"Kagome! Are you okay? Are you hurt? And the Thunder Brothers—where are they?!"
Inuyasha rushed toward her, his face filled with urgency, with Shippō panting as he followed close behind.
"Yeah, Kagome!" Shippō ran to her side, his face full of guilt. "I'm sorry—I was too scared and ran away, leaving you behind…"
As he spoke, he approached Kagome and dropped to his knees, clasping his hands together in sincere apology.
"I'm fine. Luckily, I met Kagase—he saved me," Kagome said with a reassuring smile.
Seeing Inuyasha and Shippō, a wave of relief washed over her. She hadn't realized how tense she had been while standing beside Uchiha Kagase earlier.
She suddenly remembered the fox pelt in her hands and quickly handed it to Shippō.
"Oh, right—Shippō, this should belong to your father. Here."
"This is… Father…"
Shippō stared at the familiar yellow fox pelt, his eyes instantly reddening. He carefully took it into his arms, holding it tightly as tears welled up.
"Thank you, Kagome… thank you…" he murmured, his voice trembling.
"Kagase? Who's that?" Inuyasha frowned, not recalling the name.
Perched on his shoulder, Myōga immediately chimed in, "Master Inuyasha, he's the one who beat you so badly last time that you couldn't even fight back!"
"Damn it! That bastard!" Inuyasha's hair bristled instantly. He clenched his fists and looked around. "Where is he? I'll fight him again!"
"He already left," Kagome said helplessly. "And I think he's actually a good person. Not only did he save me, but he also gave me some Shikon Jewel shards from the Thunder Brothers."
As she spoke, she opened her palm, revealing three crystal shards shimmering softly under the sunlight.
"I don't care who he is—stay away from him from now on!" Inuyasha snapped, though deep down he felt a strange irritation he couldn't explain.
"Inuyasha… you're not jealous, are you?" Kagome suddenly leaned closer, a mischievous smile on her lips.
"W-who's jealous?!" Inuyasha stammered before crossing his arms. "I'd never be jealous of an ugly girl like you!"
"Inuyasha!! Sit!"
Kagome's command rang out instantly.
*BOOM!*
Inuyasha slammed face-first into the ground.
---
Meanwhile, Uchiha Kagase had arrived in a deserted clearing.
With a subtle motion, he released the unconscious Thunder Brothers from the Kamui dimension. Their bodies dropped limply onto the ground.
He stepped forward and searched them thoroughly for loot, but quickly realized they had nothing of value.
Aside from Hiten's weapon, there was nothing worth taking.
"Tsk. Useless."
He nudged them aside with mild annoyance and turned his attention to their weapons—or rather, their so-called magical treasures.
After examining them closely, Kagase discovered, to his disappointment, that both the wheel-like artifact resembling Wind-and-Fire Wheels and the Thunder Blade could likely only be used effectively by the Thunder Brothers themselves.
He tested them with chakra, but nothing special happened—they were merely sturdier than ordinary weapons.
Moreover, although he was skilled in Uchiha sword techniques, he wasn't suited for wielding large, unwieldy weapons like the Thunder Blade.
"A shame. They're useless to me… I'll store them for now."
He tossed both weapons into the Kamui dimension.
In the world of Inuyasha, a Yokai's strength was often closely tied to its weapons and magical tools.
Just like Inuyasha himself—the difference in his combat power with and without Tessaiga was immense.
"Well then… these two are of no further use."
Kagase took out a sealing scroll from Kamui and spread it open before them.
"Now, offer your life force."
"Seal."
With a low command, the scroll emitted a powerful suction force.
The bodies of the Thunder Brothers rapidly shriveled at a visible rate, their flesh collapsing inward until nothing remained but dry skeletal remains.
Kagase closed the scroll, sensing the abundant life force stored within. A satisfied smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
Without another glance, he turned and left the clearing, his figure quickly disappearing into the dense forest.
---
"…How boring."
Uchiha Kagase lay sprawled across the branch of a towering tree, an amber-paged book resting on his chest as he lazily gazed at the clear blue sky above.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting shifting shadows across his pale, cracked skin.
Several days had passed since he killed the Thunder Brothers.
During that time, he had used the Shikon Jewel shards in his possession as bait, attracting and eliminating numerous Yokai in the surrounding area.
As a result, the weaker Yokai had either been wiped out or had fled after hearing rumors, no longer daring to approach his territory.
This left him with nothing to do.
Even his goal of gathering life force had temporarily stalled.
"I need something to do… I'll check out a human town."
He raised his hand and stored the book back into Kamui.
The book had been obtained after he subdued a blind Yokai hunter who had mistakenly attacked him, thinking he was a Yokai. It contained information about many common Yokai in this world.
Fortunately, the writing resembled that of the Sengoku-era Japanese script—similar enough to what he knew—so reading it posed no difficulty.
When bored, he would flip through it to expand his knowledge.
Standing up, Kagase scanned the surroundings from his elevated position. Soon, he spotted a human village at the foot of a nearby mountain.
"I'll go there and ask for the nearest town."
Chakra gathered beneath his feet as he leapt down from the tree like a falling leaf. His figure darted through the forest with fluid speed, soon arriving at the outskirts of the village.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, he used the Transformation Technique, disguising himself as a wandering samurai dressed in worn robes, a katana at his side.
Then he strode into the village.
"Did you hear? Kumakichi's house was robbed again yesterday."
As he walked along the dirt road, preparing to stop two villagers carrying farming tools, Kagase overheard their conversation and paused.
"Sigh… that makes the fifth house," one of them said bitterly. "That thief is despicable—he's stealing all the food. How are we supposed to survive?"
"Excuse me—could you tell me what's going on?" Kagase asked, intrigued.
Since he had nothing better to do, catching a thief to pass the time didn't sound like a bad idea.
He stepped forward and stopped them.
"Ah! Sir Samurai!" The two villagers glanced nervously at the katana at his waist, their expressions immediately turning respectful as they halted.
One of them bowed slightly. "It's nothing major… just that a thief has been targeting the village recently. People's homes keep getting robbed."
"Explain everything in detail."
Kagase's gaze swept over them, his tone calm—but carrying an unmistakable authority that left no room for refusal.