The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 355: A Crucial Substitution for Hakodate Nishi!

Kumiko also noticed the difficulty that Kenji faced. Honestly, it was quite rare for her to see the boy getting so flustered like that. In her mind, Kenji was always playful even on the pitch, showing some flair here and there to spice things up. However, today, he had never gotten any chance to do that, and it was probably why his expression got uglier as time passed by.

After pondering for a second, Kumiko finally decided to make a move here. "Yuji-kun, come here."

"...Wait, me?!" Yuji pointed at himself in disbelief. "Senpai, you are asking me to get ready?!" His voice rose in excitement.

"Yes, you! Come here." Kumiko nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, Ma’am!"

The boy jumped immediately, taking off his jacket while also putting his headband on to prevent his long hair from getting into his eyes. While he was not Kenji, Yuji was definitely one of the players who cared about fashion the most on the team.

A grin was beaming on his face as this was going to be his debut. It took a while, since he himself didn’t get a chance in the first two games. But after waiting patiently, his chance was finally here, and the boy couldn’t help but get excited.

"So, what is my task on the pitch, Senpai?" He asked, jumping around to let loose of the muscle on his knee.

"Well, it is simple. When we don’t have the ball, I want you to be the wildest mad dog on the pitch." Kumiko answered while she started drawing some patterns on the board she always carried. "You see that, Taiga Nagai? You know that all of their long ball are coming from him, right?"

Yuji nodded, glancing at Hannan’s defender number 3 slightly.

"What you and the others probably haven’t noticed yet is that he always uses his right foot for a long ball. It doesn’t matter if the ball is in his left foot; he will adjust it awkwardly to get it to the other foot. So, you should know what you are doing, right?"

"Put pressure on him. It is okay if I miss, but I cannot let him get comfortable using his right foot." Yuji said robotically as an idea had already formed inside his head.

"Good." Kumiko nodded appreciatively. "Kenji-kun is good as our big gun, but he is too lazy to do the dirty work like that. I need you to step in and disturb their rhythm, okay?"

"Sure. What about my offensive duty?" The boy nodded while still doing his warm-up.

"Well, it is even simpler." Kumiko smiled. "Just roam freely in the joint area and beat everyone with your speed. You know Hiroshi-kun and Takaaki-kun, if you are in an empty space, their pass will come."

The grin on Yuji’s face was wider than ever. "That is a perfect role for me, right? Don’t worry, Senpai! I will get the job done!"

Soon enough, the boy finally stood next to the fourth referee, waiting for the play to be paused. The moment Makino’s pass failed to reach Denki on the right side, the fourth referee finally raised the board, signalling a substitution for Hakodate Nishi.

"Wait, Kenji Makabe is getting replaced?"

"Well, you cannot blame the head coach there. He hasn’t done anything productive so far."

"Still, to replace her superstar like that... The girl sure has a gut, huh?"

The whispers echoed throughout the stand as they all were surprised by the change. After all, Kenji was indeed Hakodate Nishi’s star player, what with him contributing three out of the four goals that the team had produced so far. However, his struggle in getting through Taiga Nagai’s defense was hard to not be noticed, and coupled with his lack of presence in the team’s pressure, Kumiko wouldn’t care about the boy’s past achievements.

"Tch!" Kenji also clicked his tongue in annoyance, not liking the decision here. Unfortunately, the boy also recognized that he didn’t provide anything good for the team, so he understood why the coach put him off. "Don’t be too nervous, Senpai. Just run with all your might; you will catch them off guard soon." He high-fived Yuji before leaving the pitch.

"Don’t worry, leave the rest to me." Yuji nodded solemnly.

The boy soon announced his presence here. The moment the game restarted again, Matthew Edwards passed the ball back to Taiga Nagai to reset the attack, not expecting the new boy to pounce at the defender so fiercely. Taiga Nagai was taken aback, extending his right foot to reach the ball first. Unfortunately, Yuji’s speed was faster, as the boy managed to push the ball first, resulting in his foot tripping the boy to the ground.

BRUGH!

"ARGH! SENSEI!" Yuji clutched his ankle in pain as he complained to the referee.

The referee also saw this, so the man didn’t hesitate to give a yellow card. Of course, Taiga Nagai didn’t have any choice but to accept the punishment. The boy also shrugged helplessly at his teammates, knowing that he had to do that or they would be in greater danger.

Meanwhile, some of the Hakodate Nishi players came to help Yuji get up from the ground immediately. Takaaki patted the boy’s shoulder a little before praising him, "Good job. Focus more on making a run; I will see you."

Yuji grinned widely; all the painful expressions before were gone from his face. "Ha! That’s what I’m waiting for you to speak! Don’t miss me, okay?"

Unfortunately, the free kick was still close to the center line, so it was not ideal to send a long ball there. Takaaki played slowly, sending it back to Sano before glancing around to see where his teammates were. Yuji also inserted himself in the area between the defenders, hovering around the offside line. This was enough to make all Hannan University High’s defenders tense in their spots.

Then, soon enough, the ball that Yuji was waiting for finally came.

It all started with Hiroshi, who was holding the ball, managed to drag the opponent’s left back to the middle. This left the flank area open, and Taiga Nagai didn’t have any choice but to shift toward that spot. Seeing a slight open space in the area left by that defender, Yuji didn’t even hesitate.

’THIS IS MY FUCKING CHANCE!’