After the game with Korea, those who got hurt went to get checked out by the medical personnel at the stadium to make sure there were no damaging injuries. Midorikawa and Hijikata had severe muscle damage which required them to not do anything physical. Tsunami had a bruised knee which would heal in a couple of days, and Fubuki had a slight sprain on his foot which would also heal in a couple of days. Naruto had a sprain on his foot as well but it would take longer for him to heal.
Coach Kudou and Hibiki looked over the players and informed them that Midorikawa and Hijikata would not be travelling with them which saddened them before moving on to the others. Coach Kudou said Tsunami and Fubuki were still on the team which made them release a breath they didn't know they were holding.
Coach Kudou and Hibiki then turned towards Naruto, Naruto spoke to them first "I know I'm injured and I will not be able to play in the first match of the tournament and even if you replace me. I ask you to allow me to come with you. I wish to pass on, "Last Resort'' to someone"
Coach Kudou and Hibiki didn't say anything for a moment which scared Naruto more than it should have but Coach Kudou said "You are still on the team, so there is nothing to worry about"
Naruto calmed down before bowing his head and thanking him for letting him stay on the team before leaving and going back to the team along with the others. The team was shocked to hear about the departures of Hijikata and Midorikawa and were thankful to hear that Naruto, Fubuki and Tsunami were okay. Naruto then explained to them that he was passing Last Resort to someone which shocked them.
On the day of the flight, everyone had gathered together at the airport with some of their teammates, friends and families there to say goodbye and wish them luck. They met with Hijikata and Midorikaw a and their replacements Someoka and Sakuma. Genda and Kidou were happy to hear that Sakuma would be joining them as it brought back memories from their time with Royal.
Both Midorikawa and Hijikata said they are glad that they had at least helped them reach the world stage and would be trying to gain more strength than they could one day face the world. Fudou commented that it wasn't the end, to which Magine explained that if they recover fast enough they can play in the games, as it was within the rules of the tournament which made them both happy to know that there was still a chance they could play. They soon got onto the plane and were amazed but the view from above while Tsunami yelled about wanting to go back to the ocean which made people laugh
Someoka was excited to show the world how strong he was, Endou then told him they were counting on him. Aphrodi took the optionality to ask Naruto about Last Resort "Naruto, I don't wish to be a bother but I would like to know what your plan is with Last Resort"
Naruto smiled and said "I've been looking at candidates to inherit it and, I've decided that I will pass it on to three players. That being Gouenji, Someoka and Hiroto"
Aphrodi nodded before talking to Naruto about other things. They soon landed and were amazed by what the island was like before they made their way onto the caravan. On their way to their respective area, they went past the different areas located on the island that they built to look like their respective country to help with the team's morale, upon reaching the Italian section the caravan stopped and allowed the players to watch as the Italian captain instructed his players as if he had a birds-eye view of the pitch.
Everyone was amazed at what they saw, Naruto smiled at what he was seeing and was excited to play against someone else that could see the pitch like that. Upon arriving at their designated area they all settled in. After getting settled in, Naruto went to get Gouenji, Hiroto and Someoka to meet him on the pitch outside.
Once they got to the pitch Naruto then told them why he asked them to follow him "I've chosen you three to be the ones to inherit Last Resort"
The three were shocked to hear this but quickly readied themselves as Naruto explained to them that it would take a year or two to get one of them to adapt to the move so if they couldn't get past a problem then they would add more people to help solve the problem. Naruto instructed them on what to do, Gouenji had called forward the move and kicked it down, Hirito then slid down to spin it upwards and Somoeka had kicked the ball towards the goal which caused the move to take form but crumble after Someoka's kick
The trio continued to practise till late, the others had come out of their rooms to see what was happening, Aphrodi was looking at the trio's attempt to use Last Resort and could only wonder why he felt like something was missing. They soon had to leave as the opening ceremony was about to commence, each team stood behind their captain who was holding their country's flag.
Once each team lined up, the Japanese team were able to spot Ichinose and Domon who were playing for the American team, while they were looking at Ichinose and Domon, Naruto was looking at someone else, someone he hadn't seen for some time and couldn't help but remember the past. After the ceremony was complete, everyone had returned back to their respective areas for the night.
