Chapter 159: Chapter 159 ⤁ Ultimate Tactics, The Invisible Pass!
[Ubers goalkeeper Ken Wakashimazu has made an excellent save! Incredible!] At this moment, the commentator praised Ken's outstanding defensive action that had just occurred, [Earlier, Genzō Wakabayashi gave us viewers an exceptionally spectacular save, but we also cannot ignore Ken's presence!
Ubers's zone defense is like an impenetrable iron wall, and they also possess extremely sharp spears!
In this battle of offense and defense, which team will have the last laugh between Bastard München and Ubers?! We eagerly await the outcome!]
It wasn't just the commentators; online discussions about the match were also going wild.
"Was that a karate move from Ken just now? Combining the two skills looks really pleasing to the eye!"
"Kojiro's shot earlier was also amazing! Even Jingo couldn't intercept it!"
"This match is getting interesting! Both teams are ridiculously strong!"
Almost everyone was discussing the match. From streets to alleys, any screen that could connect to the internet was broadcasting this game.
Blue Lock's matches were like festivals to them, and some companies even gave their employees a day off because of the match.
Everyone was completely focused on this match — a true showdown between the two strongest teams in Blue Lock's Neo Hero League!
At this moment, Lorenzo received a pass from Ken and immediately led his team on a counterattack!
Similar to Manshine City, they aimed to exploit the time lag before the opponent could reposition!
"Damn it, I won't let you pass so easily!"
Just then, Kenyū, who had previously lost his position, rushed back at full speed to defend right in front of Lorenzo!
"Hey hey hey, are you really worth only just over 20 million?" Lorenzo smiled as he looked at him.
Kenyū was panting as he faced his opponent. Worried that Ubers would counterattack like Manshine City, he had used all his strength to rush back.
Moreover, he felt that Lorenzo was looking down on him, and he wanted to prove his abilities to his opponent!
However, Lorenzo slowed his pace and didn't force a quick attack. Rather than attack frequency, Ubers prioritized efficiency.
Manshine City had a very fast rhythm, but Ubers was completely the opposite, with a much slower attacking tempo.
If Manshine City was like a cavalry unit skilled in guerrilla warfare, then Ubers was like a slightly cumbersome heavy artillery unit. Though less agile, they possessed terrifyingly destructive power!
At this moment, Lorenzo began to move again.
❖ Zombie Dribbling! ❖
His body once again twisted in strange movements!
Even though Kenyū was mentally prepared, he still couldn't defend against Lorenzo's unique attacking style. With just a few moves, his opponent slipped past him.
"Damn it... I can't see his center of gravity at all!" Although Kenyū was reluctant to admit it, he simply couldn't stop his opponent.
Having just gotten past one defender, more players came forward to double-team Lorenzo. They absolutely could not let him continue to penetrate!
But Ubers had more than just one point of attack. The tactics arranged by Marc could mobilize the entire team.
"Let's go, Ubers!" Lorenzo raised his head, laughing loudly, and then passed the ball to the side!
Shūto Sendō!
Shūto was the transit station for the attack, immediately turning and distributing the ball to others after touching it!
Kojiro Hyuga!
The moment Kojiro touched the ball, everyone on Bastard München instantly became tense.
They had only seen the Tiger Shot once before, but that terrifying power had already penetrated deep into their bones! They absolutely could not allow him another chance to attack!
And Ryōsuke stepped up!
He positioned himself in front of Kojiro at his fastest speed, ready to completely lock down his opponent.
Perhaps Jingo couldn't stop Kojiro's shot, but Ryōsuke could!
But when he arrived in front of Kojiro, he suddenly realized the ball wasn't at his opponent's feet at all. Without him noticing, Kojiro had already passed the ball back to Shūto.
"What's going on?" At this moment, Genzō's expression turned serious as he realized something wasn't right.
Given Kojiro's personality, he definitely wouldn't have missed the chance to shoot just now. Yet he chose to pass the ball instead?
And even he hadn't seen the passing motion clearly.
Ubers, what exactly is going on?
Genzō felt very uneasy. And at this moment, Shūto once again passed the ball to someone else.
"The passing frequency is so fast!" Yoichi only now realized that the ball was being passed very quickly between the Ubers team members.
After Lorenzo organized past the halfway line, everyone barely held onto the ball at all, instantly passing it on. Moreover, their passing technique was very strange — their movements so subtle that if one wasn't paying close attention, it would be difficult to see through their passing movements.
Additionally, the cross-running positions between Ubers players were very frequent — so frequent that it seemed somewhat dissonant, and could even be described as chaotic.
Was this deliberate?
'Is there any pattern to the ball's movement? Sendō, Hyuga, Lorenzo, Barō... Wait, where's the ball?'
Yoichi's eyes suddenly widened as the opponent's overly frequent passing made him temporarily unable to locate the football!
Ubers's strange footwork was designed to hide their passing movements as much as possible.
Their positioning wasn't aimless either; they were using their bodies to block the defenders' line of sight, making it difficult to judge the ball's location.
After just a few passes, Yoichi's vision had been misled. It was precisely this overly frequent repositioning that affected his Metavision.
The amount of information Yoichi had to receive and process increased exponentially, with very low timeliness.
"What — what exactly is happening?!" In front of the goal, Genzō was also caught in a dilemma.
