Reiji Akaba

"I've seen a possible way for Pendulum Summon to evolve even further."

- Reiji revealing a secret of Pendulum Summon.

Reiji Akaba ( Akaba Reiji) is the second CEO of the huge Leo Corporation in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. He is also a Super Elite Duelist with a genius brain. Reiji is the youngest Duelist in history to be certified to Duel in the professional circuit, having done so at age 15. Reiji functions as Yūya Sakaki's primary rival, despite their current alliance, at first due to his capability to Pendulum Summon, and later due to his methods. He is the founder of the Lancers, an organization to fight against invaders from other dimensions.

Appearance
Reiji is a thin young man with pale skin and grey hair, the front layer being a lighter grey than the back. His hair is arranged in a simple style, flicking upwards at the ends. Reiji's eyes are purple, and he wears red-framed spectacles. His ears are both pierced with black stud earrings. Despite his status as the CEO of the Leo Corporation, Reiji dresses rather casually, wearing a dark-blue sweater, white pants that end just above his ankles, and white shoes (apparently without any socks beneath them), along with a long red scarf wrapped around his shoulders with the ends trailing to the small of his back. When he was monitoring the You Show Duel School in person, he concealed his identity beneath a large hooded sweatshirt.

Personality
In general, Reiji has a serious and stoic demeanor but he takes an interest in Yūya Sakaki. He is utterly polite without fail, save rare moments of a loss in composure. Despite his advanced skills, he is not arrogant and is respectful to Yūya's father, Yūshō Sakaki, fiercely defending him when he was insulted in a rare moment of emotion. While he does not consider empathy as beneficial on the battlefield, he does seem to enjoy himself while Dueling, and even requested Yūya to demonstrate Yūshō's Entertainment Dueling. He was shown to smile when Yūya exerted his full strength. He later admits that while Yūya's feelings gave birth to a great power, this is not always the case and emotions can still cost one on the battlefield. He is very calm and collected and is also quite and talking only when he needed and when dueling he is shown to think and observe carefully. Despite his declared rivalry with Yūya Sakaki, he does not show any open dislike for him, and in fact defended him from false accusations of attacking Leo Corporation employees; this demonstrates that he may hold a degree of respect for Yūya. Reiji has also mentioned that he does not care very much for his father, Leo Akaba, and he demonstrates an intense dislike of his father's ambitions, given the suffering that they have caused. Reiji is also pragmatic without regard for the actions of potential allies, offering an alliance with Shun and Serena despite their attacks on his students.

He is shown to be highly analytical and a skilled strategist, and claims he only plays games that he knows that he can win. He used the Maiami Championship as a test to recruit Lancers, and came up with a plan to fend off the Fusion Dimension invasion within only a day. He can show less moral side when executing his plans, as he had no problem allowing many Duelists to be sealed in cards during the Battle Royal and only cared about the ones that did survive. During his second Duel with Yūya he showed a cruel indifference and revealed that he considers feelings to be a weakness and a tool to manipulate others, as seen when he used Yūya's feelings towards Yuzu to push him to Duel more efficiently by lying about Yuzu's fate after her disappearance. Despite his cold nature, he seems to care closely about his younger brother Reira and gets along with his mother. According to Tsukikage, Reiji does care about others' lives and won't abandon his allies, even if his actions seem to suggest otherwise. In the Synchro Dimension Reiji tends to act more reserved and quite and talks only when it is necessary. In his youth, Reiji was more reckless, crossing dimensions (though unaware that he had done so at the time) to find his father after he had disappeared and exposing his hiding place to save Serena. He also spoke far more brashly (in Japanese, he referred to himself as "boku" in contrast with his current self who refers to himself as "watashi", which is the polite form), demanding answers from his father.

Etymology
This character's last name, Akaba, means "Red Horse". This character is similar to Seto Kaiba ( Kaiba Seto) from the original/first Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, whose name also has also has 馬 (Uma, Horse), making this character the ARC-V counterpart to him as the similarities of the last names and appearance they share. Reiji means "Zero Child".

Past
Reiji seemed to have a relatively good relationship with his parents. However, this changed when his father started to immerse himself in an unknown research that he neglected both Reiji and his mother. This reached its peak when three years ago, Leo suddenly disappeared, abandoning his family and company, which greatly frustrated Himika. Seeing his mother's condition, Reiji decided to look for his father to punish him. His search led him to a teleportation device that sent Reiji to Academia.undefined He wandered the halls until he noticed Serena being chased by faculty members. When they cornered her, he watched from atop a wall behind her as she Dueled against them, and was surprised to see that their holograms had mass without an Action Field. He jumped in, Summoning "DD Cerberus" to defend her. He then offered her his hand, which she took, and pulled her up over the wall. They fled to the harbor, where they were caught by Leo Akaba and several Obelisk Force members, to Reiji's surprise. Serena mentioned that Leo wanted to destroy the Xyz and Synchro Dimensions, mentioning that the attack on the Xyz Dimension was about to start, prompting a confused Reiji to protest that Leo had not mentioned anything to him or his mother. The Obelisk Force squad then took Serena away, and then one of them placed a miniature teleportation device on Reiji's wrist, which sent him back to the Standard Dimension and then self-destructed. These events motivated Reiji to stop his father's ambitions. He became the President of the Leo Corporation and managed to achieve entry into the Professional Circuit by the age of fifteen. One night at Leo Corporation, Reiji asked Yūshō to lead the Lancers and help him stop Leo's ambition after investigating the research his father left behind. However, Yūshō never returned. At some point, an orphaned boy from a war-torn country, Reira, was brought in, and his mother explained that the boy had lost his sense of self from what he had experienced. This made him an ideal candidate to become a Duel Soldier to fight against Academia. Reiji, however, was quite disturbed by this. The boy was adopted into their family, and Reiji developed a caring relationship with his adopted brother.

