Hikaru no Go: Hokuto Hai e no Michi

Hikaru is given a phone call asking him to appear in the Japan/China/Korea Junior's Tournament but he finds out he will have to take part in a preliminary tournament to choose Japan's three contestants. Upon discussing this with Akira, he discovers that Akira has already been chosen for the tournament and will not be taking place in the preliminaries. Hikaru then decides not to visit Akira's Go Salon until he takes his place on the team with Akira. That may be tougher than originally planned, as not only does Hikaru have to battle with old friends for one of two coveted spots, but he may have a new challenger, in a promising player from the Kansai Go Institute.

---

Hikaru Shindou had just settled into the life of being a professional Go player when he received news of the North Star Cup – a special team competition between the young pros of Japan, China, and Korea. With his rival Akira Touya having already been guaranteed one of the three Japanese spots, Hikaru must battle his way through a qualifying tournament to become one of the other two representatives. But fellow young guns Waya and Ochi, along with a mysterious youth from the Kansai region, aren't backing down without a fight. With both familiar faces and new rivals standing in his way, this may be Hikaru's toughest test yet!