Before the manga starts Kirihara and Hyōtei Gakuen's Hiyoshi Wakashi have a match in the newcomer's tournament. Rikkai Dai's Yanagi Renji brings it up before Echizen Ryoma and Hiyoshi's match: he mentions that Hiyoshi had done fairly well against him, although Kirihara pretends not to remember (which Sanada doesn't believe).