The 9th Story Arc of the Blue Lock manga series, which centers on Blue Lock's First Selection match between Team Z and Team W, a team led by the trouble-making Wanima Brothers. Following Kuon's offensive "3x3 All-Star Tactics" plan that has the team taking turns in groups of three to attack offensively, the match appears to be going swimmingly for Team Z as they manage to build up a sizeable lead. However, that lead falls apart just as quickly as it was built up due to Kuon turning out to be a traitor. Thus, the only one that can save Team Z from complete disaster is the broken Chigiri finally breaking out of his funk, and revealing his hidden football weapon.
It makes up chapters 16 to 21 of the series.
Chapter 16: Hit
Team Z, other than Kuon, are all seen within their team's monitoring room watching recorded footage of Team W's past games. They note that the two players to watch out for are the twin Wanima Brothers. Rank 232 Keisuke Wanima being the younger smaller brother while Rank 233 Junichi Wanima is the older bigger brother. Iemon notes that the weapon of the Wanima Brothers is their joint-playstyle where they're really good at playing off one another, which he figures that the goal for Team Z to wreck their weapon is to keep the brothers separated. Raichi remains confused as to why Iemon's taking the lead as Kuon finally arrives having been in the bath.Kuon claims to have thought up a new strategy that's an improved version of his striker rotation plan from the previous match, which rather than being 1 striker getting a 10 minute turn to lead, it will now be a group of 3 on the offensive getting 30 minutes before swapping out for the next 3-man-group. He notes how its purpose is to group their weapons that are most compatible with each other, and calls it the "3x3 All-Star Tactics" plan. Iemon is once again convinced to play goalie as Isagi asks if Chigiri's fine with being a defender again. Chigiri's fine with it, but also warns Isagi that he should be more worried about scoring goals for himself rather than worry about others. With everything set-up, Team Z hypes themselves up for tomorrow's match.
The next day, Team Z and Team W are seen taking the field to begin the match. Team Z's first offensive 3-man-group being Kuon/Igarashi/Imamura. Team W gets the ball first, which the Wanima Brothers lead the way using their joint-playstyle weapon to move the ball down the field with a series of passes. The way they communicate is also shown to be quite odd as the smaller Keisuke speaks for both himself and his brother while the bigger Junichi just communites in expressions. Like if Keisuke thinks his brother wants a pass, Junichi nods yes. Isagi's shocked to see the Wanima brothers easily dribble by Igarashi, Kunigami, and Gagamaru as Keisuke reveals that he and his brother's weapon is called "Eye-Contact;" the ability to know what the other brother wants. Chigiri and Isagi stand as the last line of defense before the goal, which the sight of Chigiri catches Keisuke's attention. He reminds his brother of how they've come across the "Genius with the Knee of Glass," which makes it clear that the Wanima Brothers have a past with Chigiri.
The sight of Chigiri causes Junichi to give off a nasty grin, which Keisuke agrees that it's time to remind their old school club pal that his career is over. Their egos overflowing as they easily pass by Chigiri. They taunt Chigiri about his leg possibly breaking as Isagi manages to slide in and kicks the ball away from Keisuke. Despite the brothers claiming foul, Isagi isn't penalized; having succeeded in stealing the ball for Team Z. He warns Chigiri to ignore their shit-talking as he doesn't care about their past, and to only focus on the current Chigiri who's a member of Team Z, which Chigiri remains silent not knowing how to react. As Isagi passes it over to Imamura for his teammates to push the attack, Chigiri calls out Isagi for being obsessed with him. In return, Isagi claims that he's not trying to convince Chigiri of anything, but that he's here at Blue Lock, because he doesn't want to give up football, and to change his life. He reminds Chigiri that, because they're both strikers, they can change all that they hate about themselves with just a single goal.
During Isagi's speech to Chigiri, Team Z is seen having managed to push the ball up the field all the way to the goal. Kuon being the one to finish it as he gets a header on the ball, and hits the ball into Team W's goal to put Team Z up 1-0. Isagi then tells Chigiri that the person he wants to see is the current one. As Kuon is seen celebrating his goal with his teamamtes, Isagi says to Chigiri that they didn't come to Blue Lock just to give up on football.
