As the day of the national comes, Akihiro is chosen as a starter for the first round against Chiba International High School, whose team supposedly consists entirely of foreigners. Meanwhile, Sumire is tasked by Tsutomu to observe a player named Megumu Osaka, whilst he observes last year's champions. Taichi manages to calm down the pressure on his team by exposing their opponents lack of English skills. As the match goes on, the players start to learn about their opponents' freeform styles and soon Misuzawa manage to show the efforts of their training and win their match. Although lamenting their loss, the Chiba students find they had much enjoyment from the match, vowing to become stronger for next year's tournament. Meanwhile, as Arata arrives in Omi Jingu to give Chihaya his support, he is approached by Shinobu.