The rook Third Elder spoke of differed from the king. The king could move one square in any of eight directions, while the rook could move any number of squares in the four cardinal directions. The Dragon King was an upgraded rook: aside from moving any number of squares up, down, left, or right, it could also move one square diagonally. Pawns, meanwhile, could only move forward.
In shogi, most pieces could advance but not retreat. Most could be casually sacrificed for the sake of winning the final game. Only pieces at the rook's level counted as assets. No matter how skilled the player was, when sacrificing a rook, they would carefully consider whether they should make that move.
This represented the powerful fighters within a clan. Whenever those in power within any clan wished to sacrifice a powerful combatant, they would have to think carefully about whether they should do so.
As for the Dragon King, honestly, it was the most important existence apart from the person with the greatest authority. The Dragon King was promoted from a rook; its status and role could be described as second only to one, above all others.
Moreover, once one reached the level of rook or Dragon King, there was one obvious trait: they could retreat!
But even if they could retreat, they still could not compare to the king. After all, when the king fell, the entire game was lost! Li slowly stroked his chin, then took a deep breath. "Yes, I want to be the king."
"Very good. You will not disappoint me." Third Elder suddenly burst into hearty laughter. "Fugaku, come in."
"Yes." The door was immediately opened from outside, and the man who had just led Li here walked in. Li froze. This guy was Uchiha Fugaku? So