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

"But... this is a handicap game. White already has a greater speed advantage than Black. Now, in order to maximize this speed advantage, Akira Touya has sacrificed another stone. In this way, Black is like an invincible dagger..."

"Hikaru! With this move, Akira Touya seems... to be able to plunge that sharp dagger deep into the heart of the black stones before the board is completely filled!"

Sai's emotions suddenly became agitated:

"A genius idea, no... a monstrous idea!"

"Anyone who can play a move like that is practically a monster!"

"No normal person would attack a piece that has no support on all sides!"

"Even in a handicap game, the white stones are naturally faster than the black stones, but no one would think that way because it violates the most basic principles of chess!"

"Is this... really a move that Akira Touya could have come up with on his own?"

After saying that, Sai was still incredibly excited as he circled around Hikaru Shindo.

He was so excited!

Since awakening, it seems that there are more and more Go masters in this world, starting with Su Ran, who even he finds unfathomable.

Then, Akira Touya inexplicably experienced a significant increase in his Go skills!

The thought of playing against so many young Go players in the future filled Sai with uncontrollable joy.

only.

In his excitement, he didn't notice that Hikaru Shindo's expression was still very unpleasant.

The aftereffects of having an exceptional chess sense cannot be cured simply by being unconscious for a short time.

With Su Ran's mental strength boosted several times by the simulator, she was still sound asleep in bed for more than ten hours.

Not to mention someone like Hikaru Shindo, whose mental strength is completely at the level of an ordinary person—a complete "noob."

His head was spinning, and all he wanted to do was find a place to sleep. He didn't hear what Sai was saying at all.

At this moment, the students in the chess room were in complete uproar!

……

The 63rd Middle School Go Tournament! Akira Touya's Ambition!

"This...this is...a divine intervention?"

Harada Ikegami's lips trembled as he murmured involuntarily.

"Is Akira Touya a monster? How could he have come up with this move?"

"This move isn't difficult to understand; it's even quite straightforward. But before it's played, who could have foreseen it?!"

"With one move, the white pieces broke the deadlock. This is... how amazing, how amazing..." Someone was already incoherent.

With Akira Touya's move of advancing six columns and three rows, the situation of the entire game was no longer as entangled and complex as before.

White's move penetrates deep into Black's territory, forcing Black to defend but leaving Black with nowhere to defend!

Even a novice with only a superficial understanding of Go would be able to see that, given White's speed advantage, it would be able to eliminate Black before the board is filled!

This one move alone is absolutely a masterpiece!

A game of chess that no one could have solved.

Akira Touya, however...

With just one move!

This would cause Black to lose the entire game!

Even if Kato, the 8th dan player, were to come in person, he would probably never see this move!

"No wonder Naruto Touya doesn't let Akira Touya spar with his peers; his talent is simply unbelievable..."

"I thought Hikaru Shindo was already strong enough, but I didn't expect Akira Touya to see even further ahead than Hikaru Shindo..."

"Terrifying, these two people are terrifying!"

The students were all talking about it, but Akira Touya listened to these words without showing the slightest bit of smugness on his face.

in contrast.

The more his classmates praised him, the more intensely the flame in his eyes burned!

"This...this is not a move I came up with at all..."

Akira Touya clenched his fists tightly, his sharp nails digging into his flesh as if to cut his palms!

"This is Su Ran, it's him, he's the one who figured out the way to break the deadlock!"

"All of this stems from his strategic thinking, and as for me..."

Akira Touya's eyes revealed immense resentment, but his remaining rationality allowed him to suppress the thousand words in his heart.

At this moment.

He has already verified White's strategy for breaking the deadlock.

Next.

It's time to test the winning strategy that belongs to Black!

Thinking about this...

Akira Touya suppressed the resentment in his eyes, silently raised his hand, and put the "rush" move he had just made back into the Go box.

Immediately afterwards, he glanced at the "stick" move that Hikaru Shindo had just made.

His gaze swept over Su Ran with a serene intensity.

"Su Ran-kun, in this move, is Hikaru Shindo's sticking technique better, or is the severing technique you're thinking of more lethal...?"

"I'll know soon!"

With this in mind, Akira Touya grasped Hikaru Shindo's "sticky" move, then raised his wrist high, ready to place the move onto the board according to Su Ran's strategy.

However, just before he could place his chess piece...

Sudden.

Behind him, another gasp of surprise came:

"Oh no!"

"Hikaru Shindo has fainted again!"

Upon hearing this...

Akira Touya flicked his right hand, and the Go piece in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.

……

Kyoto Hospital.

"Don't worry, the child is fine. He just overworked his brain and experienced a temporary lack of oxygen. He just needs some oxygen and a night's rest."

The emergency room door was pushed open from the inside, and then a nurse in a hurry passed by Harada Ikegami and gave him a few brief instructions.

Oh, okay.

Harada Ikegami thanked the nurse repeatedly, and only after watching her leave did he let out a long sigh of relief. Then, he turned to the two children behind him and said:

"Xiao Liang, Su Ran, thanks to you both for your help today. Otherwise, my old bones wouldn't be able to carry that kid, Hikaru Shindo."

Just now, Hikaru Shindo fainted again.

Fearing something might happen, Harada Ikegami had no choice but to suspend the Go lesson and, together with Su Ran and Akira Touya, took Hikaru Shindo to the hospital.

Unfortunately, the other students were all new faces who had just been recruited today, so Harada Ikegami was too embarrassed to trouble them and could only ask Akira Toya and Su Ran to work a little harder.

“Teacher Ikegami, you’re getting on in years. Why don’t you go home and rest? We two can take care of things here.”

Su Ran was worried that her teacher's health wouldn't hold up, so she offered a few words of comfort.

"Then... let's do it."

Harada Ikegami thought about it and realized that he couldn't be of much help here, and that Hikaru Shindo's problem wasn't really that serious, so he stopped refusing.

"Oh, right, Xiao Liang."

Just before leaving, Harada Ikegami seemed to remember something and turned to Akira Touya, saying:

"The middle school Go tournament will start in two months. Will you be participating?"

me?

Upon hearing this, Akira Touya pondered for a moment and then said:

“In the past, Dad probably wouldn’t have let me participate in this kind of competition among peers, but…”

As he said this, his gaze, whether intentionally or unintentionally, glanced at Su Ran:

"But this year, Dad might change his mind."

"This year, there are two peers who are even more skilled than me. If I participate in the competition, I am very likely to meet them."

"So I think Dad won't restrict me anymore."

Oh, I see...

Harada Ikegami nodded:

"Indeed, there are many talented young people this year. The two you mentioned should be Hikaru Shindo, and THESAI, who has recently risen to prominence online..."

"They are indeed very strong."

Recalling Kato Masao's crushing defeat at the hands of THESAI, even the well-informed Harada Ikegami couldn't help but show a hint of horror in his eyes.

That mysterious THESAI was so powerful that even the peak 8-dan player, Mr. Kato, had no chance against him. I really don't know where that mysterious young man from China trained such formidable Go skills.

"Teacher Ikegami..."

Akira Touya was surprised.

The two formidable rivals he referred to, one of whom was indeed Hikaru Shindo, but the other...

But it was Su Ranjun right in front of me!