Yūya vs. Strong Ishijima
Meiji first appeared watching Yūya's Duel against Strong Ishijima not far from the stadium. After Yūya Sakaki defeated Strong Ishijima using the Pendulum Summon mechanic, Reiji was briefed on the Summon and on Yūya himself by Nakajima. Intrigued by the Pendulum Summon, Reiji asked Shingo to learn what he could about Pendulum Summoning, no matter how small the detail and to acquire them, if possible.

Yūya vs. Shingo Sawatari
Shingo successfully acquired the cards, but wanted to use them to Duel Yūya. As Nakajima protested from where he was watching the Duel, Reiji arrived and assured him that it was all right. He advised Shingo on the use of Yūya's Pendulum Monsters from behind the scenes throughout the Duel. After Shingo's loss, Nakajima stated that they would need to use other means to seize the cards immediately, but Reiji again reassured him that it was all right for now. He looked at a video feed of Yūya, thanking him for putting on a show and murmured Yūya's name.

Duel Against Yūya
A week after the first Pendulum Summon, his mother Himika arrived back from a business trip. Reiji wasted little time in informing her about Pendulum Summoning and Yūya Sakaki, and stated that they'd almost achieved a complete understanding of the Summon. He also informed her of Shingo's supposed attack at Yūya's hands. Reiji admitted to being worried that, despite the feat he had performed, Yūya only had a 50% win-loss-ratio, and he was the son of Yūshō Sakaki, who had disappeared three years previously and possibly allied with enemies of Leo Corporation. Later, he observed the Duels between the You Show Duel School and LDS, remaining hidden and concealing his identity beneath a hooded sweatshirt. After Yūya had defeated Hokuto Shijima, Yuzu Hīragi had been defeated by Masumi Kōtsu and Noboru Gongenzaka had tied with Yaiba Tōdō, Himika angrily proposed a tiebreaker between the students that had won; Yūya and Masumi. Before the situation could progress any further, Reiji revealed himself and he stated he would put an end to it.

None of the students present recognized Reiji, his mother commenting that they didn't know how strong he was. Reiji requested that she and their students stay quiet and watch, and that they not cheer any further. Reiji allowed Yūya to choose whichever Action Field he wanted, so Shūzō Hīragi (the only You Show member aware of Reiji's identity) picked Yūya's favorite Field, "Athletic Circus." In exchange, Yūya let Reiji go first. Reiji proceeded to use three "Contract" Permanent Magic Card to Fusion Summon "DDD Flame King Temujin" on his turn (this is his first use of a Fusion Monster to be known, and there were no record of him using them during any of his past Duels), then set the rest of his hand, but leaving him apparently guaranteed to take 3000 damage on his next turn. When Yūya attempted to retaliate, Reiji activated another "Contract" card that would cause him to take another 1000 damage during the next turn. Yūya was able to counter that attack as well, but Reiji was well-prepared, using an Action Card to protect "Temujin." Yūya was given the option to end his turn and theoretically win, but hesitated. Reiji observed that Yūya's kindness was causing him to hesitate, though he called it useless in battle. Yūya Set a card, then Reiji negated and destroyed his "Contract" cards with "Lease Laundering," replenishing his hand in addition. Yūya admitted that he wouldn't have been happy if he'd won from that, as he wouldn't have gotten a chance to show off his father's Entertainment Dueling. Reiji asked if he was referring to Yūshō Sakaki, and Yūya was surprised that Reiji seemed to know his father. Yaiba mocked Yūshō from the sidelines, prompting Reiji to roar at him to be silent. He apologized for his outburst, explaining that he respected Yūshō from the bottom of his heart. Reiji then proceeded to Synchro Summon "DDD Gust King Alexander" and Xyz Summon "DDD Wave King Caesar" on his next turn, much to the shock of the onlookers. He destroyed all of Yūya's monsters, despite Yūya's use of "Hippo Carnival." Yūya proceeded to Pendulum Summon on his next turn, using his "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" in combination with "Entermate Fire Mufflio" and an Action Card to destroy all three of Reiji's monsters. Reiji used the effect of "Caesar" to revive them, though at the cost of taking damage again on his next turn, and then he Released them with "DDD Human Resources" - by passing the damage he would have taken - to add his "DD Magical Savant Galilei" and "DD Magical Savant Kepler" to his hand - Pendulum Monster prototypes that he proceeded to activate on his next turn. He congratulated Yūya after Yūya claimed that he looked forward to seeing whatever surprises Reiji had in store, Reiji asking Yūya to confirm whether Pendulum Summoning was unique with his own eyes. Reiji then Pendulum Summoned three "DDD Death Great King Hell Armageddon", destroying all of Yūya's monsters again and reducing him to 350 Life Points, also discovering, to his surprise, that destroyed Pendulum Monsters were sent to the Extra Deck instead of the Graveyard. Yūya demanded to know where Reiji had acquired Pendulum Summoning, but Reiji refused to answer. Yūya Pendulum Summoned his destroyed monsters back, along with a new one, "Entermate Partnaga," and attempted to destroy all three "Hell Armageddons", but the destruction of one simply activated the effects of the others, which gained the ATK of the destroyed "Hell Armageddon." Before Reiji could counterattack, his Pendulum Monsters' effects appeared and reduced their Scales, destroying his remaining "Hell Armageddons." He burst out laughing in surprise, realizing that Pendulum Summoning was not complete and that he had seen the possibility for further evolution in Pendulum Summoning. His mother then called out his name after hearing about the disappearance of Marco and Nakajima briefed Reiji on what had happened. Reiji gave Yūya the win, and when asked, told Yūya his name before departing.

