Chapter 27

Reo marvels at Nagi's strike, telling him it unfolded just as he had pictured it. Nagi wonders if he can ease off now, but Reo demands five more goals first. Isagi, still reeling from the finish, questions whether it was luck, then accepts why Nagi ranks highest in the fifth stratum after seeing his tools up close.

As play restarts, Team Z holds to its plan and Isagi feeds Kunigami, who is not yet within range. Reo closes in, boasting that he has mapped every skill Kunigami owns and knows he cannot shoot from there, before robbing him and slipping the ball toward Nagi. Boxed in by Raichi and Igarashi, Nagi still traps the tricky pass, and though Igarashi reads the short control as a slip, Nagi answers with a bicycle kick into the top corner, beyond Iemon, for his second goal.

Down two to nothing, several Team Z players start to bicker and unravel while Isagi, Igarashi, and Iemon try to steady them, Isagi reminding everyone they still hold another weapon. On the restart he plays it out to Chigiri, whose faith in his own pace is undone when Zantetsu runs him down and steals possession. Zantetsu lays it off to Reo, and though Isagi calls for the others to smother any ball toward Nagi and swears he will deal with Reo himself, Reo instead squares it to an open Zantetsu inside range, who buries it past Naruhaya's challenge for a third.

Trailing three to nothing, Isagi is convinced the match is already lost and most of the team sinks into despair. Kuon keeps grinning, certain he will stay Team Z's leading striker and advance regardless of defeat. Bachira, by contrast, keeps his fighting spirit alive, smiling that the game is finally getting fun.

Nagi notches his second goal of the match with a bicycle kick. Chigiri is beaten in a footrace by Zantetsu, who then finishes to make it three to nothing. As the deficit crushes Team Z's morale, Bachira alone becomes energized.

This chapter is adapted in Episode 9 of the anime. It concludes the final First Selection match between Team V and Team Z, with Team V surging to a three goal cushion.