"Lorenzo, although I've always thought your gold teeth were in poor taste, now you're even more disappointing. Are you really willing to be the watchdog for a clown pushed forward by various forces?"
As soon as he entered, Kaiser launched a verbal attack on Lorenzo. However, Lorenzo, far from getting angry, immediately mimicked a dog. He raised his hands to his chest, paws up, and stuck out his tongue, running over to Shinichi's side and squatting down, "Woof—woof!"
"Don't do that, it's disgusting." Shinichi pushed away Lorenzo, who was trying to snuggle up to him, and then turned to look at Kaiser, whose face was stormy, "Using the tactic of belittling others to elevate yourself is far more vulgar than his mouthful of gold teeth, Kaiser. If you're not satisfied, why not find a way to increase your own valuation? Or is it that..."
"You don't have the capability? Just like you couldn't defeat Noa, so you ended up like a beaten dog with its legs broken, having to slink away from Bastard-München with your tail between your legs?"
"Hey you, what right do you have to talk about Kaiser?! Everything at Bastard-München is designed to serve Noa. If they were to shift to make Kaiser the core, they would have to change the entire lineup and tactics. Can't you understand even that? You country bumpkin—" Just as Shinichi and Kaiser were locking eyes, Ness cut in excitedly, but Shinichi cut him off after just a few words.
"Do you think it's your place to interrupt our conversation?!" As Shinichi's indifferent voice grew, a terrifying aura swept across the field, hitting Ness so hard that his legs buckled, and he ended up kneeling on the ground, looking up in horror at those eyes that seemed to look down on all creation.
"Besides, if the team doesn't suit you, then change it all. If you aim to surpass the world's number one, then negate everything about him. If you have the strength, the club will agree. But since you avoided it, it shows you can't make the club abandon Noa as the core."
"Damn it! What do you know?! This is Mustard München's brightest new star, the world's most watched newcomer, a member of the new generation's top eleven, the true king, Michael Kaiser! A real talent who made a name for himself in the top five leagues based on skill, unlike you who rely on tricks, fooling around in some no-account place, getting a high valuation through hype!"
Ness struggled to his feet, looking at Shinichi whose expression remained calm, and roared furiously at him. Facing his tirade, Shinichi responded coolly, "It seems you're quite pleased with these titles..."
"Are all the titles accounted for?" Shinichi stood coldly observing Ness, who was sitting on the ground, emotionally trying to get up, and made his judgmental declaration, "Once you're done, pick a favorite title..."
"I'll carve it on both you fools' tombstones."
"Enough! Ness, come back here." Seeing that Ness was about to say more, Kaiser, who was visibly affected by Shinichi's dominance, seriously grabbed Ness by the head and pulled him back to his side, while Shinichi's voice rose again, "Although I think it's not very nice to say, and it doesn't really suit my manners... but remember to keep your mad dog on a leash when you go out. If it bites randomly, I won't mind putting it down and then breaking the leg of you, the negligent owner."
"See, I'm being obedient," Lorenzo, still immersed in his role, continued to act up, but was ignored by both sides.
"Save your words for after the match. I will expose the fragile illusion of your kingdom in this game, and make you kneel and submit before me." Ignoring Lorenzo's antics, Kaiser clenched his fists and gave Shinichi a serious look before walking back to his half of the field with Ness, struggling to maintain the upper hand as Shinichi's aura made it difficult to respond with the dominance he used against Isagi.
Just like in the original story, when Isagi first rebelled against Kaiser, his words were filthy, but Kaiser treated him like a naive clown performing for his amusement, so no matter how much Isagi resisted, Kaiser remained calm and even passed the ball to him to let him show off.
However, in the match against the English team, Kaiser couldn't handle even a simple taunt from Chris and foolishly challenged him to a duel because he is inherently a sensitive and fragile person. Beneath his arrogant facade lies deep-seated insecurity and fear.
Kaiser hasn't changed; he's still that child afraid of losing his treasures.
Due to his childhood experiences, he became more greedy, feeling secure only when he has everything under his control.
That's why he tries hard to disguise himself, to defeat and destroy anyone he can't control.
Only by maintaining control can he safeguard his sense of security, only as a king who controls everything can he avoid reliving the sorrow of his childhood.
Thus, he decided to inflict his pain on others.
Even without having seen this part of Kaiser's transformation in the original manga, Shinichi could clearly see it in his eyes.
And thus, as he turned away, Shinichi let out a smile mixed with excitement and malice for the first time in a while.
He loved dealing with characters who had flaws because once their weaknesses were identified, he could easily annihilate them.
"Want to protect everything you have? Well, you better be careful..."
"And don't end up hanging yourself in the locker room, oh 'King in the Emperor's New Clothes'."
As the minds of everyone on the field teemed with various thoughts, the match began as scheduled.
With the sound of the whistle, Ness passed the ball directly to Kaiser, as Isagi's current status still couldn't tactically compete with the opponent.
Kaiser received the ball and sprinted forward, surpassing the defending Sendou with a diagonal pass to Ness, who was sprinting alongside him.
Ness then blocked Aiku's path and, with his nimble ankles and his back turned to Kaiser, pushed the ball out: "Kaiser!"
"Well done, Ness." Kaiser received the pass and didn't forget to praise his teammate. However, an oddly posed figure soon appeared, blocking his path.
"Hello there, little three-hundred-million-valued Kaiser, woof!" Lorenzo bared his teeth, his mouthful of gold teeth glittering brilliantly under the lights, causing Kaiser to squint his eyes slightly, "This watchdog is here to chase away the unwanted guest."
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