Second Selection

Declaring that the survivors have climbed from level zero to one, Ego promises that the Second Selection's advanced facilities can raise them all the way to a hundred. The round consists of five stages, and only players who clear every one will pass, with the reward being a practice match against some of the world's elite footballers. This time each player must walk through the gate alone, cut off from the teammates who carried him through the First Selection, and only those mentally ready should enter. Most hesitate once the screen goes dark, until an unknown player calmly picks up two balls and strikes them, one on a high soft arc and one on a low curve, so that they collide in midair. Isagi is left stunned, wondering who this is.

The stranger heads to the gate, announces he has finished warming up, and steps through as his name is revealed: Rin Itoshi. Igaguri asks whether he is the Itoshi ranked among the New Generation's global top eleven, but Imamura corrects him that the famous one is Sae Itoshi, leaving Igaguri puzzled about who Rin really is. With Rin first to clear the opening stage, Igaguri sinks into doubt, feeling he is nowhere near that level, and the rest of Team Z falters too. Isagi rallies them, reminding everyone that they toppled the supposedly undefeated Team V. One by one they claim credit: Igaguri's block on Nagi, Kunigami's finish, Bachira's dribbling, Chigiri's speed, Raichi's and Imamura's defense, even Kuon's sacrificial red card, Gagamaru's contributions, Iemon's save against Reo, and Isagi's own goal. Their confidence restored, they huddle and vow to reunite beyond the first stage.

Isagi is the first of the group to go, sent off with a wave from Bachira and a wish to grow stronger. He finds himself in a square chamber ringed by panels; when one slides open to offer a ball, he takes it while still bewildered. A strange hologram then materializes before him, and Isagi wonders what the opening stage truly holds.

Ego reveals the five-stage structure of the Second Selection and the rule that everyone competes individually. Rin Itoshi debuts with a jaw-dropping display and becomes the first to clear stage one, unsettling Team Z until Isagi restores their morale. Isagi enters the panel-lined first stage and meets the Blue Lock Man hologram.

Titled Niji Serekushon, this twenty-two-page chapter continues the Second Selection Arc in Volume 5 and appears in Episode 11. Team Z settles the entry order with rock-paper-scissors, sending Isagi in first. The chapter follows Chapter 39 and precedes Chapter 41.