Chapter 17: Sorry
After Kuon's score, Junichi with Keisuke speaking for him criticizes his Team W defenders for failing to stop them. Team W has the ball now as the Wanima Brothers lead the offensive again with their joint-passing. However, Junichi remains in a bad mood due to the poor start, which the combination of Bachira and Kunigami sandwiching his sides caused him to have the ball stolen by Kunigami, and kicked over to Bachira, who then passes the ball over to Kuon in front of the goal. Bachira kicks the pass high enough to allow Kuon to stop the ball using his high jump weapon over a nearby Team W defender. Once the ball is in his control, Kuon kicks the ball into Team W's goal to put Team Z up 2-0. Kuon celebrates with his teammates as Junichi once more gets pissed off at the score.30 minutes into the game, the offensive turn for the Kuon/Igarashi/Imamura group comes to an end, which Gagamaru/Raichi/Naruhaya take over as the next three-man-team to go on the offensive. Team Z had managed to get the ball back, and as the three of them push the ball down the field, Junichi commits a Yellow Card foul by pulling Naruhaya from behind. The foul had occured close to Team W's goal on the right side of the field, which everyone gathers in front of Team W's net for the penalty kick from Bachira. Surveying the crowd of players in front of Team W's goal, Bachira locates a target, and kicks the ball to him. Said target turns out to be Kuon, who jumps over the crowd, and knocks the ball into the goal with a header to put Team Z up 3-0. Kuon celebrates getting a three goal Hat Trick in one game as the first half of the game comes to an end.
In the Team Z locker room, everyone remains excited and hyped up over Kuon's play giving them a huge 3-0 lead. They then head back out to the field in high spirits. Taking their places on the field, Isagi stands at his spot next to Chigiri on the final defensive line again. He asks if Chigiri can still talk about giving up when they're having so much fun, which Chigiri doesn't answer. The game resumes with Team Z starting the half with the ball. With 15 minutes of their turn remaining, the Gagamaru/Raichi/Naruhaya trio lead the offensive for Team Z. During a moment where Raichi has the ball, Kuon comes up to him to warn that they need to slow things down to waste the clock. Raichi agrees to go along with it, and passes it off to Kuon. However, Keisuke appears from behind Kuon, and easily steals the ball way. The Wanima Brothers then push down the field to Isagi and Chigiri, which Isagi goes for the slide steal only for the brothers to easily jump over him.
The Wanima Brothers easily dribble by Chigiri, and using their joint-passing to confuse Iemon at the goal, the wide open Junichi easily kicks the ball into the net for Team W to cut Team Z's lead down to 3-1. The brothers celebrate their score as Kuon tries to hype the team back up by reminding them that they don't have to go on the offensive. Kuon takes the ball to start Team Z's play while claiming that they just need to control the game with passes. Isagi agrees that Kuon's logic makes sense given that they have the lead as Kuon passes the ball over to Isagi. However, the pass confuses Isagi due to how short the kick was, which results in Junichi easily coming in and stealing the ball away. Junichi then passes it over to Keisuke who's in front of Team Z's goal, and kicks the ball into the net to lessen Team Z's lead down to 3-2.
The Wanima Brothers celebrate their second goal as Raichi gets pissed off at Kuon for making such costly mistakes that destroyed their 3 goal lead. As a result, Kuon kneels down with his head in the grass begging his teammates for forgiveness for messing up such a crucial game. Despite Raichi remaining in a bad mood, Kunigami and the rest of the team all accept that they were just honest mistakes as Kuon continues to apologize. Meanwhile, Isagi thinks things over regarding how surprising it is that the Wanima Brothers scored two quick goals in ten minutes compared to doing nothing in the first half. He concludes that things will be bad if they can't stop their next goal, but as Isagi looks at Kuon raising himself up off the grass, Isagi catches a brief glimpse of Kuon giving off an evil looking smile, which confuses him. Thus, unbeknownst to Isagi and Team Z, it's made clear that Kuon's messing up on purpose.
Chapter 18: Nice Job
Not sure if he saw Kuon smile or not, Isagi and company return their focus to the game still leading by 1 goal. There's now 30 minutes in the game remaining, which Isagi/Bachira/Kunigami take over as the final three-man offensive group for Team Z. The three of them push forward against Team W in a triangle formation, but as Kunigami looks around for an opening as they get closer to the goal, he notices that Bachira, who's usually the main dribbler to bypass opponents, is currently being fully covered. This forces Kunigami to send the ball back to Isagi, which the latter remains confused as to how Team W seems to have a full grasp on what their football weapons are. Isagi ends up not smelling any potential openings as he ends up having the ball suddenly stolen by Junichi.As Team W goes back on the offensive, Isagi can only think that Team Z's tactics must have been leaked to the opponent. Isagi thinks about how the game has gone so far, and remembering that Kuon scored 3 goals along with his mistakes afterwards giving Team W two easy scores, he starts to realize Kuon's true goal, which is to be the soul survivor of Team Z who moves on to the Second Selection as the team's top scorer. The Wanima Brothers close in on Team Z's goal as everyone crowds around it. Kuon's the one to go up for the header defend only to completely whiff, which Isagi catches it this time that he missed on purpose. The ball then reaches Junichi in front of the goal, and scores the goal to tie the game 3-3. As Team W celebrates, Isagi confronts Kuon; now fully convinced that the latter has chosen to betray Team Z.