The next day the Japan team gathered together and were again told how the tournament would go, the ten teams that passed the prelims from each area were split into two groups of five. They will play each team once, with a win giving a team 3 points, a draw - 1 point and a loss will give you no points. Japan was in group A with Italy, America, England and Argentina.
Their first match is in two days against the English team The Knights of Queen. Megane told the team that they were not a good team to go against first. Tsunami then said "Sounds fun" making everyone look at him "We made it this far already, if we're gonna go for it, it wouldn't be fun unless we had someone strong enough for us!"
Everyone smiled as they too believed in Tsunami's words, Kidou then said "Since we're here already, might as well go against the strong ones." Endou also got excited and told the team to give everything they got.
They soon went out to practise, Naruto stayed on the sidelines and watched on, as he had to rest his leg. Everyone was giving it their, Sakuma was showing lots of improvement as he got past Kazemaru, Tobikata and Tsunami. Kino then stopped practice and called everyone over and told them they had an invitation from The Knights of Queen to attend a formal party at 6.
The practise continued for some time with everyone doing their very best, after practice ended everyone went off to do their own things before they had to get ready for the party. Eventually, everyone gathered together dressed in suits and were waiting in the main hall. The managers soon appeared wearing fancy dresses that made some of the team blush, the team complimented them with Tsunami being an idiot and saying something stupid. They soon realised that Endou wasn't here with them to which Naruto said he would go get him as he had an idea where he was.
Naruto then walked to the pitch and saw Endou playing with the captains of America, Argentina and Italy as well as another player from America. Naruto shook his head and called out to Endou which stopped the game as players all looked toward Naruto. Naruto started to walk toward them and said "It's good to see you again Teres"
Teres the Argentinian team captain nodded and said "You too Naruto"
Endou then asked Naruto how he knew Teres, "I know Teres from my travels. He is a good defender, someone I could never beat. He is also like a teacher to me, as he taught me how to properly defend"
Endou marvelled at this, a player so strong that Naruto, a person who seemed to somehow find a way past any players, struggled against Terrace. Naruto then turned to Fidio the Italian team's captain and held out his hand while saying "You must be Fidio, I've heard about you"
Fidio was confused and wondered who told Naruto about him but quickly forgot the thought for the moment and smiled and shook Naruto's hand and said "It is good to see you too, but if you don't mind me asking, why are you dressed like that?"
Naruto smiled and said "The Japanese team were invited by The Knights of Queen to a formal party. Endou here forgot about it I suppose and now we are late" Endou realised he forgot about the party and apologised to Naruto and was about to leave but Naruto then said "Why don't you guys join"
The others looked confused with the American team captain saying "I don't think we should, they invited you guys to go not us. We don't want to seem rude"
Naruto laughed and waved his hand in front of his face and said "It should be fine. Think of it this way, we are bound to meet each other anyway, why not just get it done and over with"
They gave it a thought with Teres then saying "You still have your trickster side I see"
Naruto smiled and said "I don't know what you mean"
Teres shook his head and agreed to go, with the others agreeing as well. On the way, Naruto learned the names of the American players, the captain was Mark while the other one was the ace striker of the American team Dylan. Naruto also told Fidio that he heard about him from Nakata which shocked him, Naruto explained that he trained with him for a while overseas but hasn't seen him in a while.
Endou asked who Nakata is, Naruto explained that he is Italy's true captain who is currently away and was someone who helped him become a better midfielder. Endou had stars in his eyes and started to shake and told them he couldn't wait to meet him, which made Naruto and Fidio smile
They soon showed up with them apologising for being late. Everyone then turned and saw the other players that joined them which confused everyone. Naruto then spoke up "Sorry these people were out playing a small game before coming here and I invited them as well as we are all bound to meet anyway so why not be down with it. You don't mind, do you?"
Edgar the captain of The Knights of Queen smiled and said "No, it's no problem at all, if you follow Sebastian, he will provide you with a tuxedo"
The captains and Dylan went with Sebastian, while Naruto went off to talk with the others from his team. Naruto explained to them who they were and even his past with Terrace which shocked the team.
