To make matters worse, the next member, Touya is ready to fight and avenge his dead teammate. Touya attacks just as Gama's first spell wears off, allowing him to move, but with his energy still sealed, he's still in a bad situation. Kurama spends all of the time trying to keep himself from getting killed by Touya's attacks, namely Touya's powerful ice attack "Shards of Winter." Kurama realizes that he can access his own energy through his blood. Sadly, he soon also finds that to release enough energy to defeat Touya he would have to bleed himself dry. Eventually, he forms a plan to defeat Touya and gets himself cut on purpose by Touya's Ice Sword to plant one of his dead plant seeds inside his own body right so it can manifest as a weapon. Right as Touya is about to deliver a death blow, Kurama's death plant finally sprouts, and he has it slice right through Touya, ending the fight. A defeated Touya asks Kurama to kill him, but he refuses. But the battle has taken its toll on our fox demon in disguise, and his severe injuries cause him to fall unconscious right in the center of the stage. Yusuke wants to fight next since he knows Kurama can't right now, but Team Masho's owner once again bribes the committee, and the rule that since Kurama is still standing, he must participate in the next match. And even worse, the next fighter is Bakken, a huge, muscle-bound brute. Baken then grabs Kurama and begins to beat him to death.
Just as Bakken was about to lay another punch on him, he was suddenly kicked on the other side, laying on the concrete as he grunted to stand up. He looked over to see that Nezuko was in the ring holding Kurama in her arms glaring as her eyes were possessive and her veins were showing. She let out a growl saying that enough is ENOUGH.
"Looks like we have a new competitor stepping in to take on Bakken," Koto announced. Nezuko growled even more as she glared over at Baken, she held Kurama in her arms protectively.
"Nezuko!" She looked over to see Yusuke climbing into the ring as he knelt at her level. "Your gonna fight that bitch aren't you? I'll let you handle him alone and I will take on the rest." He scoops Kurama out of her arms as he gave her a nod, she returns a short nod to focus her attention on Bakken.
"I'm facing a little girl in the ring? Please. I'm twice your size and stronger to fight a fragile little princess." Bakken snickered.
Hiei watches the match between Nezuko vs Bakken, and he was concerned if she was already healed to continue this match. He wasn't convinced about what that monster of an opponent was doing to try to kill Kurama in the ring either.
'You got this Nezuko. Show him what you can do.' Hiei thought trying to encourage the demon girl to do her best in the match.
As the battle starts, Bakken uses a technique built from his sweat to cover the entire arena in mist, so Nezuko won't be able to see now. Bakken delivers a few blows, but they barely harm Nezuko. Every wind blow she received from Baken, she'll dodge quick, but what she had to be careful of was not make a fatal move. Nezuko shows relief at this point, confusing Bakken, she was ready for another blow as she swiftly used a demon blood art technique to blow him to the other side. The sweat that covered the arena was dispersing as Bakken was slightly astonished that his sweat was gone.
"How? Impossible!" Bakken gritted his daggering at Nezuko as she stood there clenching her fist before she casually started to walk towards him, then she starts to run towards Bakken. Bakken wasn't expecting how fast this girl was ready to make a move on him as he drew blocked her before she could lay a finger on him.
"I'm gonna crush you!" Bakken sneered.
Yusuke was watching Nezuko fight and was also worried that she might end up the same way Kurama did. He had to put her face up against the big muscular guy that has bloodthirst to kill other teammates.
"Come on, Nezuko! Don't let him beat you as he did to Kurama!" Yusuke shouted.
While Nezuko was focused on Bakken, she took the moment to glanced over at Yusuke thinking about her brother that was chanting for her to win. Don't give up...keep fighting. As Bakken cupped his two hands together ready to give her a huge slam to the ground, Nezuko swiftly dodges it and she raised a fist to punch directly into Bakken's stomach. Bakken was in shock as he was stumbling backward and coughed out blood!
'She punched him that hard?!' Hiei thought a little astonished that she punched him in the gut to get him to cough out blood.
Bakken regains his balance as Nezuko draws a kick on his leg, a punch to his face, and swiftly does a spin kick to make stumble back more. Now, this was something that turned things around, Nezuko wasn't going down until she wins the match for Kurama. Bakken was able to grab Nezuko's and swiftly threw her over to the side where the nurse tent was, but she used the roof of the tent to bounce her way back into the ring, Nezuko held her knees together to prepare to land on the back of Bakken's hearing a slight coming from him. He was in deep pain as she did a flip backward to land a few feet away from him. With Bakken still in a daze, he smirked over at Nezuko thinking of a way to stop her as he began to pretended to weep for his actions.
