Respecting Raizen's final wishes, Yusuke proposed that the one to unite the Demon Realm should be decided by holding a tournament. As a result, a great martial arts tournament that drew in all areas of the Demon Realm was set up. As the warrior watched for their chance at victory with vigilant eyes and their ambitions became entangled with each other's, the tournament preliminaries finally began. And, as a result of the drawing, a fateful father-son confrontation arose between Yomi and Shura. Already, the tournament had taken on a turbulent aspect.

Father and Son Battle!
Yomi and Shura

Koto says that, of the 128 blocks, only block 34 has yet to reach a conclusion -the block which has Yomi and Shura in it. The battle between father and son begins, as Shura leaps up and unleashes multiple projectiles. They rain down all over Yomi.

As Shura lands, he thinks he got him. But Yomi surprises him by appearing behind him, and asking him what he's so happy about. Shura runs off, but Yomi keeps up with him.

They move so fast that the camera can't keep up with them. Yusuke thinks Shura's speed is something else, but Hokushin thinks Yomi is incredible too, for being able to keep up with his son. Kurama is watching, and wonders what this fight means to Yomi. It Yomi just wants to win, he could easily beat his son. Mukuro asks Hiei if he thinks Yomi has really given up his nation, just for the sheer pleasure of battle. Hiei says he doesn't know.

Shura stops running and goes on the offensive, and starts throwing out lots of punches and kicks. Yomi blocks them all, and eventually grabs one of his fists.

He counters by punching him in the face. Shura gets knocked back, but immediately tries to attack again. However, Yomi stops his kick, shocks him, and then kicks him down. Yomi tells him he must be able to see how this fight will end by now, and tells him to admit his defeat.

Koto comments that it appears this fight has been settled. As Raizen goes up to his son, he tells him he did well, and then offers him his hand.

However, Shura responds by blasting him at point blank range, causing a massive explosion. Chu, Rinku, Toya and Jin are watching, and can't believe Shura just sucker punched his own father. Jin thinks whoever wins this fight is going to be a formidable opponent.

Shura thinks that's settled it, but then he gets hit by a wave of blue energy. Yomi steps out from the flames, and clearly hasn't received a scratch from Shura's attack.

Yomi tells him not to get too carried away with himself, as there are limits to what he'll put up with. Shura says that's what his goal is -he'd promised he'd fight with him seriously. Koto comments that both father and son are like battle machines, who are born to fight. Hokushin laughs and says that he just thought about the fights Yusuke had with Raizen -they never got taken as far as this fight between Shura and Yomi.

A group of people than approach Yusuke. He asks them who they are, and they reveal themselves. Yusuke asks them what they're doing here, and Koenma explains they came to see who would be uniting the Demon Realm. Jorge says that's the official line, whilst Botan says really it's because Koenma wouldn't miss the chance to come watch a fun event like this, since he likes parties so much. Koenma tells them to both shut up.

Yusuke warns them that if word gets around that they're from the Spirit Realm, they might get eaten by some demonkin. Koenma tells Jorge and Botan to not leave his side... and he won't leave Yusuke's side.

Meanwhile, the fight between Yomi and Shura continues. They run alongside each other, but Shura then leaps up, gathering lots of energy into his hands. Yomi can sense his son is concentrating his demon energy into both hands. Shura then unleashes his attack:

HISSATSU: MA EN KOU

(Death Blow: Biting Demon Circles)

As Shura starts spinning, he sends out hundreds of projectiles, right at his father. But Yomi uses his own technique, which creates a barrier around him:

MA KOI RYU: RENPA HAN SHOU HEKI

(Ancient Envious Demon Style: Distilling Destruction Opposing Force Wall)

Every single one of Shura's projectiles are absorbed by Yomi's barrier. As Shura lands, he sees what his father is doing -he's absorbing all of his spectral power. As Koto questions if Yomi is going to win, Kurama believes that Shura is just like Yomi was when he was young. He thinks this'll be an interesting fight.

Yomi tells Shura to admit defeat, and thinks to himself that this is enough -his son has done well. However, Shura isn't done yet, and runs forward. Yomi punches him down. Shura tries to attack again, but Yomi kicks him into a cliff.

The cliff crumbles away, and Shura pulls himself out of the wreckage. He says there's no way he's going to lose -he won't lose to his father! He thinks he must find an opening, but as he thinks about it, he realizes it's useless -his father doesn't leave himself open to anything! He remembers the training he went through with him... he'd just taken a hit.

