Chapter 959

"I want to do it again! This time I definitely..."

Before his words were finished, Yasui Ryoto, who had been waiting on the side and rubbing his hands, couldn't wait to rush up, grabbed Nomura Tomohiro's arm, half-pulling and half-dragging him up from the seat.

"Alright alright! Old guy, lost is lost, stop making excuses here!"

Yasui Ryoto was not polite in his words, but his face carried the excitement that it was finally his turn.

"Get up quickly! Now it's my turn! Let me meet Natsume-kun!"

The two, one wanting to stay and not leave, one desperately pulling out, "pinched" for a while again.

Finally, under Arakawa Kiai's "gentle" gaze, Nomura Tomohiro let go unwillingly, and was successfully "driven" off the battle seat by Yasui Ryoto.

Yasui Ryoto breathed a long sigh of relief, tidied up his school uniform collar, and then sat steadily opposite Natsume Chikage.

He first glanced at Nomura Tomohiro who had already lost and whose face was still a bit depressed, and then looked at Arakawa Kiai who was folding her arms with a look of watching a good show.

He cleared his throat, trying to pose a handsome posture, raised his chin, and said in a confident, even a bit stinky tone.

"Watch carefully, Kiai, old guy."

"The next game I play will be very handsome!"

Nomura Tomohiro and Arakawa Kiai looked at Yasui Ryoto's appearance of deliberately showing off and having a second-year disease, and also rolled their eyes in unison, their faces full of speechlessness and disgust of "this guy is here again."

However, both of them knew clearly in their hearts that Yasui Ryoto was just showing off, and it was true that he liked to show off, but his strength in shogi was indeed there, and he was the strongest in the club after the club president.

And he was still at the age of seventeen, the most active and agile thinking, calculation speed and reaction ability, indeed not something that Nomura Tomohiro, who was already in his thirties and retired for many years, could fully compare with.

According to the decision method of the first move (Furigoma), the result was Yasui Ryoto got the first move.

He picked up a piece, the playful expression on his face converged a lot, his eyes became focused and sharp, staring at Natsume Chikage.

"Natsume-kun, it seems luck is on my side, I go first."

His voice calmed down.

"You have to be careful, I won't be as 'polite' as the two just now."

Natsume Chikage met his gaze, nodded calmly.

"Mm, please give me your guidance, Yasui-senpai."

So.

Yasui Ryoto concentrated his attention, put all his attention into the chessboard, began to pick up pieces, dropped them decisively and accurately on the chessboard, making a crisp sound.

Natsume Chikage was also the same, his gaze calm, dropping pieces quickly and steadily.

At first, the two seemed to be quite familiar with each other's opening routines, dropping pieces very fast, basically not needing to think for a long time, the pieces spread out quickly on the chessboard, making a continuous "patter" sound, like raindrops.

But as the game deepened, there were more and more pieces, and the situation became more and more complex.

Yasui Ryoto's eyebrows also began to furrow tighter and tighter unconsciously.

The speed of his dropping pieces, obviously from the initial fast, became slower and slower.

His fingers often hovered above the piece box, hesitating, his gaze sweeping back and forth on the chessboard, calculating various possible changes.

Looking at the signs of disadvantage that were gradually revealed on his side, his forehead also gradually began to ooze a little fine sweat.

The time for thinking was longer each time.

And Arakawa Kiai and Nomura Tomohiro who were watching on the side, at this moment, were also leaning forward, watching very seriously, even their lips moving slightly, their fingers gesturing silently on their knees, obviously performing tense deduction in their hearts.

Both were experienced shogi players, naturally seeing that Yasui Ryoto was gradually falling into passivity and disadvantage.

However, they were too familiar with Yasui Ryoto, knowing this guy's style deeply.

When playing against them, Yasui Ryoto often fell into a seemingly unfavorable situation in the middle game, but often could rely on his outstanding middle-game twisting power and keen ability to capture opportunities, realizing a reversal in the later stage, and finally winning.

This was his consistent shogi style, liking adventure, and also good at finding opportunities in chaos.

So, the two began to deduce the possible direction of Natsume Chikage and Yasui Ryoto later according to their understanding of Yasui Ryoto.

Analyzing from the current situation, although Natsume Chikage had a slight upper hand, Yasui Ryoto was not without opportunities.

They still felt that Yasui Ryoto, relying on his good chaotic fighting ability and young sharpness, the probability of winning was not non-existent, and couldn't even be considered low.

And just when these three were all fully focused, immersed in the world of the shogi game.

Natsume Chikage had time, often in the gap of Yasui Ryoto's long thinking, glancing at the clock on the wall without changing his expression.

