Chapter 645

Obvious astonishment appeared on Natsume Chikage's face:

"You want to be my master?"

Ishida Kazuo's expression was solemn, and he nodded seriously:

"Yes."

Fukuda Yasuhiro on the side, although extremely repulsed by this person who might become his junior brother and steal his master's attention, still had his admiration for his master prevail.

He could also see that Natsume Chikage in front of him indeed had some talent.

A sixteen-year-old high school student, without any guidance, broke into the fifth round of the Newcomer Tournament alone.

This achievement was enough to make a large group of people in the younger generation of the Shogi Association feel out of reach.

So he wasn't very surprised that his master would be tempted.

It's just that... if this guy really became a fellow disciple, he feared he wouldn't be able to monopolize his master's careful guidance like before.

Thinking of this, Fukuda Yasuhiro felt a burst of unhappiness in his heart.

But he still suppressed his emotions, carried a bit of a teenager's arrogance, raised his chin, and helped out:

"Although you luckily advanced to the fifth round, don't get too complacent. With your current amateur skills, you want to pass the fifth round? I'm afraid you're daydreaming."

"My master is willing to take you as a disciple, that is your great fortune! It's an opportunity others can't even beg for!"

"In my opinion, don't dawdle, hurry up and agree!"

"Taking advantage of the gap in the competition these few days, my master might even be able to temporarily teach you a few unique skills, so you might still have a chance to win the fifth round."

Upon hearing this, Ishida Kazuo's brows immediately furrowed, and his tone carried reproach:

"Yasuhiro! How are you talking?"

"How many times have I told you, be polite and humble when dealing with people!"

"Natsume-kun might be your fellow disciple in the future, how can you talk to people with this attitude?"

Fukuda Yasuhiro gave a "tsk," turned his head away, and had no intention of apologizing at all.

In his heart, Natsume Chikage was older than him, and his strength didn't look like much, winning against Asahina Akatsuki so thrillingly.

He felt that if he were the one playing, he wouldn't have fallen into that kind of predicament from the beginning.

No matter how he looked at it, Natsume Chikage's strength was far inferior to his own.

Since he was inferior, there was no need to give the weak a good look!

Seeing this, Ishida Kazuo's face was full of helplessness, and he quickly turned to Natsume Chikage, apologizing sincerely:

"I'm really sorry, Natsume-kun. Yasuhiro is essentially a good child, just a bit... um, a bit straightforward in his speech, and easily offends people."

"If you get along with him for a long time in the future, you will find that he is actually a very good person."

Natsume Chikage glanced at the little brat who had a terrible temper and "I'm very arrogant" written all over his face, and shook his head bluntly:

"I can't see it at all."

Upon hearing this, Fukuda Yasuhiro's cheeks instantly flushed with shame and anger.

"You...!"

Ishida Kazuo's face stiffened, apparently not expecting Natsume Chikage to be so direct, and could only awkwardly laugh it off:

"Haha... well, it's indeed not easy to see on the surface, after all, you two just met not long ago."

He quickly changed the subject from this awkward topic, pulled the focus back to business, and asked with concern:

"So... what is your decision?"

Natsume Chikage shook his head without almost any hesitation:

"Sorry, Mr. Ishida. I don't have any thoughts of taking a master."

"To be honest, I... don't have that strong of an interest in shogi, and I don't intend to delve into it deeply."

"Participating in this competition is purely for the prize money."

Upon hearing this, Ishida Kazuo's face instantly froze, and he was silent for several seconds.

Finally, he sighed deeply, his face full of regret:

"That's really a pity... you clearly possess good talent. If you could get systematic guidance and continue to research deeply, your future achievements would probably exceed many people."

Fukuda Yasuhiro glared at Natsume Chikage very unhappily:

"Tsk! My master is such a good person, and you actually dare to refuse?"

"Truly blind!"

"I think you, you can only stop at the fifth round!"

"Simply mud that can't be..."

He hadn't even finished speaking.

Ishida Kazuo's face had already darkened, and he suddenly raised his hand and slapped Fukuda Yasuhiro hard with a "slap."

"I'll say it one last time! Be polite and humble to others, and don't speak wildly!"

"You now, immediately, apologize to Natsume-kun!!"

Fukuda Yasuhiro covered his instantly reddened cheek, stared at Ishida Kazuo with wide, unbelievable eyes.

He didn't expect that his master, who had always been gentle and had never moved a hand, would be so angry for an outsider, and an outsider who had refused him, and even hit him?!

A huge sense of grievance instantly surged into his heart.

He glared fiercely at Natsume Chikage, neither apologizing nor explaining anything, turned around abruptly, and ran away from the corridor with tears in his voice.

Witnessing this scene, Ishida Kazuo's eyes flashed with a trace of heartache and exhaustion, but more of it was helplessness.

In all fairness, Fukuda Yasuhiro's talent was indeed extremely high.

But perhaps precisely because his talent was too high, and everything had been smooth sailing, he had developed such an arrogant and rotten temper.

Sigh... he could only guide and correct him slowly in the future.

Since Natsume Chikage had clearly expressed that he had no love for shogi, and even bluntly refused, plus this incident had happened right now.

He couldn't force or keep him anymore, so he could only bow to Natsume Chikage again and express his apologies sincerely:

"I am here, to apologize sincerely for my disciple's rude behavior just now... I'm really sorry, Natsume-kun... not only did I disturb you, but I also let you see such a farce."

"Although it's a pity that we couldn't become master and disciple, I still sincerely wish you can go further in the upcoming competition schedule."

Natsume Chikage was silent for a moment and responded:

"Thank you. I also wish you a bright future."

Ishida Kazuo nodded slightly, then turned and hurried to chase after the direction Fukuda Yasuhiro ran.

Natsume Chikage watched the two disappear around the corner of the corridor one after another, just shook his head slightly, and didn't take this small episode to heart too much.

That Mr. Ishida Kazuo looked indeed polite and gentle, and his character was indeed quite good.

It's just that his disciple Fukuda Yasuhiro's temper was really hard to compliment.

Since his master had already taught this little brat a lesson, and even apologized, Natsume Chikage couldn't say anything more even if he wanted to pursue it.

He soon put this matter behind him and continued to walk towards the spectator area.

Soon.

He returned to the seating area where Furukawa Masahiro and the others were.

Furukawa Masahiro stroked his white beard, his face full of smiles, and took the lead to congratulate:

"Congratulations, Natsume-kun. You've taken another beautiful victory."

Furukawa Saio was even more overjoyed, rushing over like a happy little bird, hugging Natsume Chikage's leg, and looking up with a small face excitedly:

"Congratulations to big brother for winning the match again! Too amazing!"

There is no harm without comparison.

Looking at this innocent, lovely little girl in front of him, Natsume Chikage's mood suddenly brightened a lot.

He smiled and rubbed Furukawa Saio's little head, his eyes gentle.

Horikawa Kashi also came over, her face full of surprise and joy:

"Natsume-kun, congratulations!"

"But I really didn't expect that you could actually fight your way into the fifth round! Are you actually this strong?"

Furukawa Saio immediately let go, put her hands on her hips, and "corrected" with a serious face:

"Big brother is amazing! He even won against grandpa!"

Furukawa Masahiro's old face flushed, and he quickly coughed twice.

My dear granddaughter, can you not say this to everyone you meet? At least leave some face for grandpa!

Fukuda Si on the side, although still feeling a bit awkward in his heart, had to admit that Natsume Chikage's victory relied on solid strength.

After all, the comprehensive suppression power shown by Asahina Akatsuki in the early stage was enough to prove that her basic skills were solid, and it was definitely not something that could be won by luck.