After being pronounced the winner of the Ankoku Bujutsukai, Yusuke faints again, landing on his face. Worried, his teammates run to him. Kurama and Koenma try to cheer Yusuke up, reminding him that he's alive and that his victory was spectacular, but Yusuke is very upset about Kuwabara's death: "He died because I was too weak. It's my fault that he's dead."

On his knees, Yusuke cries, his fists socking the ground, as he calls his friend's name.

Kuwabara stands up, laughs, and mocks Yusuke for believing he could be dead.

Yusuke gapes, sweatdrops, his eyes widen almost to the point of dropping from their socks. Kurama apologizes, telling Yusuke that when Kuwabara fell on his arms after being wounded by Toguro Otouto, the taller boy had told him in whispers that he wasn't mortally wounded, but that he had also asked Kurama not to tell Yusuke the truth. Kuwabara was sure that Yusuke, thinking his best friend was dead, would find in himself the strength to defeat Toguro.

Realizing all his friends knew Kuwabara was alive but had let him believe the opposite, Yusuke sulks. Hiei says Yusuke brought it upon himself: "We wouldn't have had to do that if you had fought with all your powers right from the start..."

But Yusuke isn't listening. He's too busy beating Kuwabara to a pulp.

The girls are happy to see Kuwabara alive. Shizuru puffs on her cigarette, smirking: "Too bad I still have to put up with him..."

Koenma finally convinces Yusuke to let go of Kuwabara: "Cut it out, Yusuke, or you're going to kill him for real!"

The boys wonder why Toguro decided to spare Kuwabara. Kurama suggests Toguro never intended to kill Kuwabara and had in fact hoped that Yusuke would become the one strong enough to defeat him. Koenma speculates that Toguro, regretting his decision to abandon his friends to pursue immortal strength, had been looking for someone that still believed in friendship and had the power to kill him. "We can't know for certain though," says Koenma.

Sakyo appears and tell them they are probably right, that he's known Toguro for a long time and that was exactly the kind of man he was. Sakyo tells them Toguro was delighted to meet Urameshi, for he had been waiting for the chance to fight an extremely powerful opponent in the Ankoku Bujutsukai stadium.

Sakyo acknowledges he's lost the bet made with Koenma, but the Prince of Reikai refuses to take Sakyo's life. However, Sakyo considers the payment of the bet a matter of honor, and tells Koenma not to underestimate his victory over him. He pulls a remote control from his pocket and activates it. The display shows a countdown of fifteen minutes.

The walls of the stadium start shaking and caving in. An electronic voice announces through the speakers that the place will explode. The public runs in panic, looking for an exit.

Sakyo says the explosion will bury him and his ambitions. Shizuru sees Sakyo leaving the arena and runs after him, while Yukina tries to reanimate Keiko, who's still paralyzed from shock. Large parts of the upper galleries break apart and fall, killing several youkais. Koenma goes after Sakyo as well, while the rest of the Urameshi Team goes help the girls. Yusuke is weak and Kurama has to help him walk.

Juri tries to persuade Koto they should leave, but the latter insists they still have to perform the awarding ceremony. Koto only gives the idea up when a huge rock falling from the ceiling barely misses them both.

Shizuru finds Koenma and Sakyo talking in a lower floor. "Don't worry," Sakyo is saying. "My dream will die with me. That is the path I've chosen. My last act in this world will be making sure nothing is left of Toguro's body, as it might have been his wish."

"You should not summon your death before the due time!" protests Koenma.

"You don't understand. My dream was to open a tunnel connecting Ningenkai to Makai. The world would be much more interesting if powerful youkais could travel freely between the two worlds."

He spots Shizuru watching them and smiles tenderly at her. Pulling his cigarette lighter from his pocket, he flings it to her. They exchange a long, silent look. The room caves in over Sakyo. Koenma has to drag a crying Shizuru away.

Kuwabara makes a beeline through the panicky crowd to get to Yukina. The Ice Maiden and Botan are still trying to wake Keiko from her catatonic state.

A large section of the wall is falling over Yukina, and Kuwabara can't reach her on time. When the dust settles down, we see Hiei has pushed her out of danger. Kuwabara growls jealously at the sight of them so close together.

Five minutes before the explosion. Yusuke tries to wake Keiko up by slapping her face several times. It works. She wakes up and immediately knocks Yusuke out with a mighty slap on his face.

Three minutes before the explosion. The gang runs to the exit, and Kuwabara asks Yukina about his sister, but the Ice Maiden didn't see when Shizuru left the group.

The hallway they're in is completely blocked, caved in. Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama, the latter supporting Yusuke, make their way through the mob. Yusuke volunteers to blow up a passage, but Kurama stops him, since Yusuke is clearly too tired for the task.

Two minutes before the explosion. Suddenly the stones blocking the hallway crack and burst, hit by someone from the other side: Chuu, escorted by Rinku, Jin and Touya. Yusuke is happy to see them.

"We couldn't let the champion die, could we?" Chuu grins.

"After all, beating you in the next Tournament is our goal now," Jin adds.

Yusuke promises to be there for the rematch.

As everyone runs through the newly created passage, Keiko hears a familiar chirp and halts. Puu appears and flies into the girl's arms. "Puu, where have you been?" she asks.

"Puu!"

Botan urges Keiko to go on running.

In another corridor, Koenma and Shizuru are also looking for a way out. Koenma stumbles and falls, and finds George, trapped under a pile of rocks, holding his ankle. "Help me, Koenma-sama! Don't leave me here!"

Koenma pulls him free, and gets an overly grateful hug from the oni in return. Thirty seconds before the explosion.

Hundreds of demons run for their lives as the eight-second countdown begins.

When the structure blows up and collapses, they all stop and turn to watch. Kuwabara spots Koenma, Shizuru and George making through the cloud of dust and smoke.

"Now it's really over," Kuwabara sighs. Yusuke agrees.

Shizuru gazes sadly at the lighter Sakyo gave her, brushing a finger over the engraved initials, SW.

Botan remembers that the winners of the Ankoku Bujutsukai should be granted a wish as their prize. But since the stadium exploded before the awarding ceremony could be performed...

The members of the Urameshi Team silently think of what they would have wished as a prize, and they all envision the face of Genkai.

"That's it, Baasan, we've won!" Yusuke yells at the rising smoke from the stadium's ruins.