Chapter 223 Ultimate Showdown XIII
Opposing players who were already on their wits end started to get even more flustered as they tried to keep hold of the ball against Renji who was chasing after the ball like a mad hound.
With less than 5 minutes remaining, they were already in a tight spot. But now faced with Renji's relentless attack, it was getting incredibly difficult for them to move the ball forward.
At the sidelines, manager Makoto with his hands folded and lips curled up was revealing a satiated expression while watching Renji's pursuit of ball, "Good, you didn't disappoint me Renji"
At the same time, manager of Sagan Tosu had a different reaction. The anger from a moment ago was starting to surface inside his heart once again while watching the scene unfolding infront of his eyes, "Just what the hell are those morons doing. Didn't I tell them to play long balls? So why the fuck are those morons playing short passes?"
Clearly manager of Sagan Tosu was in a pretty bad mood right now.
And even though he wasn't speaking loudly, the aura leaking around him was making him look quite ominous right now.
Time was running out of hands. And the more the time was passing the more anxious players of Sagan Tosu were getting.
However they weren't the only ones who were becoming anxious right now. Hiro was the same as well.
Fear of failing the quest was gnawing upon him.
Even the assistant referee outside the field had already lifted his board to announce the addition of extra time.
Anxiously glancing at the board lifted by assistant referee, Hiro noticed that he had only 3 minutes left to complete the quest.
Just like a poisoned man who was on the verge of death, his situation was getting dire with every passing seconds.
His usual calm and composed face was now pale and anxious. There was a hint of fear and restlessness reflecting in his eyes.
At this moment, Hiro acted without thinking. Making use of the skill perseverance, he first increased his endurance. Simultaneously he used his skill Lightning Steps to close the gap between him and the opposing player who was currently hogging the ball.
Upon witnessing Hiro appearing infront of him literally from out of nowhere, his heart skipped a beat as he wobbled a little.
His eyes displayed extreme fear as he got startled by Hiro's sudden appearance.
Hiro had approached him from his blind spot and because of that Hiro's arrival was totally unexpected.
It was like, Hiro's figure had appeared infront of him out of thin air.
Taking advantage of the situation, Hiro quickly snatched the ball away from his feet. And as he snatched the ball away from his feet, he then started to dribble the ball.
As he dribbled the ball, Hiro then sent a through pass to Kenta who was making his run along the flanks.
The reason why he did that was because he had to score a header right now and for that he needed someone to supply him the cross.
And Kenta was perfect option for him right now as he knew how good Kenta was at supplying crosses.
And because of that reason he bet his chip on Kenta. Just as he passed the ball to Kenta, Hiro started to make his run inside the box.
However what he didn't expect was the intervention of Ryotaro. Even before his passes could reach Kenta's feet, Ryotaro split his legs to maximum, in an attempt to touch the ball somehow.
And he did managed to touch the ball. The ball then as it touched Ryotaro's tip of the boots went out of bounds.
Beep!!
"Good defending!! Although there's literally no hope for Sagan Tosu to turn the tables, Ryotaro seems like he isn't willing to let another goal" commented the commentator, "But even so, Kawasaki are awarded a corner. Infact it's probably the last corner of the match as the time has already ended"
As mentioned by the commentator, it was indeed the last corner kick of the match. Even the extra time had just ended right now.
And while Hiro's teammates were celebrating their imminent victory, Hiro was growing more restless. He knew that it was his very last chance to complete the quest.
"It's the last corner, so let's just play a short pass and shoot the ball" excitedly mumbled Akihiro.
"Yeah, we have already won. So let's just get it done"
"It doesn't matter whether we score this corner or not."
Most of his teammates were talking about bottling the corner as they had already won the game.
However while his teammates were thinking of attacking recklessly, Hiro was thinking something else.
It was a matter of life and death to him. He had to score this goal with his head, no matter what. He simply couldn't afford to bottle.
Thus listening to his teammates words caused him to get angry.
"What the fuck are you talking?" Hiro growled ferociously as he glared at his teammates.
As his voice travelled to the ear of his teammates, it sounded like a raging thunder which immediately caused them to shiver.
Hearing his ferocious growl, every single one of his teammates who were gathered beside Hiro, abruptly turned towards Hiro as they stared at him with fear in their eyes.
They were startled by Hiro's voice. But once they witnessed Hiro's face full of anger, they started developing fear.
Some of them even took some steps back as they locked eyes with Hiro. They had never seen Hiro that angry before.
His face grim and his eyes bloodshot, Hiro looked extremely scary right now.
Soon Kenta mustered his courage to speak, "We have already won the game, so is there any need to take this corner seriously"
His words polite and his voice gentle, Kenta nicely questioned Hiro.
Hearing Kenta's voice, Hiro eased his brows as he dropped his anger.
What Kenta said right now, made sense. Afterall they had already won the game, so there was actually no need for them to try hard.
But just because they had already won the game didn't mean they shouldn't push any further.
It's like saying I've got enough money to feed myself for lifetime so I should just quit working any further.
However if even the opposing players who had already lost the game were trying hard to defend another goal then shouldn't they also try hard to score another goal?
Their act right now was a mockery to the efforts of the opposing players.
And although Hiro had a different motive, he was also furious about his teammates goofy behaviour.
One must push as long as he can. Just like one must breathe as long as he/she's alive, as long as they get chance, they should score.
Sometimes showing pity can also be considered as mockery. And not every people in the world appreciates the act of pity.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