"Another round has passed." Kaibaman looked at Tenjo Hikari with interest, "Come on, let me see how long you can hang on."
Tenjo Hikari drew a card, glanced at it, and first sighed with relief before assessing his opponent.
After a series of duels, Tenjo Hikari had basically determined what the opponent actually "is," or more precisely, what state this "Kaiba Seto" is in. If nothing unexpected occurs, the opponent should be the "Kaiba Seto from many years ago" and possibly even "Kaiba Seto from ten years ago."
The reason for saying "ten years ago" is because X Dimension, Xyz Monster, these existences were precisely the topic of heated debate when Kaiba first traveled through dimensions ten years ago and brought them to the Human World.
However, Tenjo Hikari couldn't confirm whether the opponent was Kaiba himself from ten years ago or if some special function within this dimension was allowing him to duel with a phantom from ten years ago.
Of course, these details are not important.
What's important is that Tenjo Hikari already knows the opponent truly is "Kaiba Seto."
And now...
Tenjo Hikari looked at his hand cards: "Activate Spell Card, Polymerization."
"Fusion combining Fluffal Penguin and Edge Imp Chain from my hand cards, Fusion Summon - Frightfur Sheep!"
Frightfur Sheep, LV 5, Dark Attribute, Fiend-Type, DEF 2000.
"Activate the effects of the Fusion Materials, Penguin and Chain. First, add Frightfur Patchwork to the hand cards. Then Penguin's effect, draw two cards, discard one hand card."
"Draw... I will discard Fusion Substitute."
"Then, Spell Card, Frightfur Patchwork!" Tenjo Hikari activated the magic card he added to his hand, "This card can add one Polymerization and one Edge Imp from the Deck to the hand cards."
"Oh, I remember... Fusion Substitute is treated as a Polymerization according to the rules, meaning the three Polymerizations in your Deck are all in your hand now, right?"
Tenjo Hikari nodded: "That's right—but that doesn't matter. I will add Polymerization and Edge Imp Sabres to my hand."
Tenjo Hikari looked at the newly added cards in his hand, then at the Graveyard: "Activate the effect of Fusion Substitute in the Graveyard, banish this card, target one Fusion Monster in the Graveyard, return that monster to the Extra Deck, then draw one card.
I will return Dark Paladin to the Deck."
Whoosh—
He drew a card, glanced at it, kept it in his right hand, and casually picked up another card from the left side.
"Spell Card, Polymerization!"
"Using Edge Imp Sabres and Fluffal Dolphin from my hand cards as Fusion Materials, Fusion Summon!"
"Fusion Conditions are, Edge Imp Sabres and one or more Fluffal!"
"Fusion Summon, Frightfur Tiger!"
The dolphin was torn apart in the middle, and a pair of scissors frantically sculpted the monster's image, transforming it into a green plush tiger in no time.
Frightfur Tiger, LV 6, Dark Attribute, Fiend-Type, DEF 1200.
"Hahaha—Another Defense Position?!" Kaibaman laughed wildly, "No matter how much you bolster your defense, it's useless. In front of my Blue-Eyes, any resistance will be mere fleeting fragments!"
"That's not necessarily true!" Tenjo Hikari pointed at Blue-Eyes with his reverse hand, "Accumulating strength, then using magic and monsters to turn the tables, as Mr. Yugi's rival, you should be the most aware of that, shouldn't you?"
"What?" Kaibaman was taken aback upon hearing this.
"You've recognized me? Interesting..."
"Ha, it was you who told me."
"Me?"
"The future—you." Only then did Tenjo Hikari finally come to realize that back then, Kaiba Seto said, without his own recognition, taking Blue-Eyes away is absolutely impossible.
It turns out to be like this.
The simple fact is, in this world, who most cherishes Blue-Eyes, and who is most fiercely protective of Blue-Eyes?
Of course, anyone with a slight understanding of Kaiba Seto would know that the answer is definitely Kaiba Seto.
Kaiba Seto is someone who wanted to collect all Blue-Eyes White Dragons and directly snatched away the fourth Blue-Eyes White Dragon, even outright tearing the fourth one apart.
But—
The same individual undergoes different "states" at various stages.
The earliest, unchallenged by Muto Yugi, Kaiba was the most pathological Blue-Eyes enthusiast; afterward, Kaiba Seto regarded Blue-Eyes as himself, his soul, his everything.
The former was more pathological, the latter was rational yet unchanged.
And when does this "rationality" reach its peak? The answer now seems obvious—when Kaiba Seto traveled through countless dimensions and suddenly discovered a dimension with Blue-Eyes White Dragon, ecstatic to find, "This place has too many White Dragons!"
At that moment, it was his most unwilling time to share Blue-Eyes White Dragon with anyone!
Even more intense than the current [Kaiba Seto]!
That momentary Kaiba!
"... I see. No wonder, no wonder you know the effects of Blue-Eyes; no wonder you were surprised but not unfamiliar upon seeing them... that's how it is." Just upon hearing a few words from Tenjo Hikari, Kaibaman immediately understood.
He himself is "Kaiba Seto," but he is from a past version, surpassed by his future self.
Yet, that doesn't prevent him from still being the most intelligent, wise person in the world.
In an instant, he understood why Tenjo Hikari, this human, dared to come "search for Blue-Eyes" and "search for Blue-Eyes fusion."