3. Ikki Niko Says Isagi Yoichi Resembles Him

After the first half, Team Z found themselves caught in the clever trap set by Team Y, orchestrated by Niko. With cunning strategy, Niko lured all the players of Team Z to push forward in an attempt to break through Team Y’s “park-the-bus” defense.

Niko, having intercepted the ball in the defensive area, quickly spotted an opening and sent a swift through pass to Ohkawa. Ohkawa, the sole unmarked forward of Team Y, sprinted freely toward Team Z’s goal. With impressive composure, Ohkawa delivered a brilliant goal, giving Team Y a 1-0 lead by the end of the first half.

Entering the second half, Team Z earned a corner kick opportunity. All the players of Team Z gathered in Team Y’s penalty box, hoping to score a goal. Fortunately, Isagi Yoichi’s intuition proved correct—he predicted that Team Y’s goalkeeper would deflect the corner kick toward Niko, who would then attempt to pass the ball to Ohkawa for a counterattack.

As predicted, Isagi successfully intercepted the ball directed toward Niko and took a long-range shot toward Team Y’s goal. Although Niko managed to block Isagi’s shot, Gagamaru seized the rebound and scored a goal for Team Z. This allowed Team Z to equalize the score to 1-1 against Team Y.

Afterward, Niko praised Isagi’s intelligence in accurately reading his strategy for the counterattack. Niko admitted that without Isagi’s insight, Team Z would have been easily destroyed by Team Y’s coordinated plays.

Niko, a skilled player known for his sharp vision that allows him to survey the entire field and his tactical mind for issuing instructions to his teammates, acknowledged that Isagi possessed vision and intelligence on par with his own.