Yu-Gi-Oh!: I use an Orichalcos deck

Page 320

There was a half-hour break before the final match began. Yuki was checking his deck when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Serena standing there, holding two cans of drinks.

"Have some water." She handed her a can of energy drink, saying, "You sweated a lot while watching the game."

Yuji took the drink, their fingertips brushing against each other, and both paused slightly. "Thank you," he said softly, opening the drink and taking a sip. It was sweet.

Actually... Serena suddenly spoke, her voice a few decibels lower than usual, "I've also been practicing Naruto card decks recently."

You Ji looked up in surprise: "Is Jiu Qijiu Yingba Liu really?"

"Hmm." Serena nodded. "Ever since I lost to you last time, I've become interested in this deck. It's much more complex than it looks, with all sorts of ninjutsu chains and combos... It's very interesting."

Yuji felt a warm current surge in his heart. He never imagined that this deck, which he loved but was often looked down upon by mainstream players, would be recognized by a master like Serena, let alone that she would try it because of him.

The final is about to begin. Serena glanced at the time, then suddenly stepped forward and gently hugged Yuki. "Win or lose, let's go for coffee together after the match, okay?"

Yuki froze on the spot, his mind almost blank, and could only nod mechanically. Serena chuckled and turned to walk towards the players' tunnel, leaving him standing there alone, still clutching the slightly lukewarm drink in his hand.

The atmosphere of the final was completely different. The main stage lights were dazzling, the audience seats were packed, and there were even cameras from the local television station. Yuji stood at one end of the stage, looking at Serena across from him. She seemed to be completely in the zone, her eyes focused and sharp, a stark contrast to her usual self.

The final will be a best-of-three series. The referee announces the rules and asks both players to prepare.

After the rock-paper-scissors game, Serena chose to go first. My turn. Her movements were fluid and confident as she summoned Magical Girl Sayaka, then activated her effect, adding a Healing Spell from her deck to her hand.

Yuki watched her unfold intently. Serena's movements were even more precise than before, with almost no unnecessary actions.

She covers two cards in the back row, and her turn ends. Serena has completed her turn, and the blue-haired magical girl on the field, holding a longsword, warily watches her opponent.

After drawing a card, Yuki quickly unleashes his power: Summon Uchiha Sasuke, activate his effect, and discard one card from your hand to destroy the face-down card on your left!

Sasuke's Chidori shattered the cover card, revealing a magical barrier.

Good idea. Serena nodded, but the other face-down card is Magical Girl's Oath. When my Magical Girl is targeted by an effect, I can negate that effect and destroy your monster!

Yuki frowned: Chain Activation Quick-Attack Magic Sharingan Copy! Copy the effect of your trap and select your Sayaka as the target!

A brilliant counterattack! Serena's Sayaka was disrupted by her own effect, while Yuuki's Sasuke was saved. Gasps of amazement rippled through the audience.

Battle! Sasuke attacks directly! Yuuki, seizing the opportunity, follows suit and attacks with all his might.

Serena's health dropped by 1700 points, but her expression remained calm: Not bad combo. But it's far from enough.

In the following rounds, the two sides engaged in a fierce back-and-forth battle. Yuki continuously organized attacks based on his deep understanding of the deck, but Serena's defense was equally impenetrable, always managing to defuse the crisis with minimal cost.

The first round ended in a narrow victory for Yuuki. He drew Sage Mode at the last moment, and together with Naruto on the field, they completed the decisive blow.

"A beautiful victory." Serena whispered as they switched sides, "But I won't be careless in the next game."

As expected, Serena completely changed her 357 strategy in the second game. She adopted a more controlling style of play, constantly disrupting Yuki's resource cycle, and ultimately won the game with a clear advantage.

There was a five-minute break before the decisive game began. Yuki sat in the player's chair, carefully adjusting the order of his deck. He could feel his heart pounding, but he wasn't nervous; instead, he felt a strange sense of excitement.

"It's the last game." Serena's voice came from the side. She had walked over at some point, carrying two bottles of water.

Yu Ji took the water and suddenly asked: If you win, which prize card do you want the most?

Serena paused for a moment, then smiled: "The ultimate form of a magical girl, the limited edition one. What about you?"

Six Paths Naruto. Yuki answered without hesitation, even though almost no one had ever drawn him.

Serena said thoughtfully, "It suits your deck style perfectly." The bell rang, signaling the end of the break. Before turning away, she added softly, "Good luck, Yuuki."

"You too." Yu Ji replied, feeling a warm current welling up in his heart.

The start of the decisive game was extremely unfavorable for Yuuki. His starting hand consisted almost entirely of high-level monsters, forcing him to adopt a defensive stance. Serena, on the other hand, launched a fierce offensive, quickly reducing Yuuki's life points to only 1000.

"This is bad..." Yuuki muttered to himself, looking at Serena's 2500 ATK Magical Girl Homura and two face-down cards on the field. He only had one Rasengan in his hand, and his field was empty.

