Wanting to settle things, Chu comes up with a plan: he and Yusuke can have a knife edge death match. He takes out two knives and stabs them into the ground, and he and Yusuke stand in front of them. He says that they will pummel each other until one of them falls. However Koto says they can't just make up their own rules, the tournament head office must make a decision. Initially the head office decline the fight. Sakyo goes off to see the head office.

The head office eventually change their minds, and the fight begins. As Yusuke and Chu batter each other with punches, Karasu, a member of Toguro's team, arrives, and kills some guards by making them explode. He meets with the younger Toguro brother, and the two watch Yusuke's fight, keen to see what he can do.

Keiko wants to stop the fight, believing that Yusuke will end up being killed. Shizuru runs after her, but eventually loses track of her. Shizuru is then stalked by some demons, but is saved by Sakyo. She asks him if he's human, but he tells her to be careful -this is the demon's world. Keiko meets up with the Urameshi team and asks Kuwabara to stop the fight, but he says he can't. He explains to her about their encounter with Toguro, and how he and Urameshi vowed to fight with their lives on the line.

Chu strikes Yusuke and goes to headbutt him, but Yusuke does the exact same move. Chu falls and is counted out, as Koto declares Yusuke the winner, and then announces that the Urameshi team have won the match. Chu gets up and tells Yusuke to kill him, since he lost the death match. Yusuke declines, and tells him that once he's better, they can do this again.

The crowd turn on the Six Wandering Specters team, but Yusuke tells them all to shut up and come down here if they want a piece of him. He then notices the Toguro team have been watching. Whilst the Urameshi team have won the first round, it's just a prelude of the fierce battles to come.

Manga differences

-The dialogue Kuwabara has when saying he's not heard of a knife edge death match isn't in the manga.

-Shizuru's dialogue to Keiko about Yusuke and Chu having to settle things isn't in the manga either.

-In the manga, the death match begins right away. The anime changed this by added a scene where the tournament head office initially stops the fight, then debates on it, then finally gives the all clear.

-The fight goes on for a lot longer in the anime then it does in the manga -Yusuke and Chu punch each other a lot more.

-The scene where Shizuru is saved by Sakyo wasn't in the manga. Shizuru never meets Sakyo in the manga, whilst in the anime, they'll meet each other a few more times in future episodes.

-Keiko does not meet up with the Urameshi team to try and stop the fight in the manga.

-The scene where Karasu beats up and kills some guards wasn't in the manga.

-In the manga, Kuwabara does not run onto the ring when then fight is over, like he does in the anime.

-The anime also added a scene where Chu asks Yusuke to kill him, since he lost the death match. This isn't in the manga.

-In the manga, the Toguro team stay out of sight at the end. The anime changed is so they're visible, and Yusuke flips Toguro off.