Even though he had been focusing intently on the entire field situation, he suddenly couldn't determine the football's location either.
High-frequency passing, concealed movements, plus feints and misleading runs — the entire Ubers team moved as a single entity.
Achieving this level indicated that their execution and teamwork were even higher than Genzō had imagined.
"You can actually achieve this level, Marc?" Noel sat on the sidelines, his expression serious as he looked at the coach on the other side.
Meanwhile, Marc wore a smile as he watched his players, nodding with satisfaction, his eyes filled with pride.
This was the tactic he had meticulously prepared. To execute at this level, every player needed abundant stamina and excellent explosive power — and during this period, he had specifically trained his players on these points!
Even Ikki, who previously had obvious stamina deficiencies, was now completely transformed.
The most crucial reason Marc developed this tactic was to limit Ryōsuke's effectiveness!
After the previous two matches, he had come to understand that prodigy's exceptional abilities, especially his terrifying one-on-one defensive skills, which had completely shut down both Lavinho and Chris.
Marc concluded that neither Shōei nor Kojiro could break through Ryōsuke's defense. But what if they created a situation he couldn't defend against?
Marc had originally planned to use this tactic, but because of Ryōsuke's presence, he instructed his players to incorporate more misleading runs.
He wanted to exhaust that monster. No matter how skilled Ryōsuke was, he couldn't defend against everyone.
And in this tactical setup, anyone could potentially initiate an attack!
This would completely neutralize Ryōsuke's individual defensive advantage.
"Get devoured by Ubers, Bastard München!" Marc said with a smile.
[The ball is currently...] The TV commentator suddenly became speechless.
As an experienced professional commentator, he shouldn't make such mistakes. But Ubers's passing speed was so dizzying that even with his bird's-eye view, he struggled to track the ball in real time.
Moreover, before he could announce who had possession, the ball had already been passed to someone else's feet!
❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
"Fukuda, do you think this tactic could be used by us?" Nozomi's eyes widened as he turned to look at Tatsuya beside him.
He had never seen a tactic like this before.
"No." Tatsuya didn't hesitate, immediately shaking his head.
"Why not?"
"For one thing, executing at that level requires extremely advanced ball skills." Tatsuya's eyes narrowed slightly, "Moreover, this style of attack causes tremendous physical drain on the players. Even among the A-team players, few could maintain that level — and most critically, it requires a spirit of sacrifice."
"Spirit of sacrifice?"
"Exactly. They aren't acting as individual players, but as parts of the team, like ants in a colony where everything serves the nest. Their roles are clearly defined, with some players tasked with making runs just to divert attention. This requires complete trust in the team to succeed." Tatsuya spoke slowly, his gaze falling on Shōei on the screen as curiosity stirred within him.
He had watched the U-20 Match before and knew Shōei's playing style very well.
It was exactly what Jimpachi had hoped for — an absolute egoist who saw himself as the sun, with everyone else on the team merely planets orbiting around him.
Such a player was completely different from Tatsuya's vision of football.
From that match, he could tell that Shōei wasn't the type to easily change his playing style. What methods had the Ubers coach used to tame him?
Tatsuya grew increasingly curious.
❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
At this moment, under the rapid ball movement, Bastard München's defensive line had fallen into disarray. Almost none of them knew where the ball was.
It was like being lost in a dark forest, only able to hear faint breathing sounds around them. They knew a predator was approaching but had no idea from which direction.
"Where is it coming from?" Beads of sweat formed on Genzō's forehead.
And in the next instant, a shot like a cannonball came rushing toward him!
The sudden shot caught even him off guard — a strike without warning, like an assassin launching an attack from the darkness!
A lethal strike on target!
Genzō made a diving save immediately, but was still a step too slow!
Theoretically, a goalkeeper can prepare the moment an attacker initiates a shooting motion. But in this instant, he couldn't even see who the attacker was, and could only react after the ball was already flying toward him!
His hand touched the incoming ball... but only with his fingertips, completely unable to change its trajectory!
Goal scored!
[ Scoreboard ]
[ 1:0 ]
"What?!"
Everyone was stunned, turning their heads to look. Only at this moment did they discover who had taken that shot.
Shōei Barō.
The Stealth Kill Shot.
This was the technique Shōei had perfected after joining Ubers — hidden among the crowd, a sudden shot with almost no warning signs.
"Good work, sacrifice yourselves for me, Ubers." Unlike his previous emotional outbursts after scoring, Shōei was now very calm.
As if scoring was simply a matter of course.
"Just now, you asked why I passed the ball, right?" Shōei turned his head to look at Gin not far from him, "I pass only so that I can score myself."
Gin didn't respond, just swallowed.
From beginning to end, Shōei's personality hadn't actually changed at all; he remained a thorough egoist.
However, Marc had connected Shōei's egoism with the team's core strategy. Since Shōei's goal was to be the protagonist, the coach simply assigned him that role.
Within the team, others were willing to play supporting roles, which allowed Shōei to fully demonstrate his abilities!
Ubers was the perfect team for him!
In Shōei's mind, his participation in the passing game merely set the stage for his own finishing moves.
"I'm not like your friend. I don't want a crown given by others, nor do I want to be your successor." Shōei turned to face Marc and said slowly, "I want to crown myself with my own hands."
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