The next day, Yoh stood in front of the inn, waiting for his challenger. Everyone stood behind him, also anxiously standing to see the challenger.

"Hey, maybe he’s not coming." Manta said.

"So, he just attacks Silva for no reason?" Anna rhetorically questioned.

"He’ll come." Yoh said. "He has too."

Right then, a dark shadow appeared on the road leading to the inn. With it was another shadow and a floating figure as well. They slowly came into view. A black-cloaked man with brown hair appeared. Next to him was a blue-haired girl and a warrior spirit. Yoh cringed at him, sick at his reckless behavior of injuring Silva.

"Are you Yoh Asakura?" the shaman asked. Yoh narrowed his eyes.

"Yes." Yoh said, as he showed the Oracle Pager. "Did you send me this challenge?" The figure nodded. A white-cloaked man came out of the inn. The challenger raised an eyebrow.

"Yoh! Be careful!" he said. "This man is not afraid of killing you!"

"Silva! You should be inside resting!" Yoh yelled.

"Impressive, Patch." the challenger said. "You somehow survived. I could have sworn you’d have died of blood loss by now, especially if you travel this far from Patch Village." Silva narrowed his eyes at Exile, as he was led back inside by Ryu, Pirika, and Tamao.

"Shut up!" Yoh yelled. "You nearly killed Silva!"

"But I didn’t, did I?" he replied, with an emotionless expression. Yoh clenched his fists tighter. Pirika and Tamao moved Silva back to his bed inside to rest. "Before we begin our battle, we need to have proper introductions. My name is Exile."

"I’m Suke, Lord Exile’s guardian ghost." Suke said.

"Hi, I’m Kirol." Kirol quietly said, with a wave.

"Dude, she’s hot." Horo Horo whispered.

"Yes, she’s beautiful." Ryu replied. The two rushed over to Kirol. Exile quickly formed his oversoul and cut them off with his oversoul sword.

"Don’t touch her." he said, sternly. Kirol blushed a bit at Exile’s defense. Exile turned toward her as Horo and Ryu backed up to their original positions. "You okay?" Kirol nodded and blushed more. Exile cracked a smile. "Good."

Yoh widened his eyes. "How did you do that?" he said.

"Do what?" Exile said.

"You oversouled without any weapon. You just made a weapon out of the oversoul." Exile confidently smiled.

"Simple." He disintegrated his oversoul. "My spirit does not specialize in a single weapon. My guardian ghost, Suke, has used many weapons throughout his lifetime. He is not limited. Neither am I. Instead of being forced to haul around many real weapons, Suke and I integrate through these gauntlets I wear." He raised his hand. "I can then manipulate the oversoul shape into a true weapon." He integrated with Suke, and formed his oversoul sword. "Like I said, simple." He disintegrated his oversoul again. Yoh was astounded at his technique. He couldn’t believe that it was even possible. "So, shall we begin the battle?" Yoh straightened up.

"Amidamaru!" he yelled. "Into Harusame!" Yoh formed his oversoul quickly.

"Suke!" the challenger yelled. "Into the gauntlets!" Exile formed his as well. A blade appears from the glowing gauntlets he wore. "I’ll begin with this." Yoh narrowed his eyes and formed a defensive stance. Exile did the same. Yoh then rushed, head on, towards Exile’s defensive posture.

"This is for Silva!" He slashed his sword at him, but Exile blocked it easily. He then shot a left hook at Yoh, causing him to fly back. Gasps were heard from the spectators. Yoh fortunately landed on his feet. Exile calmly walked toward him. Yoh charged in again, this time doing a quick dash behind him. Yoh slashed again at him. Exile shot a block behind himself without looking, then countered with a slash. Yoh found himself on the ground again, this time bleeding from his arm. Without thinking, Yoh leaped up and nailed a thrust toward Exile. Not prepared for an attack like that, Exile’s defense was not enough to prevent the attack from moving toward his body. He was stabbed right in the chest. A fountain of blood emerged, leaving a dark spot on the shaman’s clothing. Kneeled on the ground panting, Exile clutched his chest.

"It’s been so long since I’ve felt that. I must be getting weaker." he said. Yoh slowly walked toward him. "It’s time to advance a level." Exile’s oversoul sword began to morph. A long staff with a blade at the tip was formed out of the spirit energy. "This should do." Yoh was not impressed.

"I’ve fought against Ren many times. I think I can handle a kwan dao." he said.

"Really?"

"Ye-" Before Yoh could finish, he was slashed from behind with a metal blade. Blood sprayed out of his back as he fell to the ground. Exile walked to him, watching the boy struggle to get up.

"Get up, I know you can do better." he said. Yoh slowly rose, and got bludgeoned by kwan dao strikes.

On the sidelines, everyone was in awe at Exile’s skills, especially Ren. He stood dumbstruck at the fight moves that Exile was pulling off. He stared and kept his gaze on every one of Exile’s attacks.

Yoh rose from every blow, despite the intensity. Exile shot slashes and thrusts everywhere. Yoh dodged a few shots, but a counterattack was already on its way when he did. Exile always let Yoh rise; he wanted a fair fight.

"That’s it!" Yoh rose from a harsh blow. His oversoul grew. Exile did not move.

"Finally." Exile said with a smirk. Yoh rushed in and attacked Exile head on. Exile was about to dodge, but he was too slow. Yoh’s attack barrage formed red lines all over Exile’s body. The shaman fell, bleeding everywhere. Kirol gasped. Yoh stood before him. He had the most serious expression on his face. Cringing in pain, Exile’s oversoul began to weaken.

