The Beasts of Maze Castle

## Story Arcs and Sagas

**The Beasts of Maze Castle** (迷宮城の四聖獣, *Meikyū Shiro no Shiseijū*?) is the fourth story arc of the Yu Yu Hakusho series and the Spirit Detective Saga.

The Four Saint Beasts use the Makai Whistle to command an army of mind-controlling insects that invade Yusuke's city, putting pressure on the Spirit World to free them from their imprisonment. Rather than give in to their demands, Koenma sends Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama to infiltrate Maze Castle.

## Summary

### The Gate of Betrayl

Yusuke returns to his city after six months of training with Genkai. Mysterious insects have infected people on the streets and they come into contact with Yusuke and Kuwabara. After they deal with the first round of infected, Botan reveals that Makai Insects from the Demon World have invaded the city.

The insects are being controlled by the Four Saint Beasts, who are using the infestation as leverage for Koenma to free them from Maze Castle. The Saint Beasts have been confined there for eons and are now making their move to escape into the living world.

Yusuke and Kuwabara agree to infiltrate Maze Castle and defeat the Four Saint Beast before the entire city is infected. Koenma also assigns Hiei and Kurama to the mission and pardons them of their past crimes to avoid this crisis. The newly formed Spirit Detective Team enters Maze Castle but is greeted by an Eye-Bat who traps them in the Gate of Betrayal.

The Gate of Betrayal is a corridor trap that sends the roof of the hallway crashing down on the heroes. The sensors in the corridor match the weight of the gate to the exact strength of the team of four. The Eye-Bat tries to get one of the team to betray the others, claiming only they deserve to enter Maze Castle. Yusuke puts his trust in Hiei, who uses his speed to flip the switch and stops the trap in time before it crushes the others.

### VS. Saint Beasts

Yusuke's team is lured into a stone room and confronted by the first Saint Beast, Genbu the Stone Beast. Kurama steps up to face the stone monster and appears to make short work of him using his Rose Whip. Genbu reveals he can disassemble his body and control its stone pieces at will. Kurama is able to win after seizing the mechanism Genbu uses to control his body. Kurama destroys it and Genbu is sent to a very ungraceful death.

The team continues up the stairs until they reach a platform outside that connects to the main part of the tower. There, they're confronted by the second of the Saint Beasts, Byakko the White Tiger. Kuwabara decides to prove he belongs by facing the White Tiger alone. Byakko holds the advantage over Kuwabara because he can absorb the power from the boy's Spirit Sword. Despite all Yusuke's pleads, Kuwabara remains vigilant and fights alone. He appears to defeat Byakko by overloading his body with energy.

Byakko survives and leads the intruders into his lair. Byakko's Lair is a pit of lava with only a few platforms to stand on. Kuwabara decides to finish the fight alone but gets cornered after Byakko destroys all the possible footing. Thanks to quick thinking, Kuwabara uses his Spirit Sword to vault to the White Tiger and knocks Byakko into the lava with a strong punch, defeating him.

The Spirit Detective Team continues up the main tower until they reach a room with fifteen doors. Maze Castle is famous for its traps and stories of countless adventurers losing their lives to the maze. Thanks to Kuwabara's intuition, they successfully choose the correct door and reach another room decorated with a blue dragon. Inside they meet the third of the Saint Beasts, Seiryu the Blue Dragon.

Byakko reveals he survived the lava and begs Seiryu for help. Disgusted by Byakko's weakness, Seiryu freezes and kills him without remorse. Irritated by Seriyu's actions, Hiei decides to step up and fight next. Seiryu can freeze anything he launches his Spirit Energy at. Hiei is able to avoid the blasts for the most part, but his leg gets caught by an attack and is frozen solid. Seiryu believes he has Hiei beat, but the newly reformed demon uses his sword as an extra leg and slices the blue dragon into sixteen pieces, killing him in a flash.

### Seven Ways to Die

With all of his subordinates defeated, the Leader of the Beasts, Suzaku, expresses his displeasure. He decides to focus the Makai Insects on exploiting Yusuke's one weakness. He uses the Makai Whistle to order all the infected to try and kill Keiko. Yusuke's team surmises that the leader is held up inside Maze Castle's watchtower. They get close to entering it but are surrounded by Cultivated Humans, mindless slaves for Suzaku.

Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama hold off the mindless fighters in order to allow Yusuke to advance. Meanwhile, in the streets of the city, an infected Mr. Iwamoto leads a crowd of infected men to Keiko. Botan helps her evade them for the most part, but it's inevitable before they're caught. Yusuke arrives in the main room of the watchtower and is introduced to Suzaku. The Leader of the Beasts reveals his evil plan to kill Keiko, angering Yusuke.

Their battle begins but Suzaku easily holds off all Yusuke's attacks with a single hand, including the Spirit Gun. Yusuke needs to get the Makai Whistle from Suzaku in order to save Keiko, but the Leader of the Beasts is far stronger than the other three. He electrocutes Yusuke by commanding the lightning outside with his Spirit Energy.

While Yusuke is being beaten, Botan and Keiko are cornered by infected. Yusuke uses his shoes to bluff that he can defend Suzaku's attack with rubber. Suzaku takes the bait but Yusuke actually defends using his Spirit Energy, leaving Suzaku open to being counter-attacked. As Yusuke strikes back, Keiko and Botan fight their way out of a corner as well.

Suzaku admits he's impressed by Yusuke's power increase. Yusuke nearly takes back the whistle but Suzaku is able to keep hold of it. Suzaku splits into seven different bodies and overpowers Yusuke while Keiko and Botan continue running for their lives. The seven Suzaku restrain Yusuke and torture him, forcing him to watch Keiko in danger while keeping him in a constant state of electrocution.

Thanks to their whits and teamwork, Keiko and Botan are able to escape a perilous situation and force back the infected again. At the same time, Genkai's voice reminds Yusuke that he needs to commit all the way to finding an important reason to fight. Yusuke realizes he needs to fight for his friends and all those who are counting on him. His Spirit Energy explodes and he's freed from the seven Suzaku's grasp.

Rejuvenated, Yusuke prepares to finish this fight with Suzaku. He blasts all seven bodies with his Shotgun, exhausting his remaining energy. Yusuke tries to take back the whistle but Suzaku recovers in time to stop him from taking it from Murugu, Suzaku's pet bird. Suzaku restores his seven forms by reclaiming their Spirit Energy before summoning them again. Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei continue to fight endless slaves, Keiko and Botan are reaching the end of their rope and Yusuke appears to be in huge trouble.

Botan is knocked unconscious and Keiko is about to be killed. However, Yusuke's life energy protects her as he begins using it to fuel himself. Ready to sacrifice it all, Yusuke unleashes one last attack that clashes with Suzaku. The collision causes a huge explosion that destroys the Makai Whistle and defeats Suzaku once and for all. Yusuke appears to have sacrificed his own life, but Kuwabara uses his own life energy to prevent his friend from dying.

Yusuke wakes up three days later, having completed his mission. The city is saved and Keiko is still alive. Yusuke apologizes to her for everything that has happened and promises not to lie to her about his job as Spirit Detective anymore.

## Episodes

North America: May 25, 2002
North America: June 8, 2002
North America: June 15, 2002
North America: June 22, 2002
North America: June 29, 2002
North America: July 6, 2002
North America: July 13, 2002
North America: July 20, 2002