"Please! I didn't mean any harm to your friend. I-I was not thinking and I didn't know that he was unconscious. Honest!" Lied Bakken began to cry out in defeat as Nezuko's eyes narrowed at the demon before her gaze soften.
"Mmm..." She says walking over to Bakken as she knelt, but Bakken grabbed a huge rock ready to smash it against Nezuko's head.
"Nezuko! Look out!" Yusuke screamed.
Before he can cause any more damage though, Nezuko didn't even look up as she caught Bakken's wrist with the rock not near to her. She slowly looked up at him with her eyes that seek rage and they were showing no sign of mercy as she did a quick glide to the floor and uppercut Bakken, and gave him more kicks. Nezuko delivers a punch that only irritates her more, and she then breaks about every single bone in Bakken's body with a few well-placed hits. As the announcer began to do a countdown, and she won the match giving her team a point. Nezuko walks off the ring as she saw Yusuke grinning over at her.
"You did awesome out there!" Yusuke cheered.
Nezuko faintly smiled as she looked over at Kurama as she knelt looking at him worried. Kurama barely had his eyes open as he stared at the demon girl.
"Don't worry about me, Nezuko. I'll be fine." Kurama reassured.
There was relief in Nezuko that she was glad to see that Kurama was going to be just fine, Yusuke picks teammate up to carry him on the other side to face the ring for the next fighters that were going to be fighting next. The fighter that was going to be stepping into the ring was Jin that was going to be fighting against Yusuke.
"I'm taking this guy all for myself." Said Yusuke as Nezuko gave him a short nod as her eyes glanced over at the nurse. She was glaring at her cold and hard, the nurse was quite anxious and scared of Nezuko staring at her dead in the eyes. Before the match started, Jin was very sweet and compassionate as he walked off the ring heading straight over to Nezuko.
"Well, I am quite amazed that you've beaten Bakken to teach him a lesson. Very smart of ya." His accent was Irish as to what Nezuko soften her gaze up at the wind master as Jin had a wide toothy grin on his face. "I gotta say you've got some unique skills. I won't mind sparring with you anytime."
Hiei was watching the wind master and could hear him talking so kindly to Nezuko, it made him boil inside as he glared at him. The next thing Jin did was pulling up a flower for Nezuko as she looks at it before taking it and smiled at Jin.
"Just a reward for a special angel like yourself." Jin grinned. Nezuko could only smile and blushed as Hiei growls a little low just watching them.
"Jealous are we?" The masked fighter teased.
"Hn, I don't get jealous and I don't seem to either appreciate those two neither," Hiei argued.
'He's copying the same move that I did when I thank her for protecting my sister. He even called her "Angel".' He was muttering under his breath after watching the two get along, Jin returns to the ring as the two fighters began their match. Yusuke and Jin wind up getting along, and Koto soon tells them to begin. Jin eventually lands the first punch. Yusuke tells him if he keeps hitting like that, the fight will be interesting.
