Blue Lock: Beyond Greatness

"What just happened? Not only did he predict his teammates' movements, but did Shinichi also foresee that I would intercept his teammate and then pass the ball back? But... is that even possible?"

Isagi couldn't comprehend how Shinichi had managed to pull it off.

Cold sweat trickled down his temple as he stared at Shinichi's figure.

Strangely, the overwhelming pressure emanating from him had suddenly disappeared, yet Isagi's fear refused to subside.

It was as if he had been transported back to the time before he entered Blue Lock—the first match where he encountered Shinichi.

In that game, his ability to read the field had been utterly crushed by Shinichi. He had felt like nothing more than a puppet, controlled by Shinichi's movements.

And now, for the first time in a long while, he was experiencing that sensation again.

"But why? Even we, the ones who set up this trap, weren't certain if Chigiri and the others would fall for it. So how could Shinichi be so sure? What exactly did he rely on to make that judgment…?"

"The eyes…"

Sae's voice rang beside him, drawing Isagi's attention. He immediately turned his head, focusing intently on Sae's explanation.

"Just now, Shinichi's ability to use his eyes reached a whole new level. Compared to you all, he saw more information and reacted accordingly—that's how he intercepted your pass. But because he acted only after the trap had taken shape, by that time… even though I had foreseen the outcome, it was already too late for me to intervene."

Isagi turned back, deep in thought. "Is that the aspect of 'eye usage' I haven't fully grasped yet? To be able to do something like that… It looks like, after mastering the flow state, my next step is understanding this."

"Before this match ends, I need to master the use of my 'eyes' and score the final goal. At the very least… I absolutely won't let Shinichi dominate me again."

...

At this very moment, perhaps only Shinichi truly understood what had just transpired in those fleeting seconds—he had awakened Meta Vision.

Yes, the truth was that Shinichi had never actually possessed this ability before. Instead, he had relied on his advancement to the Purple-tier Chessmaster Trait, manipulating his "pieces" on the field to indirectly achieve an effect similar to Meta Vision.

But… if he couldn't observe the entire battlefield, if he had to depend on his pieces just to gather sufficient information, and if he still had to personally intervene in critical moments—could he truly call himself a Chessmaster?

This was precisely why, as time passed in Blue Lock, he had gradually stopped fully controlling the actions of his teammates.

Instead, he had taken on more of a firefighter's role, responding to the opponent's intentions based on the feedback from his pieces and extinguishing threats himself.

As the level of competition increased, his ability to dictate the game had become less effective against high-level opponents.

Up until now, Shinichi had been like a high-end computer—equipped with the most powerful hardware, but with software that was far from optimized.

He had relied on superior computational power, making rapid calculations to predict his opponents' next moves and reacting accordingly.

However, this also explained why, throughout this match, he had struggled to keep up with Sae's thought process—because while Shinichi had better "hardware," Sae's "software" had been refined to near perfection.

But just moments ago, Shinichi had finally completed his transformation. From his god's-eye perspective, he had ascended from being just another piece on the board to truly sitting in the Chessmaster's seat.

Now—for the first time—he was truly unleashing the full potential of his Chessmaster Trait.

"And besides that…"

Taking advantage of the break before the match resumed, Shinichi opened his system and scrolled down. Sure enough, his ability panel had changed. In the skills section, a brand-new golden entry stood out prominently.

[Hunter's Eye – Mamba (Gold)]:

As one of the rare perimeter DPOYs in the league, the Black Mamba's help defense wasn't top-tier. However, in one-on-one situations, his lockdown defense was unparalleled. During a match, you can focus your attention on a specific opponent, marking them as your 'prey.' When facing your 'prey' in direct matchups, your defensive ability increases by 10%, while your target's stamina consumption increases by 10%. Each time you successfully defend against your 'prey's' attack, their overall attributes temporarily decrease by 1% for the remainder of the match. However, if the 'prey' scores against your defense, they recover 5% of their lost attributes.

"So it really was true," Shinichi muttered to himself.

Back then, Kobe had told him that stopping just one possession with his footwork would awaken the 'Lock-On Eye' ability within him.

But after fulfilling that condition, nothing had happened. Shinichi had assumed the reward would be granted during the next system update.

However, now it was clear—the skill had already been unlocked, but his eye usage had been too weak to truly activate it.

"Hunter's Eye… This is top-tier lockdown defense. A 10% boost to attributes and increased stamina drain on the opponent is already insane. After all, even an Epic-tier 'Monster' trait only comes with stamina-draining effects. And this ability… it basically allows me to suppress an opponent indefinitely."

What truly excited Shinichi, however, was the secondary effect—forcing 1% attribute decay with every successful stop, while only allowing a 5% recovery per score.

At that rate, even if he allowed a basket once every six possessions, the debuff would still be nearly irreversible.

"That's probably why this skill is rated Gold-tier… It's simply too oppressive."

After all, in basketball, scoring is the norm. Holding an opponent to one make out of six attempts is already elite defense, yet even that barely yields any benefit.

The initial 1% attribute decay was simply too insignificant—it couldn't offset the 5% recovery per score. Shinichi figured even Kobe himself had probably never triggered this effect consistently.

But he was different.

He played football, not basketball.

In football, missing is the norm. Even a conversion rate of one goal per several shots is considered efficient. With this ability boosting his defensive prowess, Shinichi realized that if he decided to target someone, he could completely erase them from the match.

"I never expected to receive such a gift in this game."

A smirk tugged at the corner of Shinichi's lips.

He had been frustrated by his failure to awaken Meta Vision, which was why, during the Phase Two settlement, he had deliberately locked the Purple-tier 'Hawk's Eye' skill.

He had worried that if he never awakened Meta Vision, he would at least have a backup—a skill that allowed him to observe the entire field and compensate for that shortcoming.

But now?

He no longer needed it.

Without hesitation, Shinichi accessed his system, unlocked 'Hawk's Eye,' and removed it from his saved abilities. He didn't want it taking up a reward slot in the next settlement when better rewards could replace it.

Then, he turned toward the U-20 National Team, his gaze locked onto them. His expression was that of a child who had just received a new toy—eager to tear off the packaging and test it out.

"Since you were the ones who helped me awaken… why not be the first test subjects for my new ability?"

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