"Give up." Yoh said. Exile slowly rose.

"No. I still have one more move." His oversoul flared and morphed into another new shape. This shape was surprisingly large, almost the height of Exile himself. The width of the weapon was large as well. "This is my finest weapon."

"What is it?"

"A sword, of course."

"Rather big, don’t you think?"

"No, I don’t." Exile rushed in and struck Yoh once more. Yoh dodged it partially, getting a minor cut. Exile moved into a defensive stance. "This blade is not a normal sword."

"I can tell." Yoh said. The two struck at each other, locking up in a fierce clash. Exile’s large oversoul showed over Yoh’s, but neither could be seen from the sidelines: just a bright light. Everyone shielded their eyes or looked away from the shining light.

"Finally. This is what I’ve come to expect from the Shaman King who survived Tartarus." Yoh’s eyes widened. He broke the lock and stepped back.

"What do you mean?" he said.

"I thought that going through hell itself would have made you stronger than how you were fighting at the start." Both fighters’ oversouls were weakening.

"Why are you telling me this?" Yoh asked.

"Because he went through Tartarus as well." A blonde girl stepped in.

"What do you mean Anna?" Yoh asked, his oversoul still active.

"This guy obviously has been through Tartarus." Anna spoke, in her normal, icy tone. "How else could he have put up that much of a fight?" Exile stepped forward. Kirol ran down from the sidelines.

"You are close, Miss. I did go through hell like he did. But, his training was not as far as hell could go." Everyone’s eyes widened, except Kirol’s. "I went through some of the harshest training in my life to become this great of a shaman."

"What is harsher than Tartarus?" Yoh asked.

"Tartarus may be hell, but hell has levels. Yours was the first level." Oversouls still flared. "What I went through was much worse: as far as hell could go. No senses. In Tartarus, you relied on your own shamanic powers instead of your human senses. I had nothing. No senses whatsoever. This place is so horrific, more than one second in there could kill someone, but they would not be crossing over. No, they would be sent to a place of sheer darkness, neither heaven or hell." Yoh just stood there, oversoul burning. "But, I am talking away when we still have a battle to continue." He moved into a battle stance. Yoh just stood there.

"Why?" he said.

"Why what?" Exile moved out of his fighting position.

"Why do you want to fight?" Yoh said. "You went through hell. I can’t fight someone who has suffered so much torture without knowing why they must fight."

"I fight for my own reasons."

"No you don’t." Yoh said. "I can tell. You aren’t fighting just for fighting." Exile cringed.

"I cannot tell you." Exile replied.

"I won’t fight anymore until you tell me your cause." Exile’s mental strain caused his oversoul to weaken.

"Fine." His oversoul flared again. "Right now, there is a disruption in the balance of shamanic energy. Between the human realm and the spirit realm, there is a boundary. Spirits live on both sides, depending on whether or not a spirit has crossed over. This boundary is weakening. Spirits that have already rested in peace are returning to the human world. These spirits have witnessed heaven before, and after returning, they wish to return to it. They want to tear down the barrier."

"So what?" Ren said from the sidelines.

"Yeah." HoroHoro said. "Won’t they just go back to heaven?"

"Idiots. The barrier just separates the living and dead. The dead is divided in two." Exile said.

"Heaven and hell." Anna said.

"Yes. These spirits from heaven will tear down the barrier, releasing the hellion spirits into the living world. The spirits from hell will have suffered torture for as long as they know. They won’t feel like being nice. They’ll want one thing: devastation." Everyone was in awe. "That is why I need the Great Spirit’s power to resolve this conflict."

"Let me help." Yoh said. Exile raised an eyebrow.

"Help? How can you help?" he replied.

"I am the Shaman King. I can help you save both realms." Exile tiredly laughed.

"Idiot. You don’t even know how to get to the other side, let alone save it."

"I’ll figure something out." Yoh laughed and outstretched his hand. "What do you say?" Exile hesitantly stood.

"We are in a battle." he said. "Just ending it would mean a disorder by the Great Spirit." Then, a white-cloaked man burst outside.

"Yoh!" he yelled.

"Silva!" Yoh yelled back. "What are you doing here? You should be healing."

"I heard it all." he said. "This fiend may have nearly killed me, but his cause is just." Exile laughed a bit.

"Patch, you forgive me even after I murdered your chieftain? How nice." he said, with a sense of derogatory.

"I do not accept your past actions as right, but I do wish to save the realms." Exile raised an eyebrow.

"What a sport." Exile said. Silva clenched his fists, but reverted back to his solid posture.

"If you both agree to a draw, then the match will be over." Silva said. Exile and Yoh exchanged glances, then agreed to a draw. The tired shamans disintegrated their oversouls.

"So who is the Shaman King, Silva?" Yoh said, with a smile. "I’ve never had the final match be a draw before."

"You are the Shaman King, Yoh." he replied. Exile glanced over his shoulder, but then ignored the comment. Kirol ran over to Exile, who was barely standing.

"Are you okay?" she said, worryingly.

"I’m fine." he said, as he continued to walk.

"No, you’re not!" Kirol yelled. "You are barely standing! You need to rest!" Kirol threw Exile’s arm around her neck and hauled him inside. Suke followed.

"Lucky guy." Yoh said. "His girl doesn’t make him run laps after a Shaman Fight." A swift slap drew Yoh’s head down. "OW!" he yelled. Anna stood behind him, angry as ever. Silva, though still rather tired, chuckled at their behavior. Everyone else joined in, as they moved inside the house.