LDS Investigation
Arriving back at LDS, he learned that Marco had been involved in a Duel with an Xyz user. As they'd been with Yūya at the time, and Yūya had not demonstrated the capability, this ruled him out as the culprit. Reiji ordered his men to search for Marco after being shown Marco's cards and Duel Disk.

Following this, Reiji anonymously requested that Yūya be allowed into the Junior Youth Championship under pretext his victory against Strong Ishijima proved his remarkable skill. Yūya, however, declined, and won his first Duel of the required four to gain entry normally. Nakajima later informed Reiji of this, and Reiji smiled, commenting that it seemed he'd done something unnecessary, that he should have expected it from the originator of Pendulum Summoning, and he asked if Yūya had Pendulum Summoned and if there was any change. Nakajima replied that there wasn't and admitted that he was bothered by elevated levels of Fusion Summoning that were occurring. The readings were stronger than normal, and Reiji compared it to the abnormally strong Xyz Summonings that had occurred recently. He ordered it to be monitored. His mother later approached him with two cards that had been sent anonymously to LDS that morning depicting Marco and Tio, one of LDS's aces. Reiji mused that the previous day, another strong Xyz Summon had been detected, and deduced that the two had been sealed inside the cards, though this was the first time he'd witnessed such a phenomenon. Though Marco and Tio were alive, they couldn't be saved with LDS's current resources. He commented that this did raise one question - there had been there Xyz-related attacks, yet the first victim - Shingo - hadn't been sealed in a card, suggesting two perpetrators. Before they could continue their talk, Mr. Sawatari barged into the office furiously, asking why they were loafing around. Despite Mr. Sawatari not having an appointment, Reiji acknowledged that the rumors of the third attack were true. Mr. Sawatari angrily asked why they weren't taking action to catch the perpetrator, pointing out that his son had testified that Yūya Sakaki had attacked him. Reiji asked if Shingo was still saying that, and Mr. Sawatari admitted that he hadn't seen Shingo since he'd left the hospital, but hadn't heard Shingo say differently. He asked why they were letting Yūya run free, despite Himika wanting to handle it herself, and wanted to inform the police. Rising from his chair, Reiji warned him that it was under investigation. Mr. Sawatari insisted that Yūya was the perpetrator, but Reiji forcefully told Mr. Sawatari that Yūya was no criminal. He vowed to catch the real criminal, until then, he'd like Mr. Sawatari to watch quietly. After Mr. Sawatari had left the office in a huff, Reiji ordered Nakajima to raise the level of alert in the inner city and analyze the cards of Marco and Tio to save all of the city's Duelists. He later learned that the strong Fusion Summoning readings were continuing, and mused that the person using them must be winning as well. Later, Reiji practiced Pendulum Summoning again, this time with the effects of his cards updated, and he successfully Summoned all three "Hell Armageddons". Imagining himself facing Yūya and "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon", Reiji reached for his next card, but before he could continue his move, he was advised to stop, as they had cleared the day's benchmarks and the experiment was a success. Nakajima congratulated him, stating that now they were one step closer to creating even more of the Leo Corporation's own Pendulum Cards. Despite this, Reiji considered his own inferior in terms of activation energy output to Yūya's Pendulum Monsters, believing them to be incomplete and unusable in the tournament. He gave Nakajima until the tournament to fix the problem, as they could not underestimate their competition, no matter where it came from.

Alliance With Shun
When Nakajima was complaining about using students to draw out the Duelist that had been attacking their students, Reiji arrived and ordered them to continue monitoring them, confident that whoever it was would show themselves. He witnessed Shun admit to attacking the LDS students and the start of his Battle Royale against Masumi, Yaiba and Hokuto. When Shun defeated all three of the students and he ordered the other LDS students that had arrived to bring them their boss, Reiji replied that he was right there if Shun wanted him, and his employees parted as Reiji walked towards the Xyz-user. Reiji explained to Shun that he was the current Leo Corporation President, and Shun immediately challenged him to a Duel. Reiji requested to know why Shun was attacking them. Though Shun refused to answer, Reiji had deduced from his actions and Masumi's prior testimony that Shun was trying to rescue his comrade by using Reiji as a hostage. Shun confirmed that his attacks had been to lure Reiji out to persuade Leo Akaba to release his comrades. Reiji, however, claimed that he doubted his father valued him that much, but agreed to Duel Shun under conditions: Shun must enter the Junior Youth Championship and fight certain Duelists for him, informing him in a roundabout manner of Sora Shiun'in, a Fusion user, and Yūya, the user of the Pendulum Summoning that Shun would likely be unfamiliar with. Reiji explained that he too wanted to fight against his father and clarified that if Shun won, he could do whatever he wanted. He departed with his men afterwards. Nakajima later confirmed that Yūya had successfully entered into the competition and that any memory about Shun being the one behind the LDS attack has been altered from Masumi, Yaiba, and Hokuto's memories, making it instead that Shun has been an LDS student from the very beginning and they have entered into the Junior Youth tournament. Reiji mused that all that was left was to see how much power Shun would display, and he looked through his Lancers Selection document, muttering that the same question applied to the rest of the Duelists in the folder - which of them would become the lances to fight for their world.

