Hikaru no Go: I taught you Go, and you made the Kisei cry?

"That game can't be considered a loss for Akira. Hikaru Shindo only won by two and a half points, and he was playing black... According to the current rules, black should automatically lose six and a half points, so that game was at most a close match."

Everyone was excited and discussing it.

The game had just ended abruptly because Akira Touya resigned in the middle game, leaving many of them still wanting more. They were all amazed by the exquisite and unparalleled high point move.

But right now, after a fierce battle, Su Ran still has the strength to fight against Hikaru Shindo.

Furthermore, is Hikaru Shindo really capable of severely punishing Su Ran as he boasts?

……

Mr. Gu Dian remained silent.

He had seen the game record of the last game between Hikaru Shindo and Akira Toya.

"That game looked a lot like a demonstration game..."

Mr. Gu Tian thought to himself, then shook his head inwardly: "How could that be? Playing a game against Xiao Liang, giving him pointers? Who does he think he is? Touya Meijin? Or Honinbo Shusaku?"

"This Hikaru Shindo must have already given it his all last time, and only managed to fight Akira to a standstill."

Thinking this through, Mr. Gu Tian did not reveal his earlier speculation about "guiding chess" to the public.

"Even so, Hikaru Shindo's strength should not be underestimated."

Hikaru Shindo and Su Ran sat down at another chess table.

"Sai, I'm telling you, you absolutely have to beat this Su Ran. Toughen him up. Seeing him act so arrogant really annoys me!"

"Oh, right, and that Akira Touya! He's been targeting me for no reason, like I owe him a lot of money. Seriously, these chess players are so annoying."

Hikaru Shindo opened the Go box while complaining to Sai.

Sai stood behind Hikaru Shindo, looking at Su Ran opposite him with his eyes slightly lowered.

"Of course, Xiaoguang, no matter what the reason or cause, once a chess player sits down at the chessboard, he will do his best to defeat his opponent. That is what makes a chess player worthy of honor."

Upon hearing Sai's words, Hikaru Shindo nodded in satisfaction, but suddenly he remembered a news story from a few years ago. It seemed that in that news story, there was a very famous Go player who deliberately lost to his opponent.

What was that person's name again?

Damn it... I can't remember his name at all!

If I had known, I should have paid more attention to news and anecdotes from the chess world...

Hikaru Shindo shook his head, banishing his distracting thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Akira Touya, who was looking at him with a "resentful" expression.

Startled, he nearly dropped the chess box, his right hand trembling.

"Damn it! It's that look again. Why does Akira Touya always give me that look whenever I'm about to play Go with Su Ran?"

Hikaru Shindo touched his face: "Sai, could it be that I really owe him a lot of money?"

Sai chuckled lightly, not answering Hikaru Shindo, but instead letting his gaze wander between the three boys present.

Hikaru, Akira Touya, and this Su Ran.

You are all the most talented Go players in the world.

In the future, when you grow up, you will surely turn the world of chess upside down.

I long to play a game of chess with you all back then... but...

but……

Do I... still have that much time?

His gaze dimmed almost imperceptibly for a moment, but Sai quickly regained his composure.

"Xiao Guang, let's begin, I'm ready."

It was at this moment.

Su Ran had already pushed the chess box in front of Hikaru Shindo.

Let's guess first.

With that statement settled, another game of chess began!

The showdown between Su Ran and Hikaru Shindo!

No, it should be called a duel with Honinbo Shusaku, also known as Fujiwara no Sai!

The crowd, which had scattered, immediately swarmed back, instantly surrounding the chess table.

However, everyone consciously avoided Akira Touya, preferring to stand close together rather than get near him.

Akira Touya now exudes a chilling aura and boundless fighting spirit, making even these adults tremble with fear!

"Hikaru Shindo and Su Ran, who will win?"

Akira Touya, who truly knows Hikaru Shindo's strength, has been pondering this question for a whole week.

Hikaru Shindo's strength, like Su Ran's, was unfathomable to him.

"How...how could there be two people like this..."

Akira Touya clenched his fists tightly, looking at the two people in front of him who had already started guessing who would win.

……

Chapter Thirty-Four: A Recap! A Masterpiece from a Century Ago Reenacted!

"Odd or even?"

Su Ran grabbed a handful of black stones from the chess box, held them tightly in her palm, and looked at Hikaru Shindo with a questioning gaze.