My turn. Yuuki almost dared not look when he drew the card—it was Nara Shikamaru! A low-level monster he had added to adjust the deck's balance.

After summoning Shikamaru, Yuuki fell into deep thought. Shikamaru's effect could recycle a Ninjutsu card from the graveyard, but he only had one Shadow Clone Jutsu in his graveyard, which couldn't turn the tide.

Cover with Rasengan, turn ends. Yuuki had no choice but to make this conservative option.

Serena's turn unfolds swiftly: Summon a second Homura! Then activate the equipped magic Time Manipulator, increasing the Homura's attack power by 500 points!

Two monsters with an attack power of 3000! Yuki's situation is extremely precarious.

Battle phase! Serena announces, homuraA attacks Shikamaru!

Yuuki gritted his teeth: Activate Trap Rasengan! Shikamaru's attack power increases by 2400 points this turn!

A blue energy ball condensed in Shikamaru's hand, colliding with Homura's weapon, and both perished.

HomuraB attacks the player directly! Serena shows no mercy.

A direct attack of 3000 points! Yuki closed his eyes, preparing to accept defeat—

But the attack didn't come. He opened his eyes in surprise to find Serena's homura suspended in mid-air.

Chapter 393 Coffee

"Activate the Magical Girl's Mercy." Serena said softly, "This round's battle damage is reduced to 0." She paused, then added, "What I want to win is you when you give it your all."

Yuki was stunned. The audience erupted in commotion, and the referee seemed to hesitate for a moment, but ultimately did not intervene.

My turn... Yuuki's hand trembled slightly as he drew the card. When he saw that card, his breath almost stopped—it was the Eight Gates Formation! The most powerful finishing card in his deck, but it required extremely strict conditions to activate.

At this moment, his health is below 1000, and there are five different ninja monsters in the graveyard—just enough to trigger the activation condition!

"Activate the Magic Card Eight Gates Formation!" Yuki announced loudly. "Place the card on the Duel Disk and sacrifice Shikamaru on my field to Special Summon Might Guy - Eight Gates Open from my Deck, Hand, and Graveyard!"

The entire venue erupted in a dazzling red light, and Might Guy's figure appeared in the light, surrounded by blood-red steam. His attack power was displayed as ???

The effect of opening all eight gates! Yuki's voice trembled with excitement; his attack power was equal to the difference in health points between the two! "Your health is 4000, mine is 1000, so my attack power is 3000!"

Serena's expression turned serious: But my Homura has 3000 attack power; at worst, we'll both perish.

It's not over yet! Yuuki raised his last card and activated the quick-attack spell, Last Lotus! This turn, Might Guy can attack twice, and the battle damage is borne by the opponent!

A gasp erupted from the stands. Serena, watching the imposing presence of Might Guy on the court, suddenly smiled: "So that's it... Is this your ultimate combo?"

Yuuki nodded and took a deep breath: Fight! Might Guy attacks Homura!

The crimson figure crashed into the magical girl like a meteor, the collision generating a massive energy shock. When the light faded, both monsters vanished.

"Second direct attack!" Yuuki declared. "This is my all-out strike, Serena!"

Might Guy transformed into a streak of red light and struck his opponent, while Serena's health bar dropped to zero. The hall fell silent for a moment, then erupted in thunderous applause.

Yuki slumped back in his chair, almost completely exhausted, and looked up at Serena across from him. She was smiling and clapping, showing no sign of disappointment at losing the match.

That was a brilliant combo. She came over and said, "I accept my defeat wholeheartedly."

After the award ceremony, Yuki, holding the champion's prize—a limited edition Six Paths Naruto card—hesitantly walked towards Serena, who was tidying up her deck.

He handed you the card.

Serena's eyes widened in surprise: But this is the prize you won, and it's...

"You gave up your chance to win so I could give it my all," Yuki said softly. "Without your mercy, I wouldn't have drawn the key card. So this card should belong to you."

Serena stared at him for a moment, took the card, and then took another card from her own card box: "Here, this is for you."

Yuki took it and saw that it was the limited edition magical girl's ultimate form!

"I got an extra one." Serena said with a smile, although Yuki knew it was almost impossible, as each person could only get one limited edition.

The two looked at each other and smiled, tacitly refraining from exposing each other's well-intentioned lies.

As they left the venue, the setting sun cast a golden glow on the streets. Serena gently touched Yuuki's hand: "Do you remember our promise? That cup of coffee."

Yuki felt his heart start racing again: Of course I remember.

I know a good restaurant nearby called (Hao Li Zhao). Serena naturally took his arm, "We can chat... about when we can have another match."

Yuji looked down at their intertwined arms, then looked up at Serena's profile, which was softly outlined by the setting sun, and suddenly felt that winning or losing was no longer so important.

"Okay," he replied softly, walking alongside her towards the warm sunset, always ready to accompany her.

