Episode 17: Donkey

Merging his new blind-spot and off-the-ball insights with his spatial awareness, Isagi now reads exactly where everyone is looking. He beats Mikage and springs free on goal, but Baro selfishly plays on alone and loses the ball to Kunigami, who counters and buries a shot for a 2-0 lead. Nagi confronts Baro for ignoring the open Isagi, yet Baro will not score any way but his own. With their egos refusing to mesh, Isagi resolves to conduct the team himself.

When play resumes, Isagi senses that no pass to Baro leads to a goal while Nagi's off-ball runs brim with potential. He feeds Nagi, who traps and flicks the ball behind Chigiri to eliminate his speed and finish, a genuine chemical reaction. Isagi knows, though, that they are barely holding on and that the missing piece is a reaction with Baro. He warns Baro that his rigidity is wrecking his potential and will end his career here, but Baro, insisting both are egoists, refuses to be controlled.

Team Red's link-up play, anchored by the versatile Mikage, produces a Kunigami header for 3-1, deepening Isagi's dilemma over whether to abandon Baro entirely.

Recalling Naruhaya's label of "genius of adaptability," Isagi realizes he must devour Baro rather than fit into his style, since forcing change on someone is not adaptability. He tells Nagi to watch him and uses Baro as a decoy: dribbling at Baro pulls Kunigami over, freeing a pass to Nagi that ultimately springs Isagi from a blind spot to score for 3-2. Isagi mockingly calls Baro a "donkey," the insult Baro throws at others, telling him to keep playing his way and stay out of the way.

A furious Baro fights the ball off Kunigami, and though he refuses to pass, the loose ball rolls to Isagi, who feeds Nagi to equalize at 3-3. Chigiri then evolves as well, propelling the ball with his first touch instead of stopping it, hurdling Baro's tackle, and scoring, prompting Isagi to praise the relentless drive of a true egoist.

The episode is set in the Second Selection Arc, using Judgement and Numbness like a ginger as its themes. The Additional Time skit, "Another Team of Three," has Raichi and Gagamaru left without partners until Junichi Wanima, whom they cannot understand, finally speaks clearly to praise Raichi's persistence and Gagamaru's unpredictable originality, flattering both into forming a team.