Rise Inazuma Eleven

Near my secret training spot, everyone was giving it their all.

We divided the team into three groups.

Agile players like Kageno, Kurimatsu, Handa, Shourinji, Shishido, Megane, and Max trained using techniques from the Quick Draw and Coil Turn methods.

Kabeyama was in charge of training for the Inazuma Otoshi. I joined him, along with Aki. Although he has the stamina to handle intense training, Kabeyama still struggles with self-confidence. As for Haruna, the only one absent, she was on an important mission: gathering more information about our next opponent.

The last group was made up of Gouenji, Kazemaru, and Someoka.

That day's training was intense. No wonder the Rairaiken chef said that manual could kill us.

The first group had the lightest training since there was no direct supervision.

The second group had it rough. Kabeyama is big, so we used truck tires for the exercises. Just imagining someone jumping with two truck tires strapped to their body sounds crazy. Kabeyama nearly gave up several times if it weren't for me and Aki constantly encouraging him.

But nothing compared to the third group's training.

Even though Kazemaru and Someoka were only helping give Gouenji a boost, their arms were totally worn out. And Gouenji, who had to repeatedly fall from great heights, ended up completely exhausted and sore.

Fortunately, we managed to complete the training successfully. The first group didn't show major progress yet, but Gouenji completed the first stage of his training. And Kabeyama, well… after being startled by a bug, revealed an impressive jumping ability.

The next day, in the classroom

"Aki-chan, Endou-kun, Gouenji-san. Did you hear about the new transfer student from the United States?" Tsukushi, one of our classmates, asked as we sat down together for our lunch break.

"Another transfer student? But didn't Gouenji just arrive?" I asked, surprised. Raimon rarely gets new students, so two in such a short time, and one from the U.S. was definitely unusual.

"Yeah, and it seems like he wants to join the Raimon soccer club too," she added with an excited smile.

That immediately caught our attention.

I got into a lively conversation with Gouenji, trying to imagine what soccer must be like in the U.S. If here in Japan, which, in my past life, wasn't exactly a world soccer powerhouse, we already had so many amazing Hissatsu... I could only imagine what other countries might have to offer. Maybe different techniques, unique names, varied playstyles...

Before we knew it, Gouenji and I were completely absorbed in the topic.

"Seems like everything revolves around soccer these days. Especially for the cute boys, it's all they can think about," Tsukushi muttered with a light sigh as she looked at us.

Aki quietly laughed beside her, agreeing.

"Aki, you lived in the U.S. for a while, didn't you? What was it like over there?" While the boys kept up the excited chatter about soccer, the girls started their own conversation, one that Gouenji and I wisely decided not to interrupt.

At the club room after school

"Sheeso!?! My name's Domon Asuka. I play defense. Nice to meet you all." A boy with silver-blue hair introduced himself to the club with a confident smile.

He was the transfer student Tsukushi had mentioned.

"Domon-kun?" Aki was the first to react, surprised to see him.

"Well, if it isn't Aki. Didn't expect to run into you at Raimon." Domon smiled warmly at the familiar face.

I imagined how tough it must be to come back from the U.S. not knowing anyone. With Aki around, he probably felt more at ease.

"Nice to meet you, Domon. I'm Endou Mamoru, captain of the Raimon soccer team. I didn't expect you to know Aki-chan." I greeted him with a firm handshake.

"Yeah, it's been quite a while," Aki replied, happy to see an old friend again.

"Anyway, Domon, welcome to the Raimon soccer club."

Today, Someoka, Kazemaru, and Handa took over training, focusing mainly on helping Domon integrate with the team.

As part of our training, I asked the Inazuma KFC kids' team to help us with a practice match. I sometimes support their training, since they use the field near the riverside.

Of course, they're just kids, but they play really well. I thought it would help our team develop chemistry and build confidence.

Only Gouenji, Kabeyama, and I didn't participate in the match. We were focused on mastering the Inazuma Otoshi, our trump card for the first round of the Football Frontier.

"Kabeyama reached a decent height for the technique, but landing is still a problem," Aki noted while recording the results on paper.

"Landing will keep being an issue, especially once Gouenji starts using full momentum. It's not going to be easy for Kabeyama to land safely." I nodded in agreement, excited with the progress. "We don't have much time, so let's move on to the next stage, your coordination."

That's when the problem showed up.

