Youyu had no doubt that President Haima had a perfect schedule for today's duel tournament.
According to the plan, he would step up to showcase to all the attendees—and viewers watching the live broadcast from around the world—the latest model of the Duel Disc from Kaiba Group, say some seemingly philosophical and deep words with unclear meanings, and finally persuade everyone to empty their wallets.
Of course, these were just necessary procedures. Youyu believed that if possible, Kaiba would definitely skip these troublesome steps and jump straight into the card dueling.
According to the president's arrangement, he would first play a card game with Aigami—a continuation of the duel they couldn't finish in the temple.
After dueling with Aigami, he would challenge Yugi.
Although the president had heard from Youyu that Yugi defeated Atem and sent the Pharaoh's spirit off, he ultimately hadn't witnessed that duel with his own eyes.
So like many others, Kaiba still deeply believed that Yugi was merely the Pharaoh's vessel, just a small character.
The Muto Yugi he had faced so far, the man he genuinely recognized from the bottom of his heart and longed to duel with, was just the shadow of Yugi.
Thus, Kaiba wanted to defeat Yugi through a duel, forcing him to wear the reassembled Millennium Pendant and summon the spirit of the King again.
What? You think the president could skip this step, directly have a group of men push Yugi down, and forcibly hang the Pendant around his neck?
He could certainly do that, but if he did, he might not be President Haima anymore.
After all, even if he were as rich as a nation, wielding immense power, holding guns, cannons, airplanes, and even a space station... he still insisted on resolving issues through card games.
In fact, Youyu thought that if Kaiba really tied Yugi up with a bunch of men, it might prove more effective. By then, the president could have seen the King coming back fiercely from the Netherworld, with his face asking, "Is it you bullying my AIBO..."
You might think the "coming back from the Netherworld" part is too far-fetched, but you wouldn't believe it, the ending of the movie was exactly like this.
In the conclusion of the movie, Aigami was infected by the malevolence of the Millennium Ring, causing the Quantum Cube to go out of control, nearly sending the entire Domino City to the Other Dimension, centered around the duel venue.
Honda collapsed, Anzu collapsed, and Jonouchi, after resisting valiantly for a while, also collapsed. Even President Haima had his Life Points reach zero during the duel and disappeared into the beyond dimension.
All companions vanished, with the world seemingly on the brink of destruction, though the Millennium Pendant still remained silent, not responding at all.
Not to mention the antagonist, even the audience was almost fooled into thinking the King was truly gone for good. But as Yugi was also about to collapse from exhaustion, the King made a grand entrance, accompanied by a magnificent column of light and a grand light curtain, as if to say, "Is it you punk trying to harm my AIBO?"
Fortunately, Kaiba seemed wholly focused on how to drag Atem back, so today he unusually did not arrange for Youyu to accompany him in dueling. Youyu only needed to step on stage to show his face, complete his endorsement task, and afterward quietly become a bystander.
Just like in the original story, Muto Yugi would volunteer to duel with Aigami. Kaiba, after hearing Yugi's persuasive talk, would be convinced to allow Yugi to first confront Aigami.
Following that, Yugi would defeat both Aigami and Kaiba consecutively, proving his strength while also delivering some convincing arguments to Kaiba through a duel.
Believe it or not, although Yugi is normally a silent, somewhat introverted young boy, he possesses the quintessential convincing power of an anime protagonist. Yugi moved Kaiba with emotion, reasoned with him, and surprisingly succeeded in persuading the president to give up his obsession, letting him accept the setting that "people from the Netherworld cannot return to the Mortal World," and completely dispelling the thought of digging up graves.
Thus, the president shifted his approach, deciding to personally venture into the Netherworld to find Atem...
The president's reasoning was simple.
Dead men cannot return to life, and they cannot come back to the Mortal World? Okay, I have accepted that.
But if a living person enters the Netherworld himself, that should be alright, right?
Yu↑gi↓! Prepare yourself, I'm coming over to duel soon!
If the movie plot continued, after Aigami was defeated, he would be corrupted by the malevolence within the Millennium Ring, leading the Quantum Cube to go rampant and cause a world-ending crisis.
Everyone would be defeated, and in the end, the King would return just in time to save the day, neutralizing the crisis seamlessly from the shadows.
However, with the King's return, Aigami and his Plana companions would lose their power and be unable to ascend to the new dimension.
Of course, now these scenarios are unlikely to happen.
Because the central key to this chain of crisis, the Millennium Ring, has already been intercepted by Youyu. The malevolent thoughts left by the Great Evil God Sock are now trapped in the corner of this broken Ring, completely scared to move an inch, showing no signs of causing trouble...
Youyu pondered, surely no more unforeseen events could occur?
He had taken away the Millennium Ring, Aigami lost the opportunity to go berserk, disaster wouldn't descend, and there'd be no reason for the King to make that presence felt.
Next, Yugi would have to persuade President Haima to give up the idea of digging up graves, enabling the Plana to perhaps successfully ascend, and Youyu to receive the Quantum Cube smoothly. Then, lending the Cube to President Haima for research might lead to the invention of Dimensional Travel technology, allowing Haima to journey directly into the Netherworld to find the King for a duel.
Everyone gets what they want, and everyone is happy.
Youyu thought long and hard, feeling there were no flaws in his chain of plans. If followed, things would reach a perfect ending without any waves.
Having traversed for so long, Youyu is now an old Duelist himself; an experienced duelist like him surely wouldn't set up strange, unforeseen flags.
...
...He really didn't believe anything could go wrong this time.
Sitting in the audience, Youyu spotted the White Dragon girl, Kisara, from afar in the crowd.
This time she had switched back to her beautiful black hair. Perhaps in the past life, people scorned her beautiful silver-white hair, or perhaps she found that color too eye-catching; in any case, she purposely switched back to black hair.
Though seated at a distance, she noticed Youyu immediately. They exchanged glances from afar, Kisara smiled shyly, and waved at him as a greeting.
There was a moment when Youyu genuinely felt nothing could go wrong anymore.
But he was wrong.
...
Elsewhere.
"Ladies and gentlemen, a new era is about to begin! With the advent of the next-generation Duel Disc, dueling will evolve into an entirely new form, and the world will evolve with it!"
The electronic screen broadcasted the live situation of the conference, where Kaiba Seto stood on stage, passionately speaking with the new generation Duel Disc strapped on.
A figure gazed at Kaiba and his Duel Disc through the live broadcast screen, his blue gaze as deep as the ocean.
"Yes, a new era," he murmured to himself, his voice heavy, "But this evolution brings nothing but destruction."