He had slept in class once before, and had asked for leave several times because of shogi, and had already been lectured by several subject teachers in turn, to pay more attention to study and so on.

If he was late and didn't go to class after the lunch break without a legitimate reason, he was afraid he would be caught by the teachers for "heart-to-heart talk" again.

Finally.

As the time approached the start of the first class in the afternoon, after Yasui Ryoto went through a long thinking of several minutes, and dropped a difficult move.

Natsume Chikage's gaze swept across the chessboard quickly, almost immediately, he calmly picked up a piece and dropped it at a position that looked ordinary but was precise.

This step dropped, like the finishing touch, instantly connecting all the seemingly loose advantages before, forming a fatal big net.

"Checkmate."

He announced calmly again, his voice exceptionally clear in the quiet club room.

Yasui Ryoto saw this move, the whole person was stunned first, a moment of trance and blankness appeared on his face, as if he hadn't reacted.

A few seconds later, his body stiffened, and then he seemed to be drained of strength, leaning back on the chair, covering his head with both hands, and made an extremely annoyed wail.

"Ah ah ah ah——!!!"

"I... I made a mistake! That 'Flying Vehicle' move in the middle game shouldn't have been played like that! Too greedy!"

"If I had chosen a more steady way at that time, consolidating the defense line, I would definitely not have lost! Definitely not!"

He raised his head fiercely, looking at Natsume Chikage, his eyes full of unwillingness, his tone urgent.

"No! This game doesn't count! It was my carelessness!"

"Another game! Next game I will be serious, definitely can win!"

Consultant teacher Nomura Tomohiro looked at Yasui Ryoto's "classic" loser reaction, couldn't help but complain, carrying a bit of gloating.

"Still 'to you'? Now it

Natsume Chikage watched as the two seemed to be starting a new round of "seat tug-of-war," so he quickly raised his hand and pointed sheepishly at the clock on the wall to remind them.

"Um... Mr. Nomura, Senior Yasui, the time now... is really almost time for class."

"The preparatory bell for the first period in the afternoon is probably about to ring."

Upon hearing this.

Yasui Ryoto and Nomura Tomohiro both subconsciously looked up at the clock on the wall.

The hour and minute hands clearly pointed to the time when class was about to start.

The expressions of excitement and unwillingness on their faces froze instantly, and then, like deflated balloons, they helplessly slumped their shoulders and let out a synchronized sigh.

But soon, both of them looked at Natsume Chikage almost at the same time, their eyes lighting up again, and they said in unison.

"Although it's indeed almost time for class and we can't continue now... but after school this afternoon! Let's have another game after school!"

"That's right! Don't you think about running away after school, kid! I also think we can have another game! No, three games!"

Natsume Chikage looked at their burning gazes and could only laugh dryly, trying to decline tactfully.

"I'd like to after school too... but I really have other things to attend to, so I might not be able to make it."

He thought for a moment and found a compromise.

"How about next time? When I'm free next time, I will definitely come to ask for your guidance again."

Upon hearing this.

Yasui Ryoto and Nomura Tomohiro looked at each other, seeing regret in each other's eyes, but they also knew they couldn't force it.

They could only settle for second best and make an appointment with Natsume Chikage to battle again next time.

However, after these three consecutive games just now, and thinking about Natsume Chikage's performance of winning every game against the three of them, and even making moves without hesitation most of the time, a clear realization arose in the hearts of all three:

Natsume Chikage's strength was likely far beyond their previous estimates, and perhaps even... far beyond the three of them.

No wonder he could beat Suzuki Takayuki, whose strength was recognized as being a notch higher than the three of them.

It's just that I don't know... if Natsume-kun can maintain such calmness and win rate when facing real professional shogi players?

You have to know, professional and semi-professional look like they are only a step away, seemingly within reach.

But in reality, in the eyes of many insiders, the gap is like heaven and earth.

Just to be promoted from semi-professional to professional, what one has to face is not just semi-professional players of the same level.

More importantly, one must defeat real active professional shogi players in the crucial promotion battles!

Therefore, in the shogi industry, everyone tacitly agrees that semi-professionals are often the "gatekeepers" of the cruel pyramid of the shogi world.

Their strength is very high; below the semi-professional level, they basically have few rivals and can reign supreme.

But when they want to cross that threshold to challenge professionals, they often experience what it's like to be "beaten by their father," with a very low win rate, making it very, very difficult to win.

But if one can never beat a professional, one can only remain a semi-professional forever and cannot obtain that "professional shogi player" certificate with the highest gold content.

Just like Nomura Tomohiro himself.