Difference between revisions of "Seto Kaiba (manga)"

Appears in
Manga	Yu-Gi-Oh!; Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist; Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World; Yu-Gi-Oh! R; Yu-Gi-Oh! GX;
Anime	Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions;
Books	Yu-Gi-Oh! Character Guidebook: The Gospel of Truth;

Japanese
Japanese	海馬（かいば）瀬人（せと）
Base	海馬瀬人
Furigana	かいばせと
Rōmaji	Kaiba Seto

Seto Kaiba
Names
English	Seto Kaiba;
Other	KAI (high score tables) Kaiba
Japanese
Japanese
Japanese	海馬（かいば）瀬人（せと）
Base	海馬瀬人
Furigana	かいばせと
Rōmaji	Kaiba Seto
Personal
Birth	October 25, 1980;
Age	18 (DSOD)
Height	1.86 m <br />6.102 ft <br />73.228 in <br />186 cm;
Weight	143.3 lb <br />65 kg;
Gender	Male;
Blood type	A;
Favorite food	Beef fillet
Least favorite food	Oden
Relatives
	Parents; Mokuba Kaiba (younger brother); Gozaburo Kaiba (adoptive father);
Career ; Education;
Occupation	CEO
Organization	KaibaCorp
School	Domino High School
Duelist;
Battle City	Top 4
Deck	Power / Virus
Appearances
Manga debut	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 9: "The Cards with Teeth (Part 1)"
Manga
Appears in
Manga	Yu-Gi-Oh!; Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist; Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World; Yu-Gi-Oh! R; Yu-Gi-Oh! GX;
Anime	Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions;
Books	Yu-Gi-Oh! Character Guidebook: The Gospel of Truth;
	Kaiba, Seto

Revision as of 20:01, 27 April 2024

Seto Kaiba (海馬（かいば）瀬人（せと） Kaiba Seto) is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. This is the original depiction of Seto Kaiba, as created by Kazuki Takahashi.

Kaiba is a rival of Yugi Mutou and Dark Yugi. He was first introduced as a prodigious, cold-hearted gamer who stopped at nothing to achieve his goals, even resorting to seemingly killing his opponents. He is also Mokuba's older brother and the current majority shareholder and CEO of his own multi-national gaming company, KaibaCorp, and aims to become the world's greatest player of Duel Monsters.

Following his second Duel with Yugi, he was left in a coma, where he reconstructed his heart and emerged less evil. Since then, he retains his arrogance, but regains compassion for his younger brother, Mokuba. He is homologous to the ancient Egyptian Priest, Seto.

Design

Conception

Seto Kaiba is based on a collectible card games player whom a friend of Kazuki Takahashi met. Takahashi's friend asked this person to teach him how to play a card game, but he replied "Hmph! Come back when you've collected 10,000 cards". The story made Takahashi mad, but he then thought the player would make a good character.^[4]

Takahashi had originally considered making Kaiba the heir to a gaming company and have him challenge Yugi using strange games he continuously comes up with, but on short notice, ended up having him play Duel Monsters a second time. He also reconstructed Kaiba to make him a semi-lead character and rival to Yugi.^[5]

The name "Seto" came from the Egyptian deity, Set.^[5] Set is pronounced as "Seto" in Japanese. However, the comparison between Seto Kaiba and the deity Set goes beyond the name. In ancient Egyptian religion, Set shares a well-documented and violent rivalry with his relative Horus for the Kingship of Egypt. In Egyptian mythology, Horus is also known as the god of sun and protection while Set is known to be the god of war and chaos. During their conflict, while Horus is seen as a wise and a lawful god, Set is often depicted as extreme, violent and deceitful, who will stop at nothing to achieve his ends, a behavior that can be paralleled to Seto's. Set is also often drawn with was-scepter. This scepter had the power to control the darkness and was the symbol of dominion over things and individuals. Such a scepter can be related to the Millennium Rod carried by Priest Seto. This popular Egyptian rivality and Seth's personality may have been a strong inspiration for Seto Kaiba's conception.

Appearance

Seto Kaiba has brown hair, blue eyes and a slim build with broad shoulders. He often has a stern and condescending expression on his face.

Standing at 1.86 m, Kaiba is one of the tallest of all the major characters. He initially wore the common Domino High School uniform, with his coat closed and carried his steel briefcase instead of a bag. Later, he wore a similar white uniform with some gold ornament on the collar. After his coma, Kaiba tended to wear form-fitting long coats which emphasized his height; during Duelist Kingdom, he wore a simple blue coat; in the lead-up to Battle Bity he wore a high-shouldered purple coat, and during the events of Battle City he wore his most iconic coat, his sleeveless white studded coat, in addition to belts strapped around his limbs.

Personality

Prior to his second defeat against Yugi, Kaiba was cruel and arrogant. He went as far as pushing people into committing suicide to achieve his ends. After he woke up from his comatose state, he showed more respect to individuals, but retained his arrogance, leading Yugi and his friends to believe he had not changed.

As an established gamer, inventor and CEO of KaibaCorp, he is regarded as a young genius.

Before the Duelist Kingdom's events, Kaiba was shown to be quite severe and careless about his younger brother, Mokuba. Later, he is depicted as being more protective toward him to the point of risking his life in order to save him.

Kaiba is willing to put his life or other lives on the line to achieve his goals or settle a conflict. He showed almost no fear when Dark Yugi warned him about the possibility of fatal outcome of a Shadow Game and tries to kill Yugi and his friends, during Death-T. However, when he learned that death was the price to be paid in Yugi's Duel with the brainwashed Jonouchi, Kaiba was sickened by the prospect, claiming that even at his worst he would not have done this and attempted to stop the Duel.

Biography

Adoption and KaibaCorp takeover

Seto and Mokuba, at the orphanage

At a young age, Seto and his younger brother Mokuba were orphaned. Their mother died when Mokuba was born, and their father died in an accident when Seto was about eight. Their other relatives used up their inheritance and afterward left them at an orphanage. At the orphanage, Seto promised to make life better for him and Mokuba and would advise him not to cry, saying that they should not show weakness. He taught Mokuba how to play chess and they lived to play each day. A photograph of them was taken playing chess one day. Mokuba believed that the time the picture was taken was the last time he saw Seto smile.^[6]

Seto's school program

The then-head of KaibaCorp, Gozaburo Kaiba, arrived at the orphanage to adopt an heir. Seto, who was 10 at the time, saw the chance to challenge him to a game of chess, with the stakes being that Gozaburo was to adopt Seto and Mokuba together, should Seto win. Seto won the game by cheating and Gozaburo adopted both brothers, changing their surname to "Kaiba".^[6]

Life with Gozaburo was the complete opposite of the luxury that Seto and Mokuba expected after the adoption, as Gozaburo forced Seto into a rigorously accelerated school program, forcing him to study several subjects, including economics, social studies, foreign languages, and game strategy. Gozaburo did not realize that he was not raising an heir, but a powerful enemy.^[6]

