The Path of Virtue

by TheMessengerofChaos

After finally defeating Yugi Moto and reclaiming his title as World Champion, Seto Kaiba is givin a challenge by a man known as Horus, a mamber of an eliete dueling orginazation known as The Saints Yugi and his frends tag along. After seeing Kaiba defeat

8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Shinobi vs. Yugi

"Well then Shinobi, I won't keep you waiting any longer." Yugi said. "Let's do this." With that both Yugi and Shinobi climbed up to their respective places on the dueling platform. Their Life Points were both set to 8000.
"Since you're the visitor, I'll be nice and let you go first." Shinobi said.
"Very well." Yugi answered back. "I'll start off by playing my Pot of Greed and drawing two more cards. Then I'll set three cards face down on the field and set one monster in defense mode. That will end my turn."
Shinobi very calmly and slowly drew his card. "Wow!!" he said, you must have read my mind or something. Cause I play Pot of Greed also. I also set one monster face down, but unlike you, I'm going to set 4 cards down." Shinobi paused. He then looked at the cards he had just set do double-check them. After about a minute or so he said, "OK, you may go forth."

"I don't know guys." Joey said. "I think ole Shinobi's starting to play head games with Yugi by copying his moves. Don't let him creep you out."
Yugi drew. "Now I'll flip my Magician of Faith and take back my Pot of Greed. Now I activate the Trap card; Spell Absorbing Life." Once activated a flash of white light shone over the arena, forcing Shinobi's face down monster to be revealed. It was known as Hand of Nephthys a small female wizard wearing the headdress of a winged creature. Also Yugi's Life Points increased to 8800. "Spell Absorbing Life forces all face down monster to flip face up, plus for every effect monster on the field I gain 400 Life Points." Yugi said

Shinobi didn't seem too phased to have his monster revealed. "Very Well then, do as you please to my Hand." He said
"I will." Yugi said, "I now sacrifice my Magician of Faith to Summon Dark Magician Girl." As the small Magician of Faith faded out, the familiar Dark Magician Girl replaced her. "Now I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and I shall destroy the face down card closest to your deck." At this the same storm like cloud that Maximus had created in his duel with Joey reappeared and worked towards Shinobi's card. The Storm destroyed the card but once it had done so a large stone coffin, similar to one used in ancient Egypt appeared on the field facing Yugi. As the lid opened Yugi could see nothing but blackness.

"That Yugi, is a nifty little card called Dark Coffin." Shinobi stated. "It works so well because it does not need to be activated to work. Instead it automatically activated whenever it gets destroyed. Forcing my opponent into a rather distressing choice. You can either drop a card from your hand, or lose a monster on your field. The choice is yours alone but choose wisely."
Yugi looked over the cards in his hand then on his field. After a minute he showed Shinobi a Dark Magician from his hand. Yugi then discarded the Magician to the Graveyard.
"My Dark Magician Girl now gains 300 Attack points giving her a total of 2300 since my Dark Magician is now in the Graveyard." Yugi said. "But I can change that with this. I now play Sage's Stone. It allows me to summon my Dark Magician from the Graveyard." A circle of magic runes appeared next to Dark Magician Girl. A beam of light shot out from the circle and the Dark Magician just discarded was now at her side.

"Now Dark Magician Girl, attack his Hand of Nephthys." Dark Magician Girl raised her magic staff and released a burst of energy and Shinobi's monster. Dark Magician Girl's 2000 Attack points easily cut through the 600 defense points of the Hand of Nephthys, destroying it. "Now Dark Magician, attack directly" Yugi shouted. His Magician raised his staff, pointed it at Shinobi and fired a second blast directly at him. Shinobi was knocked back a step by the blast as 2500 Life Points were subtracted from his total. He was down to 5500.

"Good Yugi." Shinobi said, "Don't show me any mercy. The Hunters don't plan on showing mercy to anyone. Look at what they did to Solara."
"Hmmmm, looks like Yugi's still got what it takes." Tea said, "Get him Yugi!!!" She cheered.
Maximus and Horus in the meantime were simply watching quietly, making occasional remarks only to each other.
'You don't think Shinobi's going to hurt him too badly do you?" Maximus asked
"I never know with him." Horus replied. "He's a great duelist, but he might be too good for his own good if you know what I mean."

