Wake the Sun

from chapter 97 onwards:
This is pretty much the beginning of the end, isn't it.
Now that Hikaru's a pro he can't possibly let Sai play through his hands ever again. Sai is starting to suspect this truth, has been slowly feeling it coming for a while now.
First he finds that it's Hikaru that will get all the chances to play the great players, even if those matches will be years away from now.
This is made worse by the fact that Sai NEEDS Hikaru's co-operation and goodwill for absolutely everything. Even something as simple as reading issues of Weekly Go.
And then the call comes; Hikaru is to play Touya sr. for his Shinshodan game. That's really Sai's one and only chance to play his rival. Of course he wants this chance!

And than he tries to force the issue, like he's never forced it before. I don't know if Sai's ghostly excistence ever afforded him any sort of poltergeist powers, but he used to beable to force Hikaru by making him ill. It graces him that he never actually used that on Hikaru and he doesn't use it here. No, instead grasping what he wants pretty much more than life itself, he backs down and relinquishes he rightful place as Touya's true rival to Hikaru. Giving up his only chance.
It says a lot about Sai as a person of integrity.
Damn, I feel bad for him.

I liked the idea of having Sai play with a 15 moku handicap. Unfortunately I don't know enough about Go to understand that that might work. What I do know tells me it could not make Sai loose per se, it could just horribly warped the game...