Six years later, Seto managed to take control of KaibaCorp, which became finalized at a board meeting, in which the other member of the board, sided with Seto. After announcing that the company now belonged to him, Seto asked if he had learned what his father wanted. Gozaburo replied that he lost his game with Seto and told him to burn it into his brain that this is what a loser deserves, before committing suicide by jumping out a window. Kaiba accepted his message "to lose means to die" and thanked Gozaburo for teaching it to him.^[6]

Experience of Death

Kaiba visited the Kame Game shop, where he met Yugi Mutou and Katsuya Jonouchi from his class. When Jonouchi learned that he played Duel Monsters, he offered to let him join their group playing it at school. However Kaiba ridiculed the idea of them being in his league and tossed Jonouchi's cards over his shoulder, calling them useless. He boasted about competing at national level and told Jonouchi to come back after collecting at least ten thousand cards. Kaiba was surprised to see Sugoroku Mutou's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" card on the counter. He had previously thought he would never see a copy of that card and now thought he could be invincible if he owned it. He offered to trade all the cards in his briefcase for it, but Sugoroku refused, due to the card's sentimental value and told Kaiba that if he cared for every card in the briefcase, he would learn the true strength of the game. Kaiba stormed off, vowing to get the card later.^[7]

Kaiba and Dark Yugi's first Duel

The next day at school, Kaiba watched Yugi and Jonouchi Dueling and thought that the elementary school students at the national tournament were even better than Jonouchi. He learned that Yugi had brought Sugoroku's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" with him, so he pretended to have learned a lesson about loving the cards from Sugoroku and asked Yugi if he could see the card. Yugi complied and Kaiba switched it with a counterfeit. Yugi noticed what he did, but did not want to mention it in front of the other students, so he confronted Kaiba after school. Kaiba tried acting innocent, but eventually got fed up with Yugi and hit him in the head with his briefcase. He confessed that he did not care about loving cards and asked Yugi to tell Sugoroku that it does not matter how you play the game, but whether you win or lose.^[7]

Kaiba's Experience of Death Penalty Game

Dark Yugi then emerged and challenged Kaiba to a Shadow Game of Duel Monsters. Dark Yugi informed him that the rules would be a bit different in this Duel and Kaiba was surprised to see lifelike projections of the monsters from the cards appear as the were played them.^[7] As Kaiba was about to lose, he slipped the stolen "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from his pocket to his hand and played it. He lied that it was not Sugoroku's card, but one he had gotten from someone else. Remaining loyal to Sugoroku's soul, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" refused to attack and betrayed Kaiba, by destroying itself. Dark Yugi defeated Kaiba after reviving the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" with "Monster Reborn".^[8]

Dark Yugi inflicted the "Experience of Death" Penalty Game on Kaiba for losing. This caused Kaiba to fall under the illusion that he had become a Duel Monsters card. Inside the card, he resided in the world of Duel Monsters, where he repeatedly experienced death at the hands of other monsters. Dark Yugi hoped that by becoming a card, Kaiba would learn to understand the heart of the cards.^[8]

Kaiba awoke from the illusion eventually, but continued to suffer nightmares about it.^[9]

Solid Vision development

Kaiba, as Pegasus' special guest at Pegasus and Keith's Duel

Kaiba began work on creating holographic technology to heighten the experience of playing Duel Monsters. He designed the Battle Boxes, which were arenas that players sat inside while playing Duel Monsters and would be surrounded by projections of the monsters they Summon.

Kaiba passed the Battle Box idea on to the creator of Duel Monsters, Maximillion J. Pegasus. Pegasus invited Kaiba as his special guest to witness his televised Duel against the Card Professor, Keith Howard. At the Duel, Pegasus simply sat in front of Keith for a few seconds, then wrote down some instructions on a piece of paper, which he gave to Tom, a beginner from the audience, to use against Keith. While Tom dueled Keith, Pegasus sat with Kaiba and accepted his proposal. Kaiba was stunned by Pegasus' actions during the Duel. When Tom won and it was confirmed that Pegasus had written down all of Keith's strategies on the paper, Kaiba inferred that Pegasus must have read Keith's mind.^[10]

Kaiba later visited the Duelist Kingdom island to attend a party celebrating the completion of the Battle Boxes.^[11]

To combat Pegasus' Mind Scan, Kaiba began making Duel Disks. With them, Duel Monsters players would be able to stand further apart and avoid face-to-face contact, which he hoped would be enough to avoid having his mind read.

Death-T

Prior

The four "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cards were possessed by an American, a German, a Hong Konger, and Sugoroku Mutou of Japan. Kaiba took the cards belonging to the former three by forcing one person into bankruptcy, by making deals with the mafia and forcing one person to commit suicide.^[9]

Kaiba worked on constructing a Kaiba Land theme park in Domino City and spent 10 billion yen on the Death-T park, which was set on simulating the Experience of Death, through Solid Vision, in order to get his revenge on Yugi.^[9] He hired people such as professional hitmen,^[12] torturer^[13] and a serial killer to work in stages of Death-T.^[14] Mokuba also offered to face Yugi in one of the stages. Kaiba tried talking him out of it, believing Mokuba to be no match for Yugi, but Mokuba insisted and took the role anyway in the hopes of winning Seto's respect. Kaiba and Mokuba bet on which stage of Death-T Yugi would die on, with Kaiba choosing the final stage, meaning he bet Mokuba would lose.^[15]

Kaiba, Dueling Sugoroku

Kaiba invited Yugi and Jonouchi to his mansion the night before the grand opening of the Kaiba Land^[16] and had Sugoroku Mutou kidnapped unbeknownst to them. He had planned on giving Yugi and Jonouchi a personal welcome, but fell asleep after long nonstop work. He suffered the Experience of Death nightmare that night, which he found ironic the next day as he planned on never having that dream again after Death-T. Kaiba learned that Mokuba had tried to kill his guests in his absence, but laughed it off, saying "boys will be boys".^[9]

Kaiba brought Yugi and Jonouchi to the opening as his special guests. This opening took place three days before the park was open to the public. Yugi, Jonouchi and other children Kaiba had invited were given access, free of charge. This caused Yugi and Jonouchi to think they may have misjudged Kaiba. However Kaiba was confronted by a former KaibaCorp employee, who accused him of driving his father to commit suicide. That man was quickly removed. After letting Yugi and Jonouchi use a number of rides, he took them to a special show. There he revealed he had kidnapped Sugoroku, and then faced him in a game of Duel Monsters in his new Battle Box simulators. Sugoroku used "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", but lost as he was overwhelmed by the projections and Kaiba's three "Blue-Eyes White Dragons".^[9]

Kaiba, tearing up Sugoroku's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon"

Kaiba tore up Sugoroku's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" card, as Sugoroku's punishment for losing and the card's punishment for betraying him before. He also had Sugoroku subjected to an artificial Penalty Game, where he was attacked by holographic monsters. Kaiba got Yugi to swear to participate in Death-T in exchange for releasing his grandfather.^[9] Yugi accepted, but Jonouchi would not let him do it alone. Their friend Hiroto Honda, who was in the audience with his nephew Johji also accompanied them. Kaiba agreed to let them help Yugi, thinking that it just meant he would bury them all in the same grave. Kaiba allowed the other children he had invited to Kaiba Land to watch Death-T from the stalls. They believed Yugi and his friends were special guests given access to another theme park, but were unaware that its intention was to kill Yugi. Kaiba himself, monitored the events from a control room.^[12]

Death T-1

Kaiba discovers that Anzu Mazaki had been hired.

