Signal

Deep in a fierce contest, Isagi grasps that his read was completely off and that all of Team Z had been played. The threat was never Okawa; it was Niko, quietly directing everything for Team Y. Niko has been holding the side together at both ends, acting as its concealed conductor, and Isagi concludes he has to shut him down. Bachira slides the ball to Isagi, who drives at goal, but Niko snuffs out the shot before it reaches the net, and only Gagamaru's rebound salvages the moment.

Niko tells Isagi that without his own intervention, Okawa would already have his second goal and Team Y would have sealed the win. He claims the two of them share the very same kind of eyes, yet insists Isagi cannot beat him, because he is the one steering the match. Play restarts with Naruhaya on the ball, which is promptly poached. A Team Y player feeds a pass toward Niko, but Isagi has already anticipated it and cuts it off, declaring he will snap up every ball routed to Niko. Annoyed, Niko strikes up a conversation, recalling Ego's lesson that every player carries a weapon. His own, he explains, is knowing exactly where on the field he needs to stand. He may lack strength and speed, but that instinct alone secures his place in Blue Lock, and he warns that intercepting passes will never stop his scheming.

With barely a minute remaining and the score level, Niko announces that Team Y's final ploy is near. Built for the threat of a draw, the plan is a retaliatory defensive scheme triggered the instant Okawa gains possession. Unlike anything they have shown so far, it will commit every member of Team Y to the attack all at once.

Isagi uncovers that Niko, not Okawa, is Team Y's true mastermind, and Gagamaru's goal keeps the scoreline even. Niko remarks that he and Isagi possess identical vision, then reveals that Team Y's last resort against a tie will send every player forward on Okawa's signal.

"Signal" is the 12th chapter of the series and the eighth collected in Volume 2, set during the First Selection Arc. Its events were spread across Episodes 4 and 5 of the anime, and it first appeared in Japan on October 24, 2018.