Truth to be told, half of this shit was Kenji’s fault. Somehow, seeing that the ball landed on a sweet spot that allowed him to make a run, the boy forgot to scan his surroundings. As a result, while the boy didn’t feel any direct contact with his body, he still got tripped quite violently, and since his balance was quite off, the boy fell as if he had just failed to do a somersault move.

BRUGH!

The only saving grace here was that Kenji knew how to soften the blow during his awkward landing. If not, the boy was sure that his shoulder would be a mess at this point. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t act right now.

"ARGH! Ref!" He screamed in pain, holding the part of his body that he used to land first. "FOUL! What the fuck is that?!" His act was so convincing that the boy himself felt the phantom pain here, rolling around on the ground to add the dramatic effect.

Seeing this, his teammates also rushed toward the referee, wanting to put pressure on the man. "Sensei! Look at him! He is fucking flying!" Hiroshi complained while also pointing at the in-pain Kenji.

"Yes, and he was about to get closer to the penalty box! That should be a yellow!" Takaaki added heatedly.

Unfortunately, somehow, with such a dangerous tackle being delivered, the referee still didn’t bulge. "The way your teammate reacted makes it look worse, but it is just a normal tackle. He fell not from the tackle, but from getting his balance shaken. This collision is normal in the national tournament, so you’d better adapt to this pace quickly."

This was like someone just poured cold water into Hakodate Nishi’s side. Not just Hiroshi and Takaaki, but Makino and Kazawa, who tried to help here and heard what the referee said, were so speechless, their temper started to flare in the air.

Even though the reality wasn’t as bad as they had imagined it would be, hearing what the referee said, their mind started to construct the worst-case scenario here. From their perspective, this was basically the referee mocking them for being a newbie here, not knowing how the national tournament usually played, looking down on their clueless behavior.

It also didn’t help that Naoya Takahashi, the culprit of this shit, was just smirking behind the referee, as if saying, ’Welcome to the National Tournament! The tackle is outrageous, but the referee said it was normal. What can you do about it?’, and somehow, this only infuriated them more.

"Kazawa, tell the other midfielders to be rougher when handling the opponent. Not necessarily foul, but make them bruise." Makino spoke to his kouhai in such an intense moment.

"Sure." Kazawa nodded in agreement. "You are also doing that?"

"Yeah, if they feel like the national tournament is a rough competition, let’s show them how rough the best defensive team in Hokkaido could be." The captain nodded solemnly.

Kenji, who had been rolling around on the ground for a while, in the end got up immediately, looking at everyone with a helplessness that couldn’t be hidden on his face. Of course, he also let the medical team check on him. This was a necessary step to make sure that his trick wouldn’t be revealed so easily, giving a bad impression of the referee.

Still, with the tackle not being condemned as a foul, the referee basically let go of the control of the game. Now, Hakodate Nishi started to use their superior physique to charge at their opponents, knowing that the referee’s standard today was quite low.

Of course, the unhappiest ones here were the supporters, as they witnessed how their players were ragdolled left and right by the away team.

"FUCK IT! THAT’S A FUCKING FOUL!"

"REF! ARE YOU BLIND OR WHAT?!"

"IS THIS EVEN A FOOTBALL GAME?! IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT, GO TO THE RING, FOR GOD’S SAKE!"

Just within thirty minutes, the whole stadium started to condemn Hakodate Nishi here, putting them as the villain of the day. With the boos around, Kazawa couldn’t help but ask, "Should we slow down a little bit?"

In return, though, Makino just snorted not-so-amusedly. "Bah, we have already been a villain already, so we’d better be a good one here. Also, the referee hadn’t really decided anything on this yet, so everything we did was still within the rules. Don’t worry about it."

Indeed, although there were at least 7 to 8 harsh collisions so far that could be deemed as a foul, the referee seemed to turn a blind eye right now. He hadn’t even called a single one, which only brings advantage to the away team. After all, Hakodate Nishi needed to stop any momentum from the opponent’s attack, and this was the best way to do so.

However, Toin Gakuen also didn’t stay still. They were playing at home, so there was no way they would let themselves be bullied. The usually compact area they pulled on the flank started to spread apart, and each player also created some distance between themselves. This let them avoid more crowded areas, and with the distance between each other getting bigger, it was also hard for Hakodate Nishi’s players to makecontact before the ball was released again.

Not only that, but Naoya Takahashi also started to take action here. The boy suddenly showed why he was the number seven best player in the country. He wasn’t just a butcher, but also a metronome in the midfield. The boy directed everything there, becoming the player with the most touches on the pitch.

Still, that didn’t mean they could tear open the tight defense in front of them.

Honestly, all the Toin Gakuen’s players started to get frustrated at this point. It was as if they wanted to open a locked door with brute force, just to find another locked door appeared behind, and so on. This put a genuine fear into them, wondering if the locked door would be endless here.

It was the 32nd minute of the game, and while receiving another back pass from the winger, Naoya couldn’t help but think, ’No, we cannot be like this forever. We need to change our approach!’

However, before the boy could do anything, someone suddenly pounced from the dark, and before he knew...

BAM!

It felt like his shoulder was hit by a fucking truck, and the boy lost his balance instantly, getting stripped out of possession.