It has been 100 days since each nation dissolved, and at Yusuke's proposal, the great battle for the Demon Realm, with the reign over the Demon Realm at stake, is now about to begin. There were 6,272 participants in the tournament. At a glance, it looked as though the spectators who had gathered numbered in excess of several hundred thousand. Everyone thought the winner would be either Yomi or Mukuro. Yet even as they believed so, a peculiar excitement and sense of expectation permeated the entire Demon Realm.
Great Battle in the Demon Realm -
The Preliminaries Commence!
At a large arena, it is announced that the drawing for the preliminaries will begin in twenty minutes, and all tournament participants should please assemble in the arena. Yusuke is all ready to go, whilst some of the other demons say about how he was the one who got Yomi and Mukuro to dissolve their nations. They can't sense any great strength from him, and wonder why Yomi and Mukuro went along with his plan.
Some of the demons are hoping that Yomi and Mukuro eliminate each other early on, since that way the rest of them will have a chance at winning -they want to rule the Demon Realm! As Yusuke looks at them, he thinks he never thought there would be so many idiots gathered here. Chu's group then come over to him, and Suzuki says the day is here at last. Jin asks Yusuke if he's heard that the majority are going to be eliminated in the preliminaries. Yusuke asks if he's serious, and Toya says shouldn't he know -he is one of the tournament's supervisors, right? Suzuki explains that all 6,272 participants will be split up into blocks of 49 each, which will then go through the preliminaries. Toya says that only one person from each block will be allowed to enter the main competition.
Yusuke realizes this means the number remaining in the main competition will be around... 87. Toya tells him it's actually 128. Elsewhere, a disguised Koenma and Botan arrive. They see how hyped up everyone is, but Koenma isn't surprised, as this tournament will decide who will be the number one of the Demon Realm. They wonder where Yusuke is.
Meanwhile, Mukuro appears, and then so do Yomi and Shura. They meet with Yusuke, and Mukuro says it's been too long. She thinks Yusuke has improved himself quite a bit since the last time they met. She says she'll be taking this seriously as well, and removes her bandages. Everyone is surprised to find out that she's a woman, and she says that there's no better training than actual combat. She tells Yusuke to at least raise his power to roughly match hers before they run into each other. And at the very least, he'd better not lose to that man -referring to Yomi. Shura asks his father if that was Mukuro, and he says it was. Shura thinks Mukuro would be tougher.
Yusuke then comes over to them, and asks Shura if he's entering the tournament. Shura doesn't think much of Yusuke either, and tells his father that Yusuke is only about as strong as he is now. Shura then tells his father that the two of them are opponents here, and if they run into each other, he must fight him at his full power. Yomi says he understands.
As Shura runs off, he tells Yomi that if he holds back, he'll never speak to him again. Yusuke thinks Shura is a sassy little brat. Yomi thinks that may be the case, but he's had to laugh at himself for having a hard time fighting against his son daily. How could a man of such limited capacity be thinking about uniting the Demon Realm? He tells Yusuke his eyes were opened on that day he felt that intense demon energy. He also says he's going to fight with all his power in this tournament, without desiring anything. He walks off, and wishes Yusuke a good fight.
Botan and Koenma wonder what they could have been talking about. As they watch Yusuke meet up with Kurama and Hiei, Koenma has no idea to how Yusuke thought up this tournament. Botan tells him as it's Yusuke they're talking, he probably wasn't thinking at all.
Koenma thinks that could be it. Meanwhile Yusuke tells Kurama this will be the first time they've ever fought each other, and then tells Hiei its been a while since their last battle. Hiei tells him to pray he doesn't run into him in the preliminaries, as it wouldn't be funny if he got eliminated that early. Yusuke tells him he's the same jerk as before, and the two start arguing. Kurama tries to calm them down.
Someone then announces that they'll now be drawing for the tournament's preliminaries. This even is being filmed and broadcast across the Demon Realm, and it's announced that their commentator will be that famous master of ceremonies from the Dark Tournament...
...Koto! She announces that the greatest mic-wielder in the Demon Realm is back. She's going to be bringing everybody the play-by-plays.
Chu tells her way to go. As Koto talks about how honored she is to have been chosen for this important role, she's about to announce who her co-commentator is, only to find Jorge waiting next to her. Jorge starts to say how thrilled he is by the event, but then senses something. He looks up and sees Koenma glaring at him.
Jorge says he's scared. Koto then says that the former national tactical advisor of Gandara, Yuda, will be providing commentary. He says it's a pleasure. Jorge goes up to where Koenma and Botan are, and Koenma tells him off for putting them in danger -if it's discovered that they're here from the Spirit Realm, there's going to be hell to pay! Jorge says he's sorry.
Koto explains that due to there being so many participants, instead of using the national treasure Yusuke had given to Yomi, the draw will be held using cards as lots instead. Everyone stands in line and starts drawing cards. Mukuro will be in block 74, Yomi is going to be in block 34, and Yusuke is in block 106.
Later on, Chu tells Yusuke that his group luckily all got split up, and won't have to fight against each other. Yusuke says that Hokushin and the other three monks all wound up in the same block. There is then some commotion, as it's announced that Shura is going to be in the same block as his father. Seitei says this is advantageous to them.
