Akira skipped his first match of the Pro exams in order to play the match against Sai on the net. Akira is perplexed over the identify of Sai which he thinks might be Hikaru while Ogata has his own thinking. Players all over the world are observing the match. Though Akira lost the match, he feels as though he had finally caught up with 'Hikaru'/Sai. When Akira heard from a Go cafe customer that Hikaru was sighted at an internet cafe, he races to the site thinking that he might be Sai. Hikaru denies he's Sai but gets ruffled when Akira seems to disregard him as a opponent. The episode ended with Hikaru saying 'If you keep chasing after an illusion of me, I'll pass by you eventually'.

The top 16 in the A league all take part in the Young Lions Tournament. If Hikaru can manage to get past the first round, he'll finally get to face Akira again. Meanwhile, Isumi faces an old rival, and everyone wants Isumi to put him in his place. As Sai and Ogata monitor Hikaru's game, they become shocked when Hikaru turns a bad move into a good move. However, when the round ends, only 3 Insei will have made it to the next round.

At a Friendly Go festival, Akira was invited to play a 4-way game with a council member and his three assistants. Though originally told to lose the game, Akira decides otherwise when the council member shows disrespect to Go by placing a cup on a Go board. Akira displays his amazing prowress by forcing a draw on all 4 players. Ashiwara feels that Akira should take it easier by just participating in the pro games but Akira just mutters to himself 'But he passed the prelims to the pro exams'. Meanwhile, Hikaru grows his mastery of go at the Heart of Go salon where he learns how to force a draw in 2-way/3-way games.

Isumi has gone on undefeated, while Hikaru has lost only one game so far. The time finally comes for them to play each other, and only one of them can win.

The Go World goes into a state of shock after Toya Meijin announces that he is retiring as Professional Go player. As everyone tries to find out why Koyo has given up his titles and his status, Akira begins to worry about Hikaru's progress.

Hikaru has finally started to play Go again. He has found Sai within his moves, within his Go. But can Hikaru win his first comeback match against 2-dan Murakami? Everyone is watching. Meanwhile, what will become of the Haze Jr. High School Go club? After the year is over, only one boy will be left. Everyone else will graduate and move on.

The match between Hikaru and Akira comes to an end. Hikaru tells Akira that one day, he will tell him everything. At night Hikaru has a dream, with a surprise visitor! At the end, the song “Get Over” is played as we see everyone throughout the series. The Go world is changing and a younger generation has arrived!