Not far away, the old man at the card shop witnessed this scene, smiled knowingly, and turned to lock the shop door. He thought to himself, "Today's success isn't just about how many card packs I sold."

Chapter 394 Daily Life with Serena

The setting sun cast long shadows of the two of them, overlapping and intertwining on the sidewalk carpeted with ginkgo leaves. Serena still held Yuki's arm gently, a gesture so natural it seemed they had walked this path countless times before. Yuki could feel his heart pounding so loudly it almost shattered his eardrums. He stole a glance at the girl beside him; her profile was incredibly soft in the golden light.

“It’s just around the corner.” Serena pointed to a shop with warm yellow lighting not far away. “The latte art in this shop is really pretty, and…” She paused, a hint of playfulness in her voice, “they have a card battle section.”

Yu Ji couldn't help but laugh: "That's definitely your style."

The doorbell of the café rang crisply, and a warm breeze carrying the aroma of coffee and desserts wafted in. The interior was decorated in a warm wood tone, with various framed card art pieces adorning the walls. At the far end, there were indeed several card battle tables, where two groups of customers were engrossed in their matches.

"Boss, the usual spot," Serena greeted the middle-aged man behind the counter, clearly a regular customer.

The boss saw Serena and smiled warmly: "Miss Serena, you brought a friend today?" His gaze lingered on You Jishen for a moment, with a hint of friendly inquiry.

"This is Yuki, today's qualifying champion," Serena introduced, a hint of pride in her voice.

Yuki nodded sheepishly and followed Serena to a relatively quiet booth by the window. There was even a small "Reserved" sign on the table, indicating that this was indeed her reserved seat.

“So,” Serena said, resting her chin on her hands and looking at Yuuki across from her with sparkling eyes, “when did you start playing Naruto decks?”

Yuki took the menu from the waiter, his fingers unconsciously tracing the leather texture of the cover: "About three years ago. Boruto had just started airing, and the deck was getting an expansion pack, so I bought a box to try my luck." He smiled, "And I got a signed 'Naruto Uzumaki' card, and I felt like it was fate that made me major in this deck."

Serena listened intently: "And then? Was everything go smoothly from the beginning?"

“Quite the opposite.” Yuki smiled wryly. “Back then, the Naruto deck was Tier 3, almost unbeatable. I lost for three whole months and almost gave up.” His gaze became distant, as if he had returned to those difficult days of Chapter 357. “Later I realized that the problem wasn’t that the deck was weak, but that no one had found the right way to play it. The mainstream playstyle relied too much on high-attack monsters and ignored the possibility of ninjutsu chains.”

The waiter brought their drinks—Serena had ordered a latte with an intricate swan latte art, while Yuuki had a regular black coffee. Serena carefully stirred her coffee, making sure not to ruin the latte art: "So you developed your own tactical system?"

Yuki nodded, took out his deck from his bag and placed it on the table: "Look, I abandoned the 'Akatsuki' series commonly found in mainstream decks and focused on the synergy of Konoha ninjas." He drew out a few key cards, "The bond effect of 'Kakashi Hatake' and 'Obito Uchiha,' the team bonus of 'Team 7,' and..." He flipped to the slightly worn Might Guy card, "This seemingly insignificant lower-level monster is actually a key card."

Serena picked up Might Guy's card and examined it carefully: "The cost of the Eight Gates is too high. You can't attack for a turn, which is almost equivalent to wasting your turn."

“So we need to coordinate.” Yuki’s eyes lit up. He was always full of enthusiasm when talking about deck building. “I added Sakura Haruno’s medical ninjutsu to offset negative effects, and Neji Hyuga’s Eight Trigrams Palm to protect the field during turns.” He talked on and on for five minutes before suddenly realizing he might have said too much. “Sorry, I get so excited…”

“No, it’s very interesting,” Serena said sincerely. “I’ve always felt that truly excellent duelists don’t follow the meta and play mainstream decks, but rather can discover the potential of niche decks.” She took a small sip of her coffee, leaving a perfect lip print on the rim of the cup. “Like that all-out combo you did today, I never expected it.”

Yuki felt his cheeks burning and quickly took a sip of coffee to cover it up: "Actually, that was desert play. If you hadn't let me win a round..."

“That’s not letting him win,” Serena interrupted him, her expression suddenly turning serious. “That’s respect. I want to win against you when you give it your all, not when you lose because of bad luck with the gacha.” She twirled her coffee cup. “A duel is like a conversation. I want to hear complete sentences, not interrupted snippets.”

Yuki was stunned. He had never heard anyone describe card duels like this before. In his past experience, victory and defeat were everything, and taking advantage of the opponent's mistakes was a matter of course. But Serena's words made him realize that duels could have another dimension—a kind of communication that transcended pure victory and defeat, almost an art.

“I understand,” You Ji said softly. “Just like a good game should be like a wonderful dialogue, with back-and-forth exchanges, and a beginning, development, climax, and conclusion.”