Chapter 110: Newcomer

The Japan U-20 gathers before coach Yasumori Hoichi, who reminds them the national representative match is two weeks off and introduces Sae Itoshi, strolling in unbothered in a U-20 tracksuit. Some players are rattled by Sae's arrival, but Shuto Sendo sneers that he looks like a pampered prince and dismisses the equally present Ryusei Shido as a mere tagalong. Hoichi stresses that losing to Team Blue Lock is unacceptable and invites Sae to speak.

Irritated, Sae tells the room to be grateful they get to share a pitch with him, claims zero interest in any of them, and warns them not to test his patience. Sendo bristles and shoots back that Sae is only a semi-pro while he plays for the country's top club. Sae coolly maps out Sendo's whole future, top domestic scorer, a national cap, a fat salary, a beautiful wife, a contented life, and calls that the ceiling of his ambition. Sae's own aim is to be the best on the planet, a gulf of greed Sendo cannot cross, so he tells him to back off.

Before Sendo can retort, Shido slams his head into the table, mocking his fixation on titles. The team swarms Shido for attacking their ace, and he dares them all, offering to earn a starting place if he wins. Sendo lunges but misses, and as Shido winds up a kick, captain Oliver Aiku catches his leg, then flips and pins him, praising his fire while telling him to save it for the field. Kazuma Nio offers help but Aiku waves it off. Aiku also warns Sae that talk alone will not earn the squad's trust, only strong play will, and once he delivers, the defense will have his back. The Iron Wall Quartet, Aiku, Nio, Miroku Darai, and Teppei Neru, stand united and assured.

At Blue Lock, Isagi, Chigiri, and Bachira study the U-20 profiles from the sidelines, focusing on Aiku, a huge, powerful defender already courted by a Serie A club. The team clearly revolves around his stout defense and rapid counters. Bachira shrugs that they simply have to break through, while Chigiri counters that the so-called Diamond Generation, Japan's finest under twenty, will not fall easily. The morning session ends and the players are sent to rest.

Turning Bachira's words over, Isagi doubts he currently has the power to break through, recalling that his Flow during tryouts was pure luck. In a weight room he finds Rin still grinding through a break. Rin snaps at him to leave, and when Isagi warns he could injure himself, Rin retorts that if he breaks down that is all he was ever worth. As Rin drives out leg presses, muttering about surpassing his brother Sae, Isagi sees raw fury on his face and is stunned by how long Rin has waited for this. Rin coughs, refuses Isagi's spare water, then takes it when Isagi insists a hurt Rin would doom the team. Rin calls the water lukewarm, and Isagi walks off resolving to win beside him.

In the meeting room, Ego stands before the squad. Having woken their bodies on day one, he means to wake their minds by unpacking the phenomenon vital to any world-class striker: Flow. He promises to reveal what he knows and teach them to set their lives ablaze.

Both camps open training for the match two weeks away. Sae and Shido are officially registered with the Japan U-20. Sendo openly disrespects Sae, and Shido beats him down for it before Aiku subdues Shido to defuse the brawl. Blue Lock scouts the U-20's profiles, Isagi grasps the depth of Rin's obsession with Sae, and Ego begins teaching the team about Flow.

Newcomer is chapter 110 overall and the seventh chapter of Volume 13, part of the U-20 Arc and adapted in Episode 29. The twenty-page installment released in Japan on December 2, 2020, and in English on May 17, 2022. The chapter introduces a large portion of the Japan U-20 roster.