Hikaru Shindo pondered for a moment, then took a white piece from the Go box: "Single."

Su Ran released his grip, and the chess pieces fell into the beaded plate like raindrops, making a crisp "tap-tap" sound.

"One, three, five, seven..."

Su Ran smiled and handed the black pieces to Hikaru Shindo: "You guessed right, you go first this time."

For some reason, Hikaru Shindo felt that Su Ran's gaze seemed to penetrate him and vaguely land on Sai, but he wasn't quite sure.

"Sai?"

Hikaru Shindo quickly abandoned the idea.

"How is that possible? Only I can see Sai. This guy named Su Ran shouldn't be able to see him."

"I must be overthinking it..."

Hikaru Shindo took a black stone from the Go box.

"Sai, we're using Kuroko, where should we place our first move?" Hikaru Shindo asked.

Sai stared quietly at the chessboard, lost in thought.

"Kuroko, huh..."

During the Edo period, a Go board possessed by Sai was found by a boy named Torajiro. He took Sai's place in playing Go, defeated countless masters, dominated the Go world, and was known as the Go Saint!

Afterwards, he changed his name to Shusaku and became the successor appointed by the previous Honinbo family head. In that era when there was no josuke (a type of rank in the game), he was known as the undefeated black-clad master.

"The rules of this era, the six-and-a-half-eye mark..."

Sai remained silent for a long time.

Because Black has the advantage of moving first, to defeat White, Black must win by more than six and a half points, which is called komi.

For Sai, who had never been exposed to komi rules before, this undoubtedly meant he had to find a way to overcome his own playing habits.

Therefore, Sai hesitated as soon as the game began.

"It wouldn't matter if it were anyone else, but this young man from the Tang Dynasty named Su Ran is definitely not an ordinary person."

"He is like a raging dragon lurking in the abyss. The slightest smell of blood will awaken him, and he will pounce without hesitation, tearing everything in his path to shreds with his sharpest claws."

"Should we cast a star? This kind of casting, which was completely incomprehensible in the Heian and Edo periods, seems to be quite common nowadays."

"Or perhaps, what I excel at, is small eyes?"

Hikaru Shindo began to urge Sai on, but Sai ignored him and kept thinking.

"It's been a long time. The first move... does it really take this long to think about?"

"What's going on? Xiao Liang is like this, and now this kid named Shindo Hikaru is doing the same thing... It's just the first move at the start, is it really necessary to think about it for so long?"

"Perhaps Su Ran put too much pressure on his opponent? Putting myself in his shoes, if it were me, I probably wouldn't even have the courage to play against him."

"A powerful figure chosen by Touya Naruto as his opponent is indeed no ordinary person. Even watching from afar, one can still feel the intense killing intent emanating from that terrifying aura..."

"Another five minutes have passed..."

The crowd whispered amongst themselves, while also glancing at Akira Touya out of the corner of their eyes.

Akira Toya stood silently by the chessboard, waiting for Hikaru Shindo to make his move.

"Honinbo Shusaku..."

Akira Toya thought about the game records of Honinbo Shusaku that he had studied over the past few days. He felt that Honinbo Shusaku's playing style was very similar to the feeling that Shindo Mitsuzo had given him last week.

This feeling is hard to explain, but for a genius like Akira Touya with his extraordinary sense of Go, it is the most genuine thought from the depths of his heart.

"Will you fall into Honinbo Shusaku's trap, Hikaru Shindo?"

Su Ran gently tapped the chess pieces, waiting quietly.

His gaze remained fixed on Hikaru Shindo, equally curious about how Sai, possessing Hikaru Shindo's body, would use his opening moves to steer the game into the rhythm he desired.

"Fujiwara no Sai, where will you end up?"

"Honinbo Shusaku, who was undefeated with black, and Fujiwara no Sai, a top Go player of the Heian period."

"Can you grasp that divine move that renders even Go simulators helpless and continue the legend of undefeated play with black?"

"Come on, Fujiwara no Sai! I'll be watching!"

Hikaru Shindo grew increasingly impatient, and feeling the gazes around him and the pressure emanating from Akira Touya, he felt extremely uneasy.

"Sai! Hurry up..."

Finally, Sai closed his folding fan, held it to his nose, and looked at Su Ran with a serious expression.