# Chapter 316: Chikuzen Ohoka
Watching Chikuzen Ohoka respectfully bow, holding out a Business Card with both hands, Hayato, involuntarily, subconsciously took it, offering a polite greeting: "Oh, oh, oh, I've heard much about you."
"That's not right, who cares about that!"
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry, I'm used to it too."
After taking the Business Card, Hayato finally realized this was no time for pleasantries. He tossed the Business Card aside and looked warily at Chikuzen Ohoka, who was adjusting his Glasses with a helpless expression. "What do you want?"
"Don't be so nervous, Mr. Kobayashi Hayato. Unlike the others, I am a civilized man, and I have always believed in justice."
"Believe in justice? But I seem to recall Mokuba telling me that among The Big Five, your talent for twisting black into white is second to none?" Hayato said with disdain. "When KaibaCorp was first established, wasn't a lot of Gozaburo Kaiba's dark Earnings whitewashed with your assistance?"
Hearing Hayato's words, Chikuzen Ohoka smiled. "Doesn't that just prove the excellence of my abilities, Mr. Kobayashi Hayato? Furthermore, I am a lawyer. As a lawyer, believing your client is innocent is a fundamental professional quality."
"As you said, for KaibaCorp to become such a powerful international corporation today, my contributions are undeniable." Chikuzen Ohoka smiled and pushed up his Glasses. "So, Mr. Kobayashi Hayato, could I please ask you to let me use your Body? My great mind cannot simply disappear from this World like this."
As he spoke, the environment around the two of them changed again. Chikuzen Ohoka's Suit transformed into a black robe, and he donned a white curly wig used by judges, sitting on a judge's bench that suddenly rose up, holding a wooden gavel.
Around Hayato, a fence also appeared, enclosing him, clearly the defendant's stand in a courtroom.
"Boring perversion. In the end, you just want to Duel, don't you?"
Hayato helplessly raised his Duel Disk.
In the World of Yu-Gi-Oh!, from saving the World and destroying planets to pursuing the opposite sex and fighting over bread, the final solution to all Conflicts ultimately becomes Dueling to Decide Everything. This point is practically written into the basic Rules established at the beginning of the World.
Due to the DM Online Game, The Big Five's Bodies had fallen into a brain-dead Vegetative State, but their spirits were still wandering in the Virtual World. Even the five figures Hayato and the other six saw when they first entered the Steel Fortress were merely five illusory Virtual Projections.
Unwilling to leave the World like this and wanting to live again, they were saved by Noah Kaiba and given a chance to return to the Real World—by defeating the Duelists who were drawn into this Virtual World and seizing their Bodies. It must be said, Noah Kaiba understood things quite well; he didn't think of solving problems directly with force, which made him much stronger than his own father.
Noah Kaiba's father, Gozaburo Kaiba, founded KaibaCorp, the world's largest arms corporation at the time, dreaming of "ruling the world." But the methods he used were war and arms.
Wanting to rule the world without Dueling? He must have been completely drunk to think that.
So, as expected, Gozaburo Kaiba was soon overthrown and even forced to his death by his "filial" son, Seto Kaiba, under the Influence of the World's Will. And Seto Kaiba decisively changed KaibaCorp's main business from arms to Dueling, a rather wise choice.
Of course, although Gozaburo Kaiba's Body had truly died, just like his own son Noah Kaiba, who died unexpectedly years ago, he had also transformed himself into an Electronic Ghost on the network, even keeping Noah Kaiba in the dark about it. As expected, Noah Kaiba, and Gozaburo Kaiba behind him, were likely monitoring everyone brought into the Virtual World at this moment, right?
The truth was exactly as Hayato thought.
After waking up in the Virtual World, the separated individuals each faced one of The Big Five.
Yugi Mutou, in the Forest, met Kohnosuke Oshita, who had become the Avatar of **Warrior of Deep Sea**;
The hot-bodied Mai Valentine was right in the strike zone of the perverted penguin fan Shuzo Otaki. As **Nightmare Penguin**, he was fiercely battling her on an Ice Field.
Souichirou Oota, who disdained female Bodies and didn't get the short Yugi Mutou or Hayato, became **Machine Sergeant** and faced off against Joey Wheeler in a Factory, who was merely an alternative in his eyes.