Round 1
At the beginning of the tournament, Reiji made one of his first public appearances in a while, much to the delight of his fans. He, his mother, and Reira Akaba watched the opening proceedings, observing the entry of both Yūya and Shun, and after Yūya's brief mess-up and subsequent speech regarding Yūshō Sakaki, Reiji led the applause. He watched Reira's first Duel against Ayu Ayukawa, and congratulated his little brother after he won. Before Shingo's Duel with Yūya, Reiji gave him his new "Yosenju" cards, including some Pendulum Monsters, and taught him an anti-Pendulum combination that would return Pendulum Cards to the Deck. He monitored the Summoning, which was successful, as was Shingo's use of the technique. He was pleasantly surprised when Yūya Fusion Summoned using a Pendulum Monster as the Material, pleased that Yūya had already evolved so far. After Shingo's lost, he ordered Nakajima to retrieve his Pendulum Cards and analyze them for mass-production.

Shun vs. Sora
Before Shun's Duel with Sora Shiun'in, Reiji arranged for the Action Field "Future City Heartland" to be used to light Shun's fighting spirit. Reiji also had a Pendulum Card made for Shun, who rejected it. While this annoyed Nakajima, Reiji was fine with the rejection of his gift, as he was more interested in Shun's abilities rather than the potential of Pendulum Summoning. He was quite surprised when Shun performed a Rank-Up-Xyz Change during the Duel. When Shun called out "Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon," he told Reira to watch their future at stake. After Shun defeated Sora, he told him not to take further action in the eyes of the public, as Sora would be useful for experiments to understand Academia.

Sora & Yūya vs. Yūto
Sora escaped during the night, and Reiji coordinated the search for him, finding him in Central Park with a man who resembled Yūya Sakaki. Shun explained that this was his comrade, Yūto, the second Xyz user that Reiji had suspected of attacking LDS. He refused to let Shun assist Yūto, and they simply watched the Duel between Sora and Yūto, and the subsequent arrival and joining of Yūya. After Sora revealed himself as an agent of Academia, his Duel Disk transported him away. Reiji watched as Yūto explained to Yūya about the Four Dimensions, growing angrier as he heard about the attacks on Yūto's homeland, and explaining that it was due to his father, Leo Akaba's ambition that the tragedy had occurred. Before he could learn more, the security camera they were accessing was damaged. Reiji still refused to let Shun go, warning him that he would protect his city in his own way. When they detected a Synchro Summoning reaction, Shun explained that Yūto must be Dueling the Pawn of Fusion. Nakajima later found Yūto's Duel Disk, and Reiji ordered it brought to him as he looked out over Maiami City. Nakajima did as ordered, and Reiji proceeded to scan it for information.

Duel Against Barrett
Reiji witnessed Yūya's next Duel with Isao Kachidoki, suspecting that Yūya had possession of Yūto's "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon"; his suspicions were confirmed when Yūya Xyz Summoned it. When a stunned Shun turned to go and find Yūya, Reiji reminded him of the tournament's purpose before he left. Reiji then heard Nico Smiley announce that Hokuto had lost his Duel to Michio Mokota by default due to absence. This confused Reiji, until he was informed that a Fusion Summoning reaction had been detected. He was shown security camera footage that caught Hokuto being sealed inside a card by Serena, whose face he recognized. He then learned that Serena had watched Yū Sakuragi's Duel and realized that Yū would be Serena's next target, so he devised a plot to use Yū as bait to lure Serena, which worked perfectly. Reiji immediately told Yū to leave, and as the latter turned to do so, Serena chased him, until Reiji stopped her by grabbing her arm. This prompted Serena to threaten to take Reiji out first, until Barrett, Serena's cohort, challenged Reiji instead. Reiji prepared his Duel Disk, ordering Nakajima through a communication link to seal off the area. Reiji inferred from Barrett's use of Medal Counters and willingness to take risks that Barrett had extensive combat experience, which Barrett confirmed. Though Reiji eventually took damage from his own "Contract with the Devil King" card, earning a respectful comment from Barrett, this damage ultimately sealed Reiji's victory, as he proceeded to dispatch Barrett using "DDD Marksman King Tell" and "DDD Oracle King d'Arc". Serena turned to leave, until Reiji told her to wait.

