Kurama arrives in the Demon Realm, having sent his newly-wed mother off on a trip during summer vacation. He intends to only stay in the Demon Realm for a short period, but as he reaches the Demon Realm city Gandara, he is attacked by three demons. He kills them all, only to find it was a test by Yomi, who appears behind him. Yomi was just puzzled by Kurama's presence now, compared to what he felt before. He wants Kurama to lend him his strength, as he intends to defeat the two other kings of the Demon Realm: Raizen and Mukuro. They attend a war council meeting, and discuss what will happen a year from now: Raizen will be dead. Kurama angers Shachi, Yomi's second in command, by suggesting he is insignificant, and they need someone who is as strong as Yomi.

After the meeting, Yomi remembers something important: he wants Kurama to meet someone. The two head to a large door, and Yomi says behind it is the person he'd been continually looking for for over the last thousand years -the one who took his sight. As Yomi opens the door, he asks Kurama what's the matter -his heartbeat has sped up. The door opens up, and the demon is chained to a wall, nearly dead. It's revealed that over a thousand years ago, Kurama and Yomi were trying to make a name for themselves, working in a group of thieves to plunder treasure. However Yomi kept going off on his own and being overconfident in himself, which got him into trouble. One day, he entered a castle with a group of demons, only to find it empty. But they were then attacked by a demon, who killed most of the group, and fought Yomi.

Yomi was struck in the face and blinded, but was able to wound the demon, causing him to flee. The last thing he heard the demon say was "life is more important than any reward". Back in the present, the demon asks to be killed, and Yomi says he'll grant him his request, if he answers a question: who ordered him to attack Yomi. The demon's answer is that it was Yoko Kurama. Yomi kills the demon, but tells Kurama he doesn't blame him. Looking back on it now, he certainly was a fool back then. If he'd been in Kurama's position, he would have done the same thing. He asks Kurama to become his advisor, and when Kurama asks what'll happen if he refuses, Yomi threatens to kill his mother. As he walks out of the room, he says that the Demon Realm will soon be plunged into great disorder, and when that happens, it's when he'll need Kurama's composure and cold-bloodedness. He wants Kurama to utilize those powers for him.

Manga differences

-In the manga, when Kurama takes the phone call, he's already in the city. The anime changed this so he's out the outskirts, and added a new scene where three demons attack him, and then Yomi and Yuda appear.

-In the manga, during the council meeting, Yomi wears something referred to as a "telepathic antenna", which transfers the data Yuda is displaying directly to his brain. He does not wear this device in the anime.

-In the manga, Yuda displays Yomi's data first, then Mukuro, then Raizen. In the anime, the order is Raizen, Mukuro, Yomi.

-The same thing happens with the number twos -in the manga, Shachi's data is shown first, then Kirin's, then Hokushin. In the anime, it's Hokushin, Kirin and then Shachi.

-The demon that Yomi has locked away is in a much worse state in the manga than he is in the anime -one of his arms has been severed, and most of his stomach is missing.

-The flashback scene showing Yomi being saved by Kurama is not in the manga.

-In the manga, Yomi went off on a solo raid when he encountered the demon. In the anime, he led a group of demons, who are all killed.

-In the manga, Yomi does not scream after the demon says it was Kurama who hired him. He only screams in the anime.