Chapter 251: Box Seat

After robbing Kaiser, Rin surges the other way, gliding past Kunigami, Raichi, and Ness. Both Charles and Tokimitsu present themselves as outlets, but Rin keeps charging alone. When Nanase vows to follow him the whole way, the story jumps back to fifteen days before the match.

On the French training ground, Nanase pleads to become Rin's disciple, fearing the tournament will pass without him ever taking the field. Rin rejects him, branding him a hopeless loser with no skills, and repeatedly tells him to disappear. Only when Nanase swears to do and become anything does Rin agree, declaring Nanase his possession while warning he will be discarded if he proves useless. Through Rin's brutal regimen, a hidden gift surfaces: Nanase can use both feet equally well.

Returning to the present, Nanase shields Rin past defenders, committed to surviving as a post player and willing to be flattened again and again to set up Rin's goals. Holding off Mensah and Kiyora, he threads a pass to Rin, who acknowledges the country boy has finally become useful. As Rin readies his shot, Kaiser closes from the left and Isagi from the right to smother him. Rin tells Isagi he has been waiting for this, recalling his old prophecy that Isagi would watch him rise to the top, and grabs Isagi by the collar as he strikes, saying he has a front-row view. Hiori's high boot blocks the effort, and he scolds the pair to quit flirting, mocking Rin's setup as so predictable he could see the punchline coming.

Rin dispossesses Kaiser and drives the length of the pitch with Nanase's support. A flashback exposes Nanase as ambidextrous, trained by Rin to serve as his post player. Isagi and Kaiser converge to block Rin's shot, but he fires anyway and Hiori clears it.

Rin's taunt echoes his prediction from Chapter 85 that Isagi would witness him become the world's best. Titled Box Seat, read as Tokuto Seki, this is the third chapter of Volume 29 and the 251st overall. The scoreline stays at nil-nil.