In the first stage, Death T-1, Kaiba had arranged for Yugi and his friends face the hitmen, Johnny Gayle, Bob McGuire and "name unknown" in a shootout game. The objective was to eliminate enemy players by shooting a sensor on their vests. However Kaiba supplied ineffective guns for Yugi, Jonouchi and Honda, while the hitmen were given lethal guns. Before the game began, an attendant was to explain the rules to Yugi and his friends. However someone had hired Anzu Mazaki, for that role. Kaiba was annoyed on discovering this, as he knew she was a friend of Yugi.^[12] Just before the shootout began, Kaiba appeared on monitors on the floor. He warned Yugi that his opponents were mercenaries and told him to enjoy his "last game". Kaiba's promise of a ¥10,000 bounty to each hitman for each opponent they killed, made the hitmen less willing to work together. Jonouchi's surprise attack, later followed by Honda's discovery of the ineffective guns and use of Anzu's working gun, allowed Yugi and his friends to win the shootout. Anzu accompanied Yugi for the next few games.^[17]

Death T-2

The holographic projection of Kaiba

In Death T-2, Kaiba had his butler, a former torturer, take Yugi and his friends to the Murderer's Mansion on the Electric Chair Ride. On the ride, the players were subjected to terrors and would be electrocuted to death if they screamed. His butler was killed in this stage, as Johji defecated on his lap, causing him to scream.^[13]

Inside the Murderer's Mansion, Kaiba appeared before the group via holographic projection. He compared Yugi's group to living chess pieces being brought closer to checkmate and warned them that the serial killer, the Chopman, was hidden in the mansion. He explained that in order to find the exit, they would need to put their hands through four holes in the wall and press the correct button at the opposite side. Once their hands were inside the holes, Kaiba had them cuffed in place and showed them the guillotine above, which would drop in five minutes or if an incorrect button was pushed. Before disappearing, he told them he had left a clue to finding the correct button, in the room. Yugi solved the bllood clue, revealing the exit and saving him and his friends.^[14]

Kaiba, on the monitor on the Chopman's stomach

Before Yugi's group left the mansion, the Chopman kidnapped Johji. Kaiba got Johji, who was a fan of his, to pretend he was alone in a room to lure Yugi and his friends in. He also gave him orders to attach a handcuff to whoever entered the room. The others would not believe Johji when he said he was alone, so Kaiba appeared on a monitor attached to the Chopman's torso. He said that one person had to enter the room to play a game with the Chopman, or he would give the Chopman the order to kill Johji. Jonouchi stepped inside and Johji attached the cuff, which was strung through a pedestal and attached to the Chopman. Kaiba explained that when the game began, each player would pick a weapon and fight to the death. Jonouchi managed to win by picking the handcuff lock with a candlestick holder and tricking the Chopman into ripping open the door and incinerating himself.^[18]

Death T-3

As Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu, Honda and Johji made their way to Death T-3, Kaiba realized that he underestimated some factors. He acknowledged that they were a good team and that their close friendship had been the key to beating the games, but he planned on breaking that union in the next stage. He thought to himself that friendship is just an illusion, evidenced by his theory that people in danger would be willing to betray their friends to save themselves. In this stage, blocks fell from the ceiling. The players had to avoid being flattened and climb the blocks to reach the exit. Kaiba assumed that their numbers would be a liability in this game and that they could not win without sacrificing a player. Everyone made it out, except Honda, who became trapped.^[19] Kaiba then compared Yugi to the king chess piece, Jonouchi to the knight and Honda to the rook and stated that the rook had been captured, beginning the countdown to checkmate.^[15]

Death T-4

Mokuba confronts Kaiba over their bet.

Before Death T-4 began, Mokuba reminded Kaiba of their bet and got mad at Kaiba for betting Yugi would beat him. However Kaiba stood by his decision. He accused Mokuba of trying to show him up by challenging Yugi to a game before and said he knew the outcome of that game. However Mokuba claimed he had done it in the hope that Kaiba would like him if he won. Kaiba yelled at him that there is no such thing as brotherly love in the gaming world and until Mokuba realizes that he would always be a loser. Mokuba stormed off, determined to show Kaiba that he could defeat Yugi and prove he was a gamer.^[15]

In Death T-4, Mokuba was defeated by Dark Yugi in a game of Capsule Monster Chess. Afterwards, Kaiba appeared on monitors over the Battle Box and gave Dark Yugi directions to Death T-5, where he said he was waiting. He spoke to Mokuba, stating how he had felt his "pathetic loser's gaze" staring at him for years. He reminded him of his repeatedly warning that if he played with fire he would get burned. He announced that only the winner could leave the Battle Box, while the loser must face a Penalty Game. To Mokuba's surprise, Kaiba subjected him to the Experience of Death. Dark Yugi, who was also shocked that Kaiba would do this to his own brother, reached into the Battle Box and pulled out Mokuba. This caused Mokuba to think about how Kaiba had changed since they were adopted and wondered if Yugi could return him to normal.^[20]

Death T-5

Kaiba, Dueling Dark Yugi in Death T-5

In Death T-5, Kaiba faced Dark Yugi in a game of Duel Monsters. He dominated the early stages of the game with "Saggi the Dark Clown" equipped with "Dark Energy", until it was defeated by Dark Yugi's "Gaia the Fierce Knight".^[21] He then began Summoning his "Blue-Eyes White Dragons". Dark Yugi managed to hold two of them off with "Swords of Revealing Light".^[22] When all three were eventually free to attack, Dark Yugi drew the last piece of "Exodia" and defeated Kaiba.^[23]

Kaiba, reassembling the puzzle of his heart

For Kaiba's Penalty Game, Dark Yugi inflicted the "Mind Crush" on him, destroying his evil side and leaving him in a coma. Mokuba disclosed his and Kaiba's history to Dark Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu and Honda, detailing how Kaiba had changed for the worst. Dark Yugi explained that Kaiba was now reassembling the shattered puzzle of his heart, one piece at a time, with his own strength, so he would not make any mistakes that time. Mokuba vowed to wait forever when Dark Yugi said that Kaiba would return once the puzzle was completed.^[6]

Duelist Kingdom

Off-island

Kaiba, in the coma

Kaiba remained in a coma for the next six months.^[24] In the hopes of helping Kaiba finish the puzzle, Mokuba constructed two lockets, using a torn photo of them from the orphanage and put it around Seto's neck, believing it to be the final piece of the puzzle.^[25] Yugi believed that Kaiba would change once he awoke from his coma. He sometimes visited him in the hospital and refrained from entering Duel Monsters tournaments, until he could fight Kaiba in a fair Duel in one.^[26] Kaiba was later taken back to his mansion, where he remained under twenty-four-hour care. Some of the best doctors in the world looked at him and thought he might spend the rest of his life in that state.^[27]

