"AAAAARGH!" Hiroshi roared the moment he saw the ball inside the goal. "AAAARGH! I FINALLY GET THIS!" He ran frantically toward the stand, punching his chest passionately to celebrate the goal.

Soon enough, all the Hakodate Nishi players followed from behind, jumping on the boy’s back with laughter in the air.

"Damn, Senpai! Good job on executing my assist!" Kenji grinned while also riding the boy in a piggyback.

"Fuck it, Kenji! Don’t be too narcissistic! This is all Hiroshi, you know?!" Some players—no one knew who it was—retorted. However, it was clear that there was no heat in his tone.

"Come on! This is Hakodate Nishi’s specialty for you!" Hori waved at the spectators enthusiastically.

Indeed, this was definitely their team’s specialty. Well, besides their iron-clad defense, of course. They didn’t really produce that many chances, but their strikers had the best creativity in the world, always able to create something out of nothing. Their expected goals statistic was always around 0 to 1 in every game, and yet, in the end, they always managed to bang a goal.

This was definitely not a coincidence, but the strength that the team developed over a long time. They didn’t even need to touch the ball too much. Just a scalpel-like pass from their sniper, Takaaki, and a quick combination move between two maestros on the front, Hiroshi and Kenji, were enough to destroy Shohei High’s defense.

From the moment Higo snatched the ball to the goal, only 30 seconds passed, and the team only took five passes before Hiroshi landed the decisive blow, a scarily efficient counterattack scheme that gave Hakodate Nishi the first lead of the game.

Meanwhile, on Shohei High’s side, the situation was quite gloomy there. After attacking for days and nights without getting any positive result, suffering from such a counterattack would definitely be a huge blow for the team’s mental state. Somehow, this made them more exhausted than ever, unable to get up from the slump.

"Sorry, everyone. That’s ma fault." Kawabe suddenly stepped up, catching everyone off guard. "If only I hadn’t let that goalkeeper get into me, they wouldn’t have a chance to launch a counterattack like this."

"What?! No, that’s not your fault, Senpai!" One of the players there shook his head hurriedly.

"Yeah! It is just our incompetence that we cannot cover the leak in our own area!" Another boy added.

"We know what Roshi is capable of, but we still failed to take a precaution for this kind of situation! The entire defensive players are to be blamed for this!"

Everyone was so panicked since this was the first time they heard Kawabe admitting his mistake. No one really cared whether it was Kawabe’s fault or not, but it was their task to keep their best player’s morale at the top level. After all, he was the team’s entire hope, and once the boy crumbled, they could also say goodbye to the entire tournament.

Kawabe himself also realized that. Still, the boy was anything but a coward. He would never shy away from the mistake that he made, and in his mind, the goal was truly the product of his failure.

He glanced at the bench for a moment, looking at the team’s manager before pointing his right hand at his left wrist. This was the signal of him asking how much time was left here, which the girl there answered immediately with a quick hand sign.

"34 minutes before the game ends..." He took a deep breath. "We still have a lot of time to go! I don’t believe that we cannot breach their stubborn defense! Come on, everyone! Work harder! Run faster! Don’t give up yet! Trust me, we can still tie the score!"

"Yes! Come on, Senpai! That’s what I am waiting for!"

"30 minutes, even if I die, I will run more than anyone else!"

"Fuck it, count me in!"

All the depression they felt from the goal before was turned into fuel, lighting up their fighting spirit. Now, they all looked at Hakodate Nishi’s goal ferociously, like a pack of hungry hyenas eyeing their prey.

On Hakodate Nishi’s bench, Kumiko also realized that their opponent would go crazy. So, the girl also made a move here, not wanting to lose the advantage they gained with sweat and blood.

"Fujinaga-kun, get ready!" She called out one of her players on the bench.

"...Wait, me?!" The bald boy pointed at himself in disbelief. "Do you mean I am going to play?!" His voice was shaking from excitement.

His reaction was a little bit too exaggerated, but the boy couldn’t really help it. The last time he played was in the third round of the prefectural tournament, and since then, he has become a constant benchwarmer for the team. Now, in the second round of the national tournament, Kumiko suddenly decided to give him an important role?

"Yes, you, Fujinaga-kun. Come on, get ready before the referee restarts the game." Kumiko’s voice was impatient.

Well, Fujinaga didn’t need to be told twice. He took off his jacket quickly, pulling on his boots before starting to do a light warm-up on the sideline. Seeing that the boy was ready, Kumiko started to give her instructions.

"You are going to replace Takaaki-kun here, and your task is simple." The girl said. "You don’t need to dictate the tempo or send a scalpel-like pass to the frontline like him. No, you are our filter in the midfield, so your task is to make it difficult for the opponent’s midfielders to send a through pass to Hiroki Kawabe. The pass can be sent, but it has to be toward the flank. Can you do that?"

"Sure, leave the rest to me, Senpai!" The boy grinned widely, couldn’t wait to get into the pitch as quickly as possible.

It also helped that the role was very suitable for him. He didn’t need to think too much about distributing the ball, just having to be the most menacing butcher in the midfield. It was the kind of dirty job that he enjoyed the most, and yet the boy didn’t expect that it would come in handy in a crucial situation like this.

As she saw Fujinaga stepping into the pitch, Kumiko couldn’t help but let out a worried sigh here. ’Hopefully, his addition will be enough to slow down the big wave that will come to us after this...’