The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 118: Trip to Niigata Begins!

This was just a short episode that made the team’s days colorful, enough to pump up the team’s spirits. Now that everyone was willing to help Hiroshi get that MVP award, Kumiko also started devising the best plan to maximize the boy’s talent, at least to make him more visible on the pitch.

"Listen, Hiroshi-kun, you don’t have to drop down too far, but you have to know which player to pressure. Observe more, and look at who is the most awkward and unreliable player with the feet. That should be your target."

"No, Hiroshi-kun, the moment you see the ball is in our possession, you don’t just go forward blindly. Get into an open position within the ball holder’s eyesight, and ask for it! You need to be more proactive in getting the ball!"

"Usami-kun, you are the bridge between the defense and Hiroshi-kun. You are also his double. When he has players marking him, you have to create a space to get the ball!"

"Takaaki-kun

, you cannot just launch a long ball to Kuroki-kun! Mix it with a short passing and let your offensive routine be less predictable!"

Even though the change was made for Hiroshi, Kumiko also twitched several things in their attacking habit, even changing their way of attack slightly. If usually, they would launch a quick long pass to Kuroki with the others getting ready to receive the second ball, now, they were trying more combinations with ground passes, not wanting to lose the ball easily.

Of course, the transition was harder than what was written on paper. Some players still made a basic mistake due to them thinking too much, and some still fell into the old habit of a quick counterattack with a long ball, destroying the coordination that each one of them was trying to build.

However, this was the process that the team needed to go through, because no new strategy could be successful without a trial-and-error phase.

After training more for the next couple of days, summer break finally arrived, and that meant it was time for them all to go on their trip to Niigata. While the title was summer, though, the temperature itself wasn’t really that high.

The weather report said that the peak would be at around 25 degrees in Hakodate, and that was still in late August. It was still the end of July, and at worst, the temperature was still at around 22 or 23, definitely far better than in a big city like Tokyo or Osaka.

However, it was a different story once they entered Niigata. Even though they were still inside the bus, everyone felt like their brains were about to melt due to the temperature, feeling like they were getting baked in a scorching hot oven.

"Goddamnit, does this bus not have an AC?" Makino groaned, fanning himself with a thin book he brought from home.

"It has, and it is already at the max, but the temperature is indeed a bit too much here." Kumiko frowned, also having sweat all over her face. The girl checked her phone and couldn’t help but gasp at the information there. "We have entered 30 degrees already?!"

Hearing this, the other players gasped; their faces were so red due to them getting cooked inside the bus.

"Goddamnit! Are you kidding?!"

"No wonder we are so cooked!"

"Hell, no! If I knew this, I would choose to go by train instead!"

"Really? Do you want to go for an 8-hour trip?!"

Indeed, at first, Kumiko planned that everyone would depart by train. However, once they knew how long the journey was, they gave up immediately, opting to rent a bus.

With the train, they would have to go for at least 8 hours, while with a bus, the journey would only take about 5 to 6 hours. Not only that, renting a bus meant the whole transportation was for themselves, while with the train, they had to share it with other people, meaning they had to look after their manners as well.

It was definitely not a choice, especially for a bunch of teenagers like them. Who would’ve thought, though, that the journey was going to be this torturous?

"Guys, is it a little bit exaggerated?" Somehow, one of the twins suddenly spoke, triggering a collective glare from the others.

Compared to the other boys, some of whom had already taken off their shirts, they were still quite chilling, with one reading a manga while the others listened to music. It was clear that the temperature didn’t bother them even for a second.

"You have to cut them some slack, Denki," Hiroshi smirked teasingly, also not getting bothered by the weather. "Unlike us, they spend most of their lives in a cave, so it is no wonder they cannot handle a little bit of sun."

"WHY, YOU?!" The others growled in rage before they started throwing things at those three.

Well, compared to the others, those three were indeed more resistant to heat. After all, they grew up in Saitama, one of the hottest prefectures in Japan. When the summer was at its peak, the temperature there could reach up to 40, way worse than the 30 degrees that they were suffering right now.

Still, this worried Kumiko a little bit. Not those three, of course, but the rest of the players.

’They are so used to playing under 20 degrees, so this temperature will definitely mess them up. What should I do to make them adapt faster?’

Unfortunately, there was no shortcut to handle this matter. This was also the problem that Sappotani always faced in the Summer Inter-High. The temperature was way too hot for any Northern people to survive, let alone fighting for a whole 90 minutes of the game.

That was also why no team from Hokkaido had ever advanced further than the second round of the National Tournament.

In the end, after thinking for a while, Kumiko sighed in resignation, wiping the sweat that formed again on her forehead. "This is not something I can solve with a pony trick. Let’s see how they perform first before I think of the solution later.’