Before Kuon answers, the Wanima Brothers appear knowing that the ruse is up, and taunt Isagi by claiming that this is indeed the case. That Kuon talked with them the previous night, and provided Team W with all the information on Team Z. The rest of Team Z watches in stunned silence as Isagi hopes that it's all a lie. A pissed off Raichi then confronts Kuon, and threatens to get violent only to end up getting punished with a Yellow Card. Kuon claiming that he's just doing whatever it takes to survive in Blue Lock. As Kuon sets up the ball for the penalty kick, Igarashi questions why he's doing this when it will just result in their team being eliminated. Just like what Isagi guessed earlier, Kuon claims that he will be the only survivor, and calls his team stupid for not remembering the top scorer rule. Kuon then passes the ball to Team W, and standing alongside the Wanima Brothers, he states that the game will now be 12-on-10.
Isagi and company remain stunned by the sudden turn of events as the Wanima Brothers push the ball offensively after Raichi's penalty gave them the ball back. As Isagi runs alongside Kuon, the explains his train of thought after witnessing Isagi's last second score win them the previous game. That Kuon's come to the conclusion that Team Z's hanging by a thread, and that due to how strong their next opponent, Team V, appears to be, there's no way that the current Team Z as a whole would make it to the Second Selection. Thus, Kuon's decided that no matter what, he will make it to the Second Selection despite believing that Team Z won't make it. He reminds Isagi of Ego's rule that the top three scorers of the three losing teams will get to stay in Blue Lock, which is how the deal with Team W was made. That in exchange for information on Team Z, Kuon gets to score three times to cement is goal lead in Team Z.
Isagi finds Kuon's words to be bullshit claiming that Kuon was the one who was all about Team Z winning together. In return, Kuon just finds it amusing that Isagi was this stupid to believe it. Kuon once more reminds Isagi that they're at Blue Lock, a place where bonds and teamwork aren't needed. That all that matters is one's ego to secure victory. Giving off a smug smile, Kuon announces to Isagi what his ego is, which is to win by betraying others. It's at this point that the Wanima Brothers have reached Team Z's goal again, which its Keisuke that scores this time; putting Team Z down 3-4. Kuon taunts Team Z alongside the celebrating Wanima Brothers as Isagi remains pissed that they've been screwed over. Meanwhile, Chigiri watches on looking a bit distraught over what's transpired.
Chapter 19: Disadvantage
Team Z remains stunned in disbelief after Kuon's betrayal resulted in their 3 goal lead turning into a 1 goal deficit with just under 30 minutes of the game remaining. Kunigami being forced to grab hold of a pissed off Raichi from trying to kill Kuon, which would result in him getting Red Carded. Since Team Z has the ball again, Isagi tries to go on the offense, but he's quickly surrounded by the Wanima Brothers, who taunt him knowing that Isagi's weapon is his excellent Spatial Awarenes. Thanks to the Wanima Brothers crowding, Kuon comes in taunting Isagi to give up given that they outnumber Team Z by two players now, which Kuon manages to easily steal the ball away, and goes on the offensive again with Team Z. The ball is eventually passed to Junichi, who kicks it at Team Z's goal. However, Iemon manages to make the goalie save this time by knocking the ball away to the right corner of the field.In an effort to rally the team, Iemon calls out to Team Z that they can still save their current situation. That in order to keep surviving in Blue Lock, they need to give up on the thought of winning, and just score one more goal against Team W to end it in a tie. That way, they'll still get 1 point to remain alive for the First Selection round robin tournament going into the final match against Team V. The ball lands near the area where Chigiri was defending, but Keisuke appears, and once more taunts Chigiri about ending the latter's career given their past history. Thus, Chigiri ends up easily losing the ball to Keisuke. Raichi ends up yelling at Chigiri for being useless, which gets Chigiri frustrated wanting the former to buzz off.
