Go: Is the portable old man the nine-time champion?

Chapter 360 The Final!

"The last time it was played in your China's holy land of Go, and this time the final is being held in our Japan's holy land of Go."

Today, Teruto Kuroki wore a formal kimono, with a deep navy blue base and his family crest subtly adorning the cuffs and back.

His back was ramrod straight, like the proud, century-old pine tree in the courtyard, his eyes calm and serene.

Yi Zheng was dressed in a well-tailored light gray Chinese-style stand-up collar casual suit, looking energetic and capable, but his demeanor carried a relaxed, unpolished quality unique to young people, which created a subtle contrast with the solemn hall.

Looking at Yi Zheng sitting cross-legged in front of him, Kuroki Teruto couldn't help but sigh that an era seemed to be coming to an end, and young people were once again taking the stage of history.

But it seems that young people from China, America, and even Malaysia are all ready, but young people from Japan are absent.

Kuroki Teruto recalled that the last time the two played against each other was at the place where the second generation of Chinese Go masters lived in seclusion, and it was also the place where the second generation Go master and Honinbo had their last match.

This time, the Asian Cup finals were held in Japan, and the Toyo Go Institute attached great importance to the competition, placing it in the most important place for Go in Japan—the Yugen Go Room.

When Yi Zheng and his friends were young, they often pronounced this name as "Leisurely Knight".

Located on the fifth floor of the Toyo Go Institute, this place is considered one of the highest halls for Go matches in Japan and also displays Kawabata Yasunari's calligraphy work, "Shin'aku Yugen".

It can be said that every match held here is a top-level competition in Japan, and the Asian Cup, as an intercontinental tournament, naturally meets this standard.

Furthermore, the Toyo Go Association hopes that Kuroki Teruto can defeat Yi Zheng in the holy land of Japanese Go, just like Li Junhe, the legendary swordsman and god of war in the Chinese Olympics, to bring confidence to Japan, which is beginning to decline.

Kuroki Teruto was well aware of this, but he didn't have much confidence. However, this didn't stop him from wanting to defeat Yi Zheng.

After all, which chess player doesn't want to defeat their opponent before a match?
"It doesn't matter where the competition is held, my main concern is that you're not in good form."

The schedule for this Asian Cup is incredibly tight, with the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals all taking place simultaneously, and the semifinals being best-of-three matches.

Kuroki Teruto has played four games in a row, and Yi Zheng has played three games. Although there was a rest day in between, it is still difficult to guarantee the players' condition.

In particular, the Japanese finals were held at a different venue, and they had to travel to a different location on their only rest day.

Kuroki Teruto had to travel to the match venue the day after his semi-final match, so his rest was inevitably affected.

Upon hearing Yi Zheng's words, Kuroki Teruto smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've never felt this good before! I've experienced even more tiring competition formats, this is nothing."

And I still enjoy playing chess with you young people; it feels like I'm young again.

Yi Zheng didn't say anything more after hearing this, but he wondered how Jiang Mobai would feel about it.

Looking around, Yi Zheng couldn't help but nod. As a holy land of Go in Japan, the environment here was quite good. The only drawback was the lack of chairs, because according to the Japanese custom, players sit on their knees.

However, Yi Zheng clearly didn't have this habit and simply sat cross-legged in his seat.

"There is absolutely no Go etiquette; China has also fallen into a state of moral decay."

The room wasn't just occupied by Yi Zheng and Kuroki Teruto; many prominent figures from the Japanese Go community were also present for this final match.

There's no way around it; Japan reaching the Asian Cup final again after four years is already a grand event.

Everyone is hoping that Teruto Kuroki can revive Japanese Go, after all, he is only twenty-nine years old and still young.

This is the view held by the older generation of Go players. After all, the competition in that era was not very fierce. Winning a title at the age of thirty was just the beginning, and it was normal to play until the age of forty. There were even players who held titles in their fifties or sixties.

Even now, the age limit for the Rookie of the Year competition in Japan is under 30. A 30-year-old Rookie of the Year... In other countries, a 30-year-old is basically already starting to consider retirement and make arrangements.

The one who made the sharp comment on Yi Zheng was Takenouchi Katsuya, the leading figure in Japanese Go at the time. He was known as an aesthetic Go player and was one of the six top-tier players in Japan in the last century.

In his time, Go had not yet fully taken off in America, and Japan was still able to compete with China. It was a memorable era. After three consecutive defeats in the Go tournament against the evil China, Japan finally achieved victory, and the whole country was in an uproar!

"Now, she's not even as good as Alika."

"I wonder if that kid Kuroki can win."

"The era of Lee Jun-hyuk has just ended, and now another Lee Jun-hyuk is about to appear?"

Shinichi Kobayashi, the youngest of the original "Six Superstars of Japan," couldn't help but remark that although they were collectively known as the "Six Superstars," there was actually a significant age gap between the youngest and the oldest, who were over twenty years old.

Shinichi Kobayashi's professional career was coming to an end when Lee Jun-hyuk rose to prominence, leaving him feeling utterly defeated and questioning his existence.

"Yi Zheng is much stronger than Li Junhe."

Yun Linglei couldn't help but chime in when he heard the discussion among the Japanese group: "Li Junhe's peak win rate is something Yi Zheng has already achieved in just two years since his debut."

There is no doubt that Yi Zheng's future achievements will surpass those of Li Junhe.

As for why Yun Linglei can speak Japanese?

Yun Linglei could only say, "Japanese is good! I need to learn Japanese!"
Shinichi Kobayashi shook his head upon hearing this: "I don't believe that another Lee Jun-hyuk can appear in this world."

In his view, no matter how strong Yi Zheng is, he is definitely far inferior to Li Junhe back then.

When someone is completely defeated, they tend to endlessly imagine that the person who defeated them is omnipotent, in order to alleviate the pain of being defeated.

It's not that we're weak, it's that the other side is too strong.

"We'll see."

Yun Linglei was too lazy to argue. He only knew that these old people had become old-fashioned as they got older. They had their own worldview, and they wouldn't listen to anything you said to them.

Yi Zheng looked at Kuroki Teruto, who was kneeling in an extremely formal posture, and couldn't help but scratch his face. He also changed his sitting posture, crossing one leg and bending the other leg to stand up, making his sitting posture look even more nonchalant.

There was no way around it; after sitting cross-legged for a while, my legs started to go numb, so I had to change positions.

The Japanese can't even copy things completely. Back in China, there was a chair behind your butt when you knelt. But you actually kneel. Don't your legs go numb?

Watching Yi Zheng move around, Old Ke couldn't help but mutter, "Luckily you're competing in Japan. If you were competing in Silla, you would have been declared the loser."

The Silla Rules have a really powerful clause: you can be penalized for any action that annoys your opponent. As for what would annoy your opponent? That's where the referee gets to decide.

Kuroki Teruto had no idea what Yi Zheng and Ke Lao were complaining about; he simply waited calmly for the match to begin.

Yi Zheng was at a loss for words when he heard this. "I can be judged to have lost just for moving my butt?"

As time came, the referee walked to the center of the field.

"I hereby declare the first game of the best-of-five final of the 34th Asian Cup open! Players, please guess who will go first!"

(End of this chapter)