Meanwhile Yugi continued "I'll conclude my turn by playing Pot of Greed and drawing two more cards."
"My move eh?" Shinobi said. He drew into his card. He looked at it for a minute or so before proceeding. "Let's see how you handle this." He began. "I'll start by summoning Sangan to the field in attack mode." Sangan was a small furry, three-eyed creature that looked like something a child would dress as for Halloween. "Next I play Call of the Haunted and reviving my Hand of Nephthys." Shinobi's monster reappeared on the field as a gravestone appeared and a mist appeared in front of it. "And now we let the fun begin…
"Not so fast Shinobi" Yugi interrupted "I activate Torrential Tribute. This will destroy all monsters on the field, so you won't be having fun yet."
"Or so you think?" Shinobi answered with a devious smile. "I still get to activate my Hand's Special ability. By sacrificing it along with my Sangan I can immediately summon from my deck The One…. The Only… The Phoenix God of Nephthys!!!!"

"How can he do that?" Joey asked, "Isn't his monster going to be washed away?"
"Yes it is," Maximus began "but under the Advanced rules there is a rule known as Priority. I don't quite get all of it but it says that if you summon a monster with a special ability, that ability can be activated immediately upon summoning and your opponent cannot prevent this unless your opponent can negate the summoning with the proper card. Basically what will happen now is Yugi's Torrential Tribute will activate, destroying all monsters, but not until AFTER Shinobi can use the Hand's ability to summon the Phoenix."

Sure enough, Maximus's words were 100 on the money. Shinobi's two monsters vanished and in there place was the Phoenix. It was a large bright yellow- bird like creature with both wings and arms. The Feathers on its head glowed with fire. The Phoenix did not have much time to make a proper introduction, as the flooding waves of Torrential Tribute washed it away, along with Yugi's two Magicians.
"Pity," Shinobi said, "My Phoenix was washed away before she could say hello. Oh Well, She'll be back Yugi, so be ready. In the meantime with Sangan's effect I can search my deck for a monster with 1500 Attack Points or less. I think I'll choose Fushi No Tori. That should be all for now. Go forth Yugi."

Yugi drew his card. He mulled over his options for a moment. This duel was a fierce seesaw battle just like Joey's. He needed to stay calm and focused. "I'll place one more card face down and end my turn."
As Shinobi drew his card the arena began to rumble. Suddenly a pile of ashes appeared on Shinobi's field. The ashes erupted in a blazing fire, and out of the fire emerged the Phoenix God of Nephthys once again.
"Like any other Phoenix, this one can revive itself after being destroyed by card effects." Shinobi said. "Not even Death itself can hold down a Phoenix for with every death, the Phoenix has the power to restore life. But that's not the worst part of this card. The real fun comes from the Ashes of the Inferno."
Once the fires died down, the burning embers that remained rained down from the sky, burning holes through all the Magic and Trap cards on the field until they were destroyed.

"Yes, the Phoenix has returned and her wrath has rained from the sky." Shinobi declared.
"Whoa, Man!!" Tristian said. 'This is bad his Phoenix is indestructible and has a nasty side effect when it comes back."
Meanwhile on the platform as the magic and Trap cards were destroyed, Yugi saw two more coffins appear facing him.
"Looks like you have no monsters this time Yugi." Shinobi said. "Guess you'll have to drop those two cards you're holding." Yugi sighed. The two cards he held were his Buster Blader and a Polymerization magic card. He quietly dropped them off in the graveyard.
"Now to really get the party going," Shinobi said, "I'll summon Fushi No Tori in Attack Mode." Fushi No Tori was a smaller looking Phoenix. It only had wings and no arms. It's attack strength was 1200 points, exactly half of the Larger Phoenix's 2400.
"Great, another Phoenix monster." Joey said, "He must really like those things." Shinobi heard Joey make this comment. He looked over at Joey and glared at him menacingly. Shinobi's voice rang out in Joey's head through the power of the Millennium Pendant "Oh Really Mr. Wheeler, it took you THIS long to figure that out?"