The story flashes back to a time before Chigiri had come to Blue Lock. At Rajitsu Tech High School, the senior student Wanima Brothers are seen on the school football field with the new rookies for their first practice. Junichi and Keisuke make it clear to the rookies that they want to be respected as the glorious senpai leaders of the team. However, one of the rookies, who turns out to be Chigiri, has no interest in a childish team hierarchy as he just wants to make a name for himself by making it to Nationals. Chigiri then shows how much better he is than the Wanima Brothers by using his incredible speed to easily run past them with the soccer ball, much to the shock of Junichi and Keisuke.
The flashback jumps ahead where the coach makes it clear that the team now revolves around Chigiri and his speed, which angers the Wanima Brothers even futher. In return, Chigiri tells them that it just comes down to whether or not they got talent, which the brothers take offense to believing that Chigiri is claiming that he's far more talented than them. The flashback then jumps around to different times in Chigiri's life starting from six years old where he proves to, and gains the attention of, everyone around him that he's a talented up-and-coming star of Rajitsu Tech while the pissed off Wanima Brothers are cast aside. As he continues to practice and play games for his school, Chigiri remains confident in his legs that the incredible speed that only he has will make him the best striker in the world. However, that dream suddenly hits a roadblock as during a game, his right knee gives out, which is the point that he tore is ACL.
At the hospital, Chigiri's given the rundown on his torn ACL from the doctor, which he's told that while his leg muscles are really exceptional compared to most kids, which gives him his great speed, he will run the risk from now on of potentially tearing it again. Thus, the doctor warns that it will be difficult for Chigiri to continue playing football, which leaves the latter in despair. Once Chigiri returns to Rajitsu Tech in a leg cast, the attention he was getting is gone, and the Wanima Brothers go about taunting Chigiri for being washed up. Keisuke even turning Chigiri's lack of talent comment against him. From then on, Chigiri worked on recovery to get back on the field, but when he could finally start practicing again, the Wanima Brothers go about bullying him to make sure that his mental state doesn't fully recover, such as reminding him that he could injure himself again.
Overall, Chigiri thinks to himself that it's not losing his knee that he's afraid of. It's that he's afraid of losing everything about him as a person. A mental image of Chigiri's right knee being locked down in chains is seen to show that he's now mentally trapped. Back in the present, Chigiri continues to watch Team Z's struggle against Team W and Kuon. At this point, only 5 minutes remain in the game. Chigiri thinks to himself that he's been waiting to give up, and that his football career will finally be over after 5 minutes. However, the still struggling Isagi comes near Chigiri yelling for the latter to run. Isagi claiming that the game's still not over yet, which leaves Chigiri in disbelief that the former's not leaving him alone.
Chapter 20: Seething
The final minutes of the Team Z vs. Team W match continues, which the combo of Raichi and Kunigami manage to get the ball away from Junichi. Imamura gets the loose ball, and passes it over to Isagi to start Team Z's offensive push again. However, Keisuke quickly marks Isagi, and continues to taunt that they already have everything about Team Z figured out and won. Isagi looks around, but sees that all his offensive teammates are covered by players of Team W knowing exactly what Team Z weapons to block. It's at this point that Kuon comes up behind Isagi while taunting him to give up as the game's almost over. Despite the 90 minutes being up, everyone looks to the scoreboard, and sees that 3 minutes of extra time has been added. Knowing that everyone's guarded, Isagi decides that his only option is to try to do things himself.Isagi's ego kicks in as he manages to dribble beyond Keisuke and Kuon, much to their surprise. However, Junichi slides in and trips Isagi, which causes the latter to lose the ball. Everyone remains confused by Isagi's actions while Chigiri watches on unable to believe what he's seeing. However, Isagi remains motivated to keep trying, and continues going for the ball, which Iemon gives the order for the rest of Team Z to also attack as they don't have much time remaining. Team Z accepts the order and charges in while Team W plays keep-away. Chigiri remaining in a state of disbelief wanting Isagi to stop trying already as the current Isagi is the kind of motivated person that Chigiri used to be. The loose ball eventually ends up near Chigiri, but seeing the latter still completely unmotivated, a highly motivated Isagi grabs hold of and orders Chigiri to move; shoving the latter away from the ball, which Isagi takes it for himself.
