Kuon sent the ball flying towards Hiro. Since all the players of Ronden elementary school except the keeper were gathered for the penalty kick at the defensive half of Ookami elementary school, there was nobody present in the backline of Ronden elementary school except the keeper.
As Hiro was making his run, the ball flew past him over his head. It landed exactly at the kickoff spot and bounced a little further towards the edge of the circle.
He was the first one to reach the ball. Seeing noone infront of his sight, he began to dribble the ball forward. Kurosawa Taki, the keeper of Ronden elementary school came out of his box to defend against him.
“Huff!! Huff!!” Hiro began to pant heavily.
Because of the intensity of the game, he had exhausted himself from running all over the field.
[There’s a chance for Ookami elementary school as Hiro has taken control of the ball. Between him and the goal, only the keeper stands infront of him. However he seems extremely exhausted. He had been running a lot in this match. Infact nobody has covered as much distance as he did in this entire match. No wonder he looks exhausted. Will he be able to last until the end? Or will he burn out himself and collapse?]
As he tried to dribble the ball forward, he felt excruciating pain in his legs. His leg muscles started to convulse. And every step he took felt like walking on a path full of thorns.
It was clear, he was exhausted.
‘System activate skill perseverance’ Hiro mumbled.
[Perseverance activated]
[For 15 minutes, unlimited stamina has been granted to the host and the effect of exhaustion will be negated for the entirety of the activation of the skill.]
Just as the system activated the skill perseverance, all his fatigue started to fade away. He felt rejuvenated and he began to overflow with vitality. The tired muscle fibres in his body started to recover and the soreness he felt in his joints faded away. As if he was put under anesthesia, his body became numb to exhaustion.
‘It’s my first time activating this skill, but the effect is on another level. I don’t feel any fatigue and it feels like I can run another 15-20 miles.’ He thought inside his head.
However during the time he was comprehending the effects of the skill, the defender of Ronden elementary school had caught up to him. He was just behind his heels.
Noticing Suzuki Otsumi, the defender of Ronden elementary school who was tailing him, approaching him from behind him, he increased his pace and tried to distace himself from him.
He thought of kicking the ball forward and chasing after it. But the keeper of Ronden elementary school was already coming out of his box and kicking the ball too hard would have meant trouble for him as the keeper would have cleared it away.
He couldn’t make full use of his pace with the ball in his feet. Dribbling with the ball meant giving up part of his speed.
He kicked the ball with just enough force that he could reach it before anyone else could.
Just as he kicked the ball with the precise amount of force for him to reach the ball and was preparing to make a run. Suzuki Otsumi, the defender of Ronden elementary school performed a sliding tackle on him. He didn’t even conceal his intention to foul him.
Even after the ball was released from his legs, Suzuki Otsumi still performed a sliding tackle on him from behind him. He wasn’t even aiming at the ball and he was clearly aiming at his feet.
Upon getting hit, Hiro fell down tumbling on the ground.
Beep!!
[That was a nasty tackle from the number 3 of Ronden elementary school. He was clearly aiming at his feet.]
“Now show me how you’ll run.” Otsumi scorned while Hiro was lying on the ground holding his ankle, huffing in pain.
Kuro came running towards him and pushed Otsumi. Otsumi was sent flying as he landed on his butt a few distance away from his original place. Other players followed soon and a fight broke out between the players of Ookami elementary school and Ronden elementary school. The field became extremely chaotic within seconds.
Security personnel fled towards the stadium to stop those kids from rioting. Just few minutes before the final whistle, the match between Ookami elementary school and Ronden elementary school took a chaotic turn.
[Never have I ever seen such a heated match between kids. The players are pushing each other and even the security personnels are forced to intervene.]
It took a while to separate all those players. Since a lot of players were involved in the riot, referee was forced to bring out his cards on multiple players.
He gave Kuro a yellow card for his offense on Otsumi. He showed a yellow card on Taki who was the second person to arrive at the place where Otsumi fouled Hiro after Kuro.
A total of 5 yellow cards were shown to different players from both sides. Two for Ookami elementary school players and three for Ronden elementary school players.
And finally the man who was involved directly in the foul, Suzuki Otsumi. He was shown a straight red card and was dejected from the match.
A freekick was rewarded to Ookami elementary school at the spot where the foul was committed on Hiro. A certain distance away from the circle.
Since the freekick was awarded at a distance pretty far away from the goalpost, nobody expected Ookami elementary school to score the goal.
However the expression on the faces of players of Ookami elementary school said otherwise. They knew what Hiro was capable off. And since nobody except them had witnessed his freekicks, they were the only ones who believed in that set play.
After separating both sides and handing out cards to the respective players who were involved in the riot, the referee sprayed the vanishing spray at the spot where the foul was committed.
[After that nasty tackle, a freekick has been awarded to Ookami elementary school. The distance between the goal and the ball is quite far away. So I doubt anybody in their right mind would try to make a shot from that distance. They’ll probably pass the ball towards the players standing at the penalty box. I wonder who’ll be taking this freekick from Ookami elementary school. I haven’t seen them perform any freekick in this whole tournament.]
As the commentator finished his statement, Hiro walked towards the place where the referee had marked with his vanishing spray. He placed the ball at the marked spot and adjusted the ball while looking at the post infront of him.
Four players of Ronden elementary school formed a massive wall infront of him while the others were behind the wall, marking the players of Ookami elementary school. Almost every player of Ookami elementary school stood infront of the goalpost awaiting for the ball.
Hiro took about seven steps back and paused. As he paused, he stood straight infront of the ball, glaring at the keeper of Ronden elementary school.
‘System activate skill focus’
‘System activate talent Freekick of Ruberto Carlos’ 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝒍．𝒆𝒕
He activated every skill he possessed. He didn’t want to make any mistakes. That freekick was probably the last set piece of the game.
With all his skills activated, he entered the flow. The effect of Ruberto Carlos’s freekick magnified with the activation of the skill focus.
He could see the point in the ball where he could kick the ball to magnify it’s power and curve.
Beep!!
As the referee blew his whistle, he took a final glance at the ball and began to run towards the ball. Everybody looked at him with anticipation. Unknowingly the spectators in the stands stood up to watch him perform the shot. The whole stadium went silent as he made his run towards the ball.
Step!! Step!! Bam!!
He stretched his right leg while bending at an angle of 45 degree and shot the ball with as much force as he can.
The ball flew like a missile towards the post. At first it seemed like it would go wide. However due to spin on the ball it curved inside towards the post as it accelerated.
Unlike Endo, Taki was able to react to his shot. Taki leaped towards the direction of the ball while stretching his arms. As he stretched his arms, it grazed the tip of his fingers.
“‘Goaaaaallllllll!!!!'”
Thud!!
As his body slammed on the ground, he felt a faint sensation of the ball. But even though he touched the ball with the tip of his fingers, he couldn’t save the ball. It was simply too powerful for him to block with his fingers.
The ball went past him and effortlessly entered the net. The silent crowd burst out in cheers as he scored that unbelievable goal from such a distance.
“‘Woohooo!!!”‘
“‘Yeahhhhhhh!!!!!”‘
With that goal from Hiro, the game was as good as over. There was simply no turning back at that point of the game. With only a minute left on the clock, Ookami elementary school had secured their victory with that powerful goal from Hiro.