Reunion With Serena
He commented that she wasn't Yuzu Hīragi, and Serena asked who Yuzu was. Reiji explained that Yuzu was someone from Standard that resembled Serena and introduced himself, asking her if she remembered him and if she had been sent by Leo Akaba as a vanguard for an invasion. Serena denied working with Leo, having come to Standard of her own free will, and she admitted that she remembered Reiji too, as she'd been trapped in that castle since Reiji's appearance in her world. Reiji explained that he was opposing Leo and offered an alliance, but Serena refused, explaining that she was after the Xyz users in Standard under the belief that defeating them would make Leo Akaba acknowledge her abilities. She gave Reiji the card containing Hokuto's soul, and Reiji informed her that neither Hokuto nor Yū were her target, though he claimed to not know the Duelist from the Xyz Dimension who had defeated Sora. Reiji warned Serena that he would be considering her an enemy even if she wasn't working with Leo and would take appropriate action. Barrett, overhearing this, activated the forced return function of his Duel Disk, returning to the Fusion Dimension, but alerting them to Serena's location. Serena explained that there would be people from Academia coming after her, which would cause more than just a disturbance, but claimed before departing that once she'd defeated them and the Duelist from the Xyz Dimension, Leo would have no choice but to acknowledge her abilities.

Battle Royal
To prepare for the impending invasion, Reiji organized the third round of the Championship as a Battle Royal between the 16 remaining competitors, as he was worried that simply warning the citizens would cause a panic. He intended for the Top 8 Duelists from the Youth Championship to intercept the invaders, and for the Junior Youth Duelists to take them out. He instructed Shun to monitor the Junior Youth Duelists and seek out those who could join the Lancers in case of an emergency, to which Shun argued that he'd have to abandon those orders if the Youth Duelists all got defeated. Reiji later returned to his control room to monitor the proceedings. He cut the video feed from the Ancient Ruins Area of the Action Field to the stadium when Obelisk Force appeared, followed by the Volcano Area when Serena showed up, then ordered the Youth Duelists to move out. He took note of a powerful Synchro Summoning reading in the iceberg area, theorizing that it was the Pawn of Fusion that Shun had spoken of.

When the Obelisk Force appeared before Serena, he ordered the Youth Team to be sent to the Volcano Area. The Obelisk Force whittled down the Youth Team until only Yū remained, though he was saved by a Duelist from the Synchro Dimension who wiped out the entire Obelisk Force. Reiji realized from this that the Synchro Dimension wasn't their enemy and that LDS weren't skilled enough to resist Academia. He theorized that the Duelists from Yūya's generation might be able to become stronger due to entering the new stage of Dueling that Pendulum Summoning had brought about. Shingo then barged into the control room, demanding to know what was going on. Reiji decided to send Shingo into the Battle Royal to provide assistance, filling him in on the situation (though apparently, not of the intrusion penalty for the Battle Royal.) He also witnessed the transportation of Yuzu and the Duelist from the Synchro Dimension. After the timer for the Battle Royal expired, Reiji met the survivors personally, telling them that he had seen all of their Duels.

Rematch Against Yūya
He revealed that he had changed the third round of the tournament to a city-wide Battle Royal to drive the Obelisk Force away with their abilities. Since they had managed to win and survive, he stated that they should be proud of their triumph over such a strong enemy, but Yūya instead blamed him for Yuzu, Michio, Teppei Tairyōbata, and everyone else who had been sealed into cards. Yūya then tried to punch Reiji, but Reiji easily caught and repelled the attack, saying that Yūya should express his anger with a Duel, not with his fists, and that if Yūya won, he would repent his actions until Yūya was satisfied. He explained that he was determined to rally the Lancers to protect their world from the same tragedy that befell the Xyz Dimension, while activating "Future City Heartland". Reiji requested that Shun explain what had happened to the Xyz Dimension, but Shun was unable to do so out of shame. Reiji began to explain it himself, but was interrupted by Yūya (and Yūto who was still inside Yūya) angrily commanding him to stop talking and start Dueling. During the first turn, Reiji managed to Summon the same Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Monsters he Summoned during his last Duel against Yūya. After Yūya Summoned "Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" and "Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon", Reiji hypothesized that Yūya's ability to Fusion Summon was due to Sora's strength affecting Yuzu, and in turn Yūya, though he reassured Yūya that it was merely a hypothesis. After managing to survive Yūya's attack, Reiji told Yūya that he understood how Yūya felt about Yuzu, concluding that it was those feelings that enabled Yūya to Pendulum-Fusion Summon, but growing through feelings alone wouldn't be enough to defeat Academia. When Yūya protested that he didn't want to become a Lancers, Reiji asked if that meant he didn't want to save Yuzu, which prompted Yūya to believe that Yuzu hadn't been sealed into a card. Reiji then told Yūya to defeat him if he wanted to save Yuzu and defeat the Academia. Reiji Pendulum Summoned on his next turn, bringing out "DDD Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok", using it to revive "Caesar" and banish "Rune-Eyes". He then fused his two "DDD" monsters into "DDD Wave Oblivion King Caesar Ragnarok" and destroyed "Beast-Eyes". He urged Yūya to show him his full strength, as he hadn't gone all out either. Yūya proceeded to Pendulum-Xyz Summon on his next turn, bringing out "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon" and nearly defeated Reiji, but Reiji was able to survive with the effect of "Caesar Ragnarok." He brought out "Hell Armageddon" on his next turn, along with "Abyss Ragnarok" from the Extra Deck, and Pendulum-Xyz Summoned himself to call out "DDD Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga" and destroyed "Dark Rebellion". He wondered what bonds Yūya's Pendulum-Xyz Summon had been born from and learned that Yūya was fighting not only to save Yuzu but also to keep a promise to Yūto. Yūya revived "Dark Rebellion" and used his "Antithesis Magician" and "Synthesis Magician" to overlay "Dark Rebellion" and "Odd-Eyes" to Xyz Summon "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon the Supreme King Black Dragon". Upon seeing this, Reiji smiled, declaring that this was what he wanted to see. Yūya launched a winning attack, thinking that he'd sealed Reiji's Set cards, but the immunity of "Kali Yuga" allowed Reiji to destroy and re-Set his cards, then use them to have "Kali Yuga" defeat "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon", winning him the Duel. He reminded Yūya that he was naive, but claimed that he still had hopes for him, and all of the Lancers, who he'd chosen to cross dimensions with him. Walking away, he asked Nakajima if he'd collected the data from the Duel, and Nakajima replied that he had. After Himika revealed the existence of the different dimensions, Reiji outlined the Lancers to the public, also effectively turning it into a propaganda advertisement for LDS, which would train the next generations of Lancers. He provided new clothes for Serena and she stayed under his protection. The next day, Reiji gathered the Lancers at the Leo Corporation, informing them that they would be going to the Synchro Dimension to recruit allies in their fight against the Academia and also explained that Reira would be going with them. He explained that he'd used the technology in Yūto's Duel Disk to upgrade those of the Lancers to travel between dimensions and project an Action Field, and Serena forced him to admit that he'd seen Yuzu be transported to the Synchro Dimension. The Lancers then departed.

