The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 149: Surviving the First Half!

Somehow, even with Makino being in a dazed state, Hakodate Nishi was able to survive for more than five minutes, holding their own ground and repelling all the intruders out of the territory. However, it was clear that without the captain being in command, the ship was a bit in disarray here, so when they saw Kumiko make a move, some of them let out a relieved sigh.

"Finally!" Jun shook his head quickly. "Anyway, who will Kazawa replace? Wait, what? Fuji?!" He blinked in shock, realizing that it was the DM who got replaced right now.

The center-back wasn’t the only one, as Fujinaga himself had a decent game so far. However, the boy in question just nodded all along, not even complaining. His face was full of reluctance, but it seemed he had already expected this beforehand.

"It’s okay. I also feel like I am not at my best state today." He smiled stiffly, accepting the high-five from the others. "Just keep going, and bring back the trophy to the bench later, okay?" He smiled wanly.

Honestly, with how lonely his back was as the boy walked away from the pitch, everyone turned solemn, somehow feeling like this was a death-matter situation.

Still, when anyone thinks about it clearly, Fujinaga really had a big reason to feel disappointed. After all, today was the last game of the tournament, and all the chance to show off his ability was stripped away so quickly, even before the game entered the half break. This was definitely a cruel thing to do, but Kumiko still did it for the sake of the team.

"Okay, don’t worry about it! Kumiko-san

should have something in his mind right now. Let’s wait until Kazawa-kun here before we know what to do." Kuroki, the team’s vice captain, took over the speech to snap them out of their thoughts.

After waiting for a while, Kazawa finally came with a little jog, going straight to Makino, who had been quiet for a long time.

"Senpai, change position." The boy said it quickly. "You step forward to the DM position, and I will be on the back with Jun. Just go crazy and chase them all away from our territory. We will have your back."

Makino was so surprised when he heard that. However, the boy figured out immediately what Kumiko wanted to do, and his gaze shifted to the bench softly as he gave a nod of gratitude toward the girl.

"Thanks, Kazawa. I will leave the backline to you."

After that, the game continued again, and indeed, Makino started to act crazy. He might not be able to win a physical duel against Park Han-Gyeol, but against Mamoru, whose height was almost 10 cm below his? This should be an easy task for the captain.

True enough, after being let loose out there, Makino went rogue, targeting Mamoru all the time. He would always be there the first time Shimizu Higashi’s genius received a pass, pushing the boy back and forcing the ball to go back to the opponent’s own area.

Of course, Mamoru also noticed this. He tried to shake off Makino, but the captain was being too stubborn. It also helped that Makino himself didn’t really aim to get the ball, but just to push the ball away from the team’s territory.

Then, coupled with Kazawa and Jun, who managed to isolate Park Han-Gyeol behind them, the team’s defensive strategy finally started to work well.

They were able to cut off all the supply to the Korean striker, and with that boy and Mamoru having trouble getting out of their current predicament, although Shimizu Higashi’s offense was still quite strong, no one could deny that this affected the team’s whole offense.

"Mamoru, don’t just stand there and receive the ball like that! Let it roll in front of you and get a better position to run!"

"Takagi! I need you to insert it in the middle! Supply more balls to Han-Gyeol!"

"Sen, there will be no attack coming! Push further and help Mamoru in the midfield!"

Shimizu Higashi’s head coach also started to act, shouting so many complicated instructions to all of his players on the pitch. After more than 30 minutes had passed without his team getting a goal, the man also got impatient here, wanting to push harder.

However, with Makino starting to get better and Kazawa commanding the backline, Hakodate also got a solid wall on the back. This time, Higo didn’t even have to work hard, as all the ball did was just roll over in the middle without being able to cross the last defensive line.

’This is how it should’ve been done.’ Higo couldn’t help but nod in approval. ’I don’t need a perfect defense, but I need at least a more disciplined army of soldiers in front of me. At least, now, all I need is just to pick up one or two easy balls coming.’

Indeed, this was his reality for the last fifteen minutes of the game. With the excitement starting to die down, no attack really came to his side, with the best one being a long shot from outside of the box, which only went wide of Higo’s goal.

The Korean striker still tried to take over, but the moment he got a ball, he would’ve been surrounded by at least two players, forcing him to roll the ball again to the other side of the pitch. This continued for a while, without him being allowed to touch the ball for more than two seconds, so comfortably.

As for Mamoru himself... Well, poor boy. He really got choked to death by Makino, not being given any room to breathe. Hell, the boy even doubted whether Makino would follow him or not, even if he had to go to the bathroom right now. The opponent’s captain really drove him crazy, not even giving a meter of space to create anything with the ball.

’Damn, I really need to think of something!’ The boy scowled, for the first time showing a hint of irritation there.

Unfortunately, before he could do anything, time really passed by quickly. Without anyone noticing, more than 45 minutes had passed since the beginning of the game, and once the referee blew a long whistle, everyone finally realized what was going on here.

"Wait, what? Is it a half break already?! How quick!"