Kaiba's comatose state negatively impacted the management of KaibaCorp and caused stock to drop. His loss to Dark Yugi lowered the company's image, which had been dependent on Kaiba's status as the number one gamer in Japan. With the company in a poor state, Maximillion J. Pegasus took the opportunity to try and take over it, by making a deal with the company's leading shareholders, The Big Five. As part of the agreement, the Big Five needed to steal documents from Kaiba's safe, but then had to kidnap Mokuba, who swallowed the key to the safe.^[27] Before he was kidnapped, Mokuba left a report detailing what happened in Kaiba's absence, with their maid.^[24] One of Pegasus' spies implanted in KaibaCorp, Saruwatari, stole Kaiba's Deck while he remained in the coma.^[27]

The ventriloquist with the Kaiba puppet

During the Duelist Kingdom tournament, Dark Yugi Dueled the Ventriloquist of the Dead, who used a Seto Kaiba puppet, which he claimed contained Kaiba's soul bent on revenge. He also used Kaiba's stolen Deck.^[27] During the Duel, Kaiba awoke from the coma. His willpower was channeled into one of the stolen "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cards, causing it to destroy itself. At this point in the Duel, the ventriloquist stopped using the Kaiba puppet.^[28] After the Duel, Dark Yugi inflicted the "Puppet Illusion" Penalty Game on the ventriloquist for stealing Kaiba's cards and playing with his soul.^[29]

Kaiba jams the spy's gun.

At Kaiba Manor, Kaiba scolded his bodyguards for allowing Mokuba to be kidnapped. Despite concerns about his health from his maid, he arranged to have a helicopter fly him to Duelist Kingdom, to confront Pegasus.^[29] As Kaiba swore not to rest until he destroyed Pegasus, his bodyguard reminded him that he had another enemy on the island, Yugi Mutou. While flying over the ocean, Kaiba noticed that position of the moon relative to the helicopter changed, indicating they were flying in circles. He deduced that his bodyguard and pilot had defected to Pegasus. The bodyguard realized that Kaiba had figured this out and held a gun to his head. As a last request, Kaiba asked that he move his cards to prevent blood getting on them. However, he used one of the cards, "Gyakutenno Megami", to jam the gun, which he then grabbed, snapping the guard's finger in the process. He scolded the guard for making him damage a rare card and then forced him and the pilot to jump into the ocean. After that he flew the helicopter to the island himself.^[24]

Duel with Jonouchi

After 11:00 pm, Kaiba landed on the island, near where Yugi and his friends were sleeping. Yugi returned Kaiba's Deck which he had retrieved from the ventriloquist. Kaiba thanked him, but not forgetting their previous encounter, insisted he would defeat Yugi in the future. He also vowed that he would be the one to defeat Pegasus and protect KaibaCorp with his own hands. Unwilling to forgive Kaiba for Death-T, Jonouchi seized him by the collar. Kaiba smirked that he had almost forgotten Jonouchi was there and ridiculed the level of the tournament upon seeing that Jonouchi was a participant. Jonouchi challenged him to a Duel, which Kaiba accepted and warned that he would damage Jonouchi's ego.^[30]

Kaiba Dueling Jonouchi.

Kaiba insisted that they use his Duel Disks for the Duel.^[30] His monsters easily overpowered Jonouchi's, until he Summoned "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", which Kaiba defeated with "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", winning the Duel.^[31] Kaiba called Jonouchi a loser, whose confidence must be ruined and theorized that he would be too afraid to Duel again. Yugi was surprised to see that Kaiba had not changed, to which Kaiba replied that he was unwilling to forget the past and is still disgusted by their friendship. Before leaving, he told the group about the time he watched Pegasus Duel Keith Howard. Kaiba claimed that even Yugi's skills were not strong enough to beat Pegasus, while he himself stood a chance if he used his Duel Disks.^[10]

Duel with Dark Yugi

At 2:30 am, Kaiba arrived at Pegasus Castle. Here, he was greeted by Croquet, who acted pleased to see him. Croquet denied kidnapping Mokuba and said it was too late to speak with Pegasus. He offered to arrange a room for Kaiba to spend the night and allow him to speak with Pegasus the next day. However Kaiba seized Croquet by the collar, demanding that he see him immediately. Croquet then showed him to a gateway, sealed with a lock containing star-shaped holes. To see Pegasus, he must pass through this gate, Croquet told him, and in order to do that, Kaiba would have to get 10 Star Chips.^[11] Kaiba lost patience with Croquet and struck him with his briefcase. Saruwatari rushed in and pulled out a gun, but Kaiba quickly put his own gun to Croquet's head. Recognizing Saruwatari as a former KaibaCorp employee, Kaiba reminds him that it is due to KaibaCorp training that he knows how to hold a weapon. He asked if Saruwatari finished the course and volunteered to teach him how to fire a gun. Croquet panicked and ordered Saruwatari to stand down.^[25]

Kaiba takes Croquet hostage.

Kaiba took Croquet hostage in a guest room, threatening to snap his neck in a briefcase if Pegasus did not speak to him. Shortly afterwards, Pegasus appeared on a screen and permitted Kaiba to see him, if he could beat Yugi in a Duel. To ensure that Kaiba would comply, he showed him surveillance footage of Mokuba, locked up in the dungeon. Saruwatari gave Kaiba five Star Chips that Mokuba had stolen earlier and Pegasus instructed Kaiba to wager them in a Duel against Yugi.^[25]

Kaiba waited outside the castle, blocking Dark Yugi and his friends from entering. He claimed to have known that Dark Yugi would defeat any opponents he faced on the island and identified himself as the only person in the world who could defeat him. While Honda and Bakura restrained Jonouchi from attacking Kaiba, Kaiba noticed that Jonouchi had earned ten Star Chips and said that he promoted him from a "loser" to a "deadbeat" (In the Japanese version, he promotes him to an uma no hone, which literally means "horse bone"). Thinking of Yugi's success in Death-T, Kaiba wondered if people can be stronger by carrying the weight of protecting someone. With saving Mokuba in mind, he though he would find the answer by winning a Duel. He challenged Dark Yugi to a Duel, leading Jonouchi to suspect he was working for Pegasus, which Kaiba considered an insult. Despite his friends objecting that he already had enough Star Chips, Dark Yugi accepted.^[32]

Kaiba and Dark Yugi Duel using the Duel Monsters Expert Rules.

Kaiba and Yugi used Duel Disks and unlike when he Dueled Jonouchi, they used the Duel Monsters Expert Rules.^[32] With this rule set, the Solid Vision cards, hid players' faces and bodies. Kaiba hoped that element or the distance between players would be enough to block Pegasus' mind-reading powers.^[33]

Players' hands could only contain up to five cards at a time. The five were also considered to be on the field with one set as the main monster. Kaiba took advantage of this by attacking cards in Dark Yugi's hand^[32] and Dark Yugi took advantage of it by using "Shift" to force Kaiba to attack the "Dark Magician" he had not Summoned. Kaiba used "Mystic Lamp" to retreat "La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp" and reflect Dark Yugi's attacks.^[33] To stop Kaiba hiding the lamp, Dark Yugi exposed Kaiba's hand with "The Eye of Truth", which also revealed that Kaiba could be planning on fusing his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cards. Dark Yugi used "Mystic Box" to allow Dark Magician to destroy both "La Jinn" and the lamp.^[34] Kaiba used the virus "Crush Card", disallowing Dark Yugi from having any monsters with 1500 or more original ATK^[34] and soon afterwards, fused his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cards^[35] into "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". Dark Yugi used "Multiply" to create a legion of "Kuribohs", which destroyed on impact, creating explosions to block the ultimate dragon's blasts. With "Living Arrow", Dark Yugi used "Polymerization" to fuse "Mammoth Graveyard" with "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", creating an unstable fusion,^[36] which decayed each turn weakening it.^[37]

Kaiba imagines Mokuba being trapped in the decaying "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon".