Isagi once more tries to go on the offensive on his own as a frustrated Chigiri gets himself up off the ground. Chigiri getting pissed off that Isagi ordered him to move out of the way. He thinks over how Isagi's words are bugging him as he's finally on the verge of being able to give up on football once the game against Team W is over. Yet because of Isagi, he's starting to feel a sense of motivation again. Chigiri can't help feel seething in anger as his ego finally kicks in. As Chigiri watches Isagi and Team Z's continued struggle, Chigiri can't help but notice that the way Isagi's currently acting is how he used to be. Someone who devoted themselves to football with the aim to become the best in the world. Continuing to think things over, Chigiri's left wondering what it is that he's actually afraid of. That he started off worried about people not viewing him as a genius anymore, or that he could reinjure his knee, and possibly never play football again. However, he's reached the point of not caring anymore.
Getting into a running position, Chigiri can't help but think that the only thing on his mind at the moment is how the very sight of Isagi trying as hard as he can is making his blood boil. The mental image of Chigiri's chained up right leg appears as Isagi and Team Z continue the struggle against Team W. Isagi manages to hang on to the ball with his teammates ordering him to stop doing things on his own. However, Chigiri's ego has reached a point where he's mentally ready to start running; telling his right leg to witness him even if this means that this is the end for him. Chigiri claims that he's going to be the best striker in the world as his leg breaks out of his mental chains, and he starts running down the field towards Team W's goal. For the first time in a while, Isagi's Goal Scent for a possible scoring route finally kicks in. He catches sight of Chigiri running down the left side of the field at top speed.
Chapter 21: Break In!
In the last minute of the game, Isagi remains in control of the ball while his teammates are yelling at him to finally pass it. However, Isagi remains focused on the fact that his Goal Scent is finally sensing something a scoring opportunity again, which sure enough, he spots Chigiri racing down the left side of the football field. Isagi being left amazed by how fast Chigiri actually is. As Team W closes in on him, Isagi sees the area to pass it on the left side of the field in front of Chigiri. Wanting to see Chigiri show himself off to the world, Isagi launches a long pass to the left sideline of Team W's half of the field, much to everyone's confusion. Kuon and Keisuke find it hilarious thinking that Isagi's given them the win and go after the ball. However, Chigiri thinks to himself that he's the only one who can truly reach it as he manages to catch up to Kuon before the latter reaches it. Chigiri orders Kuon to move, and continues on, much to Kuon's confusion.Thanks to his incredible speed, Chigiri makes it to Isagi's pass down the left sideline before everyone else. Chigiri's ego is on full blast as he thinks to himself that he's breaking in, and that everyone is now seeing his boiling blood. Unable to keep up with Chigiri, Kuon can't believe what he's seeing that Chigiri was hiding an incredible speed weapon from him, which he desperately calls out to the players of Team W to stop him. However, the only one's who are truly able to make it in time are the Wanima Brothers, who are the only blockers before Team W's goal. The brothers aim to stop Chigiri by any means necessary, even if it means to foul, but Chigiri's completely in the zone; enjoying the fact that he hasn't felt this good playing football in a long time. Junichi tries to mark Chigiri first while Keisuke remains close behind. However, Chigiri kicks the ball forward to a barren location in front of the goal beyond Keisuke, much to everyone's shock that Chigiri's trying to pass to himself.
Keisuke goes for the ball now in front of the goal; finding it impossible to believe that Chigiri will make it to his self-pass. Meanwhile, Junichi goes for the trip aiming to foul Chigiri. However, Chigiri easily jumps over Junichi's slide and continues to run for the ball. Keisuke then attempts one last desperate arm block to keep Chigiri from reaching the ball only to end up getting knocked away. Chigiri thinking to himself that his blood is still boiling, and hopes that Isagi and company are watching him as he seizes this very moment. Keisuke calls out to the goalie to stop Chigiri, which results in Team W's goalie charging towards the ball before Chigiri reaches it in time. As Chigiri continues to run, he thinks to himself that he's decided that he will only give up if his leg breaks on the spot. However, he also thinks that he will return to going after his dream to become the best striker if he manages to score here.
Jumping forward at top speed in front of the goalie coming towards him, Chigiri reaches for his self-passed ball, and manages to reach far enough to toe-tip it over the goalie's reached out hand. Everyone watches in stunned silence as Chigiri's kick manages to continue towards Team W's now open goal. With the goal scored, Chigiri's decision has been made. In his mind, he makes it official to once more aim to become the best striker in the world. Chigiri celebrates his scored goal, and Game 7 of the V-Z strata between Team Z and Team W comes to an end in a 4-4 draw. Thus, Team Z is saved from complete elimination in the First Selection's round robin tournament.
