During the semifinals of the Dark Tournament, Hiei is fighting consecutively. After having defeated Makintaro, he came to fight against Kuro Momotaro. However, through use of his items of darkness, his millet dumplings, Kuro Momotaro kept overcoming Hiei's techniques! Having lost his strength, Hiei was unable to use his greatest secret technique, the black dragon wave. What will you do, Hiei?

Tremble! Kuro Momotaro's Transformation

Momotaro starts laughing, and tells Hiei that his evil king immolation fist can no longer hurt him. Koto comments that Momotaro has transformed again, and both his demon energy and his form have grown even more ominous and powerful. Kurama wonders what kind of guy this Momotaro is, as he keeps bettering himself to the next version.

Momotaro asks Hiei if he'd like to try him out, and leaps up. He comes back down and lands a hit on Hiei's face, sending him flying one way. Before Hiei can even land, Momotaro has already flown in front of him, and hits him again.

He goes to strike again. but Hiei moves out of the way. He starts running around Momotaro at high speed, and whilst Momotaro tries to punch him, he avoids it. He then uses the wicked king immolation purgatory scorch technique again, and batters Momotaro with it repeatedly.

Momotaro seems stunned by this, but then recovers and laughs. He then disappears in the blink of an eye, and comes back down whilst doing a punch so hard it shatters part of the ring. Hiei avoids it at the last moment.

But he doesn't avoid Momotaro's next strikes, and is sent crashing to the floor of the ring. Momotaro tells him that in terms of speed and power, he's no longer a match for him.

As Hiei starts to get back up, Kurama can't believe Momotaro is even faster than Hiei. Koto comments that Hiei can do nothing to stand up to Momotaro, and thinks this could be it for this match. Koenma asks Jorge if there's any way for Hiei to win...

...but after thinking about it for a few moments, he says he doesn't know. Back at the ring, Onji says Kuro Momotaro is winning, and Hiei's techniques won't work on him any more. Whilst Momotaro has three dumplings he can use, most opponents only require him to use one. Shishiwakamaru thinks Hiei must be something else, if he got Momotaro to use a second dumpling. Onji thinks Momotaro could kill Hiei in his current form right now. He thinks he should, before Hiei is given any time to think up any dirty tricks.

Momotaro tells Hiei how awful it must be, not being able to use his finishing technique. He then says he's not going to hold back, and takes a third dumpling from his belt, and then crushes it. Koto comments that Kuro Momotaro is once again going to transform, which is going to put Hiei into a terrific pinch.

Meanwhile, Botan and the others are on the way to the stadium, when Keiko notices that Puu doesn't seem to be very well. Botan wonders what's wrong with him, and Keiko says he's been in pain for several hours now. She wonders if something has happened to Yusuke. In the cave, Yusuke screams out before falling down again.

Genkai watches and thinks about what she had told Yusuke before: it was too early for him to take on this trial. As Yusuke continues to scream out, Genkai hopes Yusuke can overcome this pain.

Back at the stadium, Kuro Momotaro inhales the fumes from the dumpling, and his form changes again:

BUJUU SOUKOU SAN: MAKEN NO SOU

(War Beast Armor Three: Armor of Demon Dog)

Kuro Momotaro says his offensive capability has now gone up even higher. He says he'll use his fangs and claws to tear Hiei apart. He rushes forward and lashes out, but Hiei is fast enough to avoid being hit badly.

Kuro Momotaro tells him he evaded that by a hair's breath, but will he be so lucky this time? As Hiei backs off, he happens to tread on the hilt of his broken sword. As Momotaro asks him if he's giving up, Hiei grabs the sword and says he never thought he'd have to use this technique.

Momotaro tells him to cut out the worthless psychological warfare. He thinks he's talking as if he has some great technique to try and make him worry, but it won't work. Hiei says it's not that, it's because it's a crude technique that bears such an unpleasant image he'd seriously rather not have to do it. Kuwabara and Kurama wonder what kind of technique it could be, whilst Momotaro tells Hiei those will be his last words.

He leaps forward and bites down into Hiei, and blood goes everywhere. However it's his own blood, rather than Hiei's. He failed to bite Hiei hard enough to make him bleed.

Energy bursts through Kuro Momotaro's back, which shoots out like a blade has gone through him. The Reverse Bedtime Stories team can't believe it.

JAO ENSATSU KEN

(Wicked King Immolation Sword)

Kuro Momotaro has been sliced into pieces, and falls apart before he hits the ground. Kurama explains that Hiei mixed his own demon energy with the flame, which instantly made it sharp enough to slice through Kuro Momotaro's toughened body.

When Kuro Momotaro leapt forward, Hiei sliced him up in an instant, and he was dead before he even reached his opponent. Kuwabara says the technique looked like his own spirit sword, but much more powerful. He then realizes something -is Hiei saying his spirit sword is crude and bears an unpleasant image?! Hiei says could he have meant anything else, and tosses his sword aside.

Juri declares Hiei as the winner. The crowd are in an uproar, as it looked like Kuro Momotaro was so close to killing Hiei. As Hiei walks off, Shishiwakamaru thinks he's been wounded.