With five cards in play; three "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", "Polymerization" and "Negate Attack", Kaiba was unable to draw new cards, while the dragon weakened. Fearing he was going to lose, Kaiba suffered a hallucination of Mokuba being trapped inside the dragon's rotting body. While Kaiba stared helplessly, a younger version of himself tried to save Mokuba, but failed. Kaiba himself began to rot, while his younger self glared angrily at him.^[37]

Once the dragon was weak enough "Celtic Guardian" cut off one of its heads and Dark Yugi planned on winning by cutting off the second head. Kaiba said that game had just begun and started stepping backwards one tile for every 100 damage he took, putting him in danger of falling from the tower to his death if his Life Points reach 0. He stated that if their positions were reversed, he would kill Yugi without hesitation. He then used "Monster Reborn" to revive one of the dragon's heads in full health with 3000 ATK. Although hesitant at first, Dark Yugi decided to attack, but was stopped by Yugi. Kaiba proceeded to win by attacking "Celtic Guardian" with the revived head.^[37]

Kaiba said that Yugi showed weakness and that caring about the enemy's safety was foolish. Jonouchi argued that the game is not about murder. Kaiba replied that games, including cards, chess and war mean conflict between enemies and God gave people a single chip called life to use in these games. Anzu disagreed with his logic that people struggles are a game and said that he had truly lost to himself, by betting his chip as if it meant nothing and not having the courage to live with a loss. Jonouchi told him not to forget it was Yugi who saved him and tossed the Duel Disk back to him.^[38]

As he entered the castle, Kaiba met Keith Howard, who questioned him about the "chip called life", asking every person's chip was worth the same. He replied that he thought that distinction was to be made by "prize hunting hyenas", such as Keith, while they hunted for their next feast.^[38]

Duel with Pegasus

Mokuba's soulless body, shown to Kaiba

A Duel Arena had been arranged for Kaiba and Pegasus' Duel, but Kaiba insisted that they use the Duel Disks or he would not fight at all. Pegasus thought it would be a bad idea to fight on his enemy's terms, so he claimed to not be physically active enough to wield the Duel Disk. He agreed to use the Duel Disk under the condition that a proxy held it for him. He then brought out Mokuba's soulless body and showed Kaiba the "Soul Prison" card, his soul was sealed in. Refusing to fight against Mokuba, Kaiba agreed to use the Duel Arena and the Duel Monsters Standard Rules. Yugi warned Kaiba that Pegasus had a "Dragon Capture Jar" in his Deck, which Kaiba kept in mind, but still opted to use his "Blue-Eyes White Dragons".^[39]

Pegasus subjects Kaiba to the Mind Card Penalty Game, trapping him in a "Soul Prison".

Pegasus toyed with Kaiba at first. However by reading his mind, Pegasus was able to take Kaiba's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" with "Prophecy"^[39] and stop his "Crush Card" virus, by increasing the ATK of "Saggi the Dark Clown". He then used "Toon World" to turn his cards, including the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" into Toons. Since Pegasus knew the contents of his hand, Kaiba opted to discard it and only use cards as he drew them.^[40] However Pegasus was still able to read Kaiba's subconscious memorization of his Deck. Refusing to let the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" Pegasus took live as a "pathetic toon", Kaiba destroyed it with anther "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and "Shadow Spell". Pegasus trapped the second "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" in "Dragon Capture Jar" and planned on using "Dragon Piper" to release it and convert it into another Toon. As Pegasus predicted, Kaiba tried to destroy the piper before this could happen, so he used "Doppleganger" to infect the piper with Kaiba's "Crush Card". Once the jar was destroyed, all of Kaiba's high-ATK monsters were killed. Kaiba was only able to spend his last move reviving "Saggi the Dark Clown". Before losing, he apologized to Mokuba and mentally bid farewell to Yugi.^[41]

Kaiba completes the puzzle of his heart, while he and Mokuba are reunited

Pegasus subjected Kaiba to the Mind Card Penalty Game, trapping his soul in another "Soul Prison". Seeing Kaiba risk his life to save Mokuba, Yugi concluded that Kaiba was just like him and Jonouchi.^[42]

Rescue

That evening Honda asked Dark Yugi if he could save the two Kaiba brothers, as he owed Mokuba for saving his life in Death-T. Jonouchi on the other hand, thought that they got what they deserved.^[43] Before Dark Yugi Dueled Pegasus', he requested that the soul of Seto and Mokuba be freed if he won. Pegasus thought it was odd that Dark Yugi wanted to save his enemy, but agreed.^[44] When Pegasus lost, he upheld his side of the bargain and released them.^[45]

Kaiba awoke in the dungeon and was let out by Saruwatari. He saw an apparition of his younger self, which led him to Mokuba. As the two hugged, the younger Kaiba finished the puzzle of his heart, while Dark Yugi commented that Mokuba must have been the final piece.^[46]

Kaiba thanked Yugi for saving Mokuba and asked him to tell Dark Yugi that their battle is not over yet. When they learned that there were no boats on the island, Mokuba talked Kaiba into flying Yugi and his friends home, despite the size of the helicopter.

Battle City

Preparation

Kaiba receives "The God of the Obelisk".

Ishizu Ishtar invited Kaiba to a private exhibition at Domino Museum. Here she showed him a stone tablet, containing rectangular shapes, resembling Duel Monsters cards. She told him that ancient Egyptians had tamed evil spirits, named them and sealed them in slabs. Pegasus based Duel Monsters on these spirits after a trip to Egypt. Also on the tablet was a priest and a nameless pharaoh, who resembled Kaiba and Yugi. Above them were monsters resembling "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and "Dark Magician".^[47]

Kaiba was skeptical over whether the stone was real or that Duel Monsters was created in Egypt. He prepared to leave, believing this to be a waste of time, but Ishizu called him back, telling him of legendary cards, the hidden Gods. These cards were too powerful and making them had been considered Pegasus' biggest mistake. Pegasus had tried to destroy them, but could not bring himself to do it, so he buried them in Egypt. However two of them were stolen by the Ghouls. Ishizu entrusted Kaiba with the third God card, "The God of the Obelisk" and asked him to start a tournament to find the holders of the other Gods and reclaim them.^[48]

Kaiba tested "Obelisk the Tormentor" and his new model Duel Disk against a Duel Machine, which used his Duelist Kingdom Deck. The computer Summoned "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", but Kaiba defeated it using "The God of the Obelisk". Obelisk's power was too much for the computer system, causing it to explode.^[49]

