The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 375: Hiroshi’s Provocation Attempt!

The pass itself wasn’t that good. It even slowed down a little due to the rare pile of snow that was stuck on the pitch. However, Usami still managed to control it, pushing the ball forward before hitting his accelerator, adding more speed to himself.

"Shit! It is that boy!"

"Get on guard! He has the acceleration and that dribble!"

"Just back down and wait! Slow him down!"

As expected from a powerhouse like Shimizu Higashi High, even their defense was top-notch. They managed to coordinate themselves quite fast, reacting properly according to the situation. Instead of just trying to kill the ball, they decided to hold back, waiting for the others to come back.

At this point, they all knew about Usami and his amazing dribbling that the boy would pull here and there, and this made them worry a little bit. Unfortunately for the Shizuoka team, though, Usami wasn’t just a one-pony trick. The boy saw that all of the opponent’s attention was on him, so he passed back to the center field, catching everyone off guard.

"Wait, they are trying to counter, right?"

"Yeah, why would they pass the ball?"

Well, those questions got the answer immediately, as before anyone could process everything here, the ball suddenly moved toward the opposite flank at high speed.

BAM!

"Fuck! What a ball, Takaaki!" Come on, Hori! Run more! Run more!"

Yeah, it was Takaaki who sent a scalpel-like through ball to pierce the opponent’s defense. The ball only floated two or three centimeters above the ground, and yet it still tore everything in between before getting stopped by the snow there, straight in the space where Hori was running onto.

’Shit, Takaaki, you fucking genius!’ Hori grinned, wind breezing through his cheek as he activated all of his lower muscles to add more speed. ’This is definitely the best pass you have ever given to me!’

Seeing this, of course, all the Shimizu Higashi High players reacted.

"Fuck it! Tamaki, slow them down!"

"Don’t rush! Don’t give him more space to run! Just slow him down!"

In reality, Shimizu Higashi’s defense philosophy really resembled Hakodate Nishi a lot. Instead of beating the ball-holder directly, they would rather beat their opponent with their defensive positioning, frustrating their opponent to death before letting the opponent make their own mistake. This time, it was also the same, as the player there, Tamaki, was just keeping a close eye on Hori without putting more pressure on that boy.

He wasn’t the only one, as Miki Yamane also moved toward that side slightly. After all, if Tamaki got beaten, Hori would have all the space and time in the world to make a dangerous crossing from that side, and that was definitely the last thing everyone wanted here.

However, while Shimizu Higashi had already come prepared for this kind of defense, the same could also be said for Hakodate Nishi. One of the main offensive schemes that Kumiko drilled into their head days and nights, besides the Blitzkrieg attack, was this switch side, taking advantage of the opponent’s defensive shape that leaned heavily on one side before beating them on the opponent’s side.

Now, even without any instruction, Hori’s body moved on its own, and instead of controlling the ball or continuing to dribble forward, he just passed it back to the middle. Well, not to the back, per se. More like parallelly. However, that made things worse for Shimizu Higashi, as Hiroshi suddenly appeared there to pick up the ball.

"FUCK! COVER!"

This time, there was no need to pretend. Hiroshi was different from Hori, especially in their threat level. All of the opponent’s defenders panicked, trying to jump to block Higo’s shot.

BAM!

Well, the boy was one step faster, as he did exactly the same as what Mamoru Suzuki had done so many times before. Hell, some might even say that Hiroshi did it better, as the ball he bent had the power and the nasty curl in it.

Unfortunately, his luck was also the same as that of the boy, as even though the goalkeeper there, Kang Do-Jin, wasn’t as awesome as Higo—at least that was what Hiroshi thought—his luck was still awesome. The ball slipped from that boy’s grasp, but still bruised past the crossbar above.

CLANK!

"Ah! Goddamnit!" Hiroshi groaned, clutching his head in regret. "Just a few more inches!" He scowled in frustration.

Well, he was frustrated, but the crowd was more than ecstatic when they saw that. At first, they just thought that Hakodate Nishi would go for their usual cocoon-defensive style. Who would’ve thought that they would dare to launch this kind of counterattack, with such a classy finish as their answer?

"Damn, this is a provocation! That number 10 is trying to one-up Mamoru today!"

"Is this fucking real?! Who gives the confidence to challenge Mamoru?! He must be drunk here!"

"The shot is still awesome, though! I rate it 9 out of 10!"

Meanwhile, back in Hakodate, while the noises from the audience couldn’t be heard on the television, the broadcast still showed people’s baffled expressions from Hiroshi’s crazy attempt. Seeing this, Kana couldn’t help but burst out laughing here.

"Ha! Eat that, you blind people~! My son is just that awesome!" She cheered, clapping with the two stick balloons in her hand.

"Come on, Hiroshi-kun! That shot is awesome!" Minami also added the cheers, feeling happy for her friend’s son. Honestly, the way people celebrated it was like Hakodate Nishi had just scored a goal here.

Still, even though it didn’t give the away team a goal, this showed that their attacking side was also quite dangerous. Once Shimizu Higashi lowered their guard and acted carelessly, Hakodate Nishi would bite back without hesitation, and they had shown that their fang was quite dangerous just from that attack.

Of course, if there was one player who was unhappy here, it was Mamoru Suzuki. Facing this subtle provocation from Hiroshi, the boy frowned a little bit before changing back to his usual smile. However, it also contained something dark, something dangerous that would make everyone shiver.

"Hmm... Interesting..."