Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Jaden Yuki: "What? You don't know where Daitokuji-sensei went? Really?"

Yusei: "You've never left this island either?"

Principal Samejima: "Yes, we've already investigated, and there's no sign of them leaving the island..."

Professor Chronos: "That Daitokuji guy, it's like he vanished into thin air! We have absolutely no idea where he went~ Here he is~"

"It seems that Master Daitokuji is indeed in the Dark Duel..." With his head raised, Manjou uttered a sarcastic remark.

“…Manjoume!” With a look signaling Manjoume to stop, Asuka turned her gaze back to Principal Samejima, awaiting his next answer.

“No, there’s no sign that the seal on the Seven Star Gate has been broken, so Daitokuji should still be safe.” Simply stating the results of the investigation, Principal Samejima also showed a look of doubt on his face.

As the principal, Samejima was equally puzzled by Daitokuji's whereabouts and the mysteries surrounding him.

"So, does that mean he's waiting for us to rescue him somewhere?" Upon hearing this, Judai Yuki's face lit up with hope.

Perhaps, Daitokuji-sensei was not the perpetrator, but rather someone who was being threatened.

I don't need to make up my mind and fight him like Yusei said?

Principal Samejima: "Well..."

Jaden Yuki: "That must be it! We need to find him as soon as possible!"

"That's true, but how exactly are we going to find him?" Yusei asked Jaden Yuki, who firmly believed that Daitokuji-sensei was innocent. "Even the principal couldn't find Daitokuji-sensei. Do you think you can find him, Jaden?"

"This... he's our Osiris Red's teacher! Surely someone has seen him, right?" Jaden Yuki, caught off guard by the question, showed a troubled expression.

Yes...where should we even begin to look? It's like searching for a needle in a haystack, we have no idea where to even start!

"In short... we will continue to search for Master Daitokuji's whereabouts..." After making a concluding statement, Principal Samejima stood up and looked out the window: "If you plan to go find him yourselves, then you must be careful."

"……Oh!"

……

"Since we have no clue, shall we start by searching in Master Daitokuji's room?"

Upon returning to the Osiris Red Dormitory, Yusei and his group went to the administrator's room.

After the teacher of Daitoku-ji Temple and the Pharaoh disappeared together, the place suddenly became deserted, and there was no trace of human activity.

The group, divided into teams, began searching every nook and cranny of the room.

"...After searching for a long time, all I found was this note."

Yusei pulled a handwritten note from between the pages of the book and beckoned everyone to gather around him.

Judai Yuki: "This is indeed the handwriting of Master Daitokuji... but the content..."

Yusei: "What a beautiful... forest...? What do you mean?"

"Hmph!!! So that's how it is... I've seen it!" Taking the note from Yusei's hand, Manjoume laughed and declared, "I swear on my name, Manjoume the Lightning, I will solve all the mysteries!"

Yusei: "Stop with the nonsense and just tell me what you think!"

Jaden Yuki: "Yeah, yeah, hurry up and stop dawdling!"

“You guys…” Wan Zhangmu gritted his teeth with a hint of complaint, shook his head, and continued, “This mark is the key to unlocking all the mysteries!”

"Is...is that so?" Swallowing hard, Jaden Yuki showed an expectant expression.

“Of course… I can hear the message that Master Daitokuji is hiding in here!” Nodding in deep agreement, Manjoume stated his deduction: “Master Daitokuji was tricked out by someone using a phone call! And this letter is something left behind from that time.”

Everyone: "Could it be...?"

Manjoume: "That's right! So, Master Daitokuji was summoned to the forest, and the culprit who summoned him is..."

"...Aunt Duomei?!"

Imagining the fierce look on the principal's wife's face, everyone couldn't help but show a mocking attitude towards Wan Zhangmu's guess: "You mean to say that the auntie at the convenience store who can't even understand a duel is the final Seven Star King?"

"Manjoume, are you out of your mind?"

"Exactly, why would anyone need to become the Seven Star King?"

"Stop...stop arguing!" Wan Zhangmu, whose point of view was being questioned, picked up the phone in the administrator's office: "Since you've put it that way, then call the convenience store and ask!"

"Whether they are innocent or not, wouldn't it be clear if we just asked them?"

"Ask away!" Taking the phone from Manjoume's hand, Yusei dialed Aunt Tomie's number and began asking about the note.

"Ah...that!" Aunt Tomyo replied casually when she answered the phone, "That must be the previous invoice, right? Mr. Daitokuji really likes [Forest Yakisoba]! So he asked me to get it~"

Manjoume: "..."

Hearing the voice reply from the speaker, Manjoume, looking embarrassed, spoke up to defend himself: "Hmph! Although you didn't guess correctly, this still eliminates one suspect! I believe we'll find Master Daitokuji soon!"