Shura told his father that he doesn't leave himself open. Yomi laughed and said that when you face first class fighters, it won't him any good trying to search for an opening. Shura asked what he was supposed to do, and Yomi said if your opponent has no openings, you should make one of your own. Back in the present, Shura understands what his father told him. He charges up with demon energy, and leaps up...

...and then flies back down, punching the ground with his fist. The ground around them both shatters into pieces. As Yomi falls, he knows his son is trying to mask his presence with the explosion.

He thinks he's found him, but he ends up striking a rock. Shura drops down from above, and uses biting demon circles attack again. But Yomi simply uses his wall technique to absorb all the blasts.

As Shura lands, he stumbles and falls back. He realizes his father can see through every attack he makes, and he can't do anything to stop him. Yomi asks him why he isn't attacking any more, and in that case, he'll come to him. As he walks forward, Shura decides to get out of there. But when he gets out of the crater, Yomi is waiting for him. He starts attacking his son...

...and smashes him into a forest. As Koto comments that Yomi has launched a one-sided assault, Chu's group think that Yomi means business -it seems he really is going to kill his own son. Back at the fight, Shura comes to a stop in the forest.

Yomi tells him to admit his defeat. Shura refuses, and tells his father to kill him, as he promised this would be a serious fight. Yomi tells him not to be so high and mighty, as a rookie like him has no place using the words "serious fight". He clearly hasn't realized how much he'd held back his power whilst fighting him. He then tells Shura that he can have an easy death, if he wishes for one. He asks him for the last time to admit his defeat.

Shura cries and tells his father he gives up. Koto announces that this means Yomi will be moving up from block 34 to the main competition, and all of the preliminaries have now concluded. She then asks everyone to be quiet, as before the next matches start, contestant Urameshi is going to have a few words.

As Yusuke walks up and takes the mic, he starts mumbling some words. Chu's group think he's a bit nervous, and laugh at him. Yusuke gets it together and says that to the contestants who entered the main competition, since they have what it takes to get this far, there are probably those who will fight as though they're willing to die. He says to be honest, he doesn't want anyone to die, if it can be avoided.

Yusuke tells everyone he wants to fight a bunch of times, but admits that he has no confidence to win it all this time. But in two years, he thinks he'll be ready. But that'll be up to the winner of this tournament to decide. If the winner decides this will be the only tournament, that's all there will be to it. But Yusuke thinks it would be great if everyone got together like this every few years, and chose who the leader would be like it was a presidential election. Yomi tells Shura that next time, he will be a key player.

Yusuke says that he has a hunch that no matter who wins this, they can all relax. But for now, they'll get this thing started! Koto announces that the main competition is about to start. The 128 winning contestants from the preliminaries will be divided into four blocks, with each block being held in a one-on-one tournament fashion. Victory will be determined in the same way as before, with the matches continuing until one contestant gives up, or is unable to fight any longer.

The first match of block A has Yusuke going up against Nekotama. As the match begins, Nekotama unleashes his demon energy, which covers the entire ring. Koenma thinks that he's heard some fighters have been concealing their abilities, and this won't be easy, even for Yusuke.

Nekotama grows in size, and towers over Yusuke. He goes to punch him, but Yusuke jumps out of the way. Nekotama sees him coming towards him from above, so he extends his claws. Yusuke avoids them.

Nekotama also extends his claws from his other hand, but Yusuke avoids those too. He hits Nekotama with a single kick, knocking him out and causing him to return to his original size.

Yusuke is declared the winner, and Koto says he'll be going to the next round. Hiei says that Yusuke is flying off right from the start. Mukuro tells him that he shouldn't waste any time with any insignificant opponents, either. He should do things like Yusuke just did -take care of them right away. Shura thinks Yusuke didn't use any tricks, and didn't have any strategy either. Yomi tells him he's right -Yusuke truly fights for the fun of it. He thinks to himself that he wanted Shura to fight Yusuke, rather than himself.

And so, the main competition of the Demon Realm Unification Tournament was underway. Whose head will it be that the goddess of victory smiles upon?


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

(Botan is speaking)

I don't mind wandering around after Lord Koenma, but there are so many rough, dangerous looking folks around here! I sure hope I'm alright. Still, they're all quite the curious types, coming all the way here just to match up against Yusuke. Next time: Fierce Fighting! Men Fighting for their Dreams. Ah, mister! Three popcorns and juices!