The match between Yusuke and Jin amazed the crowd in the air, admiring the island, which he will inherit if he wins the tournament. He swoops down and flies by Yusuke. Yusuke turns around and takes a punch to the face. He tries to counter with a kick but misses. Jin pulls out his signature move, the Tornado Fist. It is literally a tornado on his wrist. The punch misses Yusuke, but the force pushes him back, into the stadium walls. Yusuke decides to try hand-to-hand combat. Jin blocks everything but one punch and goes flying. He flees into the air to recover before Yusuke can get another hit. While he is recovering, Yusuke shoots a Spirit Gun. Jin makes a wind barrier around himself and deflects it. On the sideline, Botan realizes that Yusuke can't get close enough to Jin to do any real damage, Jin can simply fly out of Yusuke's range. Yusuke also can't use his Spirit Gun from far away, because Jin can deflect it by creating a barrier of wind around himself. Koenma is concerned because Jin uses his wind for both offense and defense. Jin comes down with another Tornado Fist. Yusuke doesn't even move. When Jin is at point-blank range, Yusuke fires his Spirit Gun into the Tornado. There is a huge explosion, and Yusuke is blown back next to the medical tent. Hiei tells him that Jin blocked with the Tornado Fist, by pointing it to an upwards angle, saving both of their lives. He tells Yusuke that Jin will not be fooled with such tricks. Hiei plans to take Yusuke's place whence he escapes Ruka's cage, but she warns him he can't join the fight as he is rendered ineligible. Both fighters get back in the ring. Yusuke says he wasn't trying hard to win before. Jin says he will start to try to win also, and prepares two Tornado Fists, one on each arm. Jin calls it the Double Tornado Fist. Yusuke thinks of a new strategy and goes into a new stance. The masked fighter and Koenma both recognize it, as Genkai's Spirit Wave. They also realize that the attack could kill Yusuke. Finally, Yusuke unleashes an attack called the Spirit Wave, hitting Jin right in the stomach. Jin goes flying in the air. The Masked Fighter explains the difference between the Spirit Wave and the Spirit Gun. The Spirit Wave is using spirit energy to attack your entire body, enabling it to have a wider range and hit more targets than the Spirit Gun, but the Spirit Gun has a lot more energy concentrated into one place, making the Spirit Gun very powerful. Therefore, the Spirit Wave is still technically a weaker attack than the Spirit Gun. In the stands, Keiko is shocked. Shizuru says they should move, and starts moving away, Keiko follows. A sparkle is seen in the sky, and Jin's body comes crashing down in the stands, right where Keiko and Shizuru were a moment before. Koto makes a ten-count, and Yusuke is proclaimed the winner.
Shizuru and Keiko leave the stadium momentarily. Meanwhile, Yukina, the ice apparition, is outside the stadium, looking for a way to get inside. Team Masho's owner is shocked at the outcome of the fight. The crowd is furious because it looks like Team Urameshi might actually win. The next opponent that was the leader of Team Masho was Risho. Risho gives the owner an idea to complicate matters for Team Urameshi. Just as the last fight, Yusuke vs. Risho, is about to begin, an announcement is made. The committee announces that Yusuke is disqualified from the last fight, because the ten-count was delayed when he and Jin were both outside the ring, ending the match in a draw. The crowd is baffled but then becomes very excited, meaning that Team Urameshi doesn't have any fighters left to fight. Botan becomes furious.
"Stupid rule book," Yusuke muttered. He then noticed Nezuko coming into the ring. "You're going to take him for yourself?"
"Mmm!" She grunted sending a short nod over at Yusuke. She watches the leader of her team leave as the match she was facing off against was going to be rational.
As the fight starts, Risho reveals that he is the Master of Earth. He holds up his fingers and the ground starts to shake. Risho uses his Armor of Clay technique to cover his body with earthen armor. He jumps up in the air and crashes into the ring like a giant meteor. Nezuko jumps out of the way, she was prepared for Risho's next attack as kept backing away to come up with a quick strategy. Just as Risho was about to make a move on Nezuko, she jumped in the air and tries to scratch him with her nail-like claws, but Risho dodges that fatal move. He uses his energy to strike at Nezuko to push her further away, but she caught her fall and runs back towards him. As she does a little jump to spins herself around to kick her legs against his armor arm making Risho grunt.
The next one came to a twist as she tried to smash him with her legs, but clearly, she missed as he kicked Nezuko out of the green and onto the grass field. As Risho ran on the field, Nezuko was ready for more. She watches Risho formed himself into a ball as a hardshell as she prepared to get a kicking stance. Kurama noticed something wasn't right, and he knew that Nezuko wouldn't be able to kick Risho with that much speed coming her way.
"NO! Don't kick it!" Kurama shouted.
Nezuko didn't listen before it was too late when tries to Risho who was balled up into a hard rock spinning around on the grassy field. His rock armor was so hard, that it cut off her leg as she fell to the ground with it bleeding openly.
"Nezuko!" Yusuke shouted at the horrifying sight.
As Nezuko tries to force herself to get back up, she winced feeling her leg was in pain and motionless. Risho evilly laughed at the girl that was too weak to get back at her feet anymore as she growled over in his direction.
"What a weak thing. You didn't even have the slightest time to think that you were going to lose one of your limbs." Risho darkly chuckled as he walked over grabbing a hold of Nezuko's hair and tossed her back into the ring as he jumped into land beside her. "I wonder what more limbs I could break while you're laying here."
