"Taunt" (
Summary[]
Ashito Aoi celebrates his goal, believing it guarantees his promotion to the Youth A Team, while the parents cheer him on. Asari, frustrated with Ashito, switches positions to defend against him. Ashito repeatedly tries to break through the defense but is stopped by Asari and Masuko. Despite his efforts, Coach Nozomi Date points out Ashito’s fatal flaw—his lack of tactical understanding — which could prevent him from progressing to the pro level.
Synopsis[]
The chapter begins with Ashito Aoi and Yūma Motoki celebrating the goal while the announcer announces who scored the goal. Ashito proclaims that now Esperion will have to promote him to the Youth A Team. The parents on the sidelines are in awe with Ashito's performance as they think he is going to get promoted and trying to spur their own kids on. Keiji Togashi approaches Kanpei Kuroda and tells him that the parents are getting so antsy and that it is already too late for the Junior Youth Graduates to move up and the only 2 people to get promoted to the Youth A Team will be himself and Ashito. Meanwhile, Jun Marchs Asari watches Ashito's celebration and then approaches Yui Masuko and asks him to switch positions. Asari says that he has had enough of Ashito's shenanigans and will not be made a fool again.
As the game restarts again with the Kick-Off, the Red team has the ball with Roan Mino approaching the goal. He is then body-checked off the ball by Togashi who reclaims the possession for the Black team. Aki Tsukishima notes that Togashi has incredible power and as well as speed making him built better than a tank. As Togashi makes his way to the halfline, Ashito yells at him to stay in his position as a defender and to pass to him. Ashito receives the ball, and then makes his way to the goal. Ashito now has to deal with Asari as his defender, who motions for Ashito to come at him. Ashito attempts to take him on and remembers the time between the tryouts and coming back to Tokyo where he trained vigorously with his old teammates from Futami Middle School to increase his skills. Ashito attempts to beat Asari in a 1v1 but loses the ball extremely quickly. Asari then rockets a pass to Eisaku Ōtomo as Togashi begins to berate Ashito for wasting the attack.
Yūma on the other hand tells Ashito to not try to break through the defense on his own but to pass to him like how they scored the first goal. Ashito makes eye contact with Asari again who proceeds to challenge Ashito again. Ōtomo in the meantime is being double teamed by Kuroda and Kameyama and loses the ball. Kuroda then passes the ball to Ashito who then remembers the lesson Coach Tatsuya Fukuda taught him in their first meeting on the beach in Ehime, about how to properly do a "First Touch". Ashito perfectly reads the situation to blow past Asari, but Asari manages to stop Ashito instantly. Ashito tries to manuever around Asari again, but is then pressed by Masuko as well. Ashito loses possession of the ball again and he mentally berates himself, but bounces right back telling Asari that even though Asari may not Ashito past, Ashito will not back down and overcome this obstacle.
On the sidelines Coach Nozomi Date once again says that Ashito will not make it to the Esperion Pro Team ever because of his fatal flaw. Hana Ichijō says that Nozomi means the flaw is that Ashito lacks individual skills and Tsukishima adds on to this by saying that Nozomi is skeptical of Ashito's skills even though he already scored a goal. He agrees that Ashito is very limited in 1-on-1 situations. Hana then adds that he can overcome this issue through training and he already scored a goal so why is Nozomi so against Ashito making it further than the B Team. Anri Kaidō then adds that Ashito's fatal flaw is the lack of Ashito's use of tactics. Nozomi is impressed with Anri making this observations and says that she is correct.
Highlights[]
- Ashito celebrates his goal, believing it ensures his promotion.
- Asari switches positions to defend Ashito, blocking his attempts to score.
- Togashi criticizes Ashito’s solo efforts, and Yūma urging him to pass more.
- Nozomi identifies Ashito’s lack of tactical understanding as his fatal flaw.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Sōichirō Tachibana (Background)
- Ashito Aoi
- Yūma Motoki
- Kanpei Kuroda
- Keiji Togashi
- Ryūichi Takeshima (Background)
- Yui Masuko
- Jun Marchs Asari
- Daigo Benzen (Background)
- Nozomi Date
- Aki Tsukishima
- Roan Mino (Background)
- Eisaku Ōtomo
- Wataru Kameyama (Background)
- Kengo Myōjin (Background)
- Hikaru Kogure (Background) (Flashback)
- Tatsuya Fukuda (Background) (Flashback)
- Hana Ichijō
- Anri Kaidō (Last Name Reveal)
Chapter Notes[]
Trivia[]
TBA
References[]
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| Chapters | 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 | Volumes | 3 • 4 • 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episodes | 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 | Seasons | 1 |
| Chapters | 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 | Volumes | 2 |
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