The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 144: A Blitzkrieg from Shimizu Higashi?!

Fweee!

The moment the referee blew the whistle, the Korean striker on the other side, Park Han-Gyeol, kicked the ball back before rushing forward immediately. He was like a tractor going full speed at the start of the race, catching all the small cars behind him off guard.

"FUCK! WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO?!"

"DON’T WORRY, LEAVE IT TO ME!" Makino shouted, trying to calm down his teammates while also marking Han-Gyeol’s movement tightly. "JUST WATCH THAT 10! HE IS ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING!"

However, before anyone could get closer and do exactly what the captain asked, Mamoru had already made his move. With a calm and swift movement, he swung his left foot gracefully, sending a slow and yet precise pass to the front line.

All the Hakodate players who were rushing at him could only stop, turning their heads to the sky as they watched how the ball curved in a parabolic path before landing straight on the flank side where Hori was guarding.

"Fuck! They have done their research! They know Hori is not the best defender here!" Makino cursed. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything, as right now, Park Han-Gyeol was haunting him behind. "Jun, help him!" He shouted at his center-back partner immediately.

It was a risky move, because if a pass to the center was sent, Makino would be alone there, having to fight against a top Korean striker and whoever reinforcement the opponent sent from the second line. However, he had to do this move, as Hori himself looked like he was about to be blown away by the opponent’s left winger.

’Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! How can I get destroyed in the first place?!’ Hori cursed, starting to hate himself for the weakness.

He had been quite insecure since Denji snatched his position several times, even in the training session, and this didn’t help his confidence at all. Now, he started to doubt whether he should be here or not, knowing that this was the first torture he would suffer in a very long 90 minutes of the game.

Unfortunately, even with Jun’s help, those two were not close enough to stop the pass from being sent. That winger, a short boy with his jersey rolled up to his shoulder, sent a quick cut-back pass, and Park Han-Gyeol, who had been running behind Makino for the entire time, suddenly made a quick maneuver, cutting in front of Hakodate’s captain to get the ball first.

"FU—!"

BAM!

Everything happened so quickly here.

Makino didn’t expect that he would get cooked with just a simple off-the-ball maneuver, allowing such a dangerous striker like Park Han-Gyeol to get the first shot of the game.

The Korean striker also didn’t disappoint. He didn’t use any technique or placement skill, just a pure power shot straight at the near post. Even with Makino trying to tackle him, Han-Gyeol just ignored the boy, using his physical advantage to overwhelm Hakodate’s captain.

The sequence was perfect from start to end, if only it wasn’t Higo who was standing in front of the goal.

Even before the cutback pass was made, the goalie figured out with his clairvoyance ability what the opponent was going to do, so he shifted his body slightly to that poor post that had just been slammed by Park Han-Gyeol’s attack.

As a result, the ball went straight to his body, and not wanting to take a risk, Higo just used the technique he learned in volleyball to deflect the ball into the air.

"Come on, Teme! Stop daydreaming! Keep your eyes on the others!" Higo shouted while his eyes were still not leaving the air, watching until the ball finally landed back on earth.

It would be bad if that Korean striker decided to challenge him in the air, since the boy’s height was superior to Higo’s.

Makino also worked quickly. He used his body as a wall to prevent the Korean striker from being comfortable jumping. As for who would catch the ball, even if the captain hated to admit it, Higo was definitely the best choice here.

Thud!

Aerial duel was always Higo’s biggest strength, and this was also not so different. Even if more Shimizu Higashi players came closer to disturbing Higo’s defense, the boy just plucked the ball out of the air, even winning against Park Han-Gyeol, who was around 187 cm, for God’s sake!

Granted, the Korean striker was being held back against Makino, preventing him from jumping higher than usual. However, at the same scene, Higo also had just gotten from the earlier shot, having been ready for this scenario since the beginning of the game.

In Higo’s book, he would definitely count this as a fair win.

"Nice defense, Teme!" Higo sent a thumbs-up to the captain.

He himself didn’t launch a quick counterattack, noticing that not a single one of his teammates was ready to rush forward. This was just the beginning of the game, and the opponent’s blitzkrieg was enough to give everyone a heart attack. It was important to de-escalate things first, letting the others breathe for a moment before continuing the game.

"Oi, Hori! Wake up quickly! This will be a harsh game for you!" He glanced at the right back in pity.

"A—Ah! Thanks a lot, Senpai!" Hori said gratefully, still panting as he tried to get up from the ground.

Mamoru himself also watched the scene on the opponent’s penalty box with one eyebrow raised slightly, feeling intrigued. "Not bad... It seems you are indeed as amazing as the report said. However, how long can you last today?"

After that, the game continued again with the ball rolling from Higo’s hand. However, seeing that the opponent put high pressure and even had four players pushing to his own penalty box, he knew that he couldn’t play it short.

In the end, he just kicked it far, and unfortunately, Kuroki failed to get the ball, resulting in the possession still on Shimizu Higashi’s side.

After the failed blitz attack earlier, the tempo also started to slow down drastically. Shimizu Higashi became so patient in their passing game, waiting for any opponent player to get attracted to them. Meanwhile, Hakodate Nishi also maintained a high-level discipline defense, moving together like a unit, never showing any weakness on their part.

The game somehow turned into a boring one, with both teams still trying to probe each other. However, after twenty minutes, Mamoru finally made his move again, as the boy got the ball near the center circle of the pitch.

’This should be the time to spice things up, right?’