When Hikaru and Kishimoto are playing their match, the latter mentions how he never understood how Hikaru could be a rival to Akira. This causes Hikaru to set a new goal to become a professional Go player. In doing so, he must first become an insei. Hikaru crosses paths with Ogata when applying for an insei test, though he has to keep track of a game record. One thing Hikaru has failed to realize is that once he is enrolled as an insei, he may no longer compete in amateur tournaments with the club.