Kaiba sent out invitations to the tournament in card magazines and online saying "come to the place where ancient duelists and their cards slumber in the stones", along with a date and time for the announcement of the tournament. Kaiba allowed duelists whom he rated level 5 or higher on a scale of eight to participate. He met the duelists who got the invite in Domino City, where he explained the rules of the Battle City tournament that would be held in two days time.^[50]

On the day the tournament began, Kaiba announced that he too would be taking part and that each of the 48 Duelists had been given 1 Puzzle Card which they must wage in Duels along with their rarest card. The finalists would be the eight duelists who collect six Puzzle Cards, which could be used to determine the location of the finals, which not even Kaiba knew.^[51]

Preliminaries

Kaiba found Koji Nagumo insulting Mokuba, who called a foul after Koji tried to take a second rare card that was not part of the ante with a Duelist he just defeated. Kaiba tore up Koji's rare card "Hyozanryu", saying Koji was going to lose it anyway as he challenged him to a Duel. Kaiba anted a briefcase of rare cards and "Obelisk the Tormentor". He allowed Koji to use the cards from the briefcase in the Duel to compensate for "Hyozanryu", but said he would take them after he beat Koji. Kaiba easily won with "Obelisk" and took Koji's Puzzle Cards.^[52]

Kaiba received word of a God Card being played and took-off. He found Yugi in a Duel against Doll, who was possessed by Marik Ishtar and using the God card "Slifer the Sky Dragon". Seeing Yugi drops to his knees, doubting he can win, Kaiba called down to him, ordering him live up to his reputation and thinking he is the only one who should defeat Yugi.

After Yugi won, Kaiba congratulated him, but said it's a shame Yugi won't have "Slifer the Sky Dragon" for long and challenged him to a Duel. However Marik informed Yugi that his friends had been kidnapped. Yugi postponed the Duel as he must find his friends.

Kaiba caught-up when Yugi was challenged to a Duel by two Rare Hunters, who couldn't decide which of them should face Yugi first. Kaiba appeared and told them to both duel at once in a Tag Duel against him and Yugi. They agree and Kaiba easily defeated both of them at once using "The God of Obelisk". Kaiba took their Puzzle Cards and handed one to Yugi. He then offered to use KaibaCorp's satellite system to trace the location of Jonouchi's Duel Disk.

As they searched for Yugi's friends, the guys were confronted by The Mask of Light. Yugi and Kaiba had to Tag Duel him and The Mask of Darkness on top of a skyscraper. The Duel was setup such that when a player loses, the glass roof below them shatters sending them to their death. Kaiba's refusal to work as part of a team, initially hindered his and Yugi's performance, while The Masks' Decks had been built to work together and prevent the Summoning of the God cards. However Kaiba eventually accepted that they must work as a team. He sacrificed his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to prevent Yugi from losing and provoked The Masks turning them against each other. Yugi and Kaiba worked together to Summon "The God of Obelisk", which defeated The Mask of Darkness, who used a parachute to save himself. Marik took control of The Mask of Light's mind after he surrendered. Kaiba seized him demanding they release Mokuba. However Marik didn't keep his promise and left the Mask of Light fall unconscious.

Mokuba arrived with the helicopter, and Kaiba took Yugi to find his friends, having tracked the signal from Jonouchi's Duel Disk.

They arrived at the Domino Pier and find Jonouchi and Anzu are possessed by Marik, with Jonouchi prepared to duel Yugi. Seeing the Duel had been set-up to kill the loser, Kaiba tried to call it off, but Marik disregarded his authority. Once Honda and Ryuji arrived at the Duel, Kaiba and Mokuba explained the situation to them. Towards the end of the Duel, Kaiba threw a card at one of the Rare Hunters monitoring the Duel. The card got lodged into his hand, causing him to drop the controls for a crane hovering a giant crate over Anzu. With him temporarily unable to drop the crate, the KaibaCorp helicopter pulled it away from Anzu. Once the Duel concluded with everyone alive, thanks to Kaiba saving Jonouchi from drowning, Kaiba parted and told Yugi that he'll see him at the finals.

Battle Ship

Kaiba took his helicopter to the Domino Stadium, where he waited for the other finalists. After six of the other seven finalists arrived, the true location of the finals, the Battle Ship landed. On board Kaiba advised Yugi to start using his God card, "Slifer, the Sky Dragon".

Kaiba saw Jonouchi's quarter-final Duel against Rishid, who they believed to be Marik, as a chance to find out the abilities of his God card, "The Sun Dragon Ra". During the Duel, both players were struck down by Ra's lightning. Kaiba declared that the first player to stand up will be the winner and if neither stand within five minutes they will both be disqualified. He learned that Marik was also a finalist under the disguise "Namu" and while Rishid had a fake "Ra" card, Marik held the real one.

Mai's Duel against the Dark Marik was also used as a chance to learn more about "The Sun Dragon Ra". When Mai tried Summoning Ra, which she managed to add to her own hand, hieratic text appeared on the card, which Mai needed to recite in order to Summon it. Kaiba had his satellites photograph the card, so he can have the text translated later, although Marik suggested that Kaiba is already able to read them.

Once Mokuba began the translation, he found that some of Ra's effects are also printed there.

In the last of the quarter-finals Kaiba found out the eight finalist is Ishizu Ishtar, as the two of them dueled. In the meantime, Kaiba had Mokuba work on translating Ra's text. Ishizu had already predicted Kaiba's moves for the Duel using her Millennium Tauk and foresaw her own victory. In the first few turns of the Duel, Kaiba had Ishizu send plenty of cards from her Deck to her Graveyard. Ishizu used "Exchange of the Spirit", causing both players to swap the contents of their Decks with their Graveyard, leaving Kaiba with very few cards. Almost finished the translation, Mokuba came out to support Seto in the Duel. Ishizu deliberately allowed Kaiba to Summon "The God of Obelisk", so that she may win using "Blast Held by a Tribute", as predicted. However Kaiba was affected by the Millennium Rod and felt "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" calling out to him, feeling it wanted him to Summon it. Kaiba saw a vision of the sorcerer holding Kisara's body up to a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" tablet. Kaiba followed the instinct, claiming he makes his own future and sacrificed "The God of Obelisk" to play "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", which he used to attack and defeat Ishizu.

Kaiba checked on the progress in translating the text for "The Sun Dragon Ra". Mokuba told him that they were having trouble with the last few words, but Kaiba looked at the text in astonishment, finding that he's able to read it himself. Remembering what Marik said about only chosen people being able to read the text, what Ishizu said about him being connected to an ancient sorcerer and the instinct that told him to play "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" in the last Duel, Kaiba wondered what was happening to him.

Duel Tower

Kaiba, his colleagues and guests arrived at Alcatraz for the Battle City finals.

Kaiba, Yugi, Jonouchi and Marik partook in a Battle Royal to determine the matchups for the semi-finals. Each duelist selected a monster to exclude from their Deck to determine the order of play. Kaiba chose the "Masked Beast Des Gardius", which he had taken from Mask of Light. Since it had the highest ATK, Kaiba got to go first. Since "The Sun Dragon Ra" is the strongest of the God cards, Kaiba planned to win "Slifer" off Yugi so he could have two Gods when facing Marik and "Ra". Wanting to face Yugi in the semi-finals and too proud to purposely lose, Kaiba made sure he and Yugi were the last two standing in the Battle Royal, matching them up for the second semi-final.