Pre-Friendship Cup
When the Lancers arrived they were split into several groups. Reiji's whereabouts were unknown to most of the Lancers and several of them attempted to find him for days with no success. When Tsukikage rescued Reira from Security, Serena suggested that Reiji instructed him to do so.

After the Lancers were taken to the City Council and after Yūya claimed they did not want to cause trouble, Reiji appeared with Tsukikage and Reira. He revealed to Jean-Michel Roget that they came to the Synchro Dimension in order to form an alliance. To help reinforce the Lancers' trust with the Synchro Dimension, Reiji suggested they take part in the Friendship Cup, which Roget agreed to under condition that Yūya must Duel against the Duel King Jack Atlas in the exhibition match.

Friendship Cup Exhibition Duel
At the day of the exhibition match, he quietly observed Yūya's Duel against Jack Atlas with Tsukikage, Reira, and the Executive Council.

Round 1
Reiji was observing the Duel between Crow and Gongenzaka until it was Reira and Shinji's turn to duel. He came to his room to pick him up, but was surprised when Reira refused to go and instead went to Yūya's room for comfort. Following Reira, Reiji got into argument with Yūya regarding Reira's participation in the tournament and the dimensional war. Reiji revealed that the only reason Reira became part of the Lancers is because he was the one who ordered him to and despite still a child, he stated that Reira's strength is necessary to fight against the Academia, angering Yūya further. Reiji then questioned Reira about his reason for refusing to duel, which Reira answered because Shinji gave him candies before. With this answer, Reiji has no choice but order Tsukikage taking Reira's place in the next match. Thinking that Reiji was angry, Reira immediately apologised and promised that he will do whatever he says, but Reiji told him that he was pleased to know that he was starting to develop his sense of self. As he and Reira were walking back, Reiji remembered the time when his mother first showing Reira to him and how she said that he was nothing more but a puppet that can be controlled. Reiji then thought to himself that if his mother find out about Reira's change of heart, she won't allow it because puppet must never have a heart of its own.

Reiji apologized to the Executive Council for the transition, explaining that Tsukikage was a skilled Duelist. When Tsukikage lost the Duel, Reiji revealed to the shocked Council that he knew that they would ship Tsukikage to their underground labour facility and that he had planned for the occasion.

Meeting Jack Atlas
At the end of the Duels of the first day, two of the Lancers had lost, while Yuzu and Serena had both won. Reiji explained to the Council that Yuzu was also from the Standard Dimension and was equal in skill to the Lancers, so the Council decided to treat the results of the day as 2-2 for the Lancers. They invited Reiji and Reira to dine with them and a guest; Jack Atlas himself. Jack expressed regret that Reira had been withdrawn; as the look in Reira's eyes had reminded him of himself at a young age. He explained his history to Reiji and praised Reira, something that Reiji thanked him for.

Yūya vs. DC 227
The second day of the Friendship Cup began with Yūya Dueling Duel Chaser 227. During the Duel, 227 Fusion Summoned, causing Reiji to immediately suspect that there was a rat somewhere. When Yūya brutally won the Duel, the Executive Council snidely noted that this was his true nature, but Reiji didn't respond.

Tsukikage's Report
Since the next match was Damon vs Sergey, the two were non-members of Lancers, Reiji decided to skip the Duel and instead went to meet with Tsukikage for information update. Hearing about the rumour surrounding Roget, Reiji deduced that Roget was most likely the rat from Fusion Dimension that he had suspected. He ordered Tsukikage to return to continue gathering information, though before Tsukikage left, Reira apologised to Tsukikage and expressed his desire to stand up for himself so he can become a great Duelist like his brother and Yūya, slightly surprising Reiji.

