The Golden Winged Of Football: Haruma Kusaka

Chapter 101 101: Fearless At Four Down

The crowd roared wildly, their voices electrifying the air with a crackling, sparkling energy.Kento and Ryusei jumped on their feet, clapping with explosive excitement while Mio was bouncing on her seat.

Masaru and Toru clapped overhead all while shouting at the top of their lungs and a bright smile crossing wide across Rukia's face.

Haruma's mother watched with a gentle smile as she clapped calmly, while Ayane, beside her, watched with wide eyes, her arms crossed, expression frozen in shock.

On the field, Kurogami clenched his jaw and unleashed a primal roar that thundered across the stadium. Behind him, Yohan let out a furious roar of his own, the two cries colliding in the charged air.

"Kurogami Shikyoooo!" The commentator yells out loud on the mic "Another save! Absolutely unreal! Charging at the ball when they're four goals down, this is pure confidence, pure belief! This kid is a legend in the making!"

Kazutora's jaw tightened, that wild, maniacal smirk twisting across his face as he slowly backed into position, eyes never leaving Kurogami.

Kabuto stood frozen at his spot, chest rising heavily, his breath ragged, and with a fierce, almost trembling intensity his gaze remained firmly locked on Kurogami, like he was staring at a force he couldn't fully comprehend.

"I have to step up, damn it!" His voice slammed through his mind. "I have to support the team!... What the fuck am I even doing, letting these idiots slip past me?! I can't let Kurogami fight this alone! Wake up! Wake up, Kabuto! Wakeee uuup!"

In the next instant, his eyes snapped wide open. His foot planted hard into the turf, veins bulging along his neck and forearm as a surge of fierce determination tore through his body.

From his spot, Jiho dropped to his knees and slammed a hard punch into the turf, his eyes ignited with fire.

"I can't let Kurogami's faith in me go to waste! I need to get it together! I'm better than this! I am Jiho!! Wake up! Wake up, you moron!"

With that, Jiho gritted his teeth and shot back up to his feet, veins bulging, eyes wide burning with fierce, renewed intensity.

While Raya from his position was taking heavy breaths. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back as his inner voice crashed through him.

"I have to take responsibility… I have to raise my game, I have to push past my limits... I have to give everything for this team… we built."

With his teeth gritted, Raya tightened his fist, eyes sharpened with determination, as he began taking slow steps backward toward his position…

The Tyrants' corner taker backed up, eyes scanning the box where bodies pressed tight, each player fighting for inches of space.

Itsuki and Nagisa locked onto Kazutora.

Kabuto and Haru stayed glued to Yohan.

Everyone looked coiled, ready to explode at the ball's flight.

With one controlled breath, the Tyrant sprinted in and whipped the ball up towards the box.

As the ball curved in, all the players rose together, shoulders braced, arms tight to their sides, heads snapping upward as they battled for the perfect connection.

But the ball sailed just a little higher than the rest. And from the pack, a figure rose above everyone with a clean jump, perfect timing, revealing himself as Kazutora Inzuka.

Towering over the chaos, suspended in air like a beast awakened, Kazutora stretched upward and headed the ball hard toward the right side of the net while from the nets and Kurogami reacted in a flash, hurling himself to the right as his hand shot out and caught the ball's path at the perfect instant, the impact smacking into his palm before the ball fell straight to the box.

Kurogami crashed onto the turf, and the second he lifted his head, his eyes widend… Yohan was already there.

Stepping onto the loose ball, Yohan swung his foot back with full intent while out of desperate urgency Kurogami tried to push himself up, but Yohan only smirked.

"I got you… Kurogaaami!"

Yohan let out a thunderous roar as he launched his foot into the ball, the connection tore through the air like a cannon blast making Kurogami's eyes snap wide open, too fast, too close, too lethal.

But before the ball could explode towards the nets, another leg sliced into its path, which was no other but Kabuto.