"Kabeyama… you're afraid of heights." I noticed, seeing him sitting with his head down.

"When he closed his eyes in fear, I lost my balance when I tried to push off him," Gouenji added after thinking it over.

"You got scared because you looked down, right? What if you just looked at Gouenji the whole time?" Aki suggested, concerned.

"Alright... I'll try." Kabeyama stood up, determined despite his fear.

But the technique failed again.

"Even if I try to keep my eyes on Gouenji-san... I still end up looking down without meaning to..." he said, his voice trembling.

We tried again, this time with Kabeyama jumping with his eyes closed. Unfortunately, without vision, they couldn't keep their balance at all.

"My, my... do you really think you can pull it off like this?" a familiar voice called out.

I looked around and quickly spotted her. It was Natsumi.

"Natsumi-chan! You came to watch our training?" I asked, excited. It was rare to see her out on the field.

"Of course. It wasn't easy for the school to earn a spot in the Football Frontier. I'd rather not see Raimon get knocked out in the first round," she replied, waving lightly with a subtle smile, but I could sense the concern behind her words.

"Haha, don't worry, Natsumi-chan! I believe Kabeyama and Gouenji will master the Inazuma Otoshi!" I stayed upbeat, even with her skeptical gaze.

"Really? Then I'll be looking forward to the match," she said, genuinely curious about the new technique.

"Natsumi-chan, do you have any ideas that might help us?" I asked before she could leave. Natsumi was smart, maybe she had a solution.

Surprised by the question, her eyes sparkled.

"Well... if closing his eyes doesn't help, how about just not looking down at all?" she suggested naturally.

It seemed she'd been watching us for a while.

"That might work. Kabeyama just needs to keep his gaze upward, away from the ground," Aki agreed with the suggestion.

"Thanks for the tip, Natsumi-chan." She smiled happily at my gratitude and walked away with light steps, it was easy to tell how delighted she was.

Kabeyama and Gouenji tried again, following her advice. But… it still didn't work.

Even trying to keep his eyes up, Kabeyama's instinct to look down kicked in again, and the fear returned.

After so many attempts, Kabeyama was exhausted. We decided to take a break.

Even so, Gouenji insisted on continuing. He started training on an unstable base to improve his balance during the jumps.

I felt restless not doing anything, so I joined him. Aki followed shortly after.

In the background, Kabeyama watched us. He didn't seem tired, more like frustrated that he couldn't keep up.

"If closing my eyes doesn't help... then I just need to stop looking at the ground," he muttered to himself, lost in thought.

"Don't look down... Don't look down..." He laid on the cool grass and stared at the sky and its clouds.

"That's it! Captain! Gouenji-san! I've got an idea!" he shouted, shaking off the discouragement and running back with renewed energy.

We gave the Inazuma Otoshi one more try, following Kabeyama's new idea, and...

We did it.

The technique was complete.

The Hissatsu we needed to defeat Nosei Academy was ready.

After training a bit more to improve the coordination between Kabeyama and Gouenji, we headed toward the practice field by the river.

When we got there, we were surprised to see that our team wasn't playing against Inazuma KFC as planned. Instead of their usual red uniforms, the opponents were wearing white.

"Haruna-chan, who's that team?" I asked curiously as I approached the bench where she was sitting.

"Ah, Endou-kun, Aki-chan, Gouenji-senpai, Kabeyama-kun, I'm so glad you're here!" Haruna said, visibly relieved. "When we came here to train with Inazuma KFC, Mako asked for our help. This team from Kasamino School showed up out of nowhere and started a match. After KFC lost, they claimed the field was theirs. There wasn't even a bet involved... but still, Someoka, Kazemaru, and Handa accepted their challenge."

"If we win, we keep the field. But if we lose... not only do we give up the field, we also have to buy them new cleats." She let out a frustrated sigh.

I looked up at the scoreboard: 2–2. But it was clear our defense was struggling. The substitute goalkeeper was KFC's main goalie, talented, but still very young. All the pressure fell on our four defenders.

And surprisingly, the one who stood out the most was the new guy, Domon. He used a defensive Hissatsu that blocked a direct attack from Kasamino.

"Don't worry, Haruna. We'll settle this right now." I smiled and gave her a gentle pat on the head to reassure her.

As soon as the ball went out of bounds, we announced three substitutions.

"Captain."

