officials from other countries. You can't imagine it! When I was lining up at the Daigo estate registration office, basically everyone there was U.S. officials, European football stars, elite coaches, etc. I was even approached by a big shot from my own country while in line."
"If the Daigo family head — Mr. Arthas's grandmother — hadn't seen your name on the application and kindly moved our appointment to the last day before we leave Japan, I don't even want to imagine how many calls I'd have gotten! Anyway, when we get there, you absolutely must not—"
Before he finished, Sae was distracted by camera flashes from the meeting hall beside the corridor.
"This hotel is pretty lively."
Dabadie explained:
"Ah, today there's a press conference in the hall."
At the grand JF Japan Football Union press event, the venue was filled with people.
Every seat was packed with reporters from various media, notebooks and cameras ready, all focused on the two people on stage.
On the left sat the intellectual big sister Asahi met earlier in Blue Lock — Anri Teieri, now a new member of the Japan Football Union. She wore a professional outfit and carried herself with elegance and confidence.
On the right sat a large, balding old man with a Mediterranean hairstyle — the president of the Japan Football Union, Buratsuta Hirotoshi.
They were explaining the Blue Lock project while answering reporters' questions.
The first to speak was Buratsuta, calmly introducing the plan:
"By gathering 300 elite high school boys to train a striker who can lead Japan to win the World Cup — this is the purpose of Blue Lock."
Reporters immediately launched their "attack."
"This is indeed revolutionary… but is it worth making them give up high school life?"
"Even if you create a world-class striker, that doesn't guarantee Japan can win the World Cup!"
"This sounds like sacrificing 299 kids for the sake of one! Didn't any parents object!?"
Buratsuta panicked:
"No, no — in principle, we respect the children's own will. And the consent forms do have their parents' signatures—"
Before he could finish fumbling, Anri Teieri stood up.
"Sacrificing lives…"
"That's right!! If Japanese football wants to advance, it must take on such a crazy plan!"
Her wild statement stunned the entire audience, murmurs breaking out as they questioned her sanity.
Anri slammed the table.
"Don't you want to see it?
The moment a hero of Japanese football is born!?"
At the doorway, Itoshi Sae—Japan's genius midfielder—felt a spark ignite in his eyes.
For the first time…
He found himself interested in the Blue Lock project.