Soon enough they returned fully dressed in a tuxedo, Edgar gave a small laugh which annoyed the Japan team as well as the other captains. It soon escalated into Endou and Edgar having a shootout. Edgar spun his hands and jumped towards the ball, he lifted his leg up high, creating a long sword with yellow bands circulating around it. He paused for a moment for the sword to extend fully. Once the sword was fully visible, he brought his foot down onto the ball, making it hit the ground and race towards the goal, scraping a large amount of the dirt off the ground(Excalibur)
The Japanese team were surprised by the shot and saw it race towards Endou. Endou used Hammer of Fury to stop the shot but was unsuccessful in doing so. Teres turned to Naruto and said "This is your captain" sigh "You should have accepted to join the Argentina team, we could have helped you become better than you are"
The Japanese players were annoyed with his comment, Naruto told him "You will see why I'm representing Japan, and if I were you, Teres, I would not underestimate Endou"
Teres continued to look at Endou and couldn't understand why Ichinose, Fidio and Naruto were all interested in him. He would look into their match against The Knights of Queen to get a better understanding of the type of player Endou is
As soon as Naruto finished speaking Endou spoke up and was amazed by the power of the world and complemented Edgar on his shot and ran over to his team and talked about the world level being with the Japanese players feeling the same energy as Endou and couldn't wait to practice.
The next day the team practised throughout the day and held nothing back, they continued to grow with each passing day and their desire to play against those on the top allowed them to push on further.
On the day of the match, the Japan team practised in the morning to get warmed up and ready to go. There were still some lingering thoughts on the game by some of the team, Kidou reminded them that although the teams competing to become the worlds best are a force to reckon with, they too were among those people fighting to become the best so they should have faith in their abilities.
They then soon made their way to the stadium coach Kudou announced the starting eleven
Goalkeeper - Endou
Defenders - Tobikata, Kabeyama, Tsunami and Kogure
Midfielders - Kidou, Kazemaru, Hiroto and Fubuki
Forwards - Aphrodi and Gouenji
Upon arriving at the stadium everyone was taken aback by the roaring fans, but they shook it off and started to warm up.
The game soon began with Inazuma Japan starting with the ball, they went on a quick attack hoping to catch them off guard but their pass was intercepted by an English defender. The Knights of Queen then made a quick counter-attack which was cut off by Fubuki.
The Japanese team again tried to push forward but were foiled by The Knights of Queen, who then took the opportunity and had a shot on goal which was saved by Endou. Edgar spoke to Endou telling him that he was impressed with them so far as he didn't expect them to match them in their plays. Endou was annoyed by their comments
Endou then kicked the ball downfield to Aphrodi who controlled the ball and ran towards the goal, an English defender quickly got in front of him and used Stone Prison(The defender makes stone pillars come out of the ground which was lined up parallelly to each other. Aphrodi got confused and looked at the pillars around him and didn't see the pillar come out right in front of him)
Edgar then received the ball and turned and used Paladin Strike (He kicked the ball with the tip of his shoes. The ball then glows in a greenish light as it goes towards goal) Kabeyama got in front of the shot and used The Mountain but was unable to stop it, Endou then used Hammer of Furry and was able to stop the shot.
Endou thanked Kabeyama for the help which made him smile and bumped his fist with Kabeyama. Edgar gave them a slow clap and said "I must commend you for stopping my shot but don't think you can win. You've not yet stopped my Excalibur"
Endou then gave the ball to Kazemaru, The Knights of Queen then changed their formation into two V shapes. They had let the forwards run past them but they charged at Kazemaru who got past one with Fuujin no Mai but had the ball taken off him by another player.
Japan had taken the ball off The Knights of Queen again but the results were the same, they were able to get past one but another player would come and shut them down. Edgar laughed at the Japanese players and told them that this was their hissatsu technique Absolute Knights before they went on a counterattack and forced a save from Endou
Endou told Edgar that they weren't going to lose as they came to the FFI tournament to become the best in the world. Edgar slightly narrowed his eyes and told Endou that he and the rest of the Japanese players aren't the only people to have a claim to being the 'best in the world' as the rest of the national teams who came to this tournament to fight were entrusted with the dreams of the people from their country. It was their responsibility for them to carry on their dreams and win the tournament.