"Gouenji."

"Kabeyama."

The whole team let out a breath of relief seeing us come in. The match was clearly tougher than they expected.

"Haha, don't worry, we're here now." I nodded confidently.

"Who are these three clowns?" grumbled Kasamino's captain, visibly annoyed. With the second half almost over, he thought the win was in the bag, until we showed up.

"I'm the captain of Raimon Junior High's soccer team. Nice to meet you." I greeted him with a smile, but he replied coldly.

I didn't care about his attitude. As I passed by Handa, I whispered something quietly just for him to hear.

Then I walked over to Munakata Hiroto, the KFC goalkeeper, calmed him down, and took over as goalie.

Haruna announced the substitutions. No one was surprised to see Gouenji entering as a forward in place of Megane.

But everyone was confused when Kabeyama replaced Shourinji in midfield.

"Gouenji, Kabeyama... Let's show everyone our new Hissatsu." The last shot had gone out, so it was our possession. I grabbed the ball and passed it straight to Handa.

Handa understood what I meant and kicked the ball high into the air without hesitation.

"Huh? What are these idiots doing? That ball's way too high!" Kasamino's captain complained, clearly confused. But he didn't stay confused for long.

Gouenji and Kabeyama jumped together. Kabeyama bent his back as he looked up at the sky. Gouenji pushed off his stomach, gained height, and struck the ball midair with a powerful volley.

"INAZUMA OTOSHI!" they shouted in unison.

The ball flew like a bolt of lightning toward the goal. The goalkeeper didn't even have time to react.

"GOOOAAAL FOR RAIMON!" The Inazuma KFC kids burst into celebration on the sidelines.

Everyone was stunned to see the technique pulled off perfectly.

"It doesn't matter! It's just one goal! We'll come back!" Kasamino's captain shouted, trying to rally his team. With the second half almost over, they rushed to restart.

I took the opportunity to say something quietly to Someoka, Gouenji, and Kabeyama.

I returned to the goal, and Kasamino quickly began their attack.

"Dash Accel!" shouted the opposing captain as he used his Hissatsu to break through our defense.

Close to the goal, he jumped back and began spinning midair like a breakdancer.

"Spinning Shoot!" A whirlwind formed around him before he unleashed a powerful shot toward the goal.

My eyes lit up. Two Hissatsu in a row... but still not enough to score on me.

"Heavenly Hand!" I activated my Hissatsu and blocked it firmly.

The impact was intense, but it didn't break through. The ball bounced straight back into my hands.

Without wasting a second, I launched it with all my strength toward Someoka.

"Dragon Crash!" Someoka kicked it high into the sky, forming a massive blue dragon.

Kabeyama and Gouenji jumped together again.

"NOOO! Ikegaki, stop that shot!" Kasamino's captain screamed in desperation.

Gouenji pushed off Kabeyama again and, as the ball reached its peak, unleashed all his strength.

"DRAGON OTOSHI!" the three of them shouted together.

The blue dragon, now crackling with electricity, roared and dove with immense force toward the goal.

"TORNADO CATCH!" The opposing goalkeeper activated his Hissatsu, running and spinning midair to intercept the ball.

But it wasn't enough.

Dragon Otoshi tore through the defense effortlessly. A loud electric crackle echoed across the field.

"That... THAT WAS AMAZING!" The kids were the first to react in awe.

The Kasamino players dropped to their knees, completely defeated.

Raimon 4 – 2 Kasamino.

My eyes sparkled with excitement. I had only given them the idea… and it really worked. Now I can't stop imagining what it would be like if Gouenji combined it with his Fire Tornado. That would be an unstoppable technique.

But my thoughts were quickly interrupted when I saw Gouenji kneeling, clutching his foot in pain.

"Gouenji, are you okay?" Everyone rushed to him, worried.

"I'm fine... but I won't be able to use that move all the time. Dragon Crash is really powerful. Fire Tornado can still balance the impact, but without another Hissatsu to counter it, the pressure on my foot is just too much!" he said, trembling in pain but managing to stand without drawing too much attention.

We sat on the bench while Aki and Haruna treated him. Thankfully, there were no fractures, swelling, or sprains.

Still, just to be safe, we took Gouenji to see a doctor.

As for the Kasamino team? They left with their heads down. I doubt they'll be back anytime soon... not after facing a team of monsters like Raimon.