Well, it was easy to say that Jun was getting chewed alive by the captain. He didn’t even hold back, even if they were in the middle of the pitch, scolding his kouhai mercilessly to the point that he seemed to get his soul sucked into the other world immediately.

It also didn’t help that his friends didn’t take his side. Jun could still hear Ishinori’s disappointed tone and even Hiroshi’s disapproval of his reckless action.

"You are so lucky that Higo-senpai has an insane reaction speed, and Denji was at the right spot to clear the ball, or we would be one point down at this point." Hiroshi joined the scolding.

"I will not say anything harsh, though." Ishinori patted his weak shoulder gently. "Just see it for yourself on the bench. Shishida-senpai has already asked Sano-kun to do his warm-up. If you still didn’t step up your game, maybe you can sit your ass back on the bench first."

If anything, this frightened the boy more than any threat in the world. He would rather be scolded by 100 people more rather than having to sit on the bench, which meant his chance to fix things up was over.

’No, no, no, I cannot leave like that.’ The boy shook his head strongly.

Seeing that the boy was back on the track again, Kumiko, who was on the bench, couldn’t help but release a relieved sigh. She was so close to replacing him straight away, but the girl still wanted to see whether Jun still had the spirit to fight or not. Fortunately, she didn’t have to waste one substitution in such an early game here, which would be a pity for the team.

Still, this incident also made Kumiko realize a big issue here, as she called Kuroki to the sideline for an instruction.

"Start to push back little by little. Do it subtly, and ask Hiroshi-kun not to join. The key is subtlety, and he will attract attention so quickly. Do it with Usami-kun instead, and if necessary, ask Kazawa-kun to cut off the passing lane more instead of protecting our own area. We need to show something here."

It wasn’t a hasty decision. After all, at the end of the day, it was the first time the players fought in front of their own crowd, and they couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to fight here. At least, they still had to create something to alleviate their own anxiety, or they would only do something stupid, just like what Jun did earlier.

"Okay, I get it." Kuroki nodded quickly, not even questioning the instruction.

After this, the game restarted again, and just like any other game that had been paused for so long, all the momentum was gone, and it started with a slow tempo again, with Sapporo Otani having to build up their attack one more time. However, this time, Hakodate Nishi players started to react differently.

At first, it was only Kuroki. The tall striker suddenly became more willing to make a run, forcing the ball to go in a certain direction. Then, Usami also did the same, pestering the defensive midfielder and pushing them back to their own half. Still, it was so subtle, and since those two were not the players whom everyone always paid attention to, no one really cared about that.

It wasn’t until the gap between the defensive midfielder and the attacking one suddenly became big that they noticed something was wrong. The one who realized that was Ayase, who suddenly had no one to pass to when he received the ball in the middle.

’Wait, where the hell is everyone?!’ The boy was so dumbfounded, staring around confusedly.

This was a rare occasion where Sapporo Otani’s midfield line was empty. Hiroyuki, his holding midfielder partner, was still wandering around Hiroshi since it was his task, while Kenji Harada was too close to the opponent’s box. Now, his only choice was to pass back, but with Kuroki hovering around, it would be risky to get a half-assed ball back there, especially since he himself had Usami buzzing around him like a fly.

In the end, he was forced to make a decision quickly, and in that split second, he passed the ball forward to Kenji, thinking that it was the safest choice. However, that was when Kazawa suddenly appeared, cutting the pass and flipping the board completely for the opponent’s side.

"SHIT! Miss pass!"

"Move back! Move back!"

"Ayase, slow him down! Don’t get a foul!"

In a quick counterattack scenario, all the Sapporo Otani players moved frantically, trying to get back into their original defensive shape. However, Kazawa was so decisive here, not letting them have a great time on the back.

When he saw Ayase come closer to him, the boy knew that the team’s silent assassin somehow managed to escape from the opponent’s sight. It didn’t take a long time for him to find that boy, as a second later, the ball had already moved across the centerline, straight to where Usami popped out of nowhere.

"Damn!" Rin Mito couldn’t help but curse when he saw this, lowering his stance while also moving back slowly to avoid getting past by. "Yuma, I’ll leave the center to you! Don’t get fooled by them!"

"I got it!" Yuma Igari also did something similar, keeping an eye on Kuroki behind him.

Usami himself didn’t play a big trick. He saw Hiroshi, who had been roaming lazily before, suddenly move to that flank, so he didn’t hesitate to pass the ball there. This was Hiroshi’s specialty: acting ignorant when the team was about to press, and once the ball was on his teammates’ feet, he started to make a sharp move to threaten the opponent.

This time, the boy also made the best choice here. Knowing that Hiroyuki was guarding him tightly, he made a dummy move. At first, he was pretending to receive the ball and wanted to cut into the penalty box. Hiroyuki got attracted by that move, shifting his center of gravity to that side. However, instead of receiving the ball, Hiroshi let it completely go, giving it straight to Denki on the flank.

"OH! DENJI! DENJI! DENJI!"

"STUPID! IT IS HIS TWIN, DENKI!"

"COME ON! YOU CAN DO THIS!"

All the people on the stand rose anxiously, waiting for the first action that the team had taken since the game began. Denki himself didn’t disappoint. He saw the opponent get closer to him, and with a quick glance at the penalty box, he made a surprising decision.

He ran further to the baseline, wanting to destroy that flank completely and enter the penalty box with brute force. It was a dangerous move, one that the opponent’s defender couldn’t approve. So, before Denki managed to do that, the boy got tripped from his side, and in the end...

FWEEE!

"FOUL! YELLOW CARD FOR SAPPORO OTANI’s NUMBER 5!"