And Ishizu Ishtar faced Kogorou Oomon, who had a cautious and stable personality and specifically used **Jinzo - Psychoshocker**, an Avatar targeting her Deck.
Seeing Hayato also raise his Duel Disk, Chikuzen Ohoka adjusted the Glasses on his nose and sneered, "Although I am very much looking forward to getting your young and strong Body, to ensure fairness, there is something I must explain to you beforehand, Mr. Hayato."
"In this World, the Cards we can use are only those that have been recorded in the KaibaCorp database. Your Gaia and Performapal Monsters are not included."
"Also, for the sake of fairness, Duels in the Virtual World follow special 'Deck Master' Rules."
What are "Deck Master" Rules?
It's actually quite simple: you choose one Card from your Deck to be the Deck Master. The Card chosen as the Deck Master, even if it was originally just a Normal Monster, will gain a special ability.
A Monster chosen as the Deck Master can also be Special Summoned, ignoring restrictions, and can be used for special Summoning methods like Fusion or Ritual Summon. The newly Summoned Monster will also inherit the Deck Master status. However, as a cost, if the Deck Master is defeated, no matter how many Life Points are left, you will be immediately declared the loser.
"My Deck Master is **The Judge**." As Chikuzen Ohoka pointed a finger in the air in front of him, a Card appeared above his head and quickly enlarged, covering his Body. As the Card passed through Chikuzen Ohoka's Body, his appearance also transformed into the form of the Duel Monster **The Judge**.
"Although I am usually a defense lawyer, the most indispensable role in a courtroom is the chief judge. I shall temporarily fill in."
Chikuzen Ohoka, who had become **The Judge**, habitually adjusted the position of his Glasses.
Hayato looked at Chikuzen Ohoka in his **The Judge** form and frowned. Although he wasn't entirely sure if his Memory was reliable, Hayato vaguely remembered that **The Judge**'s Deck Master ability was quite broken. It could Banish all Monsters on the opponent's Field at the cost of 1000 Life Points, and for each one, it could inflict 500 Life Points of Burn damage to the opponent.
It's Non-Targeting, a Quick-Play Effect that clears the opponent's entire Field, with a cost of only 1000 Life Points while also having a Burn effect. It easily recoups the cost by Banishing just two Monsters. More importantly, this guy's effect didn't have a once per turn restriction.
Although in the original plot, this guy used such a cheating effect and even actively cheated, he was ultimately taken down by Joey Wheeler's set of reckless combos. But Hayato felt that just in case, it would be better to carefully consider the Cards he would use. If he messed up, that would be too embarrassing.
In front of Hayato, a constantly scrolling virtual screen appeared like a revolving sushi belt, displaying Duel Monsters Cards before him. As Chikuzen Ohoka had just said, although Hayato saw **Gaia the Fierce Knight**, **Curse of Dragon**, and **Gaia the Dragon Champion**, there were no other Gaia support cards.
The only exception was the **Rainbow Kuriboh** Card. The reason this Card appeared was simple: before Duel City, Hayato had sparred with Kaiba a few times and had helped Kaiba input information on some of his Cards to help Kaiba design Duel Robots.
Then, the Duel Robots, which had cost Mokuba, Hayato, and Kaiba a lot of effort and hadn't finished all their tests, were destroyed by the AI Duelist Prince Kaiba, who was hyped up Dueling with **Obelisk the Tormentor**.
Tapping his finger repeatedly on the scrolling screen, Hayato quickly completed a new Deck and replaced the Deck in his Duel Disk with it. Hayato also glanced at his original Deck. Although the Cards looked completely normal, nothing could be read when placed on the Duel Disk; they were clearly just decorations with card art.
"I've finished my Deck."
Chikuzen Ohoka glanced at Hayato, who had finished his Deck, nodded, and said, "Then, choose your Deck Master, Mr. Kobayashi Hayato. No, I should say Defendant Kobayashi Hayato now."
Hayato placed his hand above his Deck, directly drew a Card, and held it up: "The Monster I choose is this one."
As Hayato drew the Card and showed it to Chikuzen Ohoka, a green Monster appeared beside Hayato. A plant warrior covered in dangerous spikes, **Cactus Fighter**!