"Now Fushi No Tori, Attack him" At this the bird lunged forward and plunged it's beak into Yugi's chest. He lost 1200 Life points leaving him with 7600. At the same time Shinobi's Life Points increased from 5500 to 6700.
"My Fushi No Tori's ability increases my Life Points by the same amount that it takes from you." Shinobi stated. "Now my Phoenix God, ATTACK!!!"
The Phoenix reared its head back and spread its wings and arms fully. It then pulled its wings forward and released a flaming blast directly at Yugi, stripping him of another 2400 Life Points, leaving him at 5200.

"Stay strong up there Yugi" Tea shouted.
"Don't let him play games with you up there. Keep focused" Joey added
Shinobi continued, "Continuing on to my Second Main Phase…Let me see here, I'll place one more card face down. At my End Phase, Since Fushi No Tori is a Spirit Monster it now returns to my hand. Very Well then, you may go."
Yugi drew his card for his turn. His face glistened with hope. "This is my best chance to turn this around." He said. "I'll activate Premature Burial by Paying 800 Life Points and return my Buster Blader to the field." As Yugi's Life Points dropped to 4400 the ground began to quake once again and out of the arena floor emerged the warrior known as Buster Blader. He was a large knight dressed in full plate armor, and wielded and extremely large sword. At 2600 Attack points, it was enough to destroy the Phoenix.
"Attack his Phoenix" Yugi ordered. His Buster Blader lunged forward and delivered an overhead slash that struck the Phoenix right where the neck meets the body. The Phoenix screamed in pain before shattering to pieces. Shinobi lost 200 Life Points leaving him with 6500. "I'll end my turn." Yugi said

Shinobi silently drew his card. "Oh my baby." He said "It seems this always comes to me when I need it. I'll play my good old Graceful Charity. I now draw 3 cards and discard 2 afterwards." He drew three more cards and looked at his had for a moment. "Now I shall discard Element Saurus and Roc from the Valley of Haze. And since Roc was discarded from my hand, it's special ability kicks on returning it to the deck." Shinobi picked up his Roc and reshuffled it back into the deck.
"Hmmmm now what to do?" Shinobi said. " I know, I'll set down these three cards, and place this Monster face-down on the field. Go Forth"

Yugi could feel things turning in his favor now. His draw added to his feelings of confidence. "I summon The Dark Hex Fusion to the field." He said. Dark Hex Fusion was a blob of living matter with a deep red glow surrounding it. It only had 1000 Attack Points but Yugi had other plans.
"Now I activate The Dark's ability, by sacrificing it along with Buster Blader, I can fuse together the two monsters without the aide of Polymerization and summon Dark Paladin. The Blob and Buster Blader merged together and formed a new creature, Dark Paladin. This was usually a fusion of Dark Magician and Buster Blader but the Dark served as a substitute. Dark Paladin had the face and cap of Dark Magician, but his robes were reinforced with plate armor. Instead of a wizard staff he held an extremely large sword, easily 10-15 feet in length. His attack power was 2900.
"Go Dark Paladin, Dark Energy Slash" Yugi exclaimed. Dark Paladin raised his sword over his head and swung at Shinobi's face down monster card.
"I don't think so. Activate Waboku" Shinobi responded. At this a group of hooded figures appeared in front of Dark Paladin and spoke in an unintelligible language. The then vanished. Dark Paladin continued his attack but the words of the figured prevented him from destroying the monster, it only flipped it face- up and revealed another Hand of Nephthys.
"Fine" Yugi said "But on my next turn I will destroy that thing. Go Ahead."