Yusuke grabs him and tells him to not go saying such rubbish again. Koto announces the lot drawing has been completed, but is then passed a note. She says that a lot of participants have now pulled out, and asks Yuda what this could mean. He says that some have given up because they were placed in the same blocks as Mukuro or Yomi. And several will have left because they only came here for the fun of it. Koto then announces that they'll now begin the preliminaries.
The Demon Realm Unification Tournament was being held on ultra-gigantic plants, known as okunenju trees. First, in the preliminaries, each block competes atop one of these trees. The 49 contestants of one block vie against each other until only the last one of them remains.
The fights begin, and Chu starts powering through everyone in his block. The entire event is being filmed by several flying cameras. Koto comments that in block 97, Chu is certainly defeating his opponents one by one.
In block 31, the entire field is encased in ice. Toya has frozen all 48 of his opponents, and since all of the other fighters are unable to fight, he is declared the winner. Elsewhere, several demons get hit by yo-yos...
...as Rinku wins block 8's fight. Jin defeats everyone in block 46, using his asura electric attack whirlwind fist to finish off his last opponent. In another arena, Suzuki uses his rainbow cyclone extra flash technique to defeat everyone...
...making him the winner of block 54. The results are being broadcast on TV, and pretty much everyone in the Demon Realm is watching. Other block winners include Hokushin, Kirin and Shigure. In block 74, Mukuro is the default winner, after everyone else in her block forfeited.
As it is announced that Hiei and Kurama are advancing, Suzuki tells Toya everyone seems to be winning smoothly. Toya points out that Shishiwakamaru is having a tough time of it. Shishiwakamaru only has one opponent left to fight, but his body is so tough that not even his sword seems to be able to cut through it. He tries slicing his opponent up, but it doesn't work.
The other demon swats him away whilst he's in the air, and Suzuki and Jin can only watch on in horror. The demon bends over, revealing it has a massive mouth on its back. Shishiwakamaru drops down...
...and gets eaten. Toya says it's no use, the weak either follow the strong, or they are killed -that is the only law of the Demon Realm. Koto is about to announce that it looks like they have a winner in block 33.
However before she can, the demon starts shouting that his belly is stinging. Seconds later he explodes from the inside, as Shishiwakamaru flies out in his imp form. Koto comments that it appears he used a prickly attack.
Toya and Suzuki walk off, as it's shown that Chu is still fighting away in his block. Meanwhile, the winner of block 59 has been decided: Enki. Kokou takes down everyone she comes up against, making her the winner of block 77.
All of Raizen's old friends have also won their matches, but have kept their real powers a secret. However, both Yomi and Mukuro can tell they were all holding back. Back at block 97, Chu thinks he's beaten everyone, but then it turns out that there's still someone else left.
It's Natsume, another one of Raizen's old friends. Chu tells her she's apparently the last one, but he can tell that she's pretty strong. In an instant, she's right up next to him, and hits him with the palm of her hand. This is enough to send him flying back. By the time he recovers, he realizes that she's managed to get behind him, ready to strike. He realizes her demon energy is in an entirely different league, and she asks him if they should keep going.
Koto thinks they must finally have a decision on this block 97, as the two remaining fighters are saying something. As the camera moves in, Chu finds out from Natsume what her name is. Chu laughs and asks when he can see her again.
As Chu is in love, Natsume says she didn't meant to hit him that hard. Chu says all is right with his mind, but Natsume says she has no interest in weak men. Chu say two years -no, just one year -he'll become even stronger than her! Once he does... will she become his woman? Koto isn't impressed to see Chu hitting on Natsume, and comments that if he's a man, he should die fighting!
As Natsume walks off, Rinku says he's just lost all respect for Chu -he's a disgrace to the rest of them! As he starts to tell the others it'll be them who beat Urameshi, someone comes up to him. Her name is Sasuga, and she won the block 9 match. She entered with her friends, but she's the only one who made it through. She has a hunch that Rinku is going to be her next opponent, and if that happens, she wants both of them to do their best. But she then asks him if he could, he should go easy on her.
As she runs off, Rinku is in love at first sight. Suzuki tells Jin and Toya that they'll have to fight like they mean it. Meanwhile, block 106's match is about to start. Yusuke gets himself ready.
His opponents decide that the first thing they'll do is get rid of Urameshi. The match begins, and Yusuke decides he should start warming up. The demons attack him, but he's way too much for any of them to handle. Within seconds, he sends every single one of them flying off the arena.
Koenma says that Yusuke has gotten a whole level stronger. Yusuke asks what happens when all opponents have been knocked way out of bounds. Koto says if that happens, the opponents have been eliminated. She declares Urameshi the winner.
Koto says that each block preliminary is progressing smoothly. But there's one block where a result hasn't been reached yet: block 34, the one that had Shura and Yomi in it.
And so, a fierce father-son battle was about to get underway!
NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW
(Koto is speaking)
Yes! Already, in the preliminary matches of this tournament, we have a great clash between super powers! Contestant Yomi vs. contestant Shura! As his son comes after him furiously, the father maintains his ominous silence! Such is indeed a theater of love and sorrow between father and son! There isn't even any time to blink! Next time: Father and Son Battle! Yomi and Shura. And I, Koto, will provide the play-by-play!