Yuya's last battle to qualify for the Junior Maiami Championship (Arc League Championships) is versus his old friend, Gongenzaka. The duel will be without any of their friends watching (though they do watch in secret) so Yuya can learn what it's like to duel in a setting without anyone there to help him. Gongenzaka reveals he, too, is one duel away from qualifying for the tournament, thus only the winner will advance. To Yuya's shock, Gongenzaka summons a Tuner monster and tunes it with his trademark Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei, summoning his new ace monster - Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo
At the site of Kurosaki's duel with the LDS trio, Reiji deduces he's been behind the attacks on LDS members to lure him out. Kurosaki accuses Reiji's father, Leo, of kidnapping his sister Ruri, and he intends to use Reiji as a bargaining chip to free her. Reiji simply has Kurosaki follow him, telling him he has no objections to the plan as long as Kurosaki hears him out first.
This episode contains examples of:
- Adaptation Personality Change: A minor example. In the original version, Yuto consistently wants the least amount of violence possible and insists on not hurting people unnecessarily. In the dub, Yuto tells Shay to do "whatever he needs to do to rescue Lulu", specifically saying that "nothing is off limits" despite knowing that Shay's plan involves carding innocents.
- Fighting Your Friend: A happier, less extreme version of this trope, even if the duel is more serious then any other duel these two have had before.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Surprisingly enough, Kurosaki. He assumes that Leo Akaba will care at all about the safety of his own son, and has caused all this trouble just to get to Reiji.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Yuya's entire duel against Gongenzaka. His friends and family are watching it over a video camera, so he can't get any encouragement from them. Justified in-universe — as Nico points out, duelists don't always have a cheer squad on hand to encourage them in tough duels, Yuya has to learn to stand on his own if he wants to be a professional.
