Chapter 114: Quartet

Broadcaster Atsuto Tereasa praises Aiku's midair interception, and commentator Harutaro Natsuki notes the captain leads the Diamond Generation for good reason, a side famed for stingy defense and swift counters. As the stadium chants Aiku's name, Isagi breaks down the play: Aiku accounted for the source of the pass and every player's position, then moved instantly to inflict the most damage. That reflex is exactly what Isagi wants for his own scoring. Beyond it, he clocks Aiku's raw physicality, spatial awareness, and strength, admitting that scouting the Diamond Generation is nothing like facing them. Their defending, he concedes, outclasses anything he met inside Blue Lock, and unless they crush Aiku they cannot win.

Play restarts on a throw-in with Blue Lock in possession. Chigiri finds Isagi, who judges the center too well-guarded by Aiku and switches to the second plan, attacking down the flanks. Otoya bursts up the right but Miroku Darai shadows him, boasting he cannot escape. Darai explains that some players stand before the ball while others hunt in the shadows off it, and he and Otoya are the same breed, anticipating and countering his every move, which infuriates Otoya. Isagi, unable to break through there, swings play left to Yukimiya, who tries a La Boba on Teppei Neru only to find Neru matching his pace. Neru remarks that Yukimiya is faster in person than on film, revealing himself as a speed-type defender, and he kicks the ball away.

Isagi calls a loose ball as Nagi races to it, thinking he can trap and turn, but Kazuma Nio crashes into his core and shuts down any play. Isagi pegs Nio as a power-type defender, and Nagi asks if he is some guard dog. Nio confirms it and announces his master's arrival as Aiku sweeps the ball out from under Nagi's legs. Praising Nio's work, Aiku dashes off with possession. Isagi recognizes the U-20 just stacked one flawless stop atop another, the Iron Wall Quartet, and Aiku, noting Blue Lock has stalled, threads a pass up the center into Sae's path, telling the boy genius to show his stuff.

Isagi reads Aiku's full defensive skill set from a single play, noting the captain pairs elite physicality and awareness with a reflex that maximizes it all. The Iron Wall Quartet neutralizes every Blue Lock attacker, the Japan U-20 wins the ball back, and Sae ends the chapter with possession.

Quartet is chapter 114 overall and the second chapter of Volume 14 in the U-20 Arc, adapted in Episode 31. The twenty-page chapter released in Japan on January 13, 2021, and in English on July 19, 2022.