With a maniac smirk on Kabuto's face, his eyes burning, body twisting at the perfect angle he roars.

"Noo you hadn't!!"

Kabuto's boot collided head-on with Yohan's strike, the clash sending a shockwave through the turf. The ball ricocheted upward, spinning violently as both players staggered from the impact.

The ball soared over their heads and in that split heartbeat, Haru burst upward in a leap, as he met the ball with a calm, controlled header, gently redirecting its deadly momentum out of the danger box.

The ball flew loose outside the box, from where both a Tyrant and Itsuki sprinted toward it.

But with the ball still just out of his reach, Itsuki clenched his jaw, hurled his body forward, and stretched his foot as far as he could, and with a sharp toe-poke, he launched the ball ahead before the Tyrant could touch it.

It skipped past the defender and dropped perfectly at Jiho's feet.

Now with the ball at his feet, Jiho sucked in a heavy breath, then exploded forward, tearing toward the opposing net in a blistering sprint.

Watching Jiho, two Tyrants instantly break into a chase behind him. But Jiho was untouchable, slicing through the field with raw speed as the defenders pushed harder, struggling to close in from both sides.

Racing down the right wing, Jiho readied himself, swinging his feet for a powerful strike causing the defenders to react, throwing their legs out to block.

But Jiho stopped mid-swing, slamming on a sudden, sharp brake on his sprint that made the defenders jolt forward.

In the same heartbeat, he slid his foot under the ball and sent a crisp, cutting pass toward the center of the field and from where Raya came sprinting in.

The crowd rose to their feet, eyes firmly locked on the unfolding play.

On the field, Raya surged forward, pushing harder with each step, and as he reached the very edge of the box, he swung his leg back for the shot, causing the goalkeeper to instantly burst off his position, charging toward the ball.

But just as Raya was about to strike, another defender came tearing in from the side, throwing his leg across Raya's path to block the shot.

Time seemed to freeze.

Raya stood at the edge of the box, right foot lifted high for the strike.

The defender's leg cut across from his right, ready to shut it down.

And the goalkeeper, already off his position, was closing in fast.

Three forces colliding in a single suspended moment.

In a moment of calm, Raya exhaled a soft sigh that released a thin fog of breath into the cold air.

Then, with perfect grace, he let his swinging right foot overstep the ball, and in the same fluid motion, he used the heel of his left foot to tap the ball backward and to the left, slipping it right between the defender's stretched legs.

The ball rolled free toward the left wing.

The crowd gasped in unison.

Kento and Ryusei's eyes flew wide. Toru and Masaru clenched their teeth. Raon and Minato leaned forward with anticipation.

Shuya sprang out of his seat in shock.

And in the VIP box, Ismau lurched heavily forward, eyes stretched open in disbelief at the brilliance unfolding.

From the left wing, a pair of golden boots came thundering across the turf, pounding harder and harder with every step. The number 22 on his back flashed fiercely with golden glow, shining under the stadium lights as it was Haruma Kusaka sprinting toward the ball, with his face carved with fury and overflowing, unstoppable energy.

"Score it, Harumaaaaa!" Masaru screamed from the stands.

Mio jumped high, clapping her hands over her head, her face glowing with a bright, joyful smile.

Haruma let out a roar from deep in his lungs and swung his foot with explosive force, striking the ball with a thunderous thud, the ball rocketing forward like a bullet until a defender's leg came flying in its path from nowhere, blocking and deflecting the strike before it could even lift off.

The block hit like a collision of two storms as

Haruma smashed into the defender's leg and was thrown off balance, stumbling hard before crashing down onto his knees and hands, breath ripping out of him as the play exploded around him.

The crowd went dead still, a single, collective gasp collapsing into heavy silence.

Raya, still mid-sprint, dropped forward onto his knees in disbelief. Jiho snapped his head up, both hands flying to his head as he clenched his hair in raw frustration.

"Haruma… missed it," the commentator whispered, his voice low, stunned, almost unable to believe it.