The top five players stood at the edge of the training ground, tension rippling between them like an electric current. Ryusei Hoshigaki — the EOS [old legend] — looked them over with a cold, calculating smirk.
"You think you're the best?" Hoshigaki's voice cut through the air like a knife. "But right now, you're just talented kids who've barely scratched the surface of what real football is."
Kazuya Mori's eyes narrowed. "Then show us what real football is."
Hoshigaki's grin widened. "Oh, I will. But first… you're going to show me just how weak you are."
He tossed a ball onto the field. "We're starting with a simple game of possession. Five-on-one." He pointed directly at Kazuya. "You're first. Your job? Take the ball from me."
Kazuya stepped forward without hesitation. The others stood back, watching. They knew Kazuya's strength — his ability to use his teammates as weapons, his ten keys, his tactical brilliance. If anyone could do this, it was him.
But the moment the whistle blew, everything changed.
Hoshigaki moved — and it was like nothing they'd ever seen before. His body flowed with a perfect rhythm, his footwork impossibly light yet devastatingly precise. Every touch of the ball kept it just out of Kazuya's reach.
Kazuya lunged, his speed and aggression flaring. He feinted left, then right — but Hoshigaki read him like a book, slipping past him without even breaking stride.
"Damn it!" Kazuya's frustration mounted. He activated one of his keys — his acceleration burst — but even then, he couldn't close the gap. Hoshigaki danced around him with ease, maintaining possession as if the ball were part of his body.
After five grueling minutes, Kazuya dropped to his knees, panting heavily. He hadn't even touched the ball once.
"Is this the so-called number one player?" Hoshigaki's voice was laced with mockery. "Pathetic."
Renji Kurogami watched with burning intensity, fists clenched at his sides. If Kazuya couldn't do it… what chance did the rest of them have?
"Next," Hoshigaki called.
One by one, they stepped forward. And one by one, they failed.
Tetsuya Aikawa's physical dominance meant nothing. Yuto Kisaragi's perfect passing couldn't even find an opening. Kazuki Shindo's explosive reaction speed was rendered useless. Even Renji's evolving copycat ability couldn't keep up.
When the exercise finally ended, they stood defeated, their pride shattered.
Hoshigaki surveyed them with clear disappointment. "You want to know why you lost?" His voice was sharp. "Because you're all playing your own game. You think your individual strengths will carry you — but football isn't about one player. It's about a team."
He pointed at them, his eyes hard. "From this moment on, your training is about learning how to devour each other's strengths without losing your own. You will learn coordination, not through teamwork — but through domination. And by the end of this, you will either evolve… or you will break."
The next phase of their training had begun.
To be continued…