Chapter 474

At this moment, he only felt that the timing, the location, and the people were all on his side!

The momentum was entirely with him!

You, Xia Xia Xia Mujun, what do you have to fight me with?!

He could almost not help but burst into loud laughter.

Very soon.

The time reached nine o'clock.

The match began right on time!

Morimoto Yūki forcibly suppressed his surging emotions; he reached out his hand, his fingertips trembling slightly from excitement.

He picked up a piece.

"Clack!"

A crisp sound of impact echoed through the suddenly quiet match area.

The piece landed steadily on the board, and then he pressed the game clock.

Declaring the match officially begun.

And Xia Xia Xia Mujun, sitting across from him.

From beginning to end, his expression had not changed in the slightest.

As if that ritual to decide the first move, that first piece placed on the board, that almost overflowing ecstasy of his opponent...

Had nothing to do with him.

He just calmly lowered his eyelids.

His gaze fell upon the intricate grid lines of the board.

Then.

He extended his slender and steady fingers.

Composedly.

He picked up a piece belonging to him.

The movement was fluid, without the slightest hesitation.

Gently, he placed the piece.

Exactly where it belonged.

On the massive main screen and the auxiliary screens distributed everywhere.

Two tournament commentators in formal attire were analyzing the match on screen with focused expressions.

The male commentator, Inoue Masazo, had a steady face, his fingers habitually tapping the table.

The female commentator, Nanjo Maiko, had a sharp gaze fixed on the changes in the game.

They had just been commentating on the professional duel between Ishida Ishida Kazuo and Yoshikawa Tatsunari.

At this moment.

Instructions came from the control room.

The live broadcast screen suddenly cut.

Switching to another board—

The match site of Xia Xia Xia Mujun and Morimoto Yūki.

Male commentator Inoue Masazo's gaze immediately followed.

When he saw the names of the two players, he couldn't help but take a light breath, letting out a low exclamation.

"Now the camera has come to... player Xia Xia Xia Mujun's side. In this fifth round of the tournament, he is actually facing... player Morimoto Yūki!"

He quickly retrieved the information in his mind, his speaking speed increasing.

"I remember this player, Morimoto Yūki, is only one year older than player Xia, currently seventeen."

He paused, his tone carrying obvious solemnity.

"But! He is already a 'Second Dan' player of the Promotion Association!"

"Viewers might not be very clear about the value of this rank... let's put it this way, looking at the entire younger generation of the Japan Shogi Association, there are really not many who can reach the Second Dan of the Promotion Association at this age."

"Not to mention those who have fought their way into the fifth round."

"This is not just proof of talent, but also represents extremely solid training and practical strength far exceeding his peers!"

Female commentator Nanjo Maiko immediately nodded in agreement, her voice clear and certain.

"Exactly!"

"Player Morimoto's level of strength is completely different from all the opponents player Xia has encountered before; they are not on the same level at all."

She spoke fluently, beginning a detailed comparative analysis.

"Whether it's little sister Furukawa Saio, player Fukuda Yasuhiro, player Tanabe Yuto, or even Asahina Akizuki, who is recognized as having the strongest shogi ability among them..."

"Their strength cannot be compared to player Morimoto."

She turned slightly to face the main camera, adopting a posture of explaining.

"Here, I need to briefly explain the ranking system of the Shogi Association to viewers who are not very familiar with it."

"Above amateur players is the rank system of the Promotion Association, from 6th Grade to 1st Grade."

"And after breaking through 1st Grade, one enters the 'Dan' realm, which is the First Dan to Third Dan of the Promotion Association."

"This stage is recognized by the industry as the 'quasi-professional' or 'pre-professional' stage."

"Players who reach this rank, as long as they meet the age requirements and win to a certain extent, can become official professional shogi players."

She turned her gaze back to the screen, to Morimoto Yūki's face, which wore an arrogant expression.

"And player Morimoto Yūki, at the age of seventeen, is already a Second Dan of the Promotion Association!"

"What does this mean?"

"It means that if there are no accidents, he is very likely to officially enter the professional shogi world within the next year or two!"

"His talent and potential can be seen from this!"

"Looking at player Xia Xia Xia Mujun on the other hand..."

Nanjo Maiko's voice slowed slightly, carrying an objective analytical tone.

"Although he has won four consecutive rounds with a brilliant record, he has never joined any shogi association, nor has he undergone systematic rank certification."

"Therefore, we cannot give him an accurate official strength positioning."

"But based on his hard-fought victory against player Asahina Akizuki earlier..."

She deliberated slightly.

"The industry generally estimates that his strength ceiling is probably around the 1st Grade of the Promotion Association."

"Just right, stuck at the step before crossing the threshold of 'Dan'."

She paused, her tone becoming more cautious.

"And in the 'quasi-professional' stage, the strength gap between each small rank is often exponentially increasing."

"So, looking at the data on paper..."

She shook her head slightly; although she didn't say it explicitly, the meaning was already clear.

"If player Xia wants to defeat player Morimoto across ranks, the probability... is probably quite low."

Male commentator Inoue Masazo nodded heavily, expressing agreement.

"Indeed."

He pulled up another set of data.

"According to the information we have on hand, player Morimoto's official match win rate within the Promotion Association has been stable at around 65%."

"This win rate itself speaks volumes."

"It doesn't just represent many wins, but also means stability in playing style, control over the situation, and... resilience and strength in finding opportunities in adversity."

"Win rate, to some extent, is the most intuitive reflection of potential and immediate combat power."

Nanjo Maiko nodded, adding.

"Yes, data doesn't lie."

But immediately after, she changed the subject, revealing a professional smile.

"Of course, a shogi game is like a battlefield; nothing is absolute."

"Perhaps player Xia can break our estimates today and show some hidden strength that will surprise us?"