Shun vs. Dennis
The Council asked Reiji whether he felt uneasy with the arrangement of the Duel since both are members of Lancers, but Reiji replied that he didn't mind since he himself was also interested. When Shun exposed Dennis' identity as Academia Duelist, the Council began to question Reiji why there's an Academia Duelist with them even though he said the Academia was their enemy. Reiji stated that he had expected the possibility of a mole within Lancers and then asked back the Council have they ever thought that someone might have infiltrate them as well, indirectly implying about Roget.

After Shun defeated Dennis, Reiji prepared to interrogate Dennis, but the Executive Council stopped him and explained that they wanted to keep the City away from the Interdimensional War.

When Roget revealed his plans to make the City into his kingdom, Reiji asked if he plans to rebel against Academia. Roget then offered him an alliance since they both shared a common enemy but Reiji refused saying that he has no benefit to ally with someone like him.

Yuzu vs. Sergey
He later watched Yuzu's Duel against Sergey Volkov and when the Executive Council believed that Yuzu had the Duel won, Reiji corrected them, knowing that Sergey was up to something.

Yūya vs. Shinji
The council later demanded him to explain why he rejected Roget's offer but Reiji remained silent. Reiji watched Yūya's Duel against Shinji and was shocked when Yūya Pendulum-Synchro Summoned "Enlightenment Paladin" and won with it. When the council complained why Roget was praising Yūya after he won, Reiji told them to not to worry as Yūya wasn't that foolish because he is Yūshō Sakaki's son.

When Reira asked where Yūya was, Reiji told him that Roget was not going to cancel the tournament and Yūya would have to participate in another match eventually. He also noted that Roget was trying to win Yūya over to his side.

Yūgo vs. Serena
He later watched Yūgo duel against Serena. After Serena was defeated by Yūgo, he used the opportunity when they were distracted to activate his Duel Disk and told Reira to rescue Serena because Roget wouldn't send her underground while he fight the Securities. Reiji then dueled the Security in the room and defeated them. Reiji then told to Roget that he won't hand Yuzu Hīragi and Serena to him or Academia, and judging from Roget's face, he knew that Roget's plan has failed. He then mused to himself that Reira was capable of rescuing Serena and hopes that Yuzu won't fall into Roget's hand as Tsukikage makes his move as well.

Yūya vs. Crow
He then observed Yūya's Duel against Crow Hogan. While watching the Duel, he noticed the Obelisk Force flying in the sky.

Commons Rebellion
After Jack Atlas defeated Sergey Volkov in the altered semi-final match, Roget declared martial law on the City. Reiji took this opportunity to leave the Capital Building, despite the protests of the Executive Council and he used the effect of "DDD Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga" to destroy the web of Trap Cards that Security had Set, inadvertently saving Reira, Shingo and Chojiro Tokumatsu. He smiled as Reira happily hugged him. Reiji denounced the Executive Council for merely observing events, claiming that observers had no right to dictate the future. Predicting that Yūya would be heading to the Duel Palace, Reiji directed Shun to take the Lancers to the Duel Palace on Shun's "Raid raptors", where they found Yūya, Gongenzaka, Sam, Frank, Amanda and Tanner on the bridge to the Duel Palace about to be attacked by Commons who had mistaken them for retreating Tops. Once he was in the stadium, Yūya challenged Jack to a Duel. Interrupted by the arrival of Duel Chasers, Reiji and the Lancers together with Tokumatsu defeated them and then watched the Duel between Yūya and Jack. Hearing that the riot by Commons started to escalate once more, Reiji and the Lancers split up to stop further chaos: while Gongenzaka, Shingo, and Shun stopped the rebelling Commons from further advancing their attacks, Reiji and Reira went to Public Security Maintenance Bureau to stop Roget. Reiji and Reira regrouped with the injured Tsukikage who revealed that Roget has defeated him and Sora and took Yuzu with him before they reached Roget. Upon meeting Roget, Reiji pointed out his cowardice and told him to release Yuzu and apologise to the people of the City, something that Roget refused to do and lured Reiji into a room.

Duel Against Roget
Entering the room, Reiji immediately noticed something was wrong, so he quickly pushed Reira out from the room while he confronted Roget, who decided to bring Reiji back to Academia as well in hope he it will pleased the Professor. Reiji refused to go with him, stating that the time he will go to Academia will be the time he will destroy the organization. Both started the Duel with Roget getting the first turn, Fusion Summoning "Antique Gear Devil" that he equipped with "Antique Gear Magic Shield" to inflict 1000 damage point to Reiji before ending his turn, taunting Reiji to show his power and defeat him. Reiji easily defeated him with the combination of his Pendulum, Fusion, and Synchro monsters, but to his surprise, Roget revived again, forcing them to Duel once more. This continued no matter how many times Reiji defeated him, something that Tsukikage and Sora revealed that the same also happened to them. Seeing through Roget's dirty tactic, Reiji countered Roget's tactic with his own loop combo that will assure his victory as he revealed that the Roget he was Duelling was only a hologram while the real one was observing from another room with Yuzu. Roget tried to persuade the Lancers to work with him by revealing Reiji's connection with the Professor, but Reiji pointed out that fact that Roget's action taking Yuzu with him is the proof that he was trying to run back to Academia. Roget escaped with Yuzu through elevator, but was intercepted by Crow and Jack, allowing Yūya to rescue Yuzu. Reiji watched with the others as Yūya reunited with Yuzu, but Roget survived and in desperation activated the dimensional travel device to sent the City into the void between dimensions along with him. The shockwave blew Reira away, but Reiji caught him and held him throughout the activation of the device. A malfunction created a portal that sucked Roget instead, shocking Reiji and everyone present. While everything seemed over, another dimension portal appeared and sucked Yuzu, Yūya, Gongenzaka, Shun, and Shingo. Reiji deduced that it was a wormhole and Yūya and the others were most likely sent to another dimension, but there's no possibility of narrowing down which dimension they were sent to since they were sent without any exact coordinate being set.