Everyone: "...It's still a long way off, okay?!"

Manjoume: "(⊙o⊙)..."

"Wait... there's this too!" Wan Zhangmu, wiping the sweat from his brow and brandishing the map in his hand, quickly shouted in the face of the skeptical looks from the crowd, "This time it will definitely work! Trust me one more time... everyone!"

"Hmm... what's wrong this time?"

With his arms crossed, Yusei's face still held a look of suspicion.

He wanted to see what new tricks Wan Zhangmu could come up with.

"This is it! This is what I'm talking about!" Wan Zhangmu spread the map out on the floor and pointed to a swirling symbol on it: "Look at this, isn't this the alchemical symbol we talked about in class today?"

"……really."

“Master Daitokuji must be using alchemy to transmit his location!” The more he talked, the more he felt that his words made sense, and the corners of Manjoume’s mouth slowly curled up, revealing a look of deep agreement on his face.

"Isn't this... a bit too naive?" Still harboring doubts, Yusei voiced his guess.

If it were that simple, the principal and the others would have surely discovered Master Daitokuji's whereabouts...

"However, perhaps there's some useful information..."

With a slight frown and stroking his chin, Jaden Yuki suggested, "Anyway... we don't have any other clues right now, so why don't we just go and take a look at this place?"

"Then... let's go take a look!" Seeing that no one else objected, Yusei made the final conclusion.

"Oh!" Jaden Yuki, who was the first to rush out of the room, put his Duel Disk on his arm and was fully prepared, clenched his fist tightly: "...Daitokuji-sensei's investigation team and rescue team! Let's set off!"

Manjoume: "Wait, if it's a team, then we need a leader, right?"

Everyone: "...So?"

"So I'll reluctantly become the captain!" Wan Zhangmu said, rubbing the cat toy (foxtail grass) in his hand with a matter-of-fact expression.

“…Alright, alright!” Since Manjoume was willing to be the vanguard and scout ahead, Yusei had no objection.

……

"Captain Lightning, I'd like to hear your plan!"

"Yes, I'd like to know too!"

Walking through the forest leading to their destination, the group turned to Manjoume, who was walking at the front, and asked him their questions.

"Hmph hmph hmph~~~ A plan, huh?"

Stopping in his tracks, turning around to face the crowd, Manjoume said with a smug look, "Speaking of my plan, it's absolutely foolproof!"

"Could it be... the operation you mentioned before, the one that would lure out the Pharaoh?" Yusei asked tentatively, looking at the cat toy in Manjoume's hand.

Manjoume: "..."

"In short... I have a very detailed plan!!!"

Yusei saw through the plan, and Manjoume's smile froze on his face.

After coughing nervously a few times, he pretended nothing had happened and continued walking into the depths of the forest.

Unbeknownst to them, a mysterious figure draped in a cloak was watching Yusei and his group as they searched for traces of Daitoku-ji Temple in the forest, perched on a branch of a large tree above them…

……

Obelisk Blue Dormitory.

After parting ways with Yusei and the others in the principal's office, Asuka returned to her dormitory alone.

However, as she walked to the nearby Obelisk Blue boys' dormitory, she suddenly heard the sound of shattering glass coming from Fubuki's room in Tenjōin.

"...Brother! Are you alright?"

Following the direction from which the sound came, she rushed towards the room where Fubuki was, filled with worry.

Then... she saw shards of glass scattered all over the floor, and a mysterious, swirling pattern printed on the carpet in the room.

That was the symbol of alchemy that Professor Chronos had shown her in class today.

The figure of Tenjōin Fubuki was not inside the room.

With a puzzled look, Asuka walked to the balcony and could only see a figure fleeing into the depths of the forest in the distance.

"...What was that sound just now?"

"And who exactly was that intruder...?"

With these doubts in mind, Asuka, without having time to think too much, leaped from the second-floor balcony, landing steadily on the ground. Then, she quickened her pace and chased after the figure.

414 The might of the universe! (5K)

"...Wait a minute!"

Chasing after the mysterious figure cloaked in gray, obscuring their body, Asuka stretched out her arm and shouted, "You...you're the last of the Seven Star Kings, aren't you? Where did you take my brother?"

"..."

Without answering Asuka's question, the mysterious figure, cloaked in gray and seemingly the last of the Seven Star Kings, stopped in the shadows ahead after hearing the voice. He then slowly turned around, raised his Duel Disk, and pointed it at Asuka.

Judging from his appearance, he clearly intended to get rid of Asuka, the troublesome pursuer, through a duel.

"...So you're planning a duel?"

As the mysterious man unfolded his duel disk, Asuka fearlessly raised her own arm and stretched out her own duel disk: "If I win, give my brother back to me!"

"...Duel!"