Before Jonouchi's Duel with Marik, Kaiba commented that Jonouchi didn't stand a chance against "Ra". Jonouchi protested that he went up against "Ra" before, but Kaiba reminded him how it knocked him unconscious. Kaiba told Yugi that his computer had managed to translate "Ra's" effects. However, Yugi was unconvinced and believed Kaiba's connection with the past played a part in translating the text. Kaiba planned to use Jonouchi as a guinea pig, so he can study Marik's strategy. Had it been Yugi that was facing Marik, Marik would win "Slifer the Sky Dragon" making it harder for Kaiba to defeat him in the finals. Yugi smirked that Kaiba's plan had a flaw; he has to get past him first.

Towards the end of the Duel, Marik had Jonouchi hit hard by one of "Ra's" effects. Mokuba protests that Marik has gone too far, but Kaiba refused to stop the Duel as he must see "Ra's" abilities with his own eyes. Kaiba was stunned to see Jonouchi still standing after taking the blast. Jonouchi prepared to attack Marik directly with his "Gearfried the Iron Knight" to win, but collapsed. Kaiba gave Jonouchi 30 seconds to rise. Unable to do so, Jonouchi was disqualified.

Kaiba faced Yugi in the second quarter-final. He created a holographic Colosseum of spectators around the top of the tower for the Duel.

Kaiba tried to Summon "The God of Obelisk" at an early stage, but Dark Yugi manages to counter both his attempts. Kaiba stole "Slifer the Sky Dragon" from Yugi's Deck using "Voice of the Heavens". However Yugi took it back with "Exchange", which he had been planning to use on "Obelisk". Yugi and Kaiba each managed to Summon their respective God cards. The two constantly altered the Gods' ATK or blocked each others attacks, preventing the other from destroying their God. Eventually the two Gods attacked each other and after a number of alterations each ended up with 4000 ATK

The battle of Gods caused Dark Yugi and Kaiba's consciousness to be transported to an ancient city. Here they saw "Obelisk" and "Slifer" turned to stone, while elsewhere, the Sorcerer Seto and Nameless Pharaoh battled. The Sorcerer Summoned Blue-Eyes White Dragon from a tablet and the Pharaoh countered with Dark Magician. The two returned to present time. Kaiba asked if Yugi had the same vision as he did. Yugi claimed that their Duel is related to the one from 3000 years ago, and Kaiba said their Duel is destined.

Kaiba and Yugi continued the Duel. They quickly Summoned "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and "Dark Magician" respectively. Kaiba used "Lord of Dragons" and "The Flute of Summoning Dragon" to bring out his other two "Blue-Eyes White Dragons". Yugi used it to Summon Jonouchi's "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" from his own hand. Yugi blocked the attacks from two of the three dragons, destroying one of them and "Lord of Dragons" in the process. Kaiba used "Monster Reborn" and "Polymerization" to Summon "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", but Dark Yugi played "Double Spell" copying Kaiba's last two Spell Cards, allowing him to Summon "Dark Paladin". Dark Yugi told Kaiba that if he stands at the top filled with hatred, he will not find real victory. He will only have to find new hatred, and his future will be filled with endless hatred. Kaiba attacked "Dark Paladin" with "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", but Dark used "De-Fusion", splitting the "Ultimate Dragon" into three "Blue-Eyes White Dragons". He used "Diffusion Wave-Motion", allowing "Dark Paladin" to attack all three of them, winning the Duel.

Kaiba thought Battle City was his tournament, the entire event was designed so that he would be victorious, he wanted to put the memory of his adoptive father behind him and be crowned the world's best Duelist atop his Duel Tower. Despite coming so close, his victory slipped away from him. Yugi compliments Kaiba on the Duel, but Kaiba said he doesn't want his pity. Yugi admitted Kaiba is a strong duelist, but he was defeated by the monster in his heart called "hatred". Yugi pointed out how friendship helped him win, but Kaiba said that everyone is alone in this world and he doesn't want any pals to slow him down. Yugi called that sad, to which he just scoffs. Kaiba accepted his defeat and angrily gave Yugi his "The God of Obelisk" card, as per the rules of the tournament.

Kaiba reconsidered and decided to help Yugi, despite hosting the tournament to beat him. Kaiba estimated Yugi's chances of winning to be 3%, but he has a card that can beat "Ra". If Yugi could figure out how to use it, it would give him a 20% chance of winning. As he made his way to the Duel, Kaiba remembered Yugi saying that the strength of his friends brought him victory and wondered if Yugi can create a miracle if he entrusts him with this card. Before the Duel, Kaiba gave Yugi the card, "Devil's Sanctuary". Kaiba told Ishizu that he only helped Yugi to prove her wrong when he loses.

Kaiba watched the Duel and saw the card he gave Yugi, help out. He congratulated Yugi after he won.

With the tournament over, Kaiba and Mokuba, initiated the self-destruction of the Duel Tower to destroy their memory of Gozaburo and his loss to Yugi. While everyone else left in the Battle Ship, Kaiba and Mokuba left in a jet, as they planned to start work on Kaiba Land in America right away.

Project R.A

Transcend Game

Kaiba takes notice of Sera.

Kaiba worked on a new Duel Disk model, the Neurons VR system, which linked the minds of Duelists across the world to KaibaCorp's Crystal Cloud Network. Connected individuals could create images based on their brainwave activity and Duel each other in the Duel Links world. While monitoring a group of people, who had volunteered to test the system, Kaiba took notice of Prana, an individual whose brainwave frequency transcended that of a normal person, allowing her to Summon monsters with a high-pulse ATK. Kaiba was intrigued by the element of danger she invoked, but also concerned from a business perspective. He also took notice of Sera, who removed her Neurons gear, during the test session.^[53]

A few weeks later, while Kaiba was making adjustments to the Neurons test model, at his house, he uttered that on completion, he would rule as its king in the world of Duel Links. Sera then appeared behind him and said "You cannot become King... Not ever...". He admired her ability to slip inside and recognized her from the test session.^[54]

Kaiba recognizes the irregular data as the "dimensional ascension" he had been looking for.

Sera claimed to be the test subject whose duty it is to shape his new world and thanked Kaiba for the creation of Duel Links. She discussed the prospect of an individual with superior consciousness being in the system and the Duel Links potential to grant access to other dimensions, beyond the realm of the living, something she knew Kaiba was interested in. She suddenly disappeared as she talked about Kaiba syncing with this superior consciousness.^[54]

Mokuba Kaiba appeared on a screen before Kaiba and warned him of unfamiliar data registering in the Duel Links surveillance monitor. Kaiba was shown a projection of a globe, showing test subjects' Neurons signals, following an abnormal pattern and being drawn towards an unknown consciousness. Kaiba recognized this as the dimensional ascension he had been looking for and logged into Duel Links via his VR pod.^[54]

Kaiba Duels Sera's avatar, Prana

Inside the Duel Links, Kaiba boarded a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon"-themed jet and flew towards the dimensional ascension. He was approached by Sera's avatar Prana, who warned of the danger he was approaching and asked if he was prepared to face a world of evil, transcending the boundaries of mortal man. Kaiba asked if she was questioning if he had fear in his actions and warned her that anyone who stood in his way would be mercilessly eliminated. Prana offered to let him proceed if he could defeat her in a Duel and warned that he would die if he lost.^[54]

Kaiba approaches Atem.

