First Selection Arc

Running from the fifth through the thirty-eighth chapter, and covered by the third through eleventh anime episodes, this is the series' second arc. It drops Isagi and his housemates, the lowest-rated group in the entire facility, into the program's opening competitive stage. Five teams from the fifth stratum face one another in a group league, and only the two best-placed sides earn passage to the next round, though a team's outstanding top scorer can also advance alone.

Team Z's campaign opens against Team X, marshaled by Shoei Baro, who crowns himself the one true king and treats his teammates as tools to make him shine. Isagi's side plays as scattered individuals and is torn apart, losing five to one, with Kunigami poking home their only reply after an instinctive pass from Isagi. Ego uses the defeat to teach them that every elite striker carries a personal weapon that dismantles the opposing structure.

Against Team Y, Team Z adopts an "I'm the next 9" rotation, letting each player showcase his weapon in turn. Isagi slowly uncovers that the quiet Ikki Niko, not the powerful shooter Okawa, is the true brain steering the rival side. By reading and cutting out the passes aimed at Niko, Isagi steals control and buries the winner for a two-to-one victory, while beginning to sense his own gift for spatial awareness. Afterward Chigiri confides that a torn knee ligament has left him too frightened to run at full pace.

The clash with Team W turns on betrayal: Kuon secretly hands the opposition his teammates' strengths in exchange for the goals he needs to survive alone. As Team W surges ahead, Isagi's fury pushes Chigiri to confront his own cowardice. Watching Isagi play without fear, Chigiri finally sheds his dread of reinjury, unleashes his blistering speed, and equalizes to salvage a four-all draw. The finale pits Team Z against the unbeaten Team V of Reo Mikage, Seishiro Nagi, and the sprinter Zantetsu. Nagi's dormant genius stirs to life mid-match, and even a red-carded Kuon throws himself into stopping him for his old team's sake. In the dying moments Isagi pieces together his formula, spatial reading fused with a one-touch direct shot, and awakens, striking the goal that wins it five to four.

Team Z's stunning upset of Team V, paired with their draw and win, secures their place in the Second Selection alongside the powerhouse Team V. The dominant top scorers from the other squads also move on, namely Shoei Baro with ten goals, Junichi Wanima with six, and Ikki Niko with four. Niko, saved by adopting Isagi's mindset during their match, vows to beat him next time, and Isagi accepts the rivalry, having emerged from the arc as a striker who finally understands his own edge.