Endou was surprised by this as he hadn't really given the idea too much thought as he wanted to play with the strongest players in the world and reach the top with his friends. Nonetheless, Endou shook his head to clear the feeling he had and passed the ball to Kidou
The Knights of Queen once again cut off Japan's attack and made a charge down the field, Kazemaru was there to stop their attack but was unable to stop their attack as the player trapped the ball in between his legs and started to do some backflips before vaulting over Kazemaru as a moon appeared behind the player(Ultra Moon)
The Knights of Queen got in front of the goal and passed it to Edgar who again used Paladin Strike but this time Endou faced the shot alone and was unable to stop it with Hammer of Fury
0-1
Coach Kudou called over Kidou before the game resumed and told him that the Absolute Knights has a large weak point and it wasn't like him to take this long to figure it out. Once he did, he called over Kazemaru and Fubuki to help him break through the tactic.
Once the game resumed Gouenji passed the ball to Kazemaru who ran in a straight line with Fubuki behind him and Kidou behind Fubuki. The Knights of Queen again used Absolute Knights but this time whenever they were blocked they passed the ball to their sides or behind them, before running past their marker to receive the ball again. Kidou took down the tactic with True Illusion ball, before passing the ball to Gouenji who was caught in Stone Prison but he didn't look at the pillars forming around him and kept moving forwards and by the time the pillar formed in front of him he was able to jump over it.
Gouenji tried to use Maximum Fire but the ball was taken off him by Edgar who stood close to his team's post with his back to the Japanese players. Edgar then turned around and said "You've done well so far bet let me show you the true strength of the holy sword" before using Excalibur which headed straight down the pitch, picking up speed on its way and getting past both The Mountain and Hammer of Furry to score a goal
0-2
Kabeyama stayed down after the goal as he had hurt himself on the landing, Coach Kudou then made a substitution, Kabeyama off and Someoka on. Someoka moved to become a forward next to Gouenji, with Aphrodi moving into a false 9 position, helping out the midfield while making the aggressive runs down the middle as well. The players congratulated Kabeyama for his performance, he then told them that any point they lose as Inazuma Japan aren't just their points, after all. Endou and the others were inspired by his words and promised to do better.
The game resumed with Japan making a quick attack but was cut off by The Knights of Queen, who took the ball off them and managed to have a shot go over the goal. The defence was annoyed that they let them through, Endou seeing their facial expressions told them "That was a good defence! As long as it doesn't enter the goal, it won't count as a point!"
Endou took the goal kick and gave it to Kazemaru who again with Fubuki and Kidou repeated what they did to break down the tactic the first time but The Knights of Queen were all over them and blocked each root but what they didn't expect was for Aphrodi to join in the mix. Kazemaru then passed the ball to Aphrodi but an English defender was there to make an interception and passed the ball to Edgar
Before the ball could reach Edgar, Someoka had intercepted the ball and passed it to Gouenji who made a run down the field and drew the keeper to the near post before passing the ball back to Someoka who summoned a dragon behind him. The dragon then gathers energy in its mouth, Someoka then kicks the ball which is accompanied by the dragon behind him releasing a blue energy beam out of its mouth(Dragon Slayer) The English goalkeeper was unable to save the shot as it was just too wide for him to reach.
1-2
The Japanese players celebrated the goal and were amazed by Someoka's new shot. The Knights of Queen then made multiple substitutions. They were now lined up in an arrow-like formation, they then resumed the game and passed the ball back to the defenders as they ran forwards, causing the Japanese players to go after them
The Knights of Queen then took the opportunity to give the ball to Edgar who along with three others ran down the field with two players behind Edgar and one in front of him in a triangular shape while they have a blue like flame around them as they were running(Invincible Lance)
Kidou and Hirtoto tried to stop them but were blown off to the side by the blue flames. As they got near to Endou the blue flame disappeared as the players moved apart from one another leaving Edgar free to shoot. Edgar used Excalibur and got past Hammer of Fury to regain the two-goal lead England had
1-3
The halftime whistle then went, and the players all went back to the changing rooms for their team talk. Coach Kudou told them to keep possession of the ball in the second half and keep moving with Kidou taking control with Fudou.
Naruto looked over to Endou who was not looking like himself and told him "Endou you should take your own advice"
Everyone looked at Naruto as Endou asked him "What advice?"
"You told Tobikata and the others that as long as the ball doesn't go in then it won't count as a goal" Naruto told him
Endou looked down at his hand and asked "What do you mean?"