Kaiba accepted the Duel. His "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", with 3000 Pulse ATK, at first seemed no match for her 8800 Pulse ATK "Duza the Meteor Cubic Vessel". Kaiba offered criticism of her negligence and suggested that she may still be a child, who needs to learn to better control her consciousness. Controlling his thought frequency, Kaiba brought the Pulse of "Blue-Eyes" to 19900, destroying "Duza" and defeating Prana. Sera reverted to her regular appearance, as the Prana disappeared and Kaiba admitted to knowing it had been her.^[54]

Sera ceased efforts to stop Kaiba and the two advanced towards the realm of the deceased. Kaiba saw Atem and Summoned his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to illuminate the infinite darkness. Kaiba thought "Here... I come... Atem!!". However his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" began to disappear, causing him to see Kisara. Meanwhile in the real world, Mokuba performed an emergency shutdown on the Duel Links, as Kaiba's amplified brain activity put his life in danger.^[54]

Kaiba woke up, panting in his VR pod and convinced himself that he had really seen Atem.^[54]

The Dark Side of Dimensions

Kaiba, about to Duel the Virtual Dark Yugi

In his continued attempts to communicate with Atem, Kaiba made a virtual reconstruction of him, based on his memories of Dark Yugi. Although Kaiba succeeded in defeating him in a Duel, he remained frustrated, as he deemed the reconstruction to be imperfect.^[55]

In another effort, he commissioned an excavation at the Shrine of the Underworld to retrieve the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle. After the puzzle had been recovered, Kaiba traveled to the site, where the puzzle was being scanned by a computer. While waiting, Kaiba drew attention to the intruder, Aigami, and questioned how he had traveled from Domino City to Kul Elna in a matter of minutes. A confrontation led to Aigami using his Quantum Cube to dissipate members of KaibaCorp. Kaiba was able to protect himself from the cube's powers using the technology in his Duel Disk.^[55]

Kaiba pulls "Obelisk" from the ground.

Kaiba and Aigami Dueled using the Dimension Area ruleset and virtual cards. Aigami overpowered Kaiba at first, but refusing to lose his chance to Duel Atem, Kaiba slammed his hand into the ground and pulled out the physical, "The God of the Obelisk" card. Aigami thought it was impossible for him to use one the pharaoh's monsters. However Kaiba Summoned "Obelisk" and sacrificed two monsters to raise its ATK to infinity, and progressed to defeat Aigami.^[55]

Although it took Yugi Mutou eight years to solve the Millennium Puzzle, Kaiba had a computer in his space station perform the reconstruction, with an estimate of a few hours to complete. The machine reported two pieces were missing, which Kaiba realized Aigami must have stolen.^[55]

Kaiba had his men abduct Aigami, who was then brought before him. Kaiba failed to extort the missing pieces, but figured one was in Aigami's possession and the other in Yugi's and had Aigami taken to Kaiba Land.^[55]

Kaiba approached Yugi at a crossing and demanded that he take part in a Kaiba Land exhibition for his new Duel Disk model. He showed Yugi the near-reassembled Millennium Puzzle and informed him of his goal is to face "the other Yugi", deeming Yugi alone to be of little interest to him.^[55]

Kaiba and Yugi, about to Duel

At the exhibition, Kaiba impressed the audience by Summoning "Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", which he used to destroy Solid Vision jets. He gave a speech about his new Duel Disk and introduced Yugi and Aigami, both of whom he said he would be Dueling for the remaining pieces of the puzzle. Due to a recent conflict with Aigami, Yugi insisted on Dueling him instead and was given a Duel Disk. Following Yugi's victory, Kaiba prepared to Duel Yugi for the two pieces. He placed the Millennium Puzzle in the center of the field, where it floated in a beam of light. He disregarded Yugi's arguments about the Duel being pointless and Atem no longer being inside the puzzle, until Yugi demonstrated it by inserting the last two pieces. Kaiba accused Yugi of deceiving him and continued the Duel, until they were interrupted by the reappearance of Aigami, who had become mutated and corrupted by the evil of the Millennium Ring.^[55]

Kaiba prepares to Duel, in the pharaoh's palace.

Yugi and Kaiba teamed up to Duel Aigami in a Shadow Game. Kaiba was defeated, but before disappearing, he gave the Millennium Puzzle to Yugi and said before dissipating, "Bring him back, Yugi". Kaiba returned after Yugi, having successfully reincarnated Atem momentarily, defeated Aigami. Kaiba expressed interest when Yugi mentioned seeing Atem. He remarked, "I said he'd be back. Hate to say I told you so, but, 'told you so". When Yugi exclaims that Kaiba never stopped believing, Kaiba mentioned, "You have your bond with him, and I have mine." As Yugi looks at him with surprise, Kaiba leaves, saying "Take care, Yugi, until our paths cross again."^[55]

Kaiba took possession of the Quantum Cube and brought it to the space station. Inside a pod, he activated the cube, causing the space station to be immersed in gold light, as he shot down the elevator shaft. Kaiba awoke in a desert near a city containing Atem's palace. He proceeded directly across the desert through the city into the throne room, where he stops before Atem's throne and activates his Duel Disk. Atem rose from his throne and replied with an impressed smile.^[55]

Duel Academy

At Duel Academy, Kaiba was considered to be a legendary Duelist. Jaden Yuki thought of him, Dark Yugi, Mai and Jonouchi when he said that he was not going to back down in his Duel against Ryuga, like how the legendary Duelists never gave up.^[56]

Decks

At first, Kaiba's Deck relied heavily on high-ATK monsters and quick combinations that add power to his monsters. His main goal was to Summon his powerful "Blue-Eyes White Dragon". Before Battle City and the introduction of Tribute Summons, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" was much easier to Summon. Due to this, his strategy was fairly simple and effective as it only took Kaiba one draw to quickly overpower an opponent or overcome any situation. The only thing he had to do was to rely on a heavy-ATK monster and wait to draw one of his "Blue-Eyes White Dragons" to put his opponent on an uphill position.

In Battle City, the rules have been changed and high-Level monsters required Tributes to be Summoned. Due to this and his acquisition of "The God of the Obelisk", Kaiba's strategy evolved. He utilizes strong Level 4 monsters, such as "Vorse Raider", "Gadget Soldier" and his XYZ monsters. While still important to his strategy, his "Blue-Eyes White Dragons" are overshadowed by "The God of the Obelisk".

During Yu-Gi-Oh! R, not having "The God of the Obelisk" anymore, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" returns to be Kaiba's ace, with ways to get it easily with cards like "The Melody of Awakening Dragon". He also introduces the "Material", that just like his XYZ monsters, combine to form a most powerful monster that can count as any number of Tributes for high-Level monsters depending on how many monster he combines.