"Mmmm!" Nezuko growled. Risho doesn't hesitate as he drew in a kick in her side making her cry out, as he kicked her more and more. Until he grew a little bored as he threw Nezuko towards the wall letting her crash against it as she lyes there weak and beaten.
"Hn, and you would think beating me at your very best is necessary?" Risho mocked.
"Nezuko..." Yusuke gritted his teeth running over to check on her to see if she was all right. She was barely breathing right at the moment, and it made Yusuke quite scared and angry that someone so cruel would just brutally attempt to beat them to death.
"You have no more fighters. That means I win." Risho said wearing a cocky grin.
"There is one more fighter," Kuwabara spoke up as he struggles to stand up on his feet. "Let's go! Nezuko, you fought enough and it's time for you to rest. You did what you could." Kuwabara told the demon girl as he proceeded to walk up the ring take on Risho.
"Yusuke, bring Nezuko over to me," Kurama demanded.
Yusuke picks up Nezuko to carry her over to where Kurama was sitting as she winced after being set to the ground. Kurama took the time to look at her missing leg that was bleeding a lot as he used his plants that could help her a little faster.
"These plants should heal her while she's resting. Give it time." Said Kurama as he leaned his back against the wall as Nezuko visions her mother looking a little distressed. So, she rested her shoulder onto Kurama's to watch the match. Outside the stadium, Shizuru sees Yukina. Shizuru tells Keiko to go and get Botan. Shizuru approaches Yukina and asks her what she is doing here. Yukina says she is here to give support to Yusuke and Kuwabara. She also mentions that she is looking for a long-lost brother. Botan arrives and becomes nervous that Yukina might learn about Hiei being her brother. The group decides to go back inside the stadium. They approach the television outside the stadium and hear of the next match.
Soon enough, Kuwabara realizes he can't win. He decides to use his life energy, in the same way, Yusuke did against the final Saint Beast, Suzaku. He says goodbye to Hiei, Kurama, Nezuko, the Masked Fighter, and Yusuke. Risho prepares to use his meteor attack one last time. Kuwabara catches Risho before he hits the ground. Suddenly, he thinks of Yukina. Kuwabara wonders why he is thinking about her. Then, all of a sudden, he hears someone call his first name. He sees Yukina in the audience. Kuwabara's energy suddenly starts rising, and with his newfound strength, Kuwabara throws Risho into the stadium walls. Kuwabara rushes over to the stands and starts talking with Yukina. Kuwabara feels his spirit energy coming back to normal. He whips out his spirit sword as Risho comes back for more. Kuwabara hits Risho, demolishing his Armor of Clay. He hits Risho again, and the force throws him into the stands, defeating Risho. With Risho beaten, the third round of the Dark Tournament ends, and Team Urameshi has moved on to the semifinals.
As Nezuko leg fully came back, she could stand up as she noticed the barrier Hiei and the masked fighter were trapped in as she ran over to him. Yusuke called her back and stops when he saw her running towards Hiei with her arms wide open as she embraced him to see that he was fine along with the masked fighter. Nezuko looked over at the nurse as she gave her huffing and puffing through her ears making the nurse nervous and back away from the girl. Hiei was hiding a blush when he noticed how tightly Nezuko was hugging him and it was almost as if she was trying to say, "MINE".
"You did a good job defeating us, Urameshi. You and your friends." Jin says approaching wearing bandages due to the loss in battle. Touya was beside him as well, he was wearing bandages where he got hit after facing Kurama and lost the match.
When Nezuko smiled at Hiei, she then heard Jin's voice as she removed herself from him. Hiei was about to call her back but he didn't say anything. Watching Nezuko running over to Jin was when she hugged him and she faced Touya to pat him on the head.
"What is this?" Touya asked.
Yusuke chuckles, "She's just giving you a head pat, buddy. No need to feel awkward if it's your first time." Jin wore a cocky grin and Hiei sent daggers thinking of many things to disperse Jin. This weird feeling was getting to Hiei that he didn't know what was going on with him. Nezuko pulls away from Jin, then faced her teammates that were now tired and were ready to head back to the hotel. When they were all leaving the stadium, Yukina was there as Nezuko ran over to embrace her. She was happy to see the young ice maiden again after she protected her from those horrible humans months after the dark tournament was announced.