Shinobi drew. "Once again my Phoenix shall rise from the ashes." He said, "Trouble is this time she'll need some assistance. That's where MY Premature Burial comes in handy." Shinobi's Life Points dropped to 5700 and the Phoenix rose from the floor just as Yugi's Buster Blader did earlier. Yugi could have prevented this by using Dark Paladin's Special ability and discarding a card from his hand, but he had no cards in his hand to do so.
"Next I'll play the trap Assault on Goblin Headquarters." Shinobi began "By Destroying my Hand of Nephthys I can force you to drop another two cards from your deck." The Hand shattered and the shards rained towards Yugi's deck. They struck the top 2 cards and Yugi was forced to discard Diffusion Wave Motion and Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts.
'Go ahead my friend." Shinobi said

Yugi drew. He had a feeling that Shinobi was planning a trap for him. Fortunately for Yugi he drew Heavy Storm. This would destroy all the Magic and traps on the field. Yugi knew the Phoenix's revival would kick on, but he had no choice.
"I'll play Heavy Storm and destroy all Magic and traps on the field." Yugi said. As his card activated a fierce gale wind began blowing across the arena. Both Yugi and Shinobi held onto the edges of the platform.
"I hate to disappoint you Yugi, but my Phoenix will not be dying anymore this duel." Shinobi interrupted." I'll stop Heavy Storm with Solemn Judgment. Sure it costs me half my Life Points but hey, it's only Life Points, and I do enjoy being a blood-letter."
At this Shinobi's Life Points dropped to 2850 and three robed figures appeared on the field. One of the figures was an old man, a Judge of some kind from Ancient times by the looks of his robe and long beard. The three all waved their hands and the storm ceased immediately. The three figures then vanished just as they appeared.

"Oh I'm just getting warmed up Yugi." Shinobi said. He began to dance around on his platform as though in a boxing match and preparing to deliver the knockout blow. "Now I'll play Scapegoat" Shinobi said. And 4 Sheep appeared surrounding the Phoenix. The Sheep had their eyes closed and looked harmless. Each sheep had zero Attack and Zero Defense.
"Now!" Shinobi said. "I'll activate D. Tribe. This turns all my monsters into Dragons for the rest of the turn." At this, the four Sheep grew Dragon horns and small dragon wings. The Phoenix also developed dragon style wings.
"Is he Nuts??" Tristian exclaimed "Yugi's monster gets Stronger when Dragons are on the field." Dark Paladin's Sword glowed a dark red and his attack power grew 500 points for each dragon on the field. Raising him from 2900 to a whopping 5400 points.

Meanwhile Maximus and Horus were silent. They both had seen this trick before.
"I cannot believe he's about to do this." Maximus said
"Believe it" Horus said. "And Yugi won't know what hit him."

"Well Shinobi, since you've made my Dark Paladin even stronger I don't see how you can possibly stop me now." Yugi said, "Attack his Phoenix!!" Dark Paladin raised his sword once again and swung at the Phoenix. Shinobi laughed.
"I told you not to hold back Yugi." He began "And what do you do??? You hold back. Otherwise you'd have seen my trap coming a mile away. Activate Reverse Trap!!!!"
Reverse Trap takes all Attack and Defense increases to monsters and switched them to decreases for one turn and vice versa. Thus Dark Paladin now lost 500 points for every dragon instead of gaining 500. His Attack Strength plummeted from 5400 all the way to 400. His Sword merely bounced off of the Phoenix's body. The Phoenix, having felt something strike it, raised its arm up and dusted itself off causally. It then looked at Dark Paladin with a menacing glare and proceeded to blast a stream of fire in his face. Dark Paladin was destroyed and Yugi lost 2000 Life Points. He now had 2400 remaining. At this Yugi realized he was beaten. He had no cards left on the field or in his hand.

"This duel is yours Shinobi. I end my turn." He said

Shinobi drew. Without hesitation he ordered the Phoenix to attack. The blast knocked Yugi back several feet. He lost all 2400 of his Life Points. The duel was over and the projectors turned off. Both players descended the platform, met in the center of the floor.
"You are as good as they claim Shinobi" Yugi said, "I gave it my best shot though."
Shinobi looked at him "Your best was not good enough this time." He said. And do realize that I wanted you to give me all you have so that you will be prepared to fight properly should you encounter those animals, The Eternal Hunters."