Chapter 113: Cops and Robbers

In the locker room the reserves are stunned that Ryusei Shido is missing from the Japan U-20's starting side. Raichi wonders if the opponents are underestimating them, and Hiori suggests Shido simply never gelled with the U-20 either. Ego concedes there is truth to that but insists it changes nothing about their task, telling his rough gems to run the plan.

Kickoff goes to Blue Lock as the crowd roars. Vowing to change the world with his goals, Isagi collects the ball and meets his first obstacle in Sae Itoshi. Recalling that the attack runs through him, Rin, and Nagi, he starts a passing move that slices through midfield. A flashback shows Ego outlining the 4-5-1 shape led by Rin for defense, which flips to a 3-6-1 on the attack: Karasu drops back as a third defender while Bachira and Chigiri push up to flood midfield and squeeze the opponent. Because the side is all strikers, goals can spring from anywhere, Blue Lock's hyper-aggressive design. As Bachira and Chigiri advance, Isagi feeds Bachira, unwilling to waste the chance.

Haru Hayate immediately marks Bachira and dares him to come. Bachira answers with lightning scissors, a double-touch feint, and an aerial rush turn, slipping cleanly past. The crowd gasps, but Bachira, still locked in, scans for a partner and sees only Isagi capable of matching him, grinning as he launches a long ball into the box. Isagi judges it perfect and believes Blue Lock has cracked the U-20 open, but Oliver Aiku is already airborne, meeting the pass with a clean header to clear it. Isagi and Bachira stand stunned.

Isagi puzzles over how Aiku reacted so cleanly, concluding he was not marking Isagi at all but reading the entire field, weighing every factor and moving on reflex to the decisive spot. Unnerved, Isagi wonders how far the captain's abilities stretch. Aiku tells him strikers are the robbers and defenders the cops, and on his watch no thief steals a goal. As the stands chant Aiku's name, Isagi, thrilled rather than crushed, decides he has found a real opponent and warns Aiku he will need a leash to hold him.

Blue Lock discovers Shido is off the U-20 starting lineup. Kickoff goes to Blue Lock, and the team is revealed to run separate defensive and offensive formations. Bachira and Isagi link up to move the ball forward, but Aiku heads their pass clear.

Cops and Robbers is chapter 113 overall and the opening chapter of Volume 14, part of the U-20 Arc and adapted in Episode 30. At nineteen pages, it released in Japan on January 6, 2021, and in English on July 19, 2022.