Shaman King, Vol. 9

After a long, draining battle, Yoh has advanced past the Shaman Fight preliminaries...and he and his friends have a chance to kick back and take it easy before the tournament proper starts. But Yoh just can't seem to catch a break as new challengers come out of the woodwork to defeat him before the tournament can even begin. Just who are these guys?! And who is Hao, the puppet master pulling their strings behind the scenes...?