Elsewhere, Botan leads the others to the stadium, but it's clear she's gotten them lost. They want to hurry and see the semifinal match, so Botan leads them in one direction. However Shizuru says they've already been that way, and Yukina says it seems they've been walking around the same place after all. Botan says the forests around here are awfully complex. Shizuru suggests they go back to the hotel.

In the cave, Yusuke is still screaming, but now his entire body glows with energy. Genkai watches on in silence. Back at the stadium, the teams get ready to decide who's fighting next.

Hiei tells Shishiwakamaru to roll the dice, and bring his name up again. Kuwabara thinks he doesn't want to go yet -he wants to go last. As he's acting as the captain here, he has to go last. Shishiwakamaru rolls the dice.

"Be me!"



"Be me!"



"Don't be me!"

The next fighters will be Kurama and Ura Urashima. Shishiwakamaru says the luck of the dice is a funny thing, as Onji says it's as if everything is coming up in their favor. Shishiwakamaru says the last two on their team were nothing more than sacrificial pawns, and as expected, Hiei has been injured. And Urashima is their best bet for defeating Kurama. Juri says for the third match to start.

Ura Urashima starts using his fishing pole as a weapon, and Kurama uses his rose whip. The two weapons clash repeatedly, as Koto comments this is an amazing exchange of attacks -there's even a wall of sparks visible between the two contestants.

As the two continue to fight, Kuwabara thinks it's awesome, but Hiei wonders what Kurama is playing around for. He says it's a bad habit of Kurama's, as he can't decide on how to attack until he has determined his opponent's nature. Kurama thinks it's strange, as it looks as if his opponent isn't being serious.

But he then hears his opponent's voice in his head, asking him to keep attacking whilst he listens to him. Urashima says he has a favor to ask: he wants Kurama to kill him. He says his team exist as figures born of evil thoughts towards nursery tale characters. They were intended to take vengeance upon those who, in the name of right and morality, discarded them. He continues to talk via telepathy, and asks Kurama if he's heard of the story of Urashima Taro. Why was that Urashima given a treasure box he couldn't open as a reward for rescuing the turtle?

Kurama says these questions and complaints must have been the distracting thoughts from which his opponent was born, and Urashima says that's right -but he's given up taking revenge. He can no longer go along with the way Shishiwakamaru and the others think. He says humans learn all kinds of things by reading their stories, and that's where their role ends. He says he'll lose his balance on purpose, at which point that's when Kurama can kill him. Kurama says he understands, but won't kill him. He tells him his reason for existence might have changed, but he can still live on -he himself is proof of that.

Urashima then trips, and Kurama goes to strike him, only to miss -it seems Urashima has other plans.

He wraps his line around Kurama and cuts him up. Kurama crashes to the floor, whilst Urashima lands just fine. He laughs at Kurama and tells him to think he would trust him as easily as that! That good-naturedness of his will prove fatal. Those of them on the Reverse Bedtime Stories team would never think of mending their ways.

He says he'll take his time torturing him. All Kurama can do is run away, as Urashima chases after him. However as Kurama reaches the edge of the ring, he sees there's some kind of barrier around it. Urashima stops attacking, and says he must have realized it by now -all of his earlier attacks weren't done in order to defeat him. They were to seal him inside this peripheral realm. He says that he can create a peripheral realm as strong as Ruka's.

ITEM OF DARKNESS

REVERSE TREASURE BOX

Urashima says in the story, when the main character opened the box, he got older. But the box he has does the opposite. He tells Kurama he hates those who are taller and better-looking than him, so he'll turn him into an age before he was even a baby. He opens the box, and the entire ring gets covered in a purple smoke.

Everyone outside can't see what's going on, as the peripheral realm is containing the smoke. Koenma gets really frustrated, as not being able to see wants to make him see even more. Urashima says he can feel Kurama's demon energy getting weaker.

Kurama does seem to be going through some changes, but Urashima then notices something wrong: Kurama's demon energy has vanished completely. He then realizes that something is very wrong.

Nobody outside the ring can tell what's going on, but a lot of energy appears to be being thrown around. Inside the periphery realm, the energy forms a fox demon, which then changes into something else.

Urashima wonders what this terrifying demon energy is, as he was sure he turned Kurama into a baby. A voice then says that he never thought the day would come when he would return to this form again... his fox demon form. Urashima stumbles back and says if he's a fox demon, he must be the legendary demon, Yoko Kurama. Kurama tells him it's time for his punishment, as his offense of angering him is a serious one.

Kurama displays an unexpected identity! Just how powerful is Kurama as fox demon?


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

(Koenma is speaking)

Heh, that Ura Urashima guy seems to be pretty bad, but it looks like this time, his opponent is just a little bit too much for him, huh? It might have been ok to try that reverse treasure box on regular folks, but to use it on Kurama? Hmm... this just reeks of danger! Next time: The Legendary Thief! Yoko Kurama! I am phenomenal in the Other World for something!