Naruto had a small smirk on his face and said "You don't need to stop Edgar's shots Endou. You just have to make sure it doesn't go in, at the moment all you are thinking is how to stop the ball and to keep them from getting it correct?" Endou nodded "Well don't think about stopping the ball, there is no need"
Endou was still confused but Genda then said "I think I understand, you don't want him to stop it, you want him to redirect the ball in a way"
Endou then looked down at his hand again and started thinking of how he could redirect the ball, he then looked at Genda and said "Genda can you explain to me how Power Shield works"
Genda looked at Endou and asked "Do you think Power Shield could work?"
Endou shook his head and said "No but it could help"
Genda nodded and explained the move to Endou, not knowing if it could help in the match, only time could tell. The players then went out onto the field with Tsunami and Kogure off for Fudou and Sakuma, Sakuma and Fubuki were moved into more defensive roles.
The Knights of Queen then resumed the game, but as soon as the game started the Japanese players besides Someoka and Gouenji moved off to the sides and waited for the Knights of Queen to run forward. The Knights of Queen then used Invincible Lance again but this time the Japanese players forced the players defending Edgar to split apart which allowed Tobikata to take the ball off Edgar with Shinkuuma
The Japanese players still on their separate sides gathered around Fudou and Kidou in a circle, they then passed the ball between themselves as well as passing the ball to the other circle(Dual Typhoon)
Gouenji and Someoka had ran down the field and drew the defender away with them allowing Hiroto to go one on one with the goalkeeper and scoring past him with Ryuusion Blade V2
2-3
The Japanese players celebrated as another goal went in with the Knights of Queen in shock that their Invisible Lance was broken through. The Japanese players carried the momentum straight away as after the Knights of Queen kicked off again they were quick to intercept the ball before giving it to Aphrodi who jumped over Stone Prison and used God Break to score the equaliser
3-3
The Knights of Queen could only look on in shock at Inazuma Japan, as they didn't expect a team that barely scraped past the Asian preliminaries to be able to do so well. The Knights of Queen again resumed the game and again tried to run down the field to score but were stopped by the Japanese players
The game became a small back and forth between the two teams before Someoka found himself free from any defenders and used Dragon Slayer to score for Japan. But Edgar had ran all the way back to the defence and used Excalibur and managed to redirect the shot but he injured his leg in the process
Fubuki got in the way of the shot, hoping to slow the shot down to give Endou more of a chance to stop the shot. Fubuki was knocked to the side as the ball continued its course to the goal. Endou began to twitch a little, not knowing what to do.
Genda seeing this called out to him and said "Believe in yourself, Endou. You can do it!"
The others joined in with him and called out to Endou, Endou smiled and started to calm down before he thought to himself 'That's right, I can do this. I just have to believe in myself and trust in my friend's help and I will be able to stop any ball in my way' before he jumped into the air and as his hand glows with a yellowish aura that spreads out into a dome as soon as he slams his hand into the ground. The ball then started moving upwards of the dome and heading over the crossbar(Ijigen the Hand)
Endou celebrated the block with the others congratulating him on stopping the ball. Endou looked over at Genda and said "Thank you Genda. I would not have been able to stop the shot without you"
Genda smiled and shook his head at Endou. Endou then focused back onto the pitch and kicked the ball to Kidou who controlled the ball and ran down the pitch with Fudou before using Killer Fields to get past Edgar before passing the ball to Gouenji who used Maximum Fire and scored with the last kick of the game
4-3
The Knights of Queen all felt immense sadness at losing the game. Inazuma Japan on the other hand all ran towards each other and celebrated with one another and felt like they truly belonged on the world stage.
They then thanked The Knights of Queen for the game and went back to the dressing room to change before returning to their respective area for rest.
AN1 - I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and sorry for it coming out later than expected as I kept going over it and was debating on giving a move to someone, not saying who or what move. But I rewrote the matches over and over and had to take time away as it was just getting annoying redoing it over and over again. So I hope you enjoy my final version of it
AN2 - Grand Fire - I know in the Argentina game, Gouenji, Hirito and Toramaru use it to score in the anime but I am having trouble deciding if I should add it or not. I could easily replace the move with Wrath of Ra or Last Resort Sigma but it would be too early for that. So I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter
I hope you enjoy and have a good day