Shimada recalls how he became a professional shogi player during childhood in Yamagata, but he has been having issues with his stomach due to constantly traveling by bus. In the present, Rei visits Shimada and feeds him some noodles for lunch. With the fourth title match in Kyoto coming up in five days, Shimada racked his brain over what sealed move that he could have used against Sōya in his losing third title match. When Rei and Shimada begin a practice match, Shimada admits that Rei sounded just like Sōya when Rei commented on the "unsettling board setup" from before...