"Kagome! Are you okay? Are you hurt? What about the Thunder Beast Brothers?!"
Inuyasha rushed over at full speed, his face filled with worry. Shippo followed behind him, panting heavily.
"Yeah, Kagome!" Shippo ran to her side, guilt written all over his face. "I'm sorry… I was so scared earlier that I ran away and left you behind…"
As he spoke, he stepped in front of her, knelt down, and pressed his hands to the ground in a proper bow.
"I'm really sorry!"
"I'm fine," Kagome said with a smile, gently comforting him. "I was lucky to meet Retsu. He's the one who saved me."
Seeing Inuyasha and Shippo safe, she finally relaxed. Compared to staying with Retsu, being with them felt much less tense.
Then she remembered the fox fur in her hand and quickly passed it to Shippo.
"Oh, right! Shippo, this should belong to your dad. Here."
"This is… Dad…"
Shippo stared at the familiar yellow fur.
His eyes instantly turned red.
He carefully took it and hugged it to his chest, tears welling up.
"Thank you, Kagome… thank you…"
"Retsu? Who's that?" Inuyasha frowned. He had no memory of the name.
Myōga, clinging to his shoulder, immediately added fuel to the fire.
"Inuyasha-sama, it's that guy who beat you so badly last time you couldn't even fight back!"
"Damn it! That bastard!"
Inuyasha bristled instantly, clenching his fists and looking around.
"Where is he?! I'm fighting him again!"
"He already left," Kagome said helplessly. "And I think he's a good person. He not only saved me, he even gave me some of the Thunder Beast Brothers' Shikon Jewel shards."
She opened her palm.
Three sparkling pink shards gleamed in the sunlight.
"Doesn't matter who he is. Stay away from him from now on!" Inuyasha snapped, though he felt strangely irritated.
"Inuyasha… are you jealous?" Kagome leaned closer, a mischievous smile on her lips.
"W-Who's jealous?!" Inuyasha froze, then scoffed. "I'd never be jealous over an ugly woman like you!"
"Inuyasha!! Sit!"
Kagome's roar echoed through the courtyard.
With a thunderous crash, Inuyasha was slammed face-first into the ground.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Retsu had already reached an empty clearing.
He released the unconscious Thunder Beast Brothers from Kamui.
Both lay motionless on the ground.
He searched them thoroughly for loot, only to find that they were completely broke.
Aside from Hiten's weapon, there was nothing of value.
"Tch. Poor idiots."
Annoyed, he kicked them aside and began examining the two weapons—artifacts, perhaps.
After some testing, he was disappointed.
Whether it was the flaming wheel-like device or the Raigekijin, both seemed usable only by the Thunder Beast clan.
He tried channeling chakra into them.
Nothing happened.
They were just slightly tougher-than-average weapons.
And as a shinobi, he wasn't skilled with long weapons like Raigekijin anyway.
"What a waste. Useless to me."
He tossed both weapons into Kamui space.
In this world, a demon's strength was often tied to its weapon.
Inuyasha with Tessaiga and Inuyasha without it were worlds apart.
"Alright. You two are done."
Retsu took out his sealing scroll and spread it before them.
"One last thing. Hand over your life force."
"Seal!"
The scroll erupted with suction.
The brothers' bodies shriveled at a visible rate, eventually collapsing into dry skeletons.
Retsu rolled up the scroll, sensing the abundant life force within.
Satisfied, he turned and vanished into the forest.
"Ugh… so boring…"
Retsu lay on the top of a towering tree, a yellowed book resting on his chest, staring at the cloudless blue sky.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows across his pale, cracked skin.
Several days had passed since he defeated the Thunder Beast Brothers.
During that time, he had used his Shikon Jewel shards as bait, slaughtering many demons drawn by their aura.
Soon, the weaker demons were either wiped out or frightened away.
No one dared approach his territory anymore.
Ironically, that left him completely idle.
Even life-force collection had stalled.
"I need something to do… Maybe I'll visit a human town."
He stored the book in Kamui space.
It was loot taken from an exorcist who had foolishly attacked him, mistaking him for a demon.
The book recorded information on common demons in this world.
Thankfully, the writing resembled Sengoku-era Japanese, similar enough to the shinobi world's language for him to read without difficulty.
He stood up and scanned the surroundings from above.
Soon, he spotted a village at the foot of the mountain.
"I'll ask there where the nearest town is."
Chakra gathered beneath his feet.
He leapt down like a falling leaf and sped through the forest, reaching the village outskirts in moments.
To avoid trouble, he used Transformation Technique, becoming a shabby wandering swordsman with a worn katana at his waist.
He strode into the village.
"Did you hear? Kumakichi's place got robbed again yesterday."
Walking along the dirt road, just as he was about to stop two villagers carrying farm tools, Retsu overheard their conversation and slowed down.
"Sigh… that's the fifth house," the other villager grumbled. "That thief is heartless. He stole all the food. How are we supposed to survive?"
"Mind telling me what happened?"
Retsu's interest was piqued.
He had nothing better to do. Catching a thief sounded like decent entertainment.
He stepped forward and stopped them.
"Ah! Samurai-sama!"
The two glanced at the sword at his waist and immediately became respectful.
One of them bowed slightly.
"It's nothing major, sir. Just that a thief has appeared in our village recently. Houses keep getting hit."
"Tell me in detail," Retsu said calmly, his gaze steady and authoritative.