"Huff… huff… Is this training load for real?!"
By midday, the training field on the Blue Lock floor was littered with players collapsed in every direction, all dressed in skin-tight athletic wear.
Even Dada Silva—normally so arrogant—was lying flat on the grass in a daze, tongue out and gasping heavily like a dog.
"Isagi… how many sets did you guys manage? I think I passed out around the third or fourth…"
Completely drenched in sweat, Hiori slumped against the wall, dumping water over his head in desperation.
He took a swig from his bottle but didn't even dare swallow, only rinsed his mouth before spitting it out. His face was visibly pale.
"Me? About the same," Isagi replied, hands on his knees and breathing hard. "I think I finished three sets. Barely got halfway through the fourth before I hit my limit. Shinichi's training regimen is insane—it's way harder than anything we did in the first phase."
Not far from them, Kaiser ran a hand through his sweaty, disheveled blond hair and glanced at Lorenzo, who was panting just as hard. "I only made it to the fifth set… hey, Gold Fang, has Shinichi always trained like this?"
"Ha… ha… Pretty much, I think," Lorenzo answered weakly, sprawled out on the turf, all his usual energy drained away. "But it feels like he's leveled up again. He used to stop at six sets… he's almost done with the eighth now…"
Meanwhile, Sae, who had quit after completing four sets, was barely able to maintain his composure. He was still standing, but his soaked jersey and pale face gave away his exhaustion.
As for Charles—he'd bailed after just one round.
He had originally come to get a better read on Shinichi, the guy who'd completely crushed him and whose twisted methods intrigued him.
But the moment he saw how serious and precise Shinichi's training was, he completely lost interest. No way was someone like him going to stick around for a full workout.
"By the way, not many Blue Lock players showed up for this floor, huh? It's mostly youth academy players from other teams."
Now somewhat recovered, Isagi slowly sipped water and began scanning the others around him.
"I guess it's because we all know Shinichi too well. Most of us already trained with him—whether it was during the Ubers phase, the adaptability tests, or the U-20 pre-tournament camp. So they probably figured they'd get more out of trying a different mentor this time."
"Yeah, compared to someone they're already familiar with like Shinichi, checking out other top-tier forwards is probably the smarter move. And most of the youth players who came here for training? They're the ones who got benched by Blue Lock players in the first phase. They probably think Shinichi has the weakest pull as a mentor, and that the competition here will be lighter—so they'll have a better shot at getting signed."
Hiori nodded, blunt as always in his assessment of Shinichi's influence.
"That's why I was a little confused. I figured it'd just be me, Zantetsu, and Kurona showing up from Blue Lock. I mean, you guys were all molded into egoists with ambition by Jinpachi Ego himself, right?"
"Shinichi's always been my most stylish rival," Aryu chimed in dramatically. "But since he beat me again in the first phase, I won't deny the gap between us. That's why I wanted to see him from a different angle—as a teammate—to understand exactly how far behind I am."
Isagi had already explained his reasoning earlier, so Aryu's follow-up made sense.
"But now that I've seen it for myself, the gap's too huge. The fashionable me fainted during training and had to be helped up by Shinichi! Ugh—my sense of style is falling apart!"
"Same here," Chigiri added. "It's not like I'm seriously planning to join Shinichi's team. With Zantetsu already here and playing a similar role, I'd barely have any space to shine. But I was curious. Curious about what kind of mentor someone so far ahead of us would be. I've got a feeling the others who went to the other mentors will eventually come here too, just to see for themselves."
He glanced toward the casually standing Eleven Elite players nearby.
"Just like them—they know Shinichi probably won't sign them, but they still came. Anyone with real ambition wouldn't pass up the chance to get a close-up look at Shinichi. It's just that, unlike them, most players still need time to figure out their own path before stepping onto his turf. These guys? They're strong enough to ignore all that and do whatever they want from day one."
...
"Alright, it's free time now. You can head to the room across from the locker room—it's a shared lounge with staff on standby for massage and recovery care. Make sure to rest up. The scrimmage starts at 2 PM. And don't overeat."
As the players were still chatting, Shinichi finally completed his 8th set of training.
Though clearly exhausted and breathing heavily, he was still able to stand and walk on his own. After taking a moment to recover, he announced the break. No one objected—in fact, everyone, including Shinichi himself, eagerly made their way to the lounge.
"Ahh, I feel alive again… Hey, Shinichi, what was the point of pushing us that hard? It can't just be to show us who's boss, right?"
Hiori asked as he lay on a chair, icing his calves while enjoying a massage from one of the staff.
"Hmm… you're not wrong," Shinichi replied after a short pause. "Part of it was to collect detailed physical data through intense training. But more importantly, I wanted to simulate what it's like playing into the second half of a real match—when you're dealing with fatigue and lactic acid buildup after halftime. The afternoon scrimmage will show me how well you perform under those conditions."
He continued without opening his eyes, calmly enjoying his own recovery treatment as the entire lounge fell quiet, clearly focused on his explanation.
"After all, the New Hero Battle's second phase is returning to standard match rules. With limited roster spots, the starting players are going to be pushed to the brink. If you can't maintain your level under fatigue, I'll lower both your evaluation and your projected value."
Shinichi didn't mind if the players realized this and tried to hold back during the morning. It was a deliberate strategy.
The morning session tested their physical data, and the afternoon tested performance under exhaustion.
Both mattered.
You couldn't just coast in the morning and excel in the afternoon and expect to be considered strong.
"And if you can balance your output evenly between the first and second halves, that's part of your skill set too—and that only works in your favor."
"So, give it your all this afternoon. Even if you don't plan to stay on my team, the other mentors can still watch your footage through Blue Lock TV. This isn't just a tryout for one team—it's essentially an open evaluation for all six."
"There's no shortcut. The moment you received that message, you should've known—there's no room to slack off."
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