After selecting **Cactus Fighter** as his Deck Master, Hayato also saw the effect of the Deck Master version of **Cactus Fighter** that appeared on the Card. Originally, Hayato was thinking of using its own effect, but **Cactus Fighter** as the Deck Master seemed even better?
"Then, let the Duel begin!" Seeing that Hayato had chosen **Cactus Fighter** as his Deck Master, Chikuzen Ohoka tapped the hammer in his hand once, announcing the start of the Duel. At the same time, having finished checking **Cactus Fighter**'s effect, he thought dismissively:
'An effect that Special Summons a Needle Token in Defense Position on the opponent's Field after destroying a monster by battle, which has unclear meaning. Even if it became the Deck Master, it can only grant this effect to other Monsters.'
'I originally thought he would choose Monsters like **Ojama King**, **Gaia the Dragon Champion**, or **Rainbow Kuriboh** as his Deck Master. By choosing such a weak monster as his Deck Master, may you meet your defeat at the hands of my **The Judge**, King of Games!'
"Duel!" x2
[Ohoka: 4000 LP]
[Hayato: 4000 LP]
"I'll take the first turn. My turn, Drawing cards." Drawing a Card, Chikuzen Ohoka sneered, "There are still too few people in the courtroom. Let me get some assistants. I activate the Spell Card **Fusion**! I fuse **Armored Zombie** and **One-Eyed Shield Dragon** from my hand as Fusion Material! Fusion Summon **Magical Warrior Dragoness**!"
Although the name was quite intimidating, and if you didn't know, you might think Chikuzen Ohoka had Summoned some incredible Monster, what ultimately emerged from the **Fusion** Vortex and came onto Ohoka's Field was just a Level 3 vanilla Fusion Monster, with 1200 ATK and 900 DEF, not even as useful as a slightly stronger Normal Monster.
Seeing **Magical Warrior Dragoness** appear, Ohoka played another Card: "You seem a bit disappointed with the Monster I Summoned, Defendant Kobayashi Hayato? Don't rush, I'm going to use this Card."
"Quick-Play Spell Card **De-Fusion**! I release the Fusion state of **Magical Warrior Dragoness** on my Field, and then Special Summon **Armored Zombie** and **One-Eyed Shield Dragon**, the Fusion Material, from the Graveyard in Defense Position!"
**Magical Warrior Dragoness**, which had just made a brief appearance, disappeared from Chikuzen Ohoka's Field again, and the two Monsters previously used as Fusion Material returned to Ohoka's Field.
While Hayato was surprised that either of the two Fusion Material Monsters was much more useful than the Fusion Monster **Magical Warrior Dragoness**, he also felt a bit familiar with the operation Ohoka performed.
"Hmph hmph, although I didn't know much about Duel Monsters in the past, I am an elite graduate from Tokyo University. A game like Duel Monsters can be completely understood just by watching recordings." As if he had noticed the surprise on Hayato's face, **The Judge** that Chikuzen Ohoka had become smiled proudly, revealing the sharp fangs in his mouth.
"Aren't you very familiar with the situation on the Field? The Monster I'm about to Summon next will definitely be even more familiar." Ohoka played a Card from his hand and said excitedly, "I Tribute **Armored Zombie** and **One-Eyed Shield Dragon** on my Field for a Tribute Summon! Come forth, **Sword Hunter**!"
Although Chikuzen Ohoka performed a classic, cringe-worthy five-for-one play, **Sword Hunter**, covered in blades, appeared on his Field.
"With my help, KaibaCorp has constantly turned past crises into new strength. **Sword Hunter** is a Card that symbolizes my great mind. Each time it destroys a monster by battle, it can Equip the Destroyed Card to itself to increase its Attack Points."
"Then I activate the Spell Card **Legendary Sword**! I increase **Sword Hunter**'s Attack Points and Defense Points by 300." Playing the last Card in his hand, Chikuzen Ohoka adjusted his Glasses, then belatedly realized that he, having become **The Judge**, didn't have Glasses at all.
"Since it's the first turn, I cannot enter the Battle Phase. Therefore, I End Turn."
"Now it's your turn to speak, Defendant Kobayashi Hayato."
[Chikuzen Ohoka: 4000 LP, Hand 0]
[Sword Hunter] (**Legendary Sword**) [ATK 2450 → 2750]