"Interesting… looks like we've got company waiting for us up ahead."
Kagetsu's gaze lifted toward the road in front of them, a faint glint of interest flashing in his eyes as he spoke.
At his reminder, Kikyo immediately sharpened her senses. A moment later, her expression shifted.
"I can feel it… the aura of the Shikon Jewel. And there's more than one,quite a few, in fact."
"I feel it too!" Kagome closed her eyes and focused, carefully tracing the presence of the shards. She nodded quickly. "That's right,it's the Shikon Jewel. There are a lot of them… five,no… seven shards!"
Hearing her pinpoint the exact number, Kagetsu couldn't help but glance at her again.
As expected.
Kagome had grown up with the Shikon Jewel sealed inside her body,her connection to it ran deeper than anyone else's.
Kikyo could sense it as well, thanks to both her spiritual power and her past as the priestess who once protected the jewel. Even in death, that bond lingered.
But Kagome… her link to it was instinctive. Innate.
"Be careful!" Inuyasha suddenly sniffed the air, his expression snapping into focus. "There's a strong smell of blood."
He narrowed his eyes, inhaling again more carefully. His brow furrowed.
"And something else… a faint,"
Then it clicked.
"Yeah… grave soil."
"Seven shards, plus the smell of graves…" Miroku's face grew serious. "Could it be,?"
"Yeah," Kagetsu confirmed with a nod. "If nothing's changed, we're about to meet the Band of Seven. Using Shikon shards to resurrect the dead,this has Naraku written all over it."
Even without seeing them, Kagetsu was certain.
What surprised him, though, was that they weren't appearing one by one like in the original timeline.
Instead, they were all gathered together.
Waiting.
Looks like Naraku learned his lesson… he doesn't want them getting picked off individually this time.
"So it really is that bastard Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled, rage instantly flaring. Without another word, he shot forward toward the source of the scent.
"Inuyasha, wait!" Kagome called after him,but he was already gone.
"That idiot…" Miroku sighed, then turned sharply. "Sango, go after him. This could be a trap!"
"Right,Kirara!"
With a burst of flames, Kirara transformed instantly, her body expanding into her large battle form.
Sango leapt onto her back and pulled Kagome up behind her. "Let's go!"
"They never change…" Kikyo murmured, watching the direction Inuyasha had disappeared.
Kagetsu chuckled. "That's what happens when you don't keep a dog on a leash."
Kikyo shot him a sideways glance,but couldn't quite suppress the faint smile tugging at her lips.
"Let's move," Kagetsu said. "If we don't hurry, he's definitely going to get himself beaten up again."
With that, he scooped Kikyo into his arms. Chakra burst from beneath his feet as he launched forward like an arrow.
Miroku looked around at the now-empty clearing, then down at Shippo in his arms.
"Shippo… I'm counting on you."
"Leave it to me!"
Shippo nodded and pulled out a small toy horse from his robe.
Poof!
In a puff of smoke, it instantly expanded into a cartoonish mount large enough to carry a person.
"Thanks!"
Miroku hopped on while holding Shippo. The whimsical little horse clashed hilariously with his solemn monk's image, but it still wobbled into the air and chased after the others.
By the time Kagetsu and Kikyo arrived, the scene ahead was already set.
Inuyasha stood facing seven figures.
All around them lay corpses,fallen soldiers and dead warhorses strewn across the ground. Judging by their armor, they had been retainers of some feudal lord… wiped out completely after crossing paths with these men.
And those seven?
"Bizarre" didn't even begin to cover it.
At the very back stood a towering giant,nearly five meters tall. His massive frame bulged with muscle, his face ferocious, his gaping mouth lined with sharp fangs.
That was Ginkotsu.
Calling him human felt like a stretch.
In stark contrast, another figure stood barely a meter tall,wrapped in white robes, his face mostly concealed by cloth. Only a pair of narrow, squinting eyes peeked out, giving off an unsettling aura.
That would be Mukotsu.
Kagetsu couldn't help but wonder if those two weren't half-demons, like Inuyasha.
Ginkotsu might carry ogre blood… Mukotsu? Maybe something like a toad yokai.
Because no normal human should look like that.
Just as Kagetsu set Kikyo down and began sizing them up,
A man in a pink kimono with green leaf patterns suddenly lit up at the sight of Inuyasha.
He had purple snake-fang markings on his cheeks, bright red lips… and an unmistakably flamboyant air.
His eyes sparkled.
"Eh? Could you be Inuyasha?!"
The moment Kagetsu saw that expression,
He silently reached into his pouch, pulled out a tanuki mask, and put it on.
He'd bought it in a castle town earlier.
Just in case.
"…Why the sudden disguise?" Kikyo asked, glancing at him.
His voice came out slightly muffled beneath the mask.
"I have no interest in being targeted by that guy. Otherwise… I might not be able to stop myself from killing him."
That man was Jakotsu.
A cross-dresser with a… very specific taste in men.
In the original story, he'd openly flirted with both Inuyasha and Miroku.
Kagetsu had no intention of becoming his next obsession.
Kikyo didn't fully understand,but gave him a curious look.
"You bastard! How do you know my name?!" Inuyasha snapped, unsettled by Jakotsu's intense stare.
But Jakotsu ignored him completely.
Instead, his cheeks flushed, eyes shining as he looked Inuyasha up and down.
"So cute!"
Inuyasha felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"Especially those fluffy ears…" Jakotsu licked his lips, resting his snake-like sword,his Jakotsutō,over his shoulder. "I love them so much. Give them to me!"
"Inuyasha!"
Miroku arrived just then, landing beside him on his ridiculous toy horse.
He set Shippo down, letting him run to Sango and Kagome, then fixed his gaze on the group ahead.
"You… are the Band of Seven, aren't you?"
"That's right!"
A man stepped forward, carrying a massive halberd,the Banryū. His posture was confident, his expression arrogant.
"We are the Band of Seven. And I am their leader,Bankotsu."
"Mm~ Inuyasha is adorable…" Jakotsu chimed in again, practically glowing. "But this monk is pretty attractive too."
Both Inuyasha and Miroku froze.
Their faces darkened instantly.
A collective shiver ran down their spines.
On Kirara's back, Sango and Kagome exchanged a look, speechless.
"…See?" Kagetsu leaned toward Kikyo and whispered. "This is exactly why I'm wearing a mask."
Kikyo glanced at Inuyasha and Miroku,both looking utterly defeated,
…and gave Kagetsu a small, approving nod.