The massive passenger ship rode the wind and waves to the shore of Duel Academy Island, filled with a shipload of fierce Northern students.
The principal of Northern Academy led the way down the ship, followed by a large group of students, looking ready for a battlefield charge like a cavalry force.
On the main campus side, Principal Samejima personally came out to lead the team. The principal stood on the shore early, full of smiles as he approached Principal Ichise and his students from the Northern Academy.
"Long time no see!" Principal Samejima greeted enthusiastically like a long-lost brother, "You haven't changed at all, I could smell your presence from afar."
Principal Ichise also laughed heartily: "Samejima, you too. I hadn't even reached the shore, and from far away I spotted your direction, all shiny and gleaming..."
He glanced at Principal Samejima's reflective forehead.
"Principal Ichise, it seems the environment up north is harsh, it's been less than a year since we last met, yet you seem to have aged ten years..."
"Haha, there's nothing that can be done about that, unlike you, Samejima, who looks just the same as last time. Is it a lack of nutrition or ineffective hair products?"
The two of them were all smiles, shaking hands warmly, but their gazes were as sharp as crossed spears, invisible sparks flying between them.
"Oh, it seems these two principals are really close!" remarked Judai, observing from the back.
"Big brother, how do you see that?" His little brother Marufuji Shou, standing beside him, sweated nervously. "They look like they're ready to fight any minute!"
"You've always won the matches before, but not this time," Principal Ichise said, his face darkening, his smile taking on a sinister edge. "This year's victory reward is as good as ours!"
"Don't be so confident, Principal Ichise," Samejima chuckled, "This year we're sending our strongest players ever, the reward won't be given up easily!"
He also winked at Judai, as if saying that securing the grand prize this year all depends on you, Judai!
The attitude and reactions of the two principals towards the duel and the mention of the "reward" resembled movie scenes of power figures plotting to seize a priceless treasure.
"It sounds like it must be something very precious, right?" Marufuji Shou began imagining things, "Maybe a Rare Card?"
"It's Aunt Tomi's kiss," Judai said.
This was what Teacher Youyu told him, though at the time he was a bit skeptical.
Marufuji Shou nearly toppled over, his mind conjuring the image of Aunt Tomi, from the small shop at school, curvy and kindly, cosplaying as the Dark Magician Girl, instantly stirring up frightening memories he'd worked hard to forget...
"How... What!?" Marufuji Shou wiped his sweat.
Nevertheless, it might be hard to believe, but the ultimate prize the two sparring principals were so secretive about was indeed a kiss from Aunt Tomi...
Both principals started off by sniping at each other, the air thick with tension, all rooted in the fact that the two were love rivals...
Principal Ichise had truly been worrying all these years, fretting over it endlessly, imagining scenes of bald-headed Samejima cosying up with sweet Aunt Tomi.
His worry was understandable. As the saying goes, "the first to reach the water gets the moon," Aunt Tomi was the shopkeeper at the main campus, and Samejima, being the principal there, ran into her countless times a day while Ichise was stuck drinking northwest wind in the barren, icy wilderness of the Arctic.
Over the years, Principal Ichise's once lush black hair had turned into a Mediterranean hairstyle due to worry, even edging towards Samejima's bald style.
This was without Ichise knowing the inside story. Teachers of higher rank at the main campus knew that there was actually a jaw-dropping secret hidden in the principal's office.
The principal's office desk had a hidden passageway underneath.
This passageway crossed the entire academy building, twisting and turning, leading all the way to a forbidden and mysterious section...
...Aunt Tomi's small shop!
So sometimes when you thought Principal Samejima was working overtime in the office all night, it might be that he sneaked through the passageway to secretly date Aunt Tomi!
If Principal Ichise were to know this secret, the few strands left on his head might turn green from rage!
Following the original plot, the Northern Academy's fighter should have been Manjome. Disheartened by repeated defeats at the main campus, he sailed away from the academy and ended up accidentally in the Northern Academy, unexpectedly rising to become the top dog there.
Thus, Manjome makes a comeback at the Northern Academy, returning as a king, representing the branch school to challenge the main campus, where he once again faces Judai from the main campus...
...only to be beaten up by the jellyfish-haired one again.
But in the current timeline, Manjome hadn't sailed away, so naturally, he didn't have the chance to go to Northern Academy. The Northern Academy sent a heavy-built man, muscles bulging, a face that looked tough but probably wouldn't fare well in card games.
The two principals likely were distracted by Aunt Tomi's reward, skipping pleasantries and heading directly to the dueling arena with their students, ready to start.
But neither principal, entirely focused on the reward, noticed a student from the Northern Academy quietly leaving his team.
He was a student of average build, wearing a black jacket, round-framed glasses on his nose, with a face so ordinary it might be lost in a crowd.
His footsteps were so light they made almost no noise, like a cat prowling through the night. He deliberately lagged behind the team and then quietly detached from the group.
No one noticed his departure. Moving like a ghost, he silently drifted away from the group into the forest outside the academy.
As he walked, he pulled out a device, something akin to a radar, that could help him scan for specific energy fluctuations and determine the direction he should head.
In fact, he wasn't truly a student of Northern Academy. He seized the opportunity to blend onto the island to avoid attracting unnecessary attention... especially from dangerous figures within the academy.
From the moment he arrived on the island, his goal was clear and definite.
He sought the legendary demon sealed years ago by Duel King and Kaiba Seto's Duelist Alliance, the pinnacle of Duel Monsters, the most formidable beast.
The entity known as the Three Phantasm.