Yūya & Sora vs. Captain Solo
The Lancers wished to assist in the rebuilding of the City, but Shinji and Chojiro told the Lancers that they could handle it and they suggested that they do their duty. Joined by Sora and Crow, the Lancers traveled to the Fusion Dimension and procured a speedboat to go to Academia; Reiji taking the wheel. They came across Captain Solo's ship, where Gongenzaka and Shingo were captured and Yūya was falling from the mast. Reiji accelerated quickly enough for Crow to catch Yūya with "Assault Black Feather - Raikiri the Sudden Shower". When Solo used "Grand Naval Battle" to attack the speedboat, Reiji dodged the cannon fire. After Yūya and Sora defeated Solo, Reiji told Yūya that Security had disbanded and the City had become truly equal. He then told the Lancers that they would go to Academia to rescue Yuzu and Serena and destroy Leo's plan, and end everything by the hands of the Lancers.

Heading towards Academia
Reiji was surprised when he learned that Yūshō was heading toward Academia and he revealed to the Lancers that he went there three years ago and that he had asked Yūshō for help after learning about his father's plan. However, Yūshō used his Interdimensional Travel Device without telling anybody and disappeared. He also met Serena and after meeting Yūya and Yuzu three years later, a memory resurfaced from Leo's research: Revival Zero. In it contained a file with two people, Serena and Yūri, who resembled Yūya. He told Yūya that his theory about the Four Dimensions and four girls connected to the ARC Area Project was probably correct, and he deduced that Revival Zero was another part of Leo's plan and that Yūya was probably involved due to Yūri's involvement. Reiji told the Lancers to believe in their friends' strength and fight to the very end. After arriving on the island, Reiji prepared to climb the mountain to charge into his father's lab.undefined After climbing up the mountain, they were surrounded by Academia students before utilizing their plan to spilt two groups with Reiji, Reira and Sora continuing to the lab while Yūya's group Duel the students.undefined

Arriving at Academia
Reiji reunited with Yūshō and told him he won't him steal a march him again like three years ago. Reiji told Yūshō that they have to destroy Academia, but they were confronted by Yūri.undefined He, Yūshō, and Reira managed to pass the fence Sora lowered to block Yūri off while Asuka faced him. He told Yūshō who Yūri was and continued to go see his father with Yūshō and Reira.undefined They were then confronted by Academia students, who took them directly to the Professor.undefined

The Origin of Four Dimensions
When Reira started to get scared after seeing Leo, Reiji calmed him down. He listened to Yūshō and Leo's past creating the Solid Vision together, but was surprised it was actually came from the Original Dimension. He learned about how Leo created the Solid Vision, which caused Duel Monsters to evolve but lead to the world's ruin due to the appearance of a Duelist named Zarc. When Reira started to get scared after sensing great anger, Reiji thought something must be wrong, remembering Reira's ability to sense people's emotions due to the boy's past experience. He then learned about how Zarc fused with his four dragons to become the Supreme Dragon King Zarc and was shocked that he gained godlike power to destroy the united world. When Reira got scared after Leo mentioned how the Supreme Dragon King Zarc destroyed everything, Reiji tried to calm him down by telling him the story is a just made up by Leo, but his father retorted that it's a true story because he saw it with his very eyes.undefined

Abilities
Being a genius, Reiji is exceptionally skilled Duelist. He is capable of making high jumps in order to evade attacks, as well as grabbing Action Cards.

Deck
Reiji uses a "DD" Deck, which utilizes the "Contract" archetype of Magic and Trap Cards to easily gather the necessary cards to perform the Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum Summons of the "DDD" monsters, using cards such as "Lease Laundering" and "DDD Resource Management" to avoid the negative effects of his cards.

Reiji's usual strategy involves Fusion Summoning "DDD Flame King Temujin" through "Contract with the Devil King" to load his Graveyard with resources to Summon more monsters, often using them alongside "DD Night Howling" to Synchro Summon "DDD Gale King Alexander". Finally, he uses the effects of both "Temujin" and "Alexander" to Special Summon monsters from the Graveyard to Xyz Summon "DDD Wave King Caesar", attacking with the 3 monsters in order to perform an OTK against the opponent. Reiji is capable of using the Pendulum-Fusion and Pendulum-Xyz Summoning techniques to call out his monsters.

DD
Over the course of the Series, some of the cards used by Reiji have been changed with regards to their effect or type. This is the list of cards which he used previously.

Trivia

 * In Arc-V Otomedia December 2014 interview, it is stated that Reiji would be glad to receive an original card made by Reira as his christmas present.
 * Reiji is one of the only three characters in the series so far to have mastered all Summoning methods. The other two being Reira and Yūya.