The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 153: Red Card!

Everything happened so fast right now. The move was so quick and decisive that it was hard to follow for the Hakodate Nishi players.

Left.

Back to the middle.

Back pass.

Wide to the right.

Back to the middle again.

Front.

One-two with the middle.

The pass was like a flowing river, unstoppable by everything in between. Not a single player with the black-and-white jersey was able to chase the ball, let alone stop it. They could only see how the quick-pass play got through everyone else, and within a second, a 2v4 situation unfolded on Hakodate’s side.

Higo had to fight with Ishinori alone, having to survive against four Shimizu Higashi players, including Mamoru and Park Han-Gyeol.

"FUCK! What the hell is that passing play?!"

"Hey, how many passes were made earlier? Anyone counting on that?"

"It should be more than 10, right? I swear, it is a lot!"

"As expected of Shimizu Higashi! Once they are in the zone, nothing can stop them at all!"

Well, despite the cheers exploding on the stand, Higo was so solemn right now, eyeing four players so cautiously to predict where the ball would fall. He didn’t even have enough time to instruct Ishinori, letting his kouhai think on his own to find a way to ease his burden.

’Sorry, Nori, but I cannot put my focus on you now.’ The boy apologized quietly. ’Just... Please, take out one of them first...’

However, Ishinori was definitely smarter here.

Knowing that he couldn’t stop the wave of attack from those four players, he decided instantly to stick with the one in the most dangerous position here, Park Han-Gyeol, and the moment the Korean striker got another pass, Ishinori grabbed his shirt immediately, even pulling it so harshly that Han-Gyeol was thrown to the ground quite badly.

Brugh!

Fweee!

The response was immediate. Right after Han-Gyeol fell, the referee blew the whistle, and all the Shimizu Higashi players surrounded the referee immediately, even for a different reason than what Higo initially thought.

"Sensei! It is still a play-on situation! We have the ball!"

"Yes! Look at Mamoru! He is about to snatch the ball there! How could you stop the play so abruptly like that?!"

"Han-Gyeol-a is also okay! Look, he doesn’t even have a scratch!’

Now, the referee was in an awkward situation. He also saw Han-Gyeol getting up from the ground and ready to join the complaint here, and honestly, this was an embarrassing moment for him.

The man saw clearly how Ishinori grabbed Han-Gyeol’s jersey, a professional foul to stop the game. This definitely warranted a red card, and when he saw that Ishinori’s feet were about to kick the ball out of the sideline, he blew the whistle immediately.

The referee didn’t really see that Mamoru, who was still three steps behind, would suddenly appear so close to the ball, and before he knew it, the whistle was already blown.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. Apologizing wouldn’t bring back that golden chance earlier. So, he racked his brain so quickly to come up with a good enough excuse to deal with the situation.

"I know that you are dissatisfied here, but the foul itself is quite dangerous. Your number 9 falls with the back of his neck first, and if I didn’t stop the game to check his situation first, I am afraid that if something happened to him, we all would bear the responsibility. Better stay safe than sorry, right?"

Well, any complaint stuck in the throat immediately. All the Shimizu Higashi players just sighed at each other helplessly, feeling so frustrated that they were denied a sure-goal chance earlier. Even with them having a free kick in a good angle and a spot so close to the penalty box, this still didn’t appease them at all.

The most frustrated were, of course, the three who were so close to the opponent’s goal. The two of them were still glaring at Ishinori with hostile eyes, as if they were about to eat the boy alive. In the end, it was Mamoru who calmed them down here.

"Well, at least, this will make things easier for us, right?" He smiled confidently.

Indeed, even without the sure-goal chance earlier, they were still confident they could beat Higo on the goal. However, with the opponent being one less player on the pitch, this would basically ensure their win today.

Meanwhile, right after the red card was given to Ishinori, the boy just nodded in acceptance. However, he didn’t walk off the pitch alone. No, before the boy could leave, all the Hakodate Nishi players high-fived him or even slapped the back of his head, showing their appreciation for his quick thinking.

"Good job, Nori. That’s what you should do!"

"Don’t worry, Brat. After this, leave the rest to us."

"You can be assured that we will try our hardest to bring back the trophy to the locker room. Just get ready to celebrate first."

Ishinori’s eyes went watery here. Even if he didn’t regret his choice, it would be a lie if the boy said that the red card didn’t burden him. After all, with him off the pitch, that meant his teammates had to work harder, and things could get nasty quickly.

However, since everyone reassured him, even though he was still reluctant, Ishinori left with his head high, accepting his villain role as he bowed one last time to the crowd.

’Damn, he is so cool.’ Higo couldn’t help but mutter. ’Still, it is not the time for me to daydream like that. Without Ishinori, things will be troublesome for me to handle.’

After everything was settled and Ishinori was out of the pitch, the game continued again with a free kick from five meters away from the penalty box. The angle was also perfect to aim straight at the goal, so a direct shot was a sure thing right here.

After setting up the wall, Higo took a deep breath, putting all his focus straight on the ball. Mamoru was going to be the executioner, and the boy knew that this was going to be another difficult job for him.

’So... Let’s see where he is going to aim the ball...’

FWEEE!

Once the referee blew the whistle, Higo moved accordingly. It was a logical thing based on his following the clairvoyant vision inside his head. However, in the next second, his eyes widened in shock, with only one proper word popping into his brain.

’FUCK!’