The business was badly affected by the encroachment of Sasa Zushi (笹寿司), a sushi-chain conglomerate which sought to dominate the market by offering cheaper mass-produced sushi, glitzier facades and suppressing prices of ingredients through bulk purchases.

To make matters worse, Shota's mother suffered from incurable illness which drained the family of their savings and disrupted his father's earnings.

Genji agreed, realising that Shota would need the greater exposure in Tokyo in order to develop himself to face the challenge of reviving the family business.

The two most senior disciples in O Sushi, Masaji Fujita (藤田政二, Fujita Masaji) and Hidemasa Okamura (岡村秀政, Okamura Hidemasa) were friendly and helpful, but the third disciple, Yasuto Saji (佐治安人, Saji Yasuto), frequently bullied the newcomer Shota and the other young apprentice Shingo Obata (小畑慎吾, Obata Shingo).

The contest favoured Yasuto who revealed he had been brewing his own eel sauce for the past three years — the gravy was a crucial component of preparing the dish.

Though it was delicious, he lost the round as he failed a critical question posed by Otori Seigoro on the order of serving the dishes.

The story moved to Shota's participation in the Tokyo sushi competition where he continued to learn new things with every round of the tournament.