"An undead spirit…?"
Kikyo slowly approached the headless body of Uchiha Kasage, her cold gaze sweeping across the corpse lying on the ground. Sensing the aura of death lingering around him, she murmured softly.
"Was he resurrected by the power of the Shikon Jewel…?"
Her eyes shifted toward the ninja pouch at his waist.
After returning to the village, she had already sensed an existence carrying the aura of the Shikon Jewel approaching her.
As a miko who once guarded the jewel in life, she could perceive its presence with absolute clarity.
When she drew closer, she felt the unmistakable aura of death surrounding him. Believing him to be an evil being seeking the jewel's power, she had fired a Sacred Arrow without hesitation—intending to purify him completely.
Kikyo crouched down, slipping her slender fingers into his ninja pouch. After searching briefly, she pulled out a bamboo tube.
The aura emanating from within it was unmistakable.
The Shikon Jewel was inside.
"Hm?"
Just as she was about to open it, her brows furrowed slightly.
"Why… is there still another Shikon aura?"
Confused, she searched again and retrieved a second, identical bamboo tube.
She opened the first and poured its contents into her palm. Several faintly glowing shards rolled out.
"These are… fragments of the Shikon Jewel?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Kikyo's eyes.
"Why…? The Shikon Jewel should have disappeared with my death. Why has it reappeared… and why is it shattered?"
She casually set the empty tube aside and opened the second one.
The moment it was unsealed, a dense wave of corrupted energy spilled out.
"A tainted shard… sealed away?"
Kikyo's expression grew more serious.
Without hesitation, she channeled her pure miko spiritual power. A soft white glow gathered at her fingertips, and the corrupted shard was quickly purified, returning to its original translucent state.
"Why has the Shikon Jewel become like this…?"
She stared at the eight fragments resting in her palm, confusion clouding her eyes.
Memories of her past life clashed with the reality before her, leaving her momentarily unsettled.
She placed the shards back into the tube and sealed it.
Just as she was about to tuck it away—
A cold hand suddenly grasped her wrist.
"Taking someone else's belongings without permission isn't a very good habit, Miss Miko."
A light, teasing voice came from the "corpse."
Kikyo's eyes widened slightly. Instantly, a surge of spiritual power erupted from her palm as she tried to push him away, her head snapping up.
The man whose head had been blown apart… had reformed.
Parts of his face were still missing, but they were rapidly reconstructing themselves, gray-white dust gathering and restoring his features.
Now fully upright, **Uchiha Kasage** looked at her with interest, his dark eyes carrying a trace of amusement.
Taking advantage of the burst of spiritual power, he released her wrist.
Kikyo immediately retreated, creating distance—but in that instant, she felt her hand grow empty.
The bamboo tube had already been snatched back.
Without hesitation, she drew an arrow, nocked it, and aimed straight at Kasage, who had calmly risen to his feet.
He casually placed the bamboo tube back into his pouch, as if nothing had happened—despite having just had his head destroyed moments ago.
"Who are you?" Kikyo's voice was cold, her bow unwavering.
"You attacked me first, and now you're asking who I am?" Kasage replied, slightly annoyed—but his gaze lingered on her with faint admiration.
It was his first time seeing this legendary miko in person.
Her cold, beautiful face, framed by her red and white robes, gave her an air that was both sacred… and distant.
Aside from her completely different temperament and hairstyle, she looked remarkably similar to Kagome.
No wonder Inuyasha and Kaede had mistaken them at first glance.
"As a miko, isn't it natural to eliminate a monster like you?" Kikyo said with a faint, cold scoff, not lowering her guard. "I sensed your death aura and malicious presence from afar."
"Heh…" Kasage chuckled softly, a playful edge in his tone.
"If I'm a monster… then what does that make you?"
"The resentment and darkness around you are far stronger than mine."
He tilted his head slightly, a teasing glint in his eyes.
"Right, Miss Miko… or should I say—Kikyo?"
At the sound of her name, Kikyo's expression shifted ever so slightly. A flicker of surprise appeared—but vanished just as quickly.
"I don't know how you know my name," she said calmly, "but as a miko, it is my duty to send beings like you—who cling to the human world—back where they belong."
Before she could finish—
The bowstring snapped forward.
The arrow shot out like a streak of light, infused with immense purifying power, tearing through the air toward Kasage's face.
This time, the attack was sharper. Faster. More decisive.
Kasage raised his hand.
In the next instant, a pale blue skeletal arm of Susanoo manifested and moved with precise force.
*Clang!*
The arrow was deflected effortlessly, spinning away before embedding itself deep into a distant tree, its fletching trembling.
"You talk as if you're not a resurrected corpse yourself," Kasage said lightly, a hint of mockery in his voice.
"We're the same. Your attachment to this world… isn't any weaker than mine."
Kikyo's hand tightened slightly around her bow.
For a brief moment, her aura wavered.
Because what he said… was true.
Her current existence was nothing more than a dead soul clinging to the living world.
"I only wish to live quietly in this village. Do not interfere."
She lowered her bow and turned away, her expression returning to its usual cold calm as she began walking back toward the village.
But how could Kasage let her leave so easily?
If he remembered correctly, Kikyo wouldn't stay in that village for long.
Soon, she would encounter Inuyasha and Kagome while collecting souls—and when that happened…
That tangled drama would be far more entertaining than any performance.
There was no way he was going to miss it.
A faint, mischievous smile curved his lips as he quickly followed after her.
"I really don't have any bad intentions," he said casually. "How about this? Let me follow you for a while and prove I'm a good person."
"No."
Kikyo stopped instantly and raised her bow again, her eyes filled with suspicion.
"You are one of the dead. Your presence will only frighten the villagers."
"And you've collected so many Shikon Jewel shards… I don't believe for a second that you're a good person."
Hearing this, Kasage didn't argue.
Instead, he simply pulled out the bamboo tube containing the Shikon Jewel shards… and tossed it toward her.
"I'll leave this with you for now."
He shrugged slightly, his tone relaxed.
"You should believe me now, right?"
Kikyo instinctively caught the tube.
Then… she froze.
She had never expected him to hand over the Shikon Jewel fragments